Nonprofit newsroom reporting at the intersection of poverty, power & public policy. Inspired by
#MLK
#IdaBWells
#JohnLewis
. Rooting for everybody Black.
Join us for a LIVE U.S. Senate debate at City Hall in Franklin, TN on October 16th at 5:30 p.m. CDT. Both major party candidates, Sen.
@MarshaBlackburn
and Rep.
@VoteGloriaJ
, have been invited. The event is free and open to the public. There's more. ๐๐พ
Dr.
@BerniceKing
talks about the traumas she and her family have endured after inviting her brother MLKIII to join her on the pulpit
#MLK50
#MLK50Forward
Itโs a diverse, intergenerational group of peaceful protesters out tonight โ from toddlers, to teens and young adults, to seasoned organizers. Tonight is a truly intersectional display of solidarity among Memphians.
#JusticeForTyreNichols
โHow many more Black men will have to beg for their mother? She will carry that for the rest of her lifeโ one organizer says.
Protestors are now occupying the I-55 bridge between Memphis, TN and West Memphis, AR.
Moments ago, Rep.
@Justinjpearson
reiterated the need for gun reform during a House floor discussion on HB 0322, a bill that would mandate threat assessment teams for each local education agency.
Weโre here at the National Civil Rights Museum where Memphians are rallying to march to the Shelby County Commission Building in support of expelled representative
@Justinjpearson
.
An estimated hundreds of people are out marching to the Shelby County Commission building to urge the legislative body to reinstate
@Justinjpearson
to the TN House of Representatives.
"It's time for America to repent because we have not dealt with in 50 years -as daddy challenged us - to deal with a second evil, poverty, which we refused to deal with in this nation."
@BerniceKing
#MLK50
#MLK50Forward
โAinโt no power like the power of the people โcause the power of the people donโt stop,โ the crowd is chanting.
Itโs a joyous, electric, determined vibe among marchers. The support is strong for
@Justinjpearson
.
Protesters are forming a line and locking arms as they prepare to encounter
@MEM_PoliceDept
on their march back into Memphis city limits.
โLook out for your brothers and sisters while weโre out here,โ one organizer says.
#JusticeForTyreNichols
MLK50 is on the ground in
#Nashville
for the expulsion proceedings of the Tennessee Three. Protestors chant "Expel Bill Lee, Not the Tennessee Three" on this rainy Thursday morning.
Poetically, there's a Tornado Watch for tonight. 50 years ago this night, there was a storm while King gave his last speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop." King's children are in the city including
@BerniceKing
.
#MLK50
#MLK50Forward
"Iโd rather go down in history as one lone Negro who dared to tell the government that it had done a dastardly thing than to save my skin by taking back what I said." - Ida B. Wells
Walking in Memphis with an assault rifle is made possible by Tenneessee's permitless gun carry law that was passed in 2021. In April, a Republican supermajority pushed through an age change in the carry law from 21 to 18.
A former Memphis mayoral candidate walked to & from work Monday with an assault rifle, causing school lockdowns and a wave of panic in Midtown's Central Gardens neighborhood. His reason?
"Memphis is a dangerous place," Derek Winn said. "I overreacted."
Memphis City Council unanimously voted to approve an ordinance for the immediate removal of both Nathan Bedford Forest and Jefferson Davis Confederate monuments from public parks.
#takemdown901
50 years ago, the world lost a civil rights activist, preacher, revolutionary.
50 years ago,
@BerniceKing
lost her father, her dad, her hero.
She needs our love and embrace, not just our invitations.
#MLK50
#mlkforward
Our hearts go out to the friends, family and fans of
@YoungDolph
. His talent and community impact will never be forgotten. Rest in power, King of Memphis.
Billionaire Robert F. Smithโs surprise pledge to pay off the student loans of Morehouse Collegeโs class of 2019 will cost $34 million and will now include federal educational debt amassed by parents. โ
@business
โWe ainโt leaving until
@MayorMemphis
Jim Strickland calls us back,โ an organizer says.
Protesters are still here, blocking northbound and southbound traffic on I-55 between Memphis, TN and West Memphis, AR.
#JusticeForTyreNichols
Stop when you hear BS โ a bad statistic, says
@HowardU
Prof
@toldson
: When responding to the claim that there were more black men in prison than in college, we refuted it by showing about 1.3 million black men in college and 840,000 black men in prison.
In 2018,
@aliciagarza
started Black Census Project, the results to be released Tuesday. 31,000+ black people from 50 states participated in large independent survey of black people.
โIf all youโve done is displaceD the poverty, you havenโt addressed the poverty. Itโs an issue of justice.โ
@BreeNewsome
on political entities pushing for economic growth while displacing poor people
#MLK50
#MLK50Forward
In honor of
#Cosby
alum Geoffrey Owens and all the hard-working, dignified folks out here, tell us your stories of what youโve done to put food on the table, provide shelter and clothes. Itโs
#LaborDay
, yโall. We salute you! ๐ซ
Protesters are wrapping up, debriefing over pizza and water, closing out for the night.
โWe know the video was harsh to watch. Let tonight not be the last night because it could be one of us next and there could be no cameras around,โ one organizer says.
#JusticeForTyreNichols
Fifty years after Dr. King took up the cause of the sanitation workers, the Douglass community where Elmore Nickleberry, one of the living strikers, lives represents the reality that a lifetime of labor is an empty guarantee.
MLK50 is taking a break to give our team a chance to rest. We hope you are able to find moments of peace and rest, too.
We'll meet you here again on Monday.
Welcome, Sen. Sanders. In Memphis nearly half of our children are in poverty and black poverty rate is two and a half times higher than that of whites.
I'll join civil rights and labor leaders tomorrow in Memphis to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination. Dr. King was not only one of the great civil rights leaders of the 20th century. He was also at the forefront of the fight for economic justice.
Here's Rep.
@Justinjpearson
addressing county commissioners and a crowd of supporters after a unanimous vote to send him right back to Nashville to serve in the TN House.
"We don't speak alone; we speak together," Rep. Pearson said. "You can't expel hope."
#TheTennesseeThree
Black Americans represent 13.4% of the U.S. population, according to the Census Bureau, but counties with higher black populations account for more than half of all COVID-19 cases and almost 60% of deaths, a new study found.
NEW ON MLK50: Rep.
@Justinjpearson
says working people must join the movement for justice to push against the GOP supermajority who have lost touch with American values. A new op-ed written by the man himself
Brittany Brown (
@isthatbritt
) here at White Station High School in East Memphis where students are participating in National Walkout Day with Students Demand Action for Gun Senseย following the March 30 school shooting in Nashville.
Russell Sugarmon dies at 89: โHe spent a great deal of his time in court, before he became a judge, working to get โฆโฆ
@NAACPMemphis
โฉ members out of jail. Judge Sugarmon has left a legacy for public service for others to follow,โ said Deidre Malone.
Does the Tennessee legislature have a race problem? Next week's special session to address public safety and gun control could determine
@GovBillLee
and other state Republicans' legacies. If this is the people's house, are all voices heard equitably? ๐งต
MUST WATCH!!!
Does the Tennessee legislature have a race problem? Why did the GOP have trouble with a resolution praising a civil rights leader for fighting for oppressed people? This is the latest in my award-winning Revealed investigation of Tennessee's Capitol Hill.
@NC5
Rep.
@Justinjpearson
called out the "intentional system, [and] systemic and systematic effort" by TN Republicans to expel elected officials who listened to their constituents.
"We use our voices at all times to demand justice," he said.
Halie Smith โ17, Central High Senior, delivers revolutionary message at
@NCRMuseum
on
#MLK50
on gun control and restorative justice in schools. . Many speakers befor her admonished young folks for not getting engaged. She looks pretty engaged to me.
#MLK50Forward
Protesters are on the move, marching southbound on I-55 toward Memphis. It appears a group of
@MEM_PoliceDept
are waiting down the interstate.
#JusticeForTyreNichols
Itโs a warm, clear day, and the crowdโs energy is high. The marchers are getting closer and closer to the commission building. Itโs about a mile from the museum to the county commission building.
Protesters are holding the line on the I-55 bridge as traffic piles up and as law enforcement slowly creeps up in the distance. The blue lights are visible from the bridge.
#SayHisName
#TyreNichols
As temperatures dip into the the 40s, protesters are not conceding, still demanding
#JusticeForTyreNichols
.
Helicopters and drones are circling the protesters, and the streetlights along the interstate have been cut off.
Organizers are waiting on a callback from
@MayorMemphis
.
Welcome to our new followers. And if youโre not from Memphis, hereโs some context about whatโs happening in our city tonight:
#JusticeforTyreNichols
Former NFL star DeAngelo Williams has paid for hundreds of mammogram screenings through his nonprofit organization, in honor of his late mother, whoย died of breast cancer five years ago.
Brittany Brown (
@isthatbritt
) here at White Station High School in East Memphis where students are participating in National Walkout Day with Students Demand Action for Gun Senseย following the March 30 school shooting in Nashville.
Protestersโ are demanding economic investment in Black and Brown communities โ funding for schools, affordable, housing, calling on support from
@MemphisChamber
and local businesses.
#JusticeForTyreNichols
The moment I wake up
Before I put on my makeup
I say a little prayer for you
While combing my hair, now,
And wondering what dress to wear, now,
I say a little prayer for you.
#RIP
#Respect
#ArethaFranklin
Protesters are now marching through a neighborhood around the downtown area. Residents step out their condos to look on at protesters.
#JusticeForTyreNichols
"I am who I am despite what America has put before me. I am who I am despite the obstacles that we have all faced based upon race and based upon social and spiritual humiliation." - Harry Belafonte
Tyre Nichols was a 29-year-old skateboarder, friend, brother and son to the people who gathered outside the National Civil Rights Museum's King Day celebration. Those in attendance held posters also reminding us that he was a man.
โRacist ideologies created ways of seeing that made black life seem exotic and threatening โsomething to be explored and explained. Generations of white photographers met demand often by making images that reproduced ugly stereotypes of black inferiority.โ
Iโm trying to build a more organic organizing: creating space for folks to come how they are and bridge the generational gap between communities
@BreeNewsome
#MLK50
#MLK50Forward
A community organizer in Charlotte,
@BreeNewsome
says she didnโt know what an organizer was but came to the point where she wanted to see sustainable organization. Sheโs currently organizing around sustainable housing.
#MLK50
#MLK50Forward
The Shelby County Commission voted to form a Black Caucus this evening. The group will work "intentionally to address issues in the Black community," said
@tamisawyer
During the season of giving, donโt get it twisted. Giving should never be a substitute for justice, King said. โPhilanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.โ
A former Memphis mayoral candidate walked to & from work Monday with an assault rifle, causing school lockdowns and a wave of panic in Midtown's Central Gardens neighborhood. His reason?
"Memphis is a dangerous place," Derek Winn said. "I overreacted."
And just as you would expect in the city of Memphis, marchers have broken out in music and melody outside the county government building.
The county commission meeting is underway inside.
The community is hopeful
@Justinjpearson
will be reinstated to the Tennessee legislature.
Today marks 51 years since black sanitation workers in Memphis went on strike for better pay & working conditions. This is the cause that brought Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis.
Andrea Morales looks back at these men and their cause in pictures.
And just like that, Rep.
@brotherjones_
has been elected to be the interim representative for his district by a unanimous decision by the Nashville Metro City Council. The Shelby County Commission will decide
@Justinjpearson
's fate on Wednesday during a special meeting.
#TN3
๐งต๐๐พ
.
@RevJJackson
, one of the last living eyewitnesses to
#MLK
โs assassination, returns to Memphis Easter Sunday for the start of a personal and public journey of remembrance and tribute, including St. John United Methodist Church this morning.
#MLKForward
@SantitaJ
@RPCoalition