State and Local Politics Blog

Michael Whaley is the founding Director of Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE) in Memphis where he works with current and former teachers to build their civic engagement and leadership. Prior to joining LEE, Michael served as the Founder and Executive Director of Memphis College Prep, a kindergarten through fifth grade public elementary school. Michael is active in several local community and civic boards, including the Downtown Memphis Commission, and Let’s Innovate Through Education (LITE).

Tami Sawyer is the Director, Diversity & Cultural Competence with Teach For America Memphis and a writer, speaker and social justice & education advocate. Tami was named by The Tennessean and Commercial Appeal as one of 18 Tennesseans to watch in 2018 and was included in the Commercial Appeal’s 2017 Person of the Year recognition. She is an alumna of the University of Memphis and attended Howard University School of Law.

Money in politics is nothing new.  William McKinley’s political fixer, Mark Hanna, famously said, “There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can’t remember what the second one is.” Hanna spoke at the end of the first Gilded Age of staggering inequality and government corruption. In this modern political age defined by Supreme Court cases like Citizens United, this is truer now than ever.  It even impacts our state and local races here in Tennessee.

For a progressive living in a gerrymandered red state, it’s sometimes impossible to see any light at the end of the tunnel. But once in a while, we score a victory for Team Blue. Last fall I found myself managing Dwayne Thompson’s campaign for Tennessee House District 96.  On November 8, as Democrats across the nation were taking a beating in the presidential race, Dwayne Thompson eked out a victory against Republican Steve McManus.

It's time we join together to support candidates for local office that will grow Memphis and Shelby County.