By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — The church has long been an anchor in the Black community. But can the church provide respite from stress, tension and difficult situations, including mental and emotional distress? There’s more to the church than worshiping and praying, a local clergyman explained, particularly when the current problem is a virus that has infected millions, killed tens of thousands, separated loved ones, and now triggering widespread depression. The novel coronavirus is ravaging this country and shattering lives. “Praying is not enough,” said Dr. William M. Young, senior pastor of The Healing Center Full Gospel Baptist Church…
Author: Wiley Henry
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — No one could have predicted that two men from opposite worlds and as different as night and day would forge an enduring friendship. One had broken the law; the other one was upholding the law. Terrell “T.J.” Johnson had been a ruthless drug dealer and lorded over a gang that controlled a swath in North Memphis; and Lt. Tyrone Currie, then a sergeant with the Memphis Police Department, was arresting vicious gang members. Johnson was a member of the Gangster Disciples – a menace, a Kingpin if you will – and facing 35 years…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — Myron Leon Hudson spent a great deal of his adult life cultivating a career in sales. He sold encyclopedias, health insurance, and advertising for Black newspapers. “Myron was a pleasant employee to work with. He was a welcome addition to the team at the Tribune,” said Rosetta Miller Perry, publisher of The Tennessee Tribune in Nashville. Hudson was selling advertising for The Tennessee Tribune when he died Sept. 19 following a brief illness. He was 63. Prior to working for the Tribune, Hudson sold classified and display advertising for The Tri-State Defender under publishers Audrey…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — If Forest and Lillie Montgomery were alive today, they would encourage the people they love and those in their community of New Chicago to register to vote. “If you lived in the house with my parents, at 18 you registered to vote. My parents were strong proponents of voting,” said Nova Felton, one of seven Montgomery children. An eighth child died from crib death. Mr. Montgomery was born in 1901, in Macon, MS., and only had a sixth-grade education. He died in 1986. He would be 119 this year. “He was well-read,” Felton said.…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — Marie V. Pizano is still feeling a little euphoric after learning that an amendment to a law mandating a parenting class for divorcing couples had recently passed in the Tennessee House of Representatives. “I started crying,” said Pizano, an author, film producer, businesswoman and community activist, after receiving the good news via text. Pizano had spent the better part of this year drumming up support for what resulted in a bipartisan effort to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 36, Chapter 6. HB 2588 passed 95-0. On the other side, SB 2032 passed 30-0. “It’s…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — On Sunday, June 7, a small crowd gathered at the corner of Curry Drive and Hyde Park Street in the Hyde Park community – not to protest man’s inhumanity to man, but to honor a man for his humanity. This was a special day for Mr. Joseph H. Ivy, his 90th birthday, one that was replete with fanfare and a fleet of limousines and funeral cars from more than 40 funeral homes in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. Funeral directors and morticians came together to pay tribute to one of their own, a man with…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – After shutting the doors to visitors in mid-March due to COVID-19, the staff at Graceland Rehabilitation and Nursing Center exceeded their goal for residents to see their loved ones. More than 50 automobiles at one time stretched four city blocks in the Whitehaven community on May 30 between 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. The parade snaked in and out of Graceland’s parking lot in a show of love and appreciation. The staff positioned most residents under tents to shade them from the mid-day temperature as horns blared ceremoniously. Some residents waved approval as the…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — The coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, has spread rapidly throughout every nook and cranny around the world. It has disrupted life as we knew it and, in Memphis, the rite of passage for high school graduates. Eighteen-year-old Brienna Cooper finished her senior year at Southwind High School with a 3.8 GPA. But she was quite upset when the senior class was informed that all senior activities had ceased rather than risk the spread of COVID-19. “The only thing we got a chance to do was have our senior breakfast, and after that, it was nothing,”…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN — Kalen Johnson is 12 years old and has the gumption to believe he will become a millionaire by the time he reaches the ripe age of 16. Could it be that this preteen prognosticator knows something that we don’t know? He’s already begun working to make real his audacious prediction. In September 2018, he grossed more than $1,200 in a single day selling exquisite wire and beaded jewelry at the Cooper-Young Festival in Midtown Memphis. “I believe in myself. And my mother, granny, brother and sister believe in me too,” said Kalen, who is…
By Wiley Henry MEMPHIS, TN – In the fall of 1959, eight African-American students broke the color barrier and integrated the former Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis). Known as the “Memphis State Eight,” four of the eight are now deceased. John Arthur Simpson is the latest member to die, on Feb. 8. Two others also died, ironically, in February, Black History Month: Eleanor Gandy, 76, who died Feb. 6, 2017, in Charlotte, N. C.; and Rose Blakney-Love, 75, who died Feb. 12, 2017, in Memphis. Sammie Burnette Johnson, 71, died on Dr. Martin Luther King…