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MLK50 receives five-year, $500K grant from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism has been awarded a five-year, $500,000 grant from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to improve its sustainability and broaden its reach through audience engagement, major donor cultivation and revenue diversification efforts. Knight Foundation focuses its work and grantmaking in 26 communities in the...
South Memphis celebrates its collective power after closure of toxic facility
After months of vague promises from Sterilization Services of Tennessee about closing, South Memphis residents and environmental advocates believe that the Florida Street facility, known for emitting a cancer-causing gas, has finally shut down. This spring, the community experienced mixed feelings regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s new regulations, which require...
General Assembly makes Tennessee’s eviction laws tougher on tenants
Tenants generally don’t stand much of a chance in eviction court in Shelby County. They’re rarely represented by a lawyer, and most of the General Sessions Civil judges overseeing cases don’t take the time to explain what’s going on. One of the few rights tenants have...
Tough-on-crime bill imposing adult sentences on juveniles heads to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk
This story has been republished with permission from Tennessee Lookout. Read the original story here. Teens as young as 14 years old who commit serious crimes in Tennessee will face up to five years of adult incarceration or probation once their juvenile sentence ends under a bill now awaiting Gov. Bill Lee’s likely signature.
MLK50 wins national award for creating change
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism will be honored with the Lorraine Branham IDEA Award at the 2024 Mirror Awards ceremony in New York City on June 13. The IDEA Award recognizes a media organization that has worked to promote inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility over the previous year. It specifically acknowledges the hiring and development of leadership talent who create change, both to the organizations they oversee and the content they produce. It was established to honor the first Black woman to serve as dean of the Newhouse School.
100 days as mayor: Young starts work on campaign promises
Memphis Mayor Paul Young has talked a lot during his first 100 days as mayor. He’s listened, too. Young has met with everyday Memphians around the city, state legislators, the Memphis Police Department and others to collaborate and hear feedback as he tries to create “One Memphis.” He described that vision in his October victory speech as a “united Memphis, where all of our neighborhoods are supported and pride is renewed.”
Memphis Area Legal Service wants more time. Funder says it’s too late.
Memphis Area Legal Services hasn’t served local low-income residents well for years, according to its top funder. In a rare move, the Legal Services Corp. — a nonprofit funded and overseen by Congress — decided to stop sending cash to the Memphis organization simply because of outstandingly poor performance, according to LSC president Ron Flagg.
Here’s how local leaders say they’ll address Memphis’ lead crisis
Shelby County Commissioner Henri Brooks is optimistic she’ll be able to secure local dollars for lead remediation. City Councilman Philip Spinosa is hopeful he’ll be able to protect more kids in his district. And state Sen. London Lamar thinks she’s making progress in Nashville. After our recent...
South Memphis seeks justice as toxic leaks decline
South Memphis residents living near Sterilization Services of Tennessee, the Florida Street facility emitting a cancer-causing gas into the air, are receiving new rules from the Environmental Protection Agency with mixed emotions. On Thursday, the EPA announced new rules in the Clean Air Act to cut down on harmful air...
We see you, Memphis
With each anniversary, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism takes a victory lap. After all, we’re an organization built despite doubters and forged by resilience. That’s something to celebrate. Yet, it’s not all about us. Part of our mission is to bear witness to movement-making and lived experiences. On this...
When brave people share their stories – and journalists listen
A recent analysis of debt collection lawsuits caught my eye and reminded me of the power of partnerships between courageous residents and journalists. I’m referring to MLK50: Justice Through Journalism’s-ProPublica’s 2019 “Profiting from the Poor” investigation, which led one of the area’s largest hospital systems and a private equity-owned doctors’ group to stop suing patients for unpaid medical bills.
Tennessee lawmakers using old scapegoat for youth crime
Amid the lockdown days and barren streets of the pandemic, violent youth crime fell considerably in Shelby County. From 2019 to 2020, burglaries, robberies and assaults, in particular, were down. Yet in the years since, the youth crime rate returned to its pre-pandemic level, a predictable bounce back as people...
TN legislators continue to test LGBTQ liberation
When a group of LGBTQ advocates held an online press conference earlier this month, it was to sound an alarm. At the time, 34 bills characterized by the American Civil Liberties Union as anti-LGBTQ had been introduced by the Tennessee legislature — up from 2023’s 26. In fact,...
Would removing lead from homes reduce the crime rate?
On a May 2023 episode of his podcast, former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen asked renowned criminal justice economist Jennifer Doleac for her top suggestions for improving public safety. Doleac gave an unconventional answer: Protect young kids from lead. “Exposure to lead … when you’re really young, it changes your brain...
Smaller groups form coalitions to push back on state power
On a Tuesday in March, four buses pulled up at the state Capitol in Nashville filled with people — multiracial and ranging in age — most wearing yellow T-shirts that read “KIDS NOT CORPORATIONS.”. They were union workers, faith-based advocates and parents from Knoxville, Chattanooga, Brownsville, Memphis...
A week of rest for MLK50
At MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, we go hard for our community. Yet, we don’t cling to the idea that the most valuable worker is the hard-charging one who never takes a day off and pushes through the pain. Nah. Radical action includes self-care. To that end, the staff of...
Here’s why I spent 10 months reporting about lead
In recent weeks, we’ve been publishing a series of stories I’ve been working on for the last 10 months, all on lead poisoning. With more stories still on the way, I don’t even want to know the amount of hours I’ve spent working on it. It’s...
Instead of political retribution, let’s aim for expanded democracy
The politics of retribution permeate the fabric of our society and degrade our democracy. Where once this nation saw Reconstruction periods striving to increase democracy toward universal suffrage, inclusive representation and equality and prosperity for all, now conservative ideologues are racing to the bottom to see who can deny the most rights to the most historically marginalized people.
Kids in these neighborhoods face the highest risk of lead poisoning
Kids in Cordova are far safer from lead poisoning than kids in Midtown. And children in Arlington are much better off than their counterparts in North Memphis. Lead paint can be hiding in any home built before 1978, the year it was banned, and the older a home is, the more likely it contains the toxic material.
The state regularly passes legislation targeting Memphis. This year is no different.
Members of the Memphis City Council approved a slate of police reforms after the death of Tyre Nichols. Yet during this legislative session, two Republicans representing Memphis in the statehouse are pushing versions of a bill that would prohibit any local government from adopting those reforms. The bill, said Rep....
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