WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) Dec 3, 2021 entered a statement into the Congressional Record honoring The Tennessee Tribune and its founder, publisher and CEO, Rosetta Miller-Perry. This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of The Tennessee Tribune and Rosetta’s dedication to championing the cause of civil rights and leadership of African Americans.
The statement may be read here and in its entirety below:
“M. Speaker, I rise today to honor The Tennessee Tribune, one of Tennessee’s most influential publications, and Rosetta Miller-Perry, who is the paper’s founder, publisher, and CEO.
“Thirty years ago, Rosetta took a business risk to launch The Tribune in order to raise awareness of, and address issues facing, Black families. The Tennessee Tribune has become the state’s largest minority weekly newspaper, fearlessly speaking truth to power and highlighting stories too often ignored by other publishers.
“From joining the United States Navy to working alongside civil rights leaders including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Z. Alexander Looby, Rosetta has always been an advocate for good on the right side of history. Before founding The Tennessee Tribune, she worked at the United States Civil Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. After arriving to Nashville, Rosetta founded the city’s Black Chamber of Commerce, which is still the preeminent resource for African American businesses in the area. It’s no surprise that Rosetta is known to many as the Queen of Jefferson Street, the historic center of Nashville’s African American community.
“Rosetta’s lifetime of accomplishments is documented in HistoryMakers, an oral history collection of prominent African Americans. In 2019, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Newspaper Publishers Association for her work with The Tribune.
“The Tennessee Tribune’s work is multi-dimensional. It has two stores in the Nashville International Airport so that most visitors to our state will see the importance and power that diversity has made in shaping our growing region. This progress would not have been possible without Rosetta and The Tribune.
“This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of The Tennessee Tribune and Rosetta’s dedication to championing the cause of civil rights and leadership of African Americans. Rosetta always makes our city, state, and country better, and I am honored to call her a friend. I look forward to The Tribune’s next thirty years and many more decades after that.”
