Recently, Gov. Bill Lee announced and Executive Order that would allow parents to “opt out” of any masking requirements put on their kids by schools or county Health Departments. Unfortunately, doing this has the effect of reducing the effectiveness of masking policies. The primary benefit of a mask is that it greatly reduces the risk that someone who is infected will transmit the virus to others. The natural consequence of Gov. Lee’s EO is that people who are infected will end up not wearing masks
Read MoreThe exciting new Equality Trailblazers Suffrage Monument for Memphis incorporates 6 portraits in the round (including the indomitable Ida B. Wells and racial champion Mary Church Terrell) placed in front of a 60-foot wall depicting the 100 Year March in silhouette, and glass etchings and bios of many other notables from Shelby County.
Read MoreWhen voter participation is suppressed, bad things happen to good people. One way we turn it around is by equipping every neighborhood association and non-profit, every congregation and union in the County, with what they need to help their members overcome the barriers separating them from the ballot box.
Read MoreCaroline Miller was born and raised in Bolivar, the daughter of small business owners and a civil rights activist. Her grandparents pioneered the BOLIVAR African American schools for over forty years.
Read MoreAs a scientist who has studied groundwater aquifers and the complex of laws and regulations that keep an aquifer healthy for years, I understand the very real risks an oil pipeline spill would pose to the region’s most precious resource, the Memphis aquifer.
Read MoreThe American Rescue Plan (ARP) that I voted for last week and that President Biden has now signed into law is truly transformational for residents of Memphis. Not only does it address the immediate needs associated with the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout, which has led to much misery, closed businesses and increased unemployment, but it also shores up our modern social safety net in a way that’s both unexpected and long overdue.
Read MoreI remember the days when then-State Senator Steve Cohen was a lone voice in the wilderness as he began introducing medical cannabis bills in TN. Since then, year after year, legislators in Tennessee propose cannabis law reform bills without much hope of passing them. Unfortunately, Tennessee does not have the ability to place citizen-backed ballot initiatives up for the entire state to decide. T
Read MoreOn May 23, 1940, in Fayette County, a black farmer, Burton Dodson came to blows in a heated argument with another man. The other man was white and the fight quickly drew a crowd. The sheriff quickly “deputized” the men in the crowd. The group later surrounded Mr. Dodson’s house and called for him to surrender. Mr. Dodson fled amid gunfire and returned fire as he ran into the woods to avoid capture. In returning fire, he killed one of the “deputies.” Mr. Dodson fled to East St. Louis, Illinois where he was later captured in 1959. He was extradited back to Fayette County to stand trial for murder.
Read MorePicture this: an eager Shelby County third grader receives a final report card for the school year. Despite the challenges of virtual learning, a seemingly never-ending global pandemic, attempting to return to a sense of normalcy in school, and the emotional toll of the combination of these, the child has managed to make the honor roll in all subjects. Upon closer inspection, however, the student notices a stamp, with the words “Retained”…
Read MoreTennessee is in a healthcare hole and our government keeps digging. Shelby County, like the rest of the state, faces an ongoing healthcare crisis from the COVID-19. Like everyone else, I have followed the news closely as hospital capacity has dwindled and deaths have soared. As an attorney whose practice involves helping the injured and the disabled, I have increasingly seen the secondary casualties of the epidemic.
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