The New Tri-State Defender - May 13-19, 2021

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VOL. 70, No. 19

May 13 - 19, 2021

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Official: Repairs to interstate bridge could take months

Repairs to the Interstate 40 bridge linking Arkansas and Tennessee could take months after a crack was found in the span, forcing thousands of trucks and cars to detour and shutting down shipping on a section of the Mississippi River, a transportation official said Wednesday.

A congressional Democrat from Tennessee flagged the crack as a warning sign of the urgent need to act on fixes to the nation’s infrastructure.

The six-lane bridge into Memphis was shut down Tuesday afternoon after inspectors found a “significant fracture” in one of two 900-foot (274-meter) horizontal steel beams that are crucial for the bridge’s integrity, said Lorie Tudor, director of the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

Public masking relaxed as new directive takes effect

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Guard said 16 tow boats hauling more than 220 barges were waiting in line Wednesday.

The closure is creating traffic congestion in Memphis and in neighboring West Memphis, Arkansas. DeWayne Rose, West Memphis’ emergency manager, said officials there are using contingency plans to get trauma patients to facilities in Memphis or to other nearby hospitals.

“People around this area are used to lane closures, they’re used to construction, they’re used

SEE BRIDGE ON PAGE 2

SEE COVID ON PAGE 2

“This fracture had the potential of becoming a catastrophic event that was prevented by our staff’s diligent effort in managing our bridge inspection program.”

— Lorie Tudor Both states’ transportation agencies said they would make sure the 48-year-old, 1.8-mile (2.9-kilometer) bridge is safe before reopening.

“This fracture had the potential of becoming a catastrophic event that was prevented by our staff’s diligent effort in managing our bridge inspection program,” Tudor said.

Traffic was being rerouted to Interstate 55 and the 71-year-old Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south.

River traffic was also shut down in the Memphis area until further notice, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said. The U.S. Coast

COVID-19 UPDATE

The new Shelby County Health Directive released on Wednesday was issued as other positive COVID-19 news is being reported.

The FDA has approved the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12-15, and children can receive the vaccine as early as Friday, May 14.

Also, the national death toll has declined to a 10-month low.

Although the mandate for wearing masks in public is no longer in effect, Shelby Countians shouldn’t throw all their masks away just yet.

“In my estimation, I would say that it was time for the mandate to go away,” said Dr. Bruce Randolph, Medical Officer of the Shelby County Health Department. “We have avoided a surge, like some other places have experienced. So we are doing well.

“While there is no ‘order’ to wear masks, there are ‘strong recommendations’ for when masking makes sense.”

The new health directive very specifically outlines when masks should be worn. Businesses and restaurants have the discretion of still requiring patrons to wear masks as long as visible signage remains posted. Also, buildings operated by local, state or federal authorities may require masks as per conspicuously posted signs.

Travelers boarding public airplanes, ships, trains, subways, buses, taxis and ride-share vehicles must continue to wear a mask as long as they as traveling within the U.S. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced the end of statewide public health orders for the 89 counties under state health. Shelby County was among the six largest counties that operate their own health departments.

“New daily case numbers and the levels of vaccination in Shelby County give us reason to be optimistic that we will continue to move in the right direction,” said Randolph.

“Taking personal responsibility for one’s health will move us closer and closer to a higher level of normalcy.”

Randolph said there is still work to do as health officials continue to encourage everyone who has not been vaccinated to come in for the vaccine.

In related COVID-19 news, Mayor Lee Harris is taking his case for vaccinations right into the communities where vaccine

Viewed from atop the Bass Pro Pyramid at midday on Wednesday, the I-40 bridge is eerily void of traffic, a scene that could remain for months as repairs are made. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises/The New Tri-State Defender)

The Associated Press

$1.00

County Commission opens door on FY ’22 budget hearings

by James Coleman

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Budget hearings got underway with Shelby County Commissioners Tuesday (May 11), kicking off three days of case-making by various agencies for funding requests for FY 2022.

Both the commission and the administration of Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris are hoping to shoehorn the mayor’s budget over the next four weeks.

Voting on budget items in committee will not begin until May 19.

“I want to commend you – and the administration wants to commend you – on such an aggressive scheduling to try and meet a June 7 budget passing,” said Michael Thompson, budget director for the Shelby County Civil Finance Department.

Commission members heard requests for capital improvement and infrastructure projects, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, the Assessor of Property, Register of Deeds and the Trustee.

The bulk of the minutes, however, were devoted to CIP projects. The county maintains a $75 million cap on the Capital Improvement Plan.

The only major road project in the county’s CIP five-year plan, slated for construction in 2022, is the Hack’s Cross Road project.

A 1.8-mile stretch of the road from Shelby Drive to Stateline Rd. will be widened from two to seven lanes. It includes pedestrian and bicycle facilities, as well as landscaping.

In an 80/20 split, the federal government will kick in $13.1 million for the project. The county’s tab will be $3.3 million.

Law enforcement would also be a beneficiary of CIP upgrades, including a Corrections High-Definition Camera Project for the Shelby County Jail, costing $1.8 million. A new video system for the lower level of 201 Poplar also made the wish list.

“It really makes it a challenge to ensure that we find the right projects; to make sure our divisions, our elected officials, really articulate to us what they need as we are going through this CIP process and developing this CIP budget

that we are going to present to you today from the administration,” said Cliff Noville, Shelby County Public Works Director.

The D.A.’s office is asking for reinstatement of four positions eliminated during the pandemic, including an assistant D.A. slot and a digital evidence analyst. The ongoing workload was cited as further justification for their return.

“It’s had a very big impact on our office. One of those positions is an Assistant District Attorney. We always need more resources in the courtroom. Much of what we do beyond the courthouse involves the expertise and the skills of an assistant district attorney,” said District Attorney General Amy Weirich.

The impact of the county’s property reappraisal plan also came up during the meeting, including scenarios for its approval or failure.

The two-year plan was proposed by the Assessor’s Office to soften the blow of higher property taxes after values jumped as high as 30 percent for some owners.

Previously, the county conducted assess-

SEE BUDGET ON PAGE 2

Members of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, including Commissioner Tami Sawyer, met this week in person for the first time since the pandemic forced them into virtual sessions.

(Courtesy photo)

The New Tri-State Defender

May 13 - 19, 2021

Page 2

NEWS

Former federal prosecutor, Linda Harris, announces run for DA

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Linda Nettles Harris, a former prosecutor and conflict resolution mediator, does not want Shelby County Dist. Atty.

Amy Weirich to serve another term and has entered the 2022 race calling for change.

“It’s time for a change in how black and brown people are treated in our justice system. There must be an end to the inequities perpetuated by this administration,” Harris told a small, but enthusiastic crowd of supporters that gathered Downtown last Saturday at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Reflection Park for the kickoff of her campaign.

For more than 20 minutes, Harris fielded reporters’ questions about her candidacy, including requests to detail her reasons for challenging Weirich, who is seeking reelection.

“In 2021, there are still two systems of justice: one for Caucasians and the other for people of color,” Harris said.

“If Weirich’s office would release the statistics, you will find that charges against people of color are more severe than whites who commit simi-

lar offenses. I know that to be true. I have seen this for years, firsthand.”

The answer to the rise in violent crime involves addressing “underlying causes of this behavior,” said Harris. “Those who commit violent crime against other citizens must be punished. …There must be a punitive component in our criminal justice system. But for African-American children, there is a clear schoolhouse-to-jailhouse pipeline.

“Those who end up in the system have experienced trauma, and that goes for both young and old. There are community-based solutions we must implement to address that trauma before our children end up in the system.”

Asserting that Weirich’s administration continues to be “heavy-handed” regarding sentencing for people of color, Harris said Weirich has failed to consider social and environmental factors.

Weirich took note of Harris’ campaign pronouncements and stood by her administration’s approach to dealing with acts of violent crime.

“I can assure you that the solution to violent crime is not

Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich was masked up during the second unity walk against gun violence held Feb. 27. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises) putting more violent criminals back on the streets,” Weirich said in response to a question from The New Tri-State Defender (TSD).

“Last year’s pandemic shows what happens when our judges and criminal justice system let too many dangerous criminals walk free; crime does, in fact, go up,” she said.

“The problem is not that we are too tough on crime.

It’s that others in our criminal justice system are not tough enough. That’s a debate I look forward to having in the year

ahead.”

Weirich kicked off her re-election campaign on April 24 in Germantown. Several African-American ministers were in attendance, including Pastor Rickey Floyd, with Pursuit of God Ministries in Frazier.

“I am not for or against Amy Weirich,” Floyd told the TSD. “But I am for the Frazier community. I support what is transforming my community.

“Under Amy Weirich, we have had 150 people get drivers licenses reinstated, more

Attorney and former federal prosecutor Linda Nettles Harris said she has firsthand knowledge that in Shelby County charges against people of color are more severe than for whites who commit similar offenses.

(Photo: Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell) than 50 have had their criminal records expunged, and men who could not work or drive were put on a payment plan to catch up on child support. This does not mean I have agreed with everything she has done, but Attorney General Weirich has responded when I have asked for assistance in Frazier.”

Harris, a former police officer, was a federal prosecutor for 15 years before leaving the U.S. Attorney’s Office for private practice. She represents persons who cannot afford to

pay for representation in criminal and civil proceedings.

“I know the challenges of poor and marginalized persons because I am their attorney,” said Harris.

“Strategies have been devised for the community, but the community has not been given the opportunity to participate in planning or implementing those strategies.”

Harris said she plans a series of information meetings for communities across Shelby County.

COVID

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Police presence signals that traveling across the Interstate 40 bridge into Arkansas is a no-go. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises/ The New Tri-State Defender)

BRIDGE

CONTINUED FROM FRONT to shutdowns, and I think everyone is just a little on edge because of the uncertainty of the time frame of this,” Rose said.

Road crews were poised to remove any cars that crash or otherwise become stuck on the four-lane I-55 bridge. The next nearest Mississippi River crossings are about 60 miles (96 kilometers) to the south near Lula, Mississippi, and 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the north near Dyersburg, Tennessee.

An inspection team was working to determine if the I-40 bridge could hold its own weight and the weight of con-

BUDGET

CONTINUED FROM FRONT ments every four years.

“If the commission does not approve the plan that we’ve

struction crews, said Paul Degges, chief engineer for the Tennessee transportation department. Barge traffic will not resume until engineers decide that the bridge can stand on its own, he said.

The process of determining those factors could take days, and the repairs could last much longer, Degges said. Arkansas is in charge of inspections, while Tennessee handles maintenance and repairs, officials said.

“Certainly, its plausible that this could be months rather than weeks,” Degges said during a news conference.

“We are hopeful that we can find a solution that would allow us to proceed with some opening of traffic, but right now we just don’t know.”

Engineers were also trying to find out the cause of the crack. The fatigue of having tens of thousands of vehicles pass daily over the bridge could be a contributing factor, Degges said.

“It’s fortunate that routine inspection averted a potential disaster, but the state of our crumbling infrastructure is deeply troubling,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat whose district includes Memphis.

Cohen said he would work in a bipartisan manner with the congressional delegations from Arkansas and Tennessee to make sure I-40 bridge improvements are included in President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposals.

In an inspection for the 2020

National Bridge Inventory report, the Federal Highway Administration said the I-40 bridge checked out in fair condition overall, with all primary structure elements sound and only some minor cracks and chips in the overall structure. Its structural evaluation checked out “somewhat better than minimum adequacy to tolerate being left in place as is.”

However, height and width clearances for oversize vehicles were “basically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action,” the inspectors found. Tennessee recommended “bridge deck replacement with only incidental widening.”

Arkansas transportation officials said the crack did not

appear in the last inspection of the bridge, which occurred in September 2020.

The I-40 bridge, which opened in 1973, carried a 2020 average of 35,000 vehicles a day across the river, 29 percent of them trucks, according to the report. Degges said the average is closer to 50,000 vehicles a day, with about a quarter being trucks. Its traffic volume was expected to increase to 56,000 vehicles a day by 2040, the report said.

The span also has undergone about $280 million worth of retrofitting for the possibility of an earthquake.

submitted to the commission, the assessor at that point will have to go back to the drawing board and redraw a four-year plan, which will take a little time,” said Javier Bailey, chief administrator for the Asses-

sor’s Office.

The failure to pass a twoyear plan would spur the state to conduct a sales ratio study for Shelby County. Today’s assessed values would be compared with those in two years.

The state would equalize the difference.

Questions linger about whether a four-year assessment cycle would cover the county’s future tabs.

“Given the fact each year

your budget is going to increase because the cost of this is going up, cost of that is going up, contractual – it’s going to increase. Is that enough money to handle that, is what I’m trying to find out,” said

(By Adrian Sainz, Jill Bleed and Andrew DeMillo, with Bleed and DeMillo reporting from Little Rock, Arkansas.)

hesitancy appear to be prevalent.

On Thursday and Friday (May 13-14), Harris’ office staff will lead dozens of volunteers to the 38106 ZIP code to dispel misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine. According to health department statistics, coronavirus infection rates in 38106 are among the highest in the county, while vaccination rates remain among the lowest.

The volunteers, including some from the Shelby County Health Department, members of the COVID-19 Community Council, Memphis For All, and 38106 residents, plan to target several hundred households for the “Get the Facts, Trust the Vax” campaign.

They will distribute free masks and brochures that answer frequently asked questions about the vaccine’s development and its safety. It also has the locations for nearby vaccine sites and Memphis Area Transit Authority routes to help get there.

City of Memphis Chief Operating Officer Doug McGowen also said the county is anticipating vaccinating children as young as 12 within the week. Guidance and approval from the state health department, McGowan said, is needed before those plans are implemented.

Meanwhile, going without masks should be done thoughtfully and with forethought, Randolph said. Masking outside with adequate spacing from others is safe, especially for those who have already been vaccinated.

There were 351 new cases of COVID-19 reported Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases in Shelby County to 96,863. Three deaths were reported, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,632.

Commission Chairman Eddie Jones.

Budget hearings are scheduled for next Wednesday and Thursday (April 12-13) starting at 3 p.m.

May 13 - 19, 2021

The New Tri-State Defender

Page 3

NEWS

U.S. Labor Secretary Martin Walsh greets Elmore Nickleberry, a long-serving Memphis sanitation worker, who participated in the historic strike of 1968. (Photo: Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell)

The National Civil Rights Museum was among the stops made by U.S. Labor Secretary Martin Walsh. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises)

Biden duo makes case for American Families Plan, infrastructure bill

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, and Labor Secretary Martin Walsh touched down in Memphis last Thursday to tout President Joe Biden’s “investment measures,” namely, the American Families Plan and the $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill.

The pair staged a very public visit at the Benjamin L. Hooks Job Corps Center, where elected officials explored potential benefits of the measures.

Memphis was chosen as a key city for messaging because of its historic role in the labor movement.

After his visit to the Jobs Corps Center, Emhoff took to Twitter, where he posts as @ SecondGentleman, with this reflection: “May 6 “Investing in our workforce is the key to building a brighter future.

“I visited the Jobs Corps campus in Memphis, TN to hear about the job training and family support services they provide their students.”

On Friday, Walsh was the featured guest at an event at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Labor Center, the Local 1733 headquarters of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the union that orchestrated the “Sanitation Strike” of 1968.

“Labor is the backbone of this country,” Walsh told union members. “We need to invest in ourselves. President Biden and I are committed to making the labor movement stronger in this country.”

Walsh said the COVID-19 pandemic has created some difficulties and deficits in training and creating jobs for the American workforce. The president’s plan is pitched as help for cities such as Memphis, where local household incomes are low.

Critics have labeled Biden’s plan socialism, as well as his American Families Plan.

Biden is also pushing for a “public option” health insurance in the infrastructure plan.

Also, he proposes a $28.6 billion “restaurant relief program.”

“People are asking, ‘How are we going to pay for it?”

Walsh said. “The past presi-

dent spent money and put it on the credit card and didn’t worry about it. President Biden will ask corporate America to pay for it. There are 55 of the nation’s largest corporations that don’t pay any taxes. This is not a penalty for corporations.”

Walsh said the investments will help corporations, too.

“If there is no business, there is no labor, and if there is no labor, there is no business,” he said.

Walsh said as former mayor of Boston he was supportive of the unions and believes in collective bargaining.

Following the visit to AFSCME headquarters, Walsh toured the National Civil Rights Museum.

Emhoff and Walsh have traveled the country promoting vaccination efforts and the American Jobs and American Families plans. The trip to Memphis marked Emhoff’s 13th stop in the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris presidency.

Biden says his proposals will help put people back to work. According to many in opposition, the administration is moving to spend too much money.

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PERSPECTIVE The New Tri-State Defender, May 13 - 19, 2021, Page 4

In her lab, Esther Obeng, M.D., Ph.D. delves into some of the most vexing mysteries of leukemia, such as why normal cells turn cancerous and how cancer cells can become resistant to drugs. (Photo: St. Jude via #NNPA BLACKPRESS.)

Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith (bottom, left), heads the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, which includes Dr. Cameron Webb, the White House’s senior policy advisor for COVID-19 equity. They detailed the task force’s mission and more during a virtual conference with NNPA President/CEO Dr. Benjamin L. Chavis, NNPA Board President Nancy Carter Richards and Stacy Brown, NNPA senior correspondent. (Screen capture)

White House’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force could help someone you know

by Najee El-Amin

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

White House top health officials and representatives of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) gathered May 5 for a virtual panel to discuss the current effects of the pandemic on the Black community.

Topics included health equity in American-American communities and how to combat COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in some of those African-American communities.

The panel was moderated by NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin Chavis Jr. and focused on the efforts of the Health Equity Task Force.

President Joe Biden established the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force in January to address the disparities of the COVID-19 response.

The team is comprised of a diverse group of individuals, who have been hard at work making recommendations regarding the gaps in data with neglected demographics regarding health care, especially during the pandemic.

The group is tasked with not only advising Washington on how to proceed with pandemic relief efforts, but also the allocation of resource funds and improving communications within underserved communities.

The task force’s work is vital, given the fact that people of color have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

In Shelby County, for example, 57 percent of the reported COVID-19 cases have been among African Americans, compared to 30 percent among whites, according to the latest county Health Department data.

Fifty-eight percent of the county’s COVID-related deaths have been African Americans, according to the Health Department.

Task Force leader Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith is a nationally rec-

ognized advocate for health equity. She is an associate professor of

“Ultimately, we’re trying to get everyone in the country vaccinated who medically is able to. This has to be a community-level goal too…how key, it is for folks to see people they know getting vaccinated.”

— Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith medicine and epidemiology at the Yale School of Medicine, where she is also associate dean for Health Equity Research and founding director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center.

Her passion for improving access comes from her past experiences growing up on the U.S. Virgin Islands, where she watched the people suffer from illnesses that could have been dealt with, including her own father who was left paralyzed after having a stroke.

In the U.S., she saw people face similar hardships because of racial, social and geographical prejudice.

Joining her on the panel was frontline worker Dr. Cameron Webb. Webb has been treating patients at the University of Virginia’s COVID unit for nearly a year and

also is the director of Health Policy and Equity at the school. He also has been a member of the Obama Administration’s youth opportunity-based My Brother’s Keeper Task Force.

After being appointed in January, Webb now acts as the White House’s senior policy advisor for COVID-19 equity.

“In my lifetime, I’ve worked for three presidents on healthcare issues and that particular opportunity started with me being a doctor, started with me having a passion for taking care of people in my community. And I think that’s a really unique role,” said Webb.

Chavis emphasized that “vaccination hesitation” was an important focus of the task force.

Nunez-Smith said establishing trust within the community is one of the task force’s top priorities and made it clear that they weren’t going to back down from the challenge.

“Ultimately, we’re trying to get everyone in the country vaccinated, who medically is able to,” said Nunez-Smith. This has to be a community-level goal too… How key it is for folks to see people they know getting vaccinated.”

Misguided information has been a driving factor on why many people in communities of color have yet to be vaccinated.

Webb said fewer than nine percent of those who received the vaccine (and where the ethnicity was disclosed) were Black.

He believes that spreading accurate information through platforms such as the NNPA will be a major factor to stopping the spread.

“These vaccines are a key path to that (getting back to normal life),” said Webb. “Getting the right message out there as such a trusted voice that’s gonna be a key and that’s more important now than ever.”

Dr. Esther Obeng: At home in her lab at St. Jude

by Tom Charlier Ask Esther Obeng, M.D., Ph.D., about her job title, and she’s liable to offer up a variety of terms: physician-scientist, researcher, attending physician and assistant faculty member.

But there’s another title, one that preceded her position at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, that’s a particular point of pride for her.

“I’m a first-generation American,” she said.

Obeng’s father came to the U.S. from the West African nation of Ghana. Her mother emigrated from the Caribbean. They brought to their new country a strong work ethic and a yearning for excellence.

“Both of them instilled in myself and my brothers the importance of obtaining a good education in order to achieve goals and accomplish something positive.”

Obeng, to be sure, got that good education, earning a Bachelor of Science, medical and doctorate degrees at the University of Miami. And she’s put it to use not only to treat patients as a physician, but to conduct research aimed at finding new therapies and cures.

“And that’s one of the reasons that I ended up at St. Jude,” she said. “I was very interested and excited for the opportunity to take part in such a novel mission, to try to cure the incurable.”

Apart from the science and medicine, there’s another reason Obeng has found a home at St. Jude. After arriving, she learned about the research hospital’s history as the first fully integrated children’s hospital in the South and about its continuing focus in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion.

“That’s been a pleasant surprise and something that I’m very proud to be a part of.”

Contributions from donors make it possible for doctors and scientists like Obeng to conduct research and help find cures while ensuring no family treated at St. Jude ever re-

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ceives a bill. Obeng is able to attend to bone-marrow-transplant patients and has her own research lab. That combination of functions, research along with treating patients, appeals to her.

One of Obeng’s favorite experiences came when she emerged from her lab one day and saw a patient who previously had experienced complications waving to her as she left the hospital to go home.

“I think that connection — being able to be in the lab five minutes ago and then five minutes later see your patient, see that they made it home, I think is one of the special St. Jude moments,” Obeng said.

In her lab, Obeng delves into some of the most vexing mysteries of leukemia, such as why normal cells turn cancerous and how cancer cells can become resistant to drugs.

“What we’ve been focused on is trying to identify how different genetic changes or mutations cause normal cells to grow like cancer cells, with the goal of trying to find specific agents or therapies that will wipe out those cancer cells without causing much more toxicity,” she said.

Obeng’s lab is working with a number of different patient groups — those with leukemia and sickle cell disease, as well as children who have undergone bone marrow transplants — to design studies to identify cancer-causing mutations and then develop clinical trials with therapies that target them.

“One of the reasons that I study the research that I do is I had a patient who had a type of bone marrow failure syndrome. And her parents said, when she ultimately passed away, that they knew that they received the best care possible, and they just wished we knew something more,” Obeng said.

“That inspires me, in my research, to look for something more. It’s a privilege every day to take care of patients just like that one.”

(This story was distributed to The New Tri-State Defender via #NNPA BLACKPRESS.)

The New Tri-State Defender

May 13 - 19, 2021

Page 5

RELIGION Greg Peters of Memphis radio fame, mourned by many across the city

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

In addition to climbing this renowned mountain, Sherman Kilimanjaro traveled the world, setting foot on all seven continents.

(Courtesy photos)

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Reflecting upon the death of radio personality Gregory Bernard Peters, Jeff Lee, co-host of the Fun Afternoon Show on radio station WDIA, said, “It was magical.”

“I couldn’t have asked for a better radio personality to work with,” said Lee. “I would throw it to him, and he would throw it back to me, like we were playing catch.

Fred Moore and I loved working with Greg. It was like working for my brother.”

Peters, 53, was found dead in his Midtown home last Thursday (May 6) by a long-time family friend. He had not been ill, according to family and friends.

“We would see each other every day,” said long-time, family friend, Adrienne Wesley. “It was my birthday, and I had not seen him all day. We lived across the street from each other, and I saw him everyday for five years. It wasn’t like him to not come over. I went over to just check on him. I have a key, so I let myself in when he didn’t answer the door. It was heartbreaking to find him deceased.”

Peters grew up in the Walker Homes area and was born June 7, 1967. He developed an early love for music and interest in media. In 1985, he graduated from Mitchell High School, where he played football and sang in the school choir. Later, graduated from the Columbia School of Broadcasting in pursuit of his disc-jockey

An early love for music and an interest in media led to Greg Peters’ dream – to be a disc jockey.

(Courtesy photo) dream. He got his first job in radio at age 19 with WLOK. Peters was heard on Memphis airwaves for 30-plus years, working in a variety of formats, including: adult contemporary, gospel, urban adult contemporary, classic rock, smooth jazz, talk and blues.

He spent his early years at WLOK 1340 AM and WRVR 104 FM, The River. While at 104, Peters took some time off to care for his mother.

When he returned to local radio, it was at the historic WDIA, the first radio station programmed for and by African-Americans.

There he worked alongside legends such as Bobby O’Jay, Bev Johnson, Mark Stansbury and his on-air partner, Lee. He also hosted the midday show “Talk to Me” on WLRM 1380 AM and WMSO 104 FM Memphis Soul.

“By me being a part of the WDIA family for over 62 years, I am blessed to have known most of the on-air personalities,” said Stansbury. “Greg would always post something on his page about me when he heard I was receiving some award or being honored in some way.

He always remembers to post a happy birthday message as well. And for that, “I told the Lord, ‘Thank you for Greg Peters.’”

Peters encouraged artists and entrepreneurs on the entertainment circuit by playing their music, hosting local showcases and promoting their businesses. He was an avid supporter of community and political affairs, working alongside local and state officials.

Peters mentored young boys in the community as a volunteer coach for the Whitehaven Raiders youth football club.

He always credited his success and longevity in radio to God and his loyal listeners, according to his niece, Dr. Aerial Ellis of Nashville.

Services have been set for May 14-15, with visitation Friday, 4-7 p.m., at True Faith Baptist Church, 1070 Rozelle St. On Saturday, a funeral service is set for 11 a.m. at The Healing Cathedral, 4523 Elvis Presley Blvd.

Peters was a member of Eternal Life Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon and sang in the choir.

Bigger-than-life adventurer, Sherman Kilimanjaro, ‘had fun on his way to heaven’

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell Special to The New Tri-State Defender

“If there’s one thing you can say about my brother, it’s that he had a lot of fun on his way to heaven,” said Vivian Jean Wilburn of her brother Sherman Kilimanjaro.

Kilimanjaro died April 28 in Millington. He was 72.

“He was a lover of life and lived it with passion. Sherman was a world traveler and adventurer. Sherman squeezed a number of lifetimes in a life well-lived,” Wilburn said.

Kilimanjaro was born on June 17, 194, to the late Algie and Dora Perkins. The third of five children, he confessed his faith in Christ at an early age and was baptized at Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

He graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in the class of 1966. Kilimanjaro earned an associate’s degree from LeMoyne-Owen College, a bachelor’s degree from Philander Smith College in Little Rock and a master’s in business administration from Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. He also pursued post-graduate studies at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Kilimanjaro’s work experi-

ences were as colorful as his personality. He was bursar at the University of Memphis Health Center, a professor at Shelby State Community College, and business development officer at Tennessee State University, among other impressive posts.

However, Kilimanjaro had a desire to be an entrepreneur.

He started several businesses, but his love for travel led him to start a travel agency, “Great American Cruises.

His business flourished and brought him great personal joy and satisfaction.

Kilimanjaro was said to never have met a stranger and his big, hearty laugh endeared him to friends and loved ones, alike.

He toured more than 60 foreign countries and walked on all seven continents.

The highlight of his travels took place when he climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.

Standing at the top of the mountain and looking down on all that God had created, he told his family, he experienced a spiritual awakening that was life-changing.

When he returned home, Kilimanjaro officially changed his last name from Perkins to Kilimanjaro.

Kilimanjaro became a world-

Sherman Kilimanjaro class mountain climber. He climbed Mount Machu Picchu in southern Peru and Mount Denali in Alaska. He attempted a Mount Everest climb in Asia.

Kilimanjaro produced and hosted a number of television and radio shows, including: “Drugs Public Enemy #1” on television, from 1986-97; “Our Neighborhood” on television, from 1987-98.

Many will remember his scathing editorials on radio station WLOK. Kilimanjaro was a life-time member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. He is survived by one daughter, MeLisa Perkins Miller; his sister; a brother, Danny Ray Perkins of Houston, and three grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends.

LEGACY: Eurline Boyce Couch...

Mother’s Day speaker...

Lynn Marcus Hargrow, a contributing writer to the AME Church’s official organ “The Christian Recorder,” was the guest speaker on Mother’s Day at Collins Chapel CME, 678 Washington, Ave., where Bethel L. Harris Jr. is pastor. A researcher and writer, Hargrow’s work focuses on 19th and 29th century U.S. history, with particular attention to race, religion, material culture and politics.

(Photo: Tyrone P. Easley)

A physical education teacher at Porter Junior High School for 30 years, Eurline Boyce Couch, a Booker T. Washington High School and Tennessee State University graduate, died April 26. She was 93. A graveside ceremony was held at Forest Hill Cemetery, 1661 Elvis Presley Blvd., on May 7.

(Photo: Tyrone P. Easley)

COMMUNITY The New Tri-State Defender, May 13 - 19, 2021, Page 6

County Commissioners advance consideration of pipeline measure

by James Coleman

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Faced with a proposed ordinance that threatens the proposed Byhalia Pipeline Connection, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners passed the item on the first of three required readings on Monday.

The joint ordinance with the Memphis City Council would ban construction of pipelines within 1,500 feet of schools, churches, parks and recreation centers. The item passed on to a second reading with a 4-0 vote.

Seven commissioners abstained.

“We believe this ordinance is responsive to our community,” said Alex Hensley, special assistant to

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, who opposes the pipeline and proposed the ordinance.

“We’ve also heard concerns from Commissioners about working in tandem with the city on this joint ordinance.”

As proposed, the pipeline would pass over the Memphis Sand Aquifer, with opponents charging that it would endanger the main source of fresh drinking water for the city and region.

It would also pass through historically underserved African-American communities in South Memphis in its right-of-way to Byhalia, Mississippi. That has critics asserting that the project targets vulnerable communities.

“I know I have done research on all sides of this issue and still believe in where I stand, and that is protecting the city of Memphis from further environmental racism and environmental harm,” said Commissioner Tami Sawyer, who now is a co-sponsor along with Commissioner Willie Brooks Jr. Brooks, who wasn’t at the meeting, had indicated that he wanted the item pulled. However, in conversations with Chairman Eddie Jones he opted to have it pushed to July 7th. Commissioner Van Turner Jr. asked to be added as a co-sponsor so it could receive a second reading.

“Moving forward, I believe that we can both work closely with the city to

make sure the ordinance is something we can all get behind,” said Hensley.

“I believe that we can also be responsive to our constituents, specifically those who are concerned about the Byhalia Pipeline. This is why the administration is requesting the ordinance move on to a second reading.”

The Memphis City Council has been debating an ordinance regulating construction of pipelines within the city. Plains All-American, the company behind the proposed pipeline, has threatened to sue in response. There also are questions remain about the constitutionality of the proposed ordinance.

The commission has the option to delay a third reading until the

Memphis City Council vote is held.

During a recent meeting, the Council and Plains All-American agreed to a cooling off period until July.

“Attorneys on both sides have a lot of work to do, as it was mentioned in the city council last week,” said Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. “The city council attorney said there has been no communication. There has been a lot of talking here and there, but not where it counts.”

Voting in favor of first-reading passage were Commissioners Michael Whaley, Reginald Milton, Turner and Sawyer. Mark Billingsley, Mick Wright, David C. Bradford, Amber Mills, Brandon Morrison, Eddie Jones and Ford abstained.

With determination and a work ethic that caused professors to take note, Zenobia Early progressed in her STEM studies, netting a science scholarship to help her keep going.

(Courtesy photo)

LeMoyne-Owen College student earns prestigious STEM award

by Liaudwin Seaberry Jr.

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Pictured (l-r): Cynthia Haley, Classics Through the Ages co-chair; Vanecia Belser Kimbrow Esq., chapter president; Amor Williams, Collage recipient; Patrice Myers, chapter program chair; Darla Mayse, Classics Through the Ages co-chair; Kevin Thomas, Collage artistic director, and April Thompson Larsha, Arts Facet chair. (Courtesy photos)

River City Links forge collabs supporting promising youths

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Late April collaborations of The River City Links (TRCL) with two local entities kicked off with a little bit of fanfare and lots of style.

Scholarship announcements at both the Collage Dance Collective and LeMoyne-Owen College made for a full day of generosity and goodwill for the distinguished ladies of TRCL on April 30.

“We only learned about a month ago that the Links would be partnering with us to support our work with young people,” said Kevin Thomas, co-founder and artistic director of Collage. “Of course, the other co-founder, Marcellus Harper, who is also executive director, was delighted as well.”

Thomas and Harper were asked to choose two deserving dance students to be recipients of scholarship funding, totaling $3,600 each, as part of the Links’ national Classics Through the Ages initiative.

The chosen two will use the funds to defray costs of attending summer dance training at the University of Utah.

“When I found out I was going to receive the scholarship award, mom and I were just crying tears of joy,”

Seated (l-r): Charlene Turner (Charter member, River City (TN) Links and Emma Jean Stotts, (co-organizer, River City (TN) Links. Standing (l-r): Patrice Myers; Vanecia Belser Kimbrow, Esq., president, River City (TN) Links; Carolyn Bishop; Beverly Robertson; Carla Stotts Hills, and LeMoyne Owen College President Dr. Vernell Bennett-Fairs. said Amor Williams, a sophomore at St. Mary’s Episcopal School. “I am excited about the summer training. It is one of the most prestigious dance programs. Of course, I am planning to dance professionally as a career.”

The other recipient is 17-year-old Noah Broadway, a junior at Crosstown High School. Broadway was unable to attend the presentation.

The $3,600 check was the first of two checks allocated to Collage.

“This presentation today is de-

signed to give young people in underserved communities access to classical arts through education,” said The River City Links President Vanecia Belser Kimbrow, Esq.. “We are delighted to support local honor students who are extremely passionate and talented.”

The presentation comes on the heels of a $6,000 donation to the building fund of Collage’s new state-of-the-art edifice.

Later in the afternoon, Kimbrow

and other representatives of the River City Links presented LeMoyne-Owen College and its new President Dr. Vernell A. Bennett-Fairs a check presentation along with a pledge of support.

“This presentation represents so many beautiful legacies in our organization,” said Kimbrow. “We have always partnered with LeMoyne-Owen College. It is our school.

We are dedicated to our HBCU. We love our students, and we want to help you grow in any way we can.

Also, we want to welcome you to our city and our school, President Bennett-Fairs.”

The Links, Incorporated is an international, nonprofit corporation established in 1946. The membership consists of more than 16,000 professional women of African descent in 292 chapters in 41 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and the United Kingdom.

It is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of women, who are committed to supporting the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. The River City Links is one of 82 chapters in The Southern Area.

LeMoyne-Owen College student Zenobia Early could not believe her eyes when she checked her email and realized that she was among the recipients of the First Annual Rooted in Science scholarship.

The prestigious award is provided to 11 African-American female rising juniors and seniors, who are striving for careers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) industry. The scholarship is $5,000 per year.

“I had to double-check and check again to make sure that it was really true,” Early said nervously. “I am really grateful to have received the award, because I was not even sure that my name would really even be in the mix.”

The Rooted in Science Scholarship, sponsored by noted hair-care brands Royal Oils by Head and Shoulders and Gold Series from Pantene, selected these hard-working women pursuing STEM degrees from HBCU’s and UNCF (United Negro College Fund) schools.

Early’s enthusiasm for STEM grew during her later years of high school and continued to get her through some difficult classes at LeMoyne-Owen.

She learned to persevere through previous struggles in the classroom and professors such as Dr. Daniel Osbourne noticed that Early’s work ethic and dedication to success made her stand out.

“I taught Zenobia during some very inconvenient circumstances last semester,” Osbourne said, noting the online classes institutionalized due to COVID-19.

“What stood out to me about her included her determination and work ethic. Those qualities of hers pushed her through my course, Organic Chemistry, which happens to be one of the most challenging courses an undergraduate can undertake in the STEM department.”

“Zenobia has a bright future in the STEM industry, and I am proud to have had her as one of my students,” Osbourne added. “She’s determined to succeed and I think that will get her far in the industry.”

The New Tri-State Defender

May 13 - 19, 2021

Page 7

ENTERTAINMENT

Local filmmaker George Tillman hits cinema gold

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

“The Birth of Soul Music” screened at the Orpheum Theatre this past weekend, kicking off with a live concert on Friday, May 7. Local film writer, George Whitaker Tillman Jr., showcased his latest documentary.

Music lovers as well as history buffs came to check out the music and the film, which features Grammy Award-winning singer Bobby Rush talking about how Club Paradise was back in its heyday.

“I came to Club Paradise right after Muddy Waters and B.B. King,” said Rush in the film’s trailer. “Everybody who was anybody came to the Club Paradise.

Gospel, blues, R&B – they all came through these doors.”

Rush was filmed in front of what he calls the “Wall of Soul.” Many performers and recording artists have their images on the wall. Rush remembers the ’50s and ’60s, when Club Paradise hosted soul and blues greats: Tyrone Davis, The Dells, The Temptations, Ike and Tina Turner, William Bell, Howling Wolf and Aretha Franklin.

Rush even recalled Elvis Presley playing Club Paradise. From Detroit to Chicago,

up from the cotton fields of Mississippi, blues greats and soul stirrers made Club Paradise the place to be.

Vintage photos of patrons enjoying live shows, authentic recordings of groups and artists long deceased create a historical record of how soul music got its start.

A stellar football player at South Side High School, Tillman attended Fisk University on a track and field scholarship and played on a championship Fisk football team. He became a prolific player of the harmonica and developed a great love and interest in filmmaking and music.

Tillman was deeply moved by the closing of Stax Records.

Tillman wrote and produced “The Lucky Eleven” about how 11 students played football together at South Side High School and how they all went to Fisk University in Nashville together in the early 1970s. Tillman was one of those 11. The documentary was screened on the campus of Fisk University in late 2017.

Documentaries are his artistic production of choice.

Additional screenings of “The Birth of Soul Music” will be announced.

The documentary was produced by Cinematic Arts, and edited by TRE Productions.

Bluesman extraordinaire Bobby Rush checks out the moves of Tennessee Hall of Fame radio personality Bev Johnson during the concert that kicked off the screening of “The Birth of Soul Music.”

Music lovers had plenty to tap their feet to at the live concert.

For local filmmaker George Whitaker Tillman Jr., “The Birth of Soul Music” was another of his labors of love. (Photos: Tyrone P. Easley)

The New Tri-State Defender

May 13 - 19, 2021

Page 8

NEWS

CLASSIFIEDS NOTICE OF PROPOSED SALE OF REAL PROPERTY

BY SHELBY COUNTY GOVERNMENT Notice is hereby given, pursuant to T.C.A. §67-5-2507, that Shelby County Government has received an Offer to Purchase for the following property: Torleia Brown Tax Parcel #: 08302900000240 Tax Sale #: 1004 Price Offered: $2,000 Terms: Cash Additional Offers to Purchase, of at least ten percent (10%) higher, may be submitted within Ten (10) working days of this notice.

If additional offers are received during this ten (10) day period, all prospective Purchasers must attend a Public “Bid Off” at 10:00 a.m. on June 2, 2021, to be held in the Shelby County Land Bank Office, to determine the highest and best offer. The property shall thereafter be sold to the prospective Purchaser making the highest and best offer without warranties

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Tennessee death row inmate Pervis Payne is asking a Memphis court to declare that he cannot be executed because he is intellectually disabled. (Photo: Tennessee Department of Correction via AP, File)

by Travis Loller The Associated Press

NASHVILLE – A Tennessee death row inmate’s attorneys on Wednesday asked a court to declare that he cannot be executed because he is intellectually disabled.

The petition was filed in Memphis Criminal Court one day after Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill making retroactive Tennessee’s law that prohibits the execution of the intellectually disabled.

Such executions were ruled unconstitutional in 2002, when the U.S. Supreme Court found they violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. But until Tuesday, Tennessee’s law had no mechanism for an inmate to reopen his case in order to press a claim of intellectual disability.

Attorneys for Pervis Payne, 54, have long argued that he is intellectually disabled and helped push for the change to the law. The petition they filed on Wednesday includes IQ tests as well as declarations from teachers, employers, neighbors and family members attesting to Payne’s learning and functioning difficulties.

A sister seven years younger than Payne reported that when they were children, he was incapable of helping her with homework. Others said Payne could not count money or add up items at a store. He struggled to read and had a very limited vocabulary. Although he attended school through the 12th grade, he failed the proficiency test five times

mony that he cut himself while handling the knife as he tried to help the victims, defense attorney Kelley Henry told the court at a January hearing.

Payne’s DNA was not found on the handle although partial DNA evidence from an unknown man was. However, there was not enough DNA material to enter it into a national FBI database and attempt to match it to someone else, Henry said. Scrapings from Christopher’s fingernails, collected from the crime scene, could not be located for testing.

Payne had been scheduled to die last December, but the execution was delayed after Lee granted him a rare, temporary reprieve because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The reprieve expired in April, but the state Supreme Court has not set a new execution date yet.

State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, a Memphis Democrat and chairman of the Tennessee Black Caucus, co-sponsored the bill that allowed Payne to petition the court on Wednesday. In a written statement, Hardaway called on Weirich not to fight Payne’s intellectual disability claim.

“The motto on the Shelby County District Attorney’s website is ‘Do the right thing every day for the right reason,’” Hardaway said. “Well, now is the time to do the right thing.

“D.A. Weirich should join with the Memphis community – her constituents – and agree that Pervis Payne is a person with intellectual disability. As such, his execution would be unconstitutional.”

Torleia Brown Tax Parcel #: 08302900000170 Tax Sale #: 1004 Price Offered: $2,000 Terms: Cash Additional Offers to Purchase, of at least ten percent (10%) higher, may be submitted within Ten (10) working days of this notice.

If additional offers are received during this ten (10) day period, all prospective Purchasers must attend a Public “Bid Off” at 9:30 a.m. on June 2, 2021, to be held in the Shelby County Land Bank Office, to determine the highest and best offer. The property shall thereafter be sold to the prospective Purchaser making the highest and best offer without warranties of any sort.

Shelby County Land Bank 584 Adams Avenue Memphis, TN 38103 (901)222-2400

ONLINE SHOPPING WITH IN-STORE PICKUP OR DELIVERY AVAILABLE!

Tennessee inmate asks court to declare he can’t be executed and was never able to graduate. A supervisor at Pizza Hut described him as “mentally challenged” and said he had difficulty remembering simple instructions.

Payne was sentenced to death in a Memphis court for the 1987 stabbing deaths of Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter, Lacie Jo. Christopher’s son, Nicholas, who was 3 at the time, also was stabbed but survived.

Payne, who is Black, has always claimed innocence. He told police he was at Christopher’s apartment building to meet his girlfriend when he heard the victims, who were white, and tried to help them.

He said he panicked when he saw a white policeman and ran away.

Payne’s case was still under appeal when the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to execute the intellectually disabled, but he didn’t claim a disability until after his appeals were exhausted. That involved reopening his case and required a change in state law.

“It was only after it was too late that Payne’s attorneys decided to file,” Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said in an emailed statement. “The new law signed by Governor Lee allows Payne to file the petition today, which he has done.

It will now be up to the courts to decide, based upon the evidence presented and the law.”

Last year, a judge ruled to allow DNA testing in Payne’s case for the first time. His DNA was found on the hilt of the knife used in the killings, which matches his trial testi-

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The New Tri-State Defender

May 13 - 19, 2021

Page 9

SPORTS

Down goes Dallas as Memphis surges toward key remaining games

two teams met.

Doncic was limSpecial to The New Tri-State Defender ited to 12 points, five assists and A third consecutive win Tuesday five rebounds in night with three regular-season games 25 minutes. yet to play puts the Memphis Grizzlies Head coach in control of their own play-in tournaTaylor Jenkins ment fate as they grind toward a Westsaid “huge credern Conference Playoffs birth. it” was due to The Grizzlies saddled the Dallas Terry Dillon Brooks, Mavericks with a no-doubt 133-104 Davis who handled loss at FedExForum, winning for the much of the duty first time this season against Dallas. of defending Doncic.

With a 36-33 record, Memphis has “(He) got a lot of those minutes on secured a spot in the four-team, playhim, but there was a stretch there in in tournament and now is fighting for that first half where we had (De’Anseeding. thony Melton) on him,” Jenkins said.

With Golden State’s win over the “We were switching and we had bigs Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, the Grizon him … we threw different things zlies remain a half-game behind the at him.”

Warriors in pursuit of the eighth seed Memphis led by one (28-27) after in the Western Conference. The playthe first quarter. The score was tied in tournament format calls for seeds at 57 with seconds remaining in the seven and eight to play, with the winsecond frame when Brooks hit a ner making the playoffs. The loser three-pointer as time expired. plays the winner of the matchup beThe Grizzlies rolled in the third tween seeds nine and ten for the requarter, outscoring the Mavericks by maining playoffs spot.

11 (36-25).

Memphis closes the season on the “I think our starters set a really road against Golden State on Sungood tone there in that third quarter. day (May 16). The finish the home Our defense was big for us,” Jenkins regular season with a pair of games said. against the Sacramento Kings on Ja Morant, Memphis’ floor general, Thursday and Friday. sat out the entire fourth quarter after Beating Dallas on TuesdayNewspaper night Ad –245x8.5 registering points, 8 assists and 7 meant the Grizzlies had to account rebounds for All-Star Luka Doncic, who hit a “No matter who we have out there three-pointer at the buzzer to propel the on the floor, we all have to be locked Mavericks to victory the last time the

by Terry Davis

in, be ready to play,” Morant said.

“When we handle our business and do what we’re supposed to do, we are able to have fun and laugh, because it will most likely result in a win.

“But we always have to have fun with what we’re doing. We’re blessed; not too many people have the opportunity we have, making it to ‘the league.’ So you got to enjoy every bit of it. … So we were just being ourselves tonight and also handling business while doing it.”

Brooks took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of his 22 points.

With the loss, the Mavericks fell into a fifth-place tie with the Portland Trailblazers. Both teams are two games ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers and have the tiebreaker to avoid the play-in tournament.

NOTE: • The Grizzlies got the win over the Mavericks without the services of two of the team’s best post players – Jonas Valanciunas and Jaren Jackson Jr. Both sat out the game to rest.

• John Konchar, who had nine points in the win against New Orleans in the previous game, had another good game off the bench, scoring 18 points and racking six rebounds.

Asked earlier this week about staying focused, Konchar said, “We have play groups when people aren’t in the rotation. You just got to play that.

Whenever your number is called you just always have to be ready. You got to stay ready at all times.”

Xavier Tillman and Dillon Brooks of the Grizzlies have Luka Doncic of the Mavericks surrounded. (Photos: Warren Roseborough)

Brandon Clarke had 14 points and nine rebounds.

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The New Tri-State Defender

May 13 - 19, 2021

Page 10

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