The New Tri-State Defender - July15-21, 2021

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July 15 - 21, 2021

VOL. 70, No. 28

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The CodeCrew team of Kela Jones, deputy executive director; Keenon Fox, finance manager and Meka Egwuekwe (right), executive director, grew the company’s assets through the funding challenges of 2020. (Courtesy photo)

In 1931, the year Ida B. Wells-Barnett died, her long-time friend and fellow activist Julia Hooks (left) pushed for Memphis leaders to name a new park built for African Americans after her. (Photos: Julia Hooks image courtesy of Memphis and Shelby County Room at Memphis Public Library. Ida B. Wells-Barnett in a photograph by Mary Garrity from c. 1893.)

Ninety years before the Ida B. Wells statue, Memphians wanted to name a park after her

by Laura Faith Kebede

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

This week’s statue unveiling for Ida B. Wells is not the first time Memphis attempted to honor the famed journalist and suffragist with a landmark.

In 1931, the year Wells died, her long-time friend and fellow activist Julia Hooks pushed for Memphis leaders to name a new park built for African-Americans after her.

White vigilantes had driven Wells out of Memphis nearly 40 years earlier after she wrote scathing articles revealing that white mobs used false accusations of Black men raping white women as an excuse for lynching.

Selma Lewis and Marjean Kremer, who together wrote a biography of Hooks, “Angel of Beale Street,” documented Hooks’ desire to name the park after Wells in a series of interviews with those who knew Hooks.

Hooks had demanded George W. Lee, an influential Black Memphis politician at the time, persuade then-mayor Edward Hull “Boss” Crump to name the park after Wells.

It’s uncertain if the campaign to name the park after Wells went beyond those conversations.

The park eventually was named after W.C. Handy, the composer and musician who took blues to the national stage, and

SEE WELLS ON PAGE 2

Think Ida B. Wells and then answer this: ‘What are you willing to suffer?’

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

In the historic church that housed the newspaper produced by fear-defying journalist Ida B. Wells, the spearhead of the effort to honor her with a Memphis statue issued “a call to action” during a Sunday evening (July 11) worship service.

“A man or woman should not be judged by what they say or what they do,” said the Rev. Dr. L. LaSimba M. Gray Jr., a founding member of the Memphis Memorial Committee, whose effort to create a monument saluting Wells culminates

The Rev. Dr. L. LaSimba M. Gray Jr. delivered an impassioned plea for civil rights activism to honor “the life, legacy and labor” of Ida B. Wells during a service that kicked of Ida B. Wells Celebration Week. (Photo: Tyrone P. Easley) with a Beale Street unveiling on Friday morning.

“A person should be judged by what they are willing to suffer. Ida B. Wells spent 53 of her 69 years putting aside her own self-interest. She followed the mandate of Jesus Christ,” said Gray from the pulpit of First Baptist Church-Beale

Street, which, notably, was built by freed slaves.

“What are you willing to suffer? This is a call to action.”

Gray’s impassioned plea for civil rights

SEE SUFFER ON PAGE 2

CodeCrew powers through to bigger location, bigger dreams

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

In the midst of permanent closures crippling disruptions from the global pandemic of 2020, a few local entities thrived and flourished through the chaotic adjustments of restrictive mandates. CodeCrew is among them.

Executive Director Meka Egwuekwe recalls those early days in March when everything just stopped. There was a crash of all that was considered normal life. Spring Break for students in Shelby County Schools had just turned into the end of their school year.

“Our programs are in Shelby County Schools, and our kids were just coming out Spring Break,” said Egwuekwe. “We were able to get us ZOOM-based classes for our kids. “We realized that every child did not Delta strain have access to computers of COVID-19 at home. So we sent packsparks ets to schools. There was a great partnership with concern in Shelby County Schools, Tennessee and we presented episodes – Page 7 on SCS television: plugged and unplugged coding lessons for kids.”

Egwuekwe called it “a whirlwind moment,” but a moment for which CodeCrew was prepared.

“Although we are a non-profit, we’re still a technology company,” Egwuekwe said. “And as a technology company, we felt we ought to be able to pivot and take the lead in virtual operations. Just a few weeks ago, we moved into this building. I look forward to expanding our reach in education among children in grades 1-12, and adult education.”

Egwuekwe’s ready smile and confident manner makes growing through a pandemic seem as natural as anything, but he says, the financial challenges to stay afloat were daunting. Like other organizations and businesses, CodeCrew leaders had to do some scrambling around and preserving of resources.

“We had a couple of loans, a grant here and there to get us through,” said Egwuekwe.

Deputy Executive Director Kela Jones said the search and appeal for funding has never stopped.

“For a non-profit, there is never a time when fundraising stops,” said Jones. “One of the happiest moments for me was telling Meka that we have received two large gifts. When I called to tell him, I told him to sit down first. That’s part of my job, to make sure this man doesn’t have to worry about where the money is going to

SEE CODE ON PAGE 2

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The New Tri-State Defender

July 15 - 21, 2021

Page 2

NEWS CODE

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Several public images and references to Ida B. Wells are displayed in Memphis, according to Jimmy Ogle, former Shelby County Historian, whose documentation includes murals (top, bottom, l-r) at 994 Mississippi Blvd. (next to Four Way Grill); the MLGW parking garage, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. and S. Main St.; the Wells Fargo Bank branch, 42 S. Claybrook St., and the Upstanders mural at Mulberry St. and Huling Ave.

WELLS

CONTINUED FROM FRONT still stands today on Beale and Third streets.

But the desire demonstrates that Memphians did not forget Wells after she fled.

“Memphis didn’t forget Ida B. Wells. We’ve been preserving our history as Black people in Memphis for a long time,” said Earnestine Jenkins, an art history professor at University of Memphis, who has done extensive research on Black Memphis history.

Consequently, Hooks’ great-great-grandson Michael Hooks Jr. and his cousin and business partner Brent Hooks donated $1,000 to the Ida B. Wells statue effort help bring that desire to life 90 years later.

Julia Hooks, a Black woman, was a legend in her own right. She was a child prodigy musician and was one of the first women to attend Berea College in Kentucky.

She also taught white students there, which was extremely rare in the 1870s. After moving to Memphis, Hooks taught notable Memphis musicians such as W.C. Handy and Lucie Campbell.

Beyond music, Hooks was among the first to protest Jim Crow segregation laws in Memphis, a path Wells followed soon after.

Hooks also created the city’s first juvenile detention center for Black youth from her home

SUFFER

CONTINUED FROM FRONT activism to honor “the life, legacy and labor” of Ida B. Wells capped a service kicking of Ida B. Wells Celebration Week. “The Actualized Faith of Ida B. Wells” was a well-researched treatise about the strength of conviction Wells demonstrated throughout her life.

On a printing press in the basement of First Baptist Church-Beale, Wells published her newspaper doc-

and later opened a nursing home for Black Memphians.

She also was one of the founders of the Memphis chapter of the NAACP. Her grandson, Benjamin Hooks, was elected executive director of the national NAACP in 1977, serving at the helm of the organization until 1992.

He is the namesake of the city’s main library and the University of Memphis Institute for Social Change.

Julia Hooks, along with several other contemporaries in Memphis, such as millionaire Robert Church Sr., played a large role in Wells’ development as an activist.

“Ida B. Wells’ activism wasn’t created in a vacuum,” Jenkins said. “The community of Black activists in the city shaped her.”

Michael Hooks Jr. sees his contribution to the Ida B. Wells statue as a continuation of helping change the way Memphis commemorates its past.

Hooks’ engineering firm, Allgood Project Management, assisted the city and nonprofit Memphis Greenspace in removing the Confederate statues of Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis in 2017.

“We want to replace that history with our own history for the next generation to learn from,” Hooks said.

The statue of Wells will be unveiled Friday (July 16) morning on the corner of Beale and Fourth streets. For more information on the week’s events, visit www.idabwellsmemphis.org

umenting and decrying the lynching of African Americans in the United States.

And on Sunday evening, the church’s age-reflecting sanctuary seemed a fitting backdrop for a message of remembrance and respect for the iconic civil rights activist.

Gray made the case that there is much work to do, as evidenced by Republican-led legislatures that have – amid former President Donald Trump’s “big lie” that the 2020 election was stolen from him – passed laws that effectively present obstacles to

come from.”

Jones said one thing the pandemic did for education in Shelby County was prove that the “one size fits all” model does not necessarily work for everyone.

“I know of a student in the 38126 who was having issues with in-person instruction in the classroom. There were serious behavioral problems. But when classroom instruction went strictly virtual, he began to thrive in that format.

We literally have to figure out what works best for each individual child.”

Although new challenges emerged from the pandemic, Egwuekwe never lost sight of his vision. Six years of pouring everything into his dream of exposing young people and adults to the computer coding profession fueled his resolve to expand and build on what has already been accomplished.

So many lives had been changed because of CodeCrew. The trajectory of generational poverty had been turned in the lives of young people, hundreds of them, over the years.

“From the beginning of CodeCrew, we have recognized that not every child or every adult will become a software engineer or computer scientist,” said Egwuekwe. But we recognize the great value to every child and every adult having exposure and access to computational thinking and the benefits of that approach to solving problems.”

Egwuekwe said CodeCrew, for children who become really passionate about coding, keeps them fed in terms of what they can learn. Others with a casual interest represent the other end of the spectrum. But changing the image of what a computer scientist looks like is critical.

“Too many black and brown kids, too many girls assume it’s for white and Asian males,” said Egwuekwe. “And they’ve not even had the opportunity to try to see whether or not this is something they can do. And so, for us, just even pulling back the covers for them in terms of them having some kind of introduction to see it’s not rocket science, is also a success, even if they choose to do something else.”

Fourteen-year-old Gabriella Gilliom, now a freshman at Craigmont High School, fell in love with coding when she first started with CodeCrew in the third grade.

“I was eight-years old when I started,” said Gilliom. “And I really loved it. I can be creative in every way. It was at Lester Community Center, ALSAC/St. Jude Black Girls CODE. I have been coding for six years.”

Coding for Gilliom has inspired big dreams and broadened her plans for pursuing higher education.

“After graduation, I hope to be an intern at CodeCrew, while I’m going to college,” said Gilliom. “The first two years, I want to attend

Pastor William A. “Bill” Adkins Jr. pours libation, invoking the memory of the ancestors. (Photo: Tyrone P. Easley) voting, particularly by African Americans.

“They’re trying to make sure we don’t go and vote.

Gabriella Gilliom, who has been with CodeCrew for six years, at a Black Girl Code event at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. (Courtesy photo) the University of Memphis. The last two years, I want to attend school in Japan as an exchange student. Because of CodeCrew, I want this to be my career.”

CodeCrew teaching assistant, Houston Moses, 22, has loved computers from a very young age.

“Ever since I was a kid, I have always loved going into the Apple Store to see what’s new,” said Moses. “I always looked up to Steve Jobs and Bill Gates because they were in computer programming and software.”

Moses graduated high school in 2017 and took a break. He got connected with CodeCrew and began making important moves that will take him on the road to becoming a successful software engineering.

“I completed a six-month web developer boot camp at the University of Washington in Seattle,” said Moses. “Presently, I am attending Northwest Community College in Southaven, MS. I will graduate in next Spring in 2022.

Technology is everywhere. There are so many innovations possible. We can make society better with technology.”

Moses said CodeCrew gave him an important foundation upon which to build a career in software engineering. Moses was recently selected for a data science boot camp, a 16-week program with WorldQuant Predictive.

“All these opportunities came to me because of CodeCrew,” said Moses. “My life has been an exciting journey, a good journey. My future is very bright.”

CodeCrew, in addition to working with students, has offered intensive, instructional programs for adults looking to change their lives with a career in computer coding.

According to Indeed.com, the national average salary for a computer coder starting out is about $48,000. Adults who have completed the CodeCrew program have started out as high as $75,000-$80,000, Egwuekwe said.

I don’t care what laws they pass. We need to go and vote,” said Gray, who then built upon the need for resolve. “It’s dangerous to tell the truth in 2021. … But we’ve got to stand on the truth and tell the truth.

We must be determined and resolved that we will tell the truth.

“A law was passed to protect Asian Americans from racial violence, and we applaud that. But we say to President Biden, you’ve got some people who have been waiting 400 years. Pass the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Bill and

the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.” In Memphis, said Gray, an activist agenda is being discussed in the context of “what comes next after Friday’s unveiling” of the Ida B. Wells statue and the end of Ida B. Wells Celebration Week.

The Rev. Dr. Bill Adkins, pastor of Greater Imani Cathedral of Faith and a Memphis Memorial Committee member, shared that he has been talking with city council members about renaming 4th Street “Ida B. Wells Street.”

PERSPECTIVE The New Tri-State Defender, July 15 - 21, 2021, Page 3

Warnock vs.

Walker?

Someone tell Republicans replacing one Black man for another doesn’t work

by Sophia A. Nelson theGrio.com

Rep. Steve Cohen: “… for the first time in 10 years, new House rules have allowed me to direct federal spending of more than $11.7 million to projects and priorities that will improve the quality of life in our district.” (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises/ TSD Archives)

10 priorities for Community Project Funding for FY 2022

by Rep. Steve Cohen Memphis and Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District have unique and specific needs – needs unlike those in Montana, Florida or New York City.

I am pleased to announce that, for the first time in 10 years, new House rules have allowed me to direct federal spending of more than $11.7 million to projects and priorities that will improve the quality of life in our district.

I finalized a list of 10 priorities to be considered for Community Project Funding for the Fiscal Year 2022. I am proud to say that all 10 made it over the first hurdle in the appropriations process this week. That list includes: • $3 million for the Historic Melrose Redevelopment Project to invest in the redevelopment of the Historic Melrose High School and the Orange Mound Community.

• $1,080,000 for the Collins Chapel Connectional Hospital to provide the first respite and recuperative care center in the Mid-South for homeless individuals who are medically

fragile.

• $400,000 for educational and job opportunities for residents of Orange Mound and Binghampton at Christian Brothers University.

• $750,000 for the ReStart Initiative, small business development program that includes leadership training for Black managers, entrepreneurs and business owners, and identifies opportunities for Black businesses to thrive. The program is led by the Black Business Association of Memphis.

• $671,000 for the Cocaine and Alcohol Awareness Program, Incorporated (CAAP Inc.) Community Corrections Program. The funding would be used to support the community-based, residential, alternative-to-incarceration, corrections program that has a partnership with the Tennessee Department of Corrections.

• $450,000 for Sadie B’s Kitchen at The Hospitality Hub to build a commercial kitchen in the shelter as well as provide two supplemental food trucks.

• $3 million for improvements to Tom Lee Park on the Mississippi River.

• $1 million for the Local

Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) for home repairs for low income senior citizens.

• $1 million for purchasing equipment for the Regional One Medical Center.

• $350,000 for facilities upgrades and equipment for the Church Health Center.

As I said, this funding has gotten over the first hurdle and, in the weeks ahead, I am hopeful the full House of Representatives will vote on the various appropriations bills. Even with House action, the projects must also be supported and voted upon by the U.S. Senate before this funding comes to Memphis when President Biden signs it into law.

I am proud of all of the work that has gotten done so far and I will continue to do all that I can to make sure funding for these project remains in the final spending bills.

In the years to come, I look forward to greeting many of you at the new Tom Lee Park or walking around a rejuvenated Melrose High School.

(Rep. Steve Cohen represents Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District.)

In yet another shady move from former President Donald J. Trump to reassert himself into our national politics, he recently announced publicly that former NFL great Herschel Walker told him that he was going to run for the U.S. Senate in Georgia in 2022.

Although Walker has not yet made a formal announcement, there is a concern in GOP circles in Georgia that he may not be ready for such a big platform, and up against a native son of Georgia in Senator Raphael Warnock. Should he decide to run, Walker’s opponent will be the newly-elected incumbent Reverend Warnock who was the first Black senator elected to office in Georgia since Reconstruction.

Warnock won handily in his primary field and got the most votes in the general special election of January 2021. He will be a formidable opponent against any GOP challenger, but particularly a political novice like Walker who doesn’t even live in Georgia. He resides as his primary residence in Texas, according to news reports.

Let’s put this into context: as the Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell aims to win back the Senate majority in 2022, the Democrats most of all must hold on to Georgia. The Republicans narrowly lost the Senate in January when the Democrats barely swept Georgia’s twin Senate runoff elections.

But the 2022 election map is tough for Republicans nationally as they will be playing plenty of defense — they must defend 20 of the 34 seats up for grabs, including five open seats – with two of them in the crucial battlegrounds of Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Democrats also see opportunities to flip two seats from red to blue in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and longer shots in Florida and maybe even in Wisconsin and North Carolina.

It’s worth noting that Republicans who have enacted oppressive voting rights laws in Georgia are being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for Voting Rights Act violations.

In the Peach State, the GOP sees Warnock as one of the most vulnerable Democrats running for reelection in 2022, and with the draconian change in state voting laws and Trump actively recruiting Herschel Walker, they could be right.

Republican arrogance and ignorance led by the biggest fool in American history, Donald Trump, leads them to mistakenly believe that replacing one Black man for another is the answer to their problems in Georgia. Not so. Black voters and Black citizens are far more astute than that. The Republicans show their utter lack of understanding of Black people and the role of Black clergy in our communities with this blatant attempt to replace Pastor

Warnock with a famed Black football player.

What Republicans fail (and have failed) to understand for the past 50 years is that Black people are not sinHerschel gle-issue voters.

Walker We care about everything our white fellow voters care about: education, taxes, housing, the right to own property, and building a better future for our children.

Instead of courting us, and Raphael talking to us, and Warnock listening to what our communities need, Trump and his minions in Georgia think that they can run a Black man, and just swap one for another.

Thus, somehow tricking the voters of Georgia that the two men are the same. They are not.

Although we can all appreciate and celebrate Mr. Walker’s storied football career at the University of Georgia, we have to be clear that if he is a friend of Donald Trump’s, and Trump’s white grievance insurrectionist party, he is no friend to Black people.

Six months ago, Donald Trump, then president of the United States, incited and led an open and hostile rebellion against the constitutional processes of the U.S. government.

Trump lied about the election results. Trump tried to intimidate and influence Georgie’s secretary of elections and other state officials to overturn the results in his favor.

This is the man that Herschel Walker calls his friend and who he supported for four more years as president in 2020.

Senator Warnock defeated then appointed Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler by a razor-thin margin on Jan. 5, 2021, to serve the final two years of the term of former GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson, who resigned in 2019 due to health reasons. That means that Georgia Democrats, the Biden administration, and activists like Stacey Abrams must work overtime to ensure that he keeps his seat.

And if the GOP is so petty and ridiculous to nominate Mr. Walker, instead of a more experienced, red-meat in a red state Republican, who can really excite the MAGA forces, they will not take back the Senate seat. That wouldn’t only be a win for Georgia, it would be a win for all of us in the United States of America.

(Sophia A. Nelson is a contributing editor for theGrio. Nelson is a TV commentator and is the author of “The Woman Code: Powerful Keys to Unlock,” “Black Women Redefined.”)

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The New Tri-State Defender

July 15 - 21, 2021

Page 4

NEWS

Ex-Tennessee health official: State backed off vaccine push

by Jonathan Mattise Associated Press

NASHVILLE – Tennessee health officials will not acknowledge that August is National Immunization Awareness Month per an order from the state’s health commissioner, emails show.

The order, obtained by NewsChannel 5, was given to Tennessee’s former top vaccination chief earlier this month just days before she was fired amid Republican outrage over her push to inoculate teenagers against COVID-19.

The firing of Dr. Michelle Fiscus sparked alarm among doctors, public health advocates and Democrats at Gov. Bill Lee’s administration hesitancy to promote the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as the administration’s recent actions to back off from promoting other vital vaccinations.

“August is National Immunization Awareness Month and we would typically do a news release, a Governor’s proclamation ... ,” Dr. Michelle Fiscus wrote in a July 8 email.

“Please let me know if we’ll be permitted to acknowledge the occasion.”

Dr. Tim Jones, chief medical officer of the Tennessee Department of Health, replied “Per the Commissioner, no outreach at all.”

Sarah Tanksley, a spokesperson for Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey, said the agency had “in no way halted the immunizations for children program” and stressed that the

state will continue to support vaccine outreach efforts.

Tanksley added the state is “mindful of hesitancy” surrounding vaccinations and pointed out the department intends to recognize National Immunization Awareness Month.

Last year, Lee signed a proclamation declaring August as Immunization Awareness Month, stating “Tennesseans are encouraged to get vaccines due or overdue administered according to CDC recommended immunization schedules.”

Fiscus served as medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the health department. She said the state’s elected leaders put politics over the health of children by firing her for her efforts to get more Tennesseans vaccinated.

She said the agency gave no reason for why she was being let go.

Given a choice of resigning or being fired, she chose termination. Fiscus then penned a blistering 1,200-word response saying she is ashamed of Tennessee’s leaders, afraid for her state, and “angry for the amazing people of the Tennessee Department of Health

who have been mistreated by an uneducated public and leaders who have only their own interests in mind.”

Since then, the health department has acknowledged it has halted all outreach efforts around any kind of vaccines for children, not just COVID-19 ones. The Tennessean first confirmed the policy change.

Fiscus said Wednesday the policy change comes as an estimated 30,000 teens in Tennessee are behind on the vaccination schedule due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

In the day’s since Fiscus’ firing, local health officials in Nashville and Shelby County – encompassing Memphis – have been quick to point out that they won’t be changing their own vaccine advocacy or policies.

Lee, a Republican, has been silent on the firing. His office and the health department declined to comment, citing personnel matters.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to comment directly on Fiscus’ firing Wednesday but said President Joe Biden’s administration has been “clear that we stand against any effort that would

In this image made from video, Michelle Fiscus speaks to the Associated Press, from Franklin, Tenn., on Tuesday, July 13, 2021. Fiscus, Tennessee’s top vaccinations official, said she couldn’t stay silent after was she was fired this week amid scrutiny from Republican state lawmakers over her department’s outreach efforts to vaccinate teenagers against COVID-19. (AP photo) politicize our country’s pandemic response and recovery from COVID-19.”

Psaki added that the federal government would keep working with partner states such as Tennessee to ensure “we are conveying accurately that the vast majority, 99.5 percent of people who are going to hospitals are not vaccinated.”

Only 38 percent of Tennesseans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, lagging behind much of the nation.

“I don’t think they realized how much of an advocate I am for public health and how intolerant of injustice I am,” Fiscus told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

During a June committee meeting, angry Republican lawmakers invoked Fiscus’ name over a letter she sent to medical providers who admin-

ister vaccines explaining the state’s legal mechanism letting them vaccinate minors as young as 14 without parental consent, called the “Mature Minor Doctrine.” The letter was in response to providers’ questions and didn’t contain new information.

Fiscus said the health department’s attorney provided the letter, based on a 1987 Tennessee Supreme Court ruling and that her job was to explain what is allowable.

Republican lawmakers also admonished the agency for its communications about the vaccine, including online posts. One graphic, featuring a photo of a smiling child with a Band-Aid on his arm, said, “Tennesseans 12+ are eligible for vaccines. Give COVID-19 vaccines a shot.”

During the hearing, Re-

publican Rep. Scott Cepicky held a printout of a Facebook ad saying teens were eligible, calling the agency’s advocacy “reprehensible” and likening it to peer pressure.

Asked about the hearing, the governor last month said generally that the state will “continue to encourage folks to seek access – adults for their children, and adults for themselves to make the personal choice for vaccine.”

Two weeks after the hearing, the health department instructed county-level employees to stop vaccination events aimed at teens and to halt online outreach to them, The Tennessean previously reported, citing emails it obtained.

(Associated Press writer Kimberlee Kruesi contributed to this report.)

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The New Tri-State Defender

July 15 - 21, 2021

Page 5

RELIGION

Israelite Baptist Church embraces new ‘shepherd’

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

The “Israelites” of Israelite Baptist Church recently elected and embraced the Rev. Robert Anthony Johnson as the church’s new senior pastor.

For months, the Israelite Church family grieved the loss of its founder and father, Pastor S. L. Harris.

As 2020 was drawing to a close, the 89-year-old Harris died, leaving a flock of parishioners in mourning.

Pastor Harris was never far from memory as the congregation witnessed the mourning drapes covering Harris’ seat. After six months, the drapes were ceremoniously removed in an afternoon service on June 27.

“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” said Pastor James O. Short of True Faith Baptist Church. Short was Harris’ long-time friend and “son in the ministry” offering words of comfort and encouragement in a keynote sermon when the mourning drapes were unveiled.

Two weeks later, Johnson was officially recognized as Israelite Baptist’s new leader, as a welcoming spirit swept the sanctuary dotted with

The Rev. Maurice Hunt, pastor of Eternal Peace Baptist Church, delivered a sermon filled with hope and healing at the installation service. friends and well-wishers.

Pastor Maurice Hunt of Eternal Peace Baptist Church delivered a sermon filled with hope and healing for the solemn occasion, assuring the host congregation that their beloved pastor and founder, Pastor Harris, had left, but the God of Pastor Harris has not left.

Johnson married Harris’ daughter, Jessie Harris Johnson in 1980. Four years later, the Johnsons joined Peace Missionary Baptist Church under

The Rev. Robert Anthony Johnson and his wife, Jessie, during his installation as pastor of Israelite Baptist Church. (Courtesy photos) Harris’ leadership.

In 1986, Johnson was at Harris’ side every step of the way as the elder clergyman founded Israelite Baptist Church.

In 1992, Johnson accepted a call to preach. Johnson’s election to the pastorate seemed a natural selection as a minister who had always sat under the tutelage of Harris.

Johnson served Harris all those years as a son and associate in the ministry, assisting Harris with pastoral duties and learning ministerial administrations from one he revered as a “father, indeed.”

Samuel L. Harris was born in

Webb, Mississippi to Rev. Daniel and Bessie Harris. Harris was “called to preach” at the age of 13, but accepted that call later, at the age of 29.

Harris loved being a pastor and was known widely in the 38109 community as a kind and compassionate leader. The church is at 152 Silverage Ave. Harris often fostered GED programs, second chance efforts to help ex-felons and other social services to assist families in the church’s neighborhood.

Harris died on Dec. 29 and a celebration of life service was held on Jan. 9 at Limit Breakers Church, pas-

tored by his grandson, Minister Donald E. Walker Jr., and eulogized by another grandson, Rev. Frank J. Harris Jr, pastor of Second Canaan Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit.

Johnson, a native Memphian, was born Nov. 29, 1953, to Robert and Pearl Johnson. He is the second oldest of six siblings.

Robert confessed his hope in Christ at the age of 12 and was baptized at Greater Abyssinia M.B. Church under the leadership of Rev. Juan Shipp.

Johnson married Jessie Harris on February 14, 1980, and the couple has five children and eight grandchildren.

Restoration...

New Salem Missionary Baptist Church was the venue as the church’s pastor, the Rev. Dr. Frank Ray (lower left), hosted the 2021 version of the Frank Ray Expository Preaching & Growth Conference July 5-8. The theme was “Restoration.” (Photos: Tyrone P. Easley)

The New Tri-State Defender

July 15 - 21, 2021

Page 6

ENTERTAINMENT BOOK REVIEWS

Two points of reference for ‘Traveling’ or ‘Travelling’

by Terri Schlichenmeyer

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

You’ve always wanted to do it. You just wanted to go.

You’d hop in a car or van, no GPS or map, no real itinerary, no destination in mind. You’d point your headlights in some direction and drive until you got where you felt like you needed to be. No timetable, no worries... and no chance for your ancestors to do that very thing. So this summer, honor their wanderlust by seizing yours, and read these two similarly-titled new books...

First, the history: it had to start somewhere – but where? You can imagine how Black mobility was affected by slavery but how and why did it continue? Surely, it wasn’t arbitrary, not just “no, you can’t travel here,” so how did restrictions on Black mobility happen, how did African Americans fight the system, and why does it matter now?

In “Traveling Black,” (Belknap, Harvard University Press, $35), author Mia Bay answers these questions, starting back when travel was largely of the horse-and-wagon type.

Starting with Plessy v. Ferguson, Bay explains how segregation in travel began, and how it spread along roads and rails and then spread to accommodations, and the uncer-

tainty of what might await a traveler along the journey. Bay separates each mode of travel to examine how Jim Crow laws affected a Black traveler in different manners, and she looks at the ways in which travel was sometimes used as activism.

Now, though, you’re free to travel – not just in the U.S., but around the world, if you want. In “Travelling While Black” (Hurst, $19.95), author Nanjala Nyabola shares some stories of her travels, and how her skin color matters when she’s on the move.

Indeed, what’s it like to travel as a Black woman, when guidebooks are not written with a Black woman in mind? How can you draw a line from African Americans on the road in the Old Days, to travel now?

And now that you can travel, what does it tell you about yourself?

These are just a few things Nyabola ponders as she takes readers from Haiti to the Far East, Mexico, Africa, Europe, and the American South. She muses about suffering, the need for literature in Black culture, identity, asylum, and the meaning of home.

This is the kind of book you’ll want to read when you want to go somewhere but you’re stuck at home for whatever reason.

Nyabola goes to the popular places but she also travels to spots that are generally sought by adventurers. This gives readers a sense of travelogue with a hint of the

“Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance”

by Mia Bay c. 2021, Belknap, Harvard University Press $35 391 pages

“Travelling While Black: Essays Inspired by a Life on the Move”

by Nanjala Nyabola c. 2020, Hurst $19.95 238 pages

Mia Bay

Nanjala Nyabola

unusual; her musings on the places she goes make this a book you won’t want to put down. Her observations will make you glad she took you along with her.

If these don’t quite fit what you’re look-

ing for, there are lots of other books you’ll find at your local library or bookstore. As always, be sure to ask your librarian or bookseller for help; they’re pros at finding what you’re looking for. Do it today. Just go.

COMMUNITY The New Tri-State Defender, July 15 - 21, 2021, Page 7

Delta strain of COVID-19 sparks concern in Tennessee

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Tennessee has the dubious distinction as the state with the largest increase of new COVID-19 cases over the last two weeks, as of Tuesday (July 13).

Tipton County, the county just north of Shelby, ranked as the number-one county in the entire nation for new cases.

Doctors across the country have been warning about an explosion of cases in the Mid-South, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant.

New numbers in daily cases do not bode well for Shelby County’s “100 Days Under 100 Cases,” which kicked off June 25.

Aug. 10 would have marked the 100th day, had cases remained below 100.

“Last month, our seven-day rolling average was in the upper 20s as it relates to new cases,” said Dr. Bruce Randolph, medical director of the Shelby County Health Department.

“Now the seven-day rolling average is 113, and the positivity rate has gone from .87 to 1.4.”

In Shelby County, the COVID unit at Methodist Hospital has reopened

as the Delta variant tears through the community.

The real tragedy, said Randolph, is that this spike in new cases is preventable.

“All the vaccines are highly effective against this Delta strain,” said Randolph, “We are doing all we can in Shelby County to continue to encourage people to take the vaccine.

Nationally, 99 percent of the deaths are among those who have not been vaccinated. Most of those deaths were preventable.”

According to the CDC, the Delta variant is responsible for more than 50 percent of new cases across the country. It has now become the dominant coronavirus, beating out the original strain.

Although there is reason for some concern, Shelby County, declared weeks ago to be more than 70 percent immune, is faring far better than the rest of the state.

In the last 14 days, Tennessee has seen a 400 percent jump in new COVID-19 cases, Mississippi is seventh with a 159-percent increase in positive cases, and Arkansas ranks 14th, with a 124 percent spike in new cases.

Tennessee’s vaccination rate is 38 percent. Mississippi is 33 percent and Arkansas sits at 35 percent.

“There’s nothing worse than having young people, or people in the middle of their lives, drop dead from something that could have been prevented.”

— Dr. Jeff Warren “At this point, we have to step back and call for people to take individual responsibility,” said Randolph. “I don’t see us going back to the mandates. We have vaccines now. We have provided the information about how the virus is transmitted.

“We have let Shelby Countians know how to protect themselves. So, if a person is deadest on not taking the vaccine, he or she must continue taking the safety measures we have specified to remain healthy.”

Dr. Jeff Warren, a city council member who serves on the Memphis-Shelby County COVID Task Force, expressed sympathy for the medical personnel who have to “do this all over again.”

“There’s nothing worse than having young people, or people in the middle of their lives, drop dead from something that could have been prevented,” said Warren, who is a primary care specialist.

Randolph surmised that some people are waiting for the vaccines to be-

come fully licensed and upgraded for emergency use authorization. Others, he said, are just not going to take a vaccine at all.

“We have to respect every person’s decision,” said Randolph. “We acknowledge and respect their right to make their own health decisions. But if taking the vaccine is not an option, unvaccinated persons must continue to use the safety protocols that were in place — wearing masks, washing hands frequently, keeping at least six feet away from others in public places and avoiding poorly ventilated indoor spaces.”

For those who want the vaccine, Randolph said there still is convenient access to receiving the shots.

Pharmacies, private physicians and other providers are still administering the vaccine.

“The Delta variant is more transmissible, but those who have been vaccinated are fairly well protected,” said Randolph. “Our numbers are going in the wrong direction, but the an-

swer is simple: get the vaccine, if you have not already been vaccinated.”

Children, 12 and older, are eligible to receive the vaccine.

However, Tennessee government’s top vaccination official, Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, was recently fired because some Republican state legislators objected to her outreach efforts to encourage adolescents to get the COVID vaccine.

Consequently, the Tennessee Department of Health said it will halt all adolescent vaccine outreach – not just for coronavirus, but all diseases, according to an internal report and agency emails obtained by the Nashville Tennessean.

Shelby County health officials, however, said they will continue child vaccination outreach efforts in Memphis and Shelby County.

Tennessee’s six urban counties – Madison, Shelby, Knox, Davidson, Hamilton and Sullivan – have health departments that operate autonomously from the state health department.

For information on where the vaccine is being given, call the health department at: (901) 222-shot (7468), between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Mike Rodgers, president of Mid-South Golden Gloves, with Sportsman Award winner Cameron Conner of Jackson, Mississippi.

A referee steps in to stop this boxing exchange.

LENS & LINES

Kashaun “Big Baby” Davis (right), who fights with the Pearl (Mississippi) Boxing Club, PBC, won his championship fight and is set to turn pro.

Ike Griffith is embracing boxing as another avenue to reach young people. (Photos: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises)

Mid-South Golden Gloves Special to The New Tri-State Defender Powered by the City of Memphis Office of Youth Services, the Mid-South Golden Gloves returned to Memphis after a 50-year absence on July 9-10.

“We’re glad to have the Mid-South Golden Gloves back in Memphis,” said Ike Griffith, special assistant to Mayor Jim Strickland and the director of the Memphis Office of Youth Services.

“It originated in Memphis in 1934. It stayed here in the city until 1969, and then eventually to Jackson, Tennessee. After Jackson, Tennessee it went to Little Rock,

Arkansas. And … we are bringing it back to Memphis, not only for this year, but also next year.”

The regional boxing event was held at the Hickory Hill Community City.

Boxers from Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi competed for the right to move on toward the national championships.

The New Tri-State Defender helped sponsor the return of the Mid-South Golden Gloves as part of “The Road to 70 and Beyond!” – the theme for the TSD’s celebration of 70 years of serving Greater Memphis.

The New Tri-State Defender

July 15 - 21, 2021

COMMUNITY

Page 8

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For more information visit our website: www.crypto-goldrush. info LEGAL NOTICE TO BIDDERS Sealed bids will be received in person at the Memphis and Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency, 850 North Manassas Street, Memphis, Tennessee 38107 or electronically, submit to April Simmons at april.simmons@cramemphis.org, until 3:00 p.m. on July 30, 2021 for furnishing the City of Memphis and Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency with the following: FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF: MORRIS PARK IMPROVEMENTS

THE NEW TRI-STATE DEFENDER CLASSIFIEDS 1509 Madison Ave. Memphis, TN 38104 PH (901) 523-1818 HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

All ads subject to credit approval. The New Tri-State Defender reserves the right to correctly classify and edit all copy or to reject or cancel any ad at any time. Copy change during ordered schedule constitutes new ad & new changes. Deadlines for cancellation are identical to placement deadlines.

Rates subject to change.

DEADLINES: Display ads Friday 5 p.m.

Classifieds ads Monday 5 p.m.

STANDARD RATES: $6.00 per line for 1 column ad.

Rates are non-commissionable and are quoted at the net rate. No refund for early cancellation. For additional information contact Sales Dept. at (901) 746-5201 or email: advertising@tsdmemphis.com.

GENERAL INFORMATION: Some categories require prepayment.

A mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held at EnSafe Inc., 5724 Summer Trees Drive, Memphis, Tennessee 38134 on July 16, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. The pre-bid

ADJUSTMENTS: PLEASE check your ad the first day it appears. Call (901) 523-1818 if an error occurs. We can only offer in-house credit and NO REFUNDS are issued.

THE NEW TRI-STATE DEFENDER assumes no financial responsibility for errors nor for copy omission.

meeting can be viewed remotely.

If the bidder prefers to view it remotely, then they must request virtual access at least two days in advance of the pre-bid meeting.

Each bid must be submitted on forms provided in Bid Documents and either accompanied by a Bid Bond, properly executed on the form provided, or Cashier’s Check drawn on a National or Tennessee Bank in the amount of 5% of the Total Bid Price.

Bids filed as provided herein shall be opened and reviewed privately by the City of Memphis and Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency after 4:00 p.m. on July 30, 2021.

Bids received after the time set for opening of bids, shall not be considered, and will be returned unopened.

The City of Memphis and Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency shall reserve the right to interview any of the bidders and to reject all bids if said body deems it necessary in the best interest of the citizens of the City of Memphis. For additional information email Camilla Balderas at cbalderas@ensafe.com.

Plans, Specifications and attendant deposit information available from:

Deke Pope (left) and Ekpe Abioto will be doing in August what they traditionally do in the spring during the Africa in April Cultural Awareness Festival. (Photo: Karanja A. Ajanaku)

Look for Africa in April in August – and a salute to Botswana

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

AIA – the acronym for Africa in April – gives way to AIAA this year, with the cultural awareness festival now set for August.

“Of course, it has always been held in April,” said Dr. David Acey, founder and executive director of the Africa In April Cultural Awareness Festival. “But by April of this year, (COVID-19) restrictions had not yet been fully lifted, and we couldn’t get the OK from our health department.

“But I went back and just thought about it. I said, ‘We can’t miss two years in a row.’

So we scheduled in August, and this year’s festival is AIAA: Africa in April in August.”

Up until last year, the festival had run for 33 consecutive years. All plans for the 34th had to be cancelled, just like other major events in Memphis.”

This year’s celebration is set for Aug. 5-8 at the festival’s familiar headquarters, historic Robert Church Park on Beale Street in downtown Memphis.

The festival honors an African country each year, celebrating its history, customs and people. The focus in August will be on the United Republic of Botswana.

“International travel is not completely opened back up as yet,” said Acey. “So the ambassadors from Botswana will not be with us. But each year at our luncheon, we see people come from Atlanta, Chicago, just from everywhere representing their country.

We expect to welcome many Botswanans, who are already here living in America.”

Accounting for August rather than April, the festival will look much like it has in years past. The Africa in April 2021 International Luncheon will kick off this year’s event schedule at the Holiday Inn, University of Memphis on Aug. 5 at 11 a.m. Reservations for individual tickets as well as group tables are available, but space is filling up quickly, Acey said.

This year’ International Executive of the Year is Bishop Henry M. Williamson Sr., presiding prelate, First Episcopal

District, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

Honorary chairs are Joanne Massey, director, of the City of Memphis Office of Business Diversity and Compliance, and Josh Hammond, owner of Buster’s Liquor & Wines.

Also on Aug. 5, the International Poster Unveiling Reception is slated for 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the National Civil Rights Museum. Festival commissioned artist this year is Jason Jerome Colbert, CEO of Life In Colors Studio, is the commissioned artist. An accomplished oil painter and native Memphian, Colbert graduated from Ridgeway High School and attended the Memphis College of Art. The festival’s line-up of professionals, bands, musicians, poets, SCS/MCS/Charter and parochial School performers, choirs, artists and entertainers will include: • Eye 2 Eye Band, (Monte Quarles/ director), • Dan Hope and TOPIX Band, • The Memphis Letter Carriers Band, • Christian soul artist Ta Nai Moore, • Jazz and blues icon Joyce Cobb, • Leo Preston Jr., and • The K3 Studio Band (Gospel, blues, R&B).

On Friday Aug. 6, the International Children’s and Senior Citizens Diversity Day Parade rolls from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Schools, churches and community organizations wishing to participate can email aiafest@bellsouth.net.

Vendors, food trucks and all business enterprises that would like to reserve a booth or space may also reach out through email, or call 901947-2133.

A full schedule of activities, events, and admission fees is also available upon request.

“Let’s prepare to celebrate our history, culture, diversity, Afrocentricity, music, genealogy, family, legacy, traditions, and heritage,” said Dr. Yvonne Acey, associate director of the Africa in April Cultural Awareness Festival.

“Whether in April or August, the festival is an important part of our city’s story.

Don’t miss it.”

EnSafe, Inc. 5724 Summer Trees Drive Memphis, Tennessee 38134 Telephone: 901-372-7962 THE CITY OF MEMPHIS AND SHELBY COUNTY COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ENCOURAGES THE PARTICIPATION OF SMALL AND MINORITY BUSINESS IN THE PURCHASING PROCESS. All bids must include on the outside of the bid envelope, the name of the project, the bid due date and the bid opening time.

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LICENSING DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS: Classification for this Project shall be: BC or BC-B. All bidders must be licensed contractors as required by Title 62, Chapter 6, of the Tennessee Code Annotated and must comply with the requirements of Tenn.

Code Ann. 62-6-119.

In addition, the City of Memphis and Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency requires that the bidder’s license number, license expiration date, and that part of the license classification that applies to the bid, appear on the outside of the envelope containing the bid. The bidder shall also include, on the outside of the bid envelope, the name, license number, license expiration date, and license classification of any subcontractor to be used by the bidder for electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning work, and masonry provided that such classifications (i.e., electrical, plumbing, heating ventilation and air conditioning and masonry) are applicable to the project. In the event that such classifications are not applicable to the project, the bidder shall indicate same on the outside of the bid envelope, by designating the classification and the words “not applicable” or “NA”.

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The above licensing disclosure requirements shall not apply to any bid that is less than $25,000.

If any bid amount, whether for the total bid submitted by the bidder as general contractor or for a sub-bid for electrical, plumbing, and/or heating ventilation and air conditioning work, is less than $25,000, or if the masonry bid amount is less than $100,000, the licensing disclosure requirements set out above are not applicable.

In lieu thereof the bidder must provide on the outside of the bid envelope, his name and address and/or the name and address of any such subcontractor whose sub-bid is less than $25,000 ($100,000 for masonry), along with the words “exempt from licensing requirement.”

THE CITY OF MEMPHIS AND SHELBY COUNTY COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY WILL NOT OPEN OR CONSIDER ANY BID WHICH DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THE ABOVE LICENSING DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS. “CERTIFICATION BY EACH BIDDER MUST BE MADE WITH RESPECT TO NONDISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT.” “CERTIFICATION BY EACH BIDDER MUST BE MADE WITH RESPECT TO A DRUG FREE WORKPLACE.” A BID BOND IS REQUIRED IF THE BID AMOUNT EXCEEDS $100,000.

Award of contracts will be made on the basis of the lowest and best bids as determined by the Memphis and Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency.

Any claim of error in a bid must be filed in writing with the Memphis and Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency, 850 North Manassas Street, Memphis, Tennessee 38107 by noon the next working day following bid opening if a contractor wishes to withdraw his bid without forfeiture of his bid bond.

Any protest of award must be filed in writing with the City of Memphis and Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency within ten calendar days of the intent of award announcement. Intent of award announcement will be sent to all bidders by the Memphis and Shelby County Community Redevelopment Agency, after review of all opened bids.

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The New Tri-State Defender

July 15 - 21, 2021

Page 9

SPORTS

Desmond Bane, fresh off of his first year in the NBA, said he plans to be active supporting the Memphis community as long he plays with the Memphis Grizzlies. (Photos: Bane (left) on defense by Warren Roseborough/TSD Archives; dribbling up court courtesy image)

Grizzlies’ Desmond Bane to host back-to school event for Memphis-area youth

by Liaudwin Seaberry Jr.

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane is partnering with local non-profit group STREETS Ministries to host a back to school event at the FedexForum on Saturday afternoon.

The event, which takes place from noon to 3 p.m., will benefit 200 Memphis students in need of school supplies and other essentials needed to excel in the classroom. Des Day 2021 also plans to feature music, food, activities, and more.

Bane, drafted 30th overall by the Grizzlies during the

2020 NBA Draft, immediately fell in love with Memphis upon his arrival. He was not all too familiar with the city and its people prior to his rookie year, but has learned one thing: the city has a passion for basketball and for helping one another.

He’s eager and excited to be a part of such an environment and culture.

“Due to COVID-19, us rookies were not able to meet the fans like normal,” Bane said. “However, with the restrictions loosening up and more vaccines being distributed, I am eager to get out in the community and give back to the city.”

Bane attributes much of the credit for the event to STREETS Ministries, as he says they possessed the same

vision for helping out at-need youths throughout the city of Memphis. As an NBA player, he acknowledges that he’s a role model to many young kids, but that is not something he runs from.

Bane embraces being someone kids look up to, and he is determined to exhibit the same amount of love he received from Memphis upon his arrival.

“I cannot wait to see the smiles on the faces of these kids on Saturday, because so many of them are in need of help, and I am passionate about helping people in the city,” Bane said.

“This is just the beginning of what I plan to do for the community of Memphis while I am here.”

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The New Tri-State Defender

July 15 - 21, 2021

Page 10