COVID-19 testing will be available at six Memphis sites on Saturday (June 20) in conjunction with the Juneteenth weekend and sponsored by the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators (TBCSL), the state Department of Health’s Office of Minority Health and Disparities Elimination.
“Martin Luther King Jr. once declared that, ‘of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.’ The commemoration of this historic weekend is the perfect time to bring additional testing to the African-American communities in Tennessee,” said TBCSL Chairman G.A. Hardaway.
“The Black Caucus, the Office of Minority Health Disparities Elimination and the Tennessee Department of Health are proud to join with churches and community health centers across the state to provide this testing.”
Juneteenth (June 19) notes the day the news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached enslaved Blacks in Texas. It has evolved into a commemoration of the end of slavery, with intensified calls for it to be made a national holiday.
No symptoms are required for the tests, which began on Juneteenth and were set for four cities: Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis. The tests are open to the public and administered via a drive-through.
In Memphis, Saturday testing will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at these locations:
- Berean Missionary Baptist Church, 1666 E. Raines Rd.
- Divine Faith Church, 7201 E. Shelby Dr.
- First Baptist Church-Broad, 2835 Broad Ave.
- Mississippi Blvd Christian Church, 70 N. Bellevue Blvd.
- Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 60 S. Parkway East.
- Orange Mound Senior Center, 2590 Park Ave.
