Arieale Munson in the front yard of the home she purchased with the help of the Rise Foundation. Two weeks lat- er, it caught fire and now she is get- ting help to rebuild. (Courtesy photo)
by Amelia Ables —
Arieale Munson was 16 years old when she became a mother. Since then, she has founded a non-profit, written a book and become a motivational speaker. With motherhood as the priority, she vowed to provide her two sons with their own home to feel safe, and she recently purchased her first home through the RISE Foundation’s Save Up Program.
Two weeks after closing on her first home, the house caught fire, destroying all of her family’s possessions. Material possessions, said Munson, aren’t the most important.
“People say to me, ‘You lost everything, but you’re still smiling.’ But I didn’t lose everything,” she said. “I still have the gift of life. My sons and I are still standing strong. Sometimes God tests your faith, but I know something good will come out of this.”
Arieale Munson and her sons, Nyigel Turner, 14, and 8-year-old Steven Cole Jr. (Courtesy photo)
Rather than celebrate Mother’s Day in their new home, Munson’s family is living in a nearby apartment. They are in good spirits, and are prepared to move forward in rebuilding and repairing their home.
The Save Up Program is a matched savings account program that teaches participants to create a budget based on their income and expenses and to establish a bank account and purchase assets, such as homes and vehicles.
Within 10 months of beginning the program, Munson had saved enough money paired with matching funds from RISE for a down payment for a home.
“The program gave me a refresher on different things, such as how to increase my credit score and save money,” she said.
RISE provided Munson with the tools to purchase a home, but she said her sons are the motivation for her accomplishments.
“A lot of people counted me out when I got pregnant as a teenager, but God pushed me through. I’ve experienced domestic abuse and being a teenage single mother,” she said. “Now, I want to be resourceful and useful to the community, and I take a lot of pride in giving back.”
Munson founded her non-profit, Operation Taking Back 901, in 2016. Three years later, she published her first book, “When Pleasing Has No Purpose,” which tells the story of how misery connected her to her ministry.
She continues to live out her story despite the home-destroying fire. What she learned in the Save Up program, she said, “is helping me balance my budget and still save. I’ve been working from home, bought a home, lost a home, and now I’m re-building a home, but I’m still advocating for my community through my non-profit.”
This Mother’s Day is also her youngest son’s ninth birthday.
“Our plans are to have a cake and just be together as a family. My greatest gift is seeing my kids grow up and knowing I can give them things I didn’t have.”
(To learn more about the RISE Foundation and their Save Up program, visit http://risememphis.org/.)
TSD iMom columnist Brittany Holst enjoys a pre-Mother’s Day moment with her daughter, Niah, and her mother, Shirley Jackson. (Photo: Shirley Jackson)
by Brittany Holst —
I am so used to spending Mother’s Day with my grandmother, mother, aunt and the rest of my family.
However, due to COVID-19, things will be a little different this year. We have to be creative as we continue to practice social distancing.
Although Mother’s Day is not considered a national holiday, it is a special day to honor the special woman or even women in our lives. I’m looking forward to video conferencing with my loved ones while spending time with my husband and our daughter, Niah.
TSD iMom columnist Brittany Holst with her mother, Shirley Jackson. (Photo: Shirley Jackson)
My mother has been a blessing to me. I look at her and think, “Wow! Where would I be now had I not been catered with all the unconditional love and knowledge she has provided me?”
I tell her all the time that I hope I am just as great of a mom to my daughter as she has been to me. I would not be the person I am today had it not been for my mom.
Growing up, I did not always understand my mother’s reason for doing things. But as I got older, I understood why there were times when she wouldn’t allow me to go here and there and do other things I wanted to do.
From a very early age, she put a lot of emphasis on education, community service, faith, being creative and having a competitive spirit in sports and other activities.
I remember when my mom was helping me learn to tell time on a clock. She did fun things like driving near the airport and parking the car to watch the airplanes come in. We would use the directions of the planes landing as imaginary hands on the clock. I would say, “it’s coming in at 9 o’clock” or “it’s coming from 3 o’clock.”
We would laugh and give “high fives.” That’s when she knew I understood the workings of the clock and how to tell time.
We did everything together. I gained my entrepreneurial spirit from her. Mom told me, “You can do anything you want to do and you can be whatever you want to be in life. She said, “it takes hard work and determination to make it happen”.
Though gentle and loving, she also was not one to play with. If my mom said to do or not do something, she meant it.
She would say, “If you don’t believe me, try me.”
I tested her a few times to see if “fat meat was greasy” and she did not hesitate to show me that it was. After that, I got my act together because I knew my mama did not play games with me.
iMom Mother’s Day Music Vibe:
Now, I look at my own daughter and find joy every time she smiles. She is so precious and I recognize with her, a love like no other. I have discovered a more patient and compassionate side of me that I’d never known.
I can share experiences with her that my mother shared with me — being the first teacher, nurturer, providing loving guidance to help mold her to be successful in life.
Whitney Daniels with her children, Paris and Paul. (Courtesy photo)
Whitney Daniels, mother to Paul and Paris, said, “Being a mother means the world to me. I always hear people say, ‘I don’t know where I would be in like’ or ‘I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have my kids.”
Those statements have never made a difference to her because “nothing means more to her than being a mom.” It has completely changed her life for the better!
“Being a mom means loving myself so much more than I have before. That same love is magnified so much more because it grows rapidly every day for me to give to my children.
You would think that love can’t possibly be greater but it doesn’t stop there,” said Daniels.
The relationship between mother and child is so pure and innocent.
“My children reciprocate the same love unconditionally to the point it has become an everlasting circle of love. It’s selfless. It’s the most comforting when the times come that I don’t feel deserving of it and it’s assuring that, although, I’m not a perfect mother, I’m exactly the one they need,” Daniels said.
Legendary composer, singer and musician Stevie Wonder said it best:
“Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love.”
Mother’s Day is a day of celebrating the living and a day to acknowledge special loved ones who has passed away.
However you decide to celebrate, do so with love and appreciation.
From the iMom — Being a mother is not always easy, but it is one of the greatest gifts from God. We are our child’s first teacher. We’re strong and wise. We are nurturers and providers. We are the definition of love, patience, compassion and forgiveness. Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and thank you for your unconditional love and sacrifices.
Joanna Lewis Walton and her husband, Andre Walton Sr., will celebrate Mother’s Day with their two-year-old “A.J” and their newest addition, Journey Gracelynn Walton, who was born Feb. 26. (Courtesy photo)
On Feb, 26, when Joanna Lewis Walton gave birth to Journey Gracelynn Walton, the delivery was relatively uneventful.
Shortly after they came home, COVID-19 changed life as they knew it, including the fact that she will not be able to traditionally celebrate Mother’s Day – church and dinner – as new mother because COVID-19 related restrictions.
When Walton and her husband, Andre Walton Sr., brought their baby daughter home, their family felt complete.
A.J was getting to know Journey, but a bout with the flu forced A.J. to be separated from his mom and sister.
After his father nursed him back to health, little family settled into a daily routine. But by the time Journey was turning 6 weeks old, everything changed.
“The school children were released early that week when spring break was starting,” said Walton. “I had been in the house with my children since leaving the hospital. That’s pretty normal for a new mother. I was rebuilding my strength and trying to get Journey into a good feeding and sleeping routine.”
More and more, there was talk about a “novel coronavirus,” and Walton took some interest in keeping up with the growing numbers of new cases in America.
For a time, none had been confirmed in the state of Tennessee, or in Shelby County. When that changed and the number of local cases began to rise, they were unrelated cases of people who had traveled, or come in contact with someone who had recently traveled.
“We were just nesting while my husband continued to work,” Walton said. “But when community spread hit Memphis and Shelby County, I understood just how dangerous this COVID-19 was.
“I have kept my children isolated from everyone, except their grandparents. With the safer-at-home orders, we continue to shelter in place. The four of us have created our own little world inside the house.”
Walton graduated from the University of Memphis with a bachelor’s degree in professional studies. She marked her fourth wedding anniversary on March 19, her birthday on April 20, and now, Mother’s Day on Sunday — all celebrated inside the house.
“All of my special days come in springtime each year,” she said. “My anniversary, my birthday, and Mother’s Day — it feels strange not being able to celebrate them like we had planned. There will be no special date nights or family trips.
“On Mother’s Day every year, we were always in church. Life has changed so drastically, and I don’t know when things will return to normal — or if they ever will,” she said.
Andre Sr. has used this time of “nearly unlimited overtime” to build a nest egg that will come in handy when the family moves to a large house this summer, if things are a bit safer.
“I would love for my children to play outside,” Andre Sr. said. “I would love to run around the yard with my son and toss a ball to him. But he is young enough that staying inside won’t affect him so much. I thank God he will have very little memory of this time.”
Walton has been optimistic as a new mother caring for two, young children. She has been home-schooling A.J. since his first birthday. Walton has gotten accustomed to the rambunctious 2 year old tearing about the house. He has a lot of energy, but he can’t play outside.
“We have been blessed, and I can really see an end to this virus,” Walton said. “As a mother, it is my job to prepare our children for a bright future. My son will be three in the fall, and already, he can count to 60, recite the alphabet, and name his colors.
“I am now teaching him to read. Our children emulate what they see. They are hopeful because we remain hopeful. Mother’s Day is going to be a wonderful day. God is still in control.”
Evan Fields with Ayden Christopher, 2, and Taylor Christopher, 7. (Courtesy photo)
It was back in December that Evan Fields and fiancé, Christian Christopher, got a new gift in their household: six-year-old Taylor Christian. Now, on her third Mother’s Day celebration, she is mother of two, instead of one.
“Right before the Christmas holidays, Christian and I asked for full custody of Taylor,” Fields said. “The court granted it to us, and Taylor came to live with us that same day. He is home now, and not just for the weekend.”
That first Mother’s Day, Fields was mother of four-month-old Ayden Christopher, born January 6, 2018. Mother’s Day last year, she had a one-year-old. This year, she will celebrate with two sons. Not even the COVID-19 threat and safer-at-home directives have dampened her anticipation for Sunday’s celebration.
“We know everything is opening back up, but we will be inside until it’s really safe,” said Fields. “Before everything got shut down, we had planned a trip to Nashville so the boys could see their Aunt Chris. But when Taylor came home for spring break, that all changed.”
Fields thinks there may be some unexpected, positive effects from families staying inside together. Being in close proximity naturally brings parents and siblings closer, she says. Fields is a working mother, but has no idea when she might be called back to her bartending job at one of the large, downtown hotels.
She was laid off, along with thousands of other bar and restaurant employees who make their living in the service industry. Some have relied on unemployment, while others are still waiting for payments to begin. Some service workers went to work for B.R. Distilling Company in April. The distillery, which normally makes bourbon and whiskey, now produces medical-grade sanitizer.
When all the bars closed, B.R. Distilling tried to keep their employees working by switching gears to a product in high demand. Enough supplies came in to make the sanitizer, but there weren’t enough employees to produce the sanitizer in high quantities. Out-of-work service people were offered jobs at the distillery. Fields declined.
“Being a stay-at-home mom is totally new to me,” she said. “But, we have grown closer as a family. This pandemic is frightening for children, and they don’t really understand. We are here to assure our boys that one day, they can play outside again, and things will be better.”
The family has no special plans for this Mother’s Day. They won’t be getting out to church or going to a restaurant. Since being in at home, they have eaten no fast food, or brought in takeout from a restaurant. There has only been home cooking.
“We eat healthier now, and that’s been good,” said Fields. “Always picking up fast food is one thing we won’t go back to. Staying in has been good for us. Taylor has settled into his place in our family. We feel blessed and complete.”
“Stepson” or “step-child” are not terms used in their household.
“Our sons are brothers, and we are their parents,” said Fields. “They know we love them, and that is enough.”
Little Richard playing in March 2007. (Photo: Anna Bleker/ Public Domain...wikimedia.org)
NASHVILLE (AP) — Little Richard, the self-proclaimed “architect of rock ‘n’ roll” whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, died Saturday. He was 87.
Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated Press that Little Richard died Saturday morning. Minson said he also spoke to Little Richard’s son and brother.
Minson added that the family is not releasing the cause of death.
Born Richard Penniman, Little Richard was one of rock ‘n’ roll’s founding fathers who helped shatter the color line on the music charts, joining Chuck Berry and Fats Domino in bringing what was once called “race music” into the mainstream. Richard’s hyperkinetic piano playing, coupled with his howling vocals and hairdo, made him an implausible sensation — a gay, black man celebrated across America during the buttoned-down Eisenhower era.
He sold more than 30 million records worldwide, and his influence on other musicians was equally staggering, from the Beatles and Otis Redding to Creedence Clearwater Revival and David Bowie. In his personal life, he wavered between raunch and religion, alternately embracing the Good Book and outrageous behavior.
“Little Richard? That’s rock ‘n’ roll,” Neil Young, who heard Richard’s riffs on the radio in Canada, told biographer Jimmy McDonough. “Little Richard was great on every record.”
It was 1956 when his classic “Tutti Frutti” landed like a hand grenade in the Top 40, exploding from radios and off turntables across the country. It was highlighted by Richard’s memorable call of “wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom.”
A string of hits followed, providing the foundation of rock music: “Lucille,” “Keep A Knockin’,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Good Golly Miss Molly.” More than 40 years after the latter charted, Bruce Springsteen was still performing “Good Golly Miss Molly” live.
The Beatles’ Paul McCartney imitated Richard’s signature yelps — perhaps most notably in the “Wooooo!” from the hit “She Loves You.” Ex-bandmate John Lennon covered Richard’s “Rip It Up” and “Ready Teddy” on the 1975 “Rock and Roll” album.
When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened in 1986, he was among the charter members with Elvis Presley, Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam Cooke and others.
Few were quicker to acknowledge Little Richard’s seminal role than Richard himself. The flamboyant singer claimed he paved the way for Elvis, provided Mick Jagger with his stage moves and conducted vocal lessons for McCartney.
“I am the architect of rock ‘n’ roll!” Little Richard crowed at the 1988 Grammy Awards as the crowd rose in a standing ovation. “I am the originator!”
Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia, during the Great Depression, one of 12 children. He was ostracized because he was effeminate and suffered a small deformity: his right leg was shorter than his left.
The family was religious, and Richard sang in local churches with a group called the Tiny Tots. The tug-of-war between his upbringing and rock ‘n’ roll excess tormented Penniman throughout his career.
Penniman was performing with bands by the age of 14, but there were problems at home over his sexual orientation. His father beat the boy and derided him as “half a son.”
Richard left home to join a minstrel show run by a man known as Sugarloaf Sam, occasionally appearing in drag.
In late 1955, Little Richard recorded the bawdy “Tutti Frutti,” with lyrics that were sanitized by a New Orleans songwriter. It went on to sell 1 million records over the next year.
When Little Richard’s hit was banned by many white-owned radio stations, white performers like Pat Boone and Elvis Presley did cover versions that topped the charts.
Little Richard went Hollywood with an appearance in “Don’t Knock the Rock.” But his wild lifestyle remained at odds with his faith, and a conflicted Richard quit the business in 1957 to enroll in a theological school and get married.
Richard remained on the charts when his label released previously recorded material. And he recorded a gospel record, returning to his roots.
A 1962 arrest for a homosexual encounter in a bus station restroom led to his divorce and return to performing.
He mounted three tours of England between 1962 and 1964, with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones serving as opening acts. Back in the States, he put together a band that included guitarist Jimi Hendrix — and later fired Hendrix when he was late for a bus.
In 1968, Richard hit Las Vegas and relaunched his career. Within two years, he had another hit single and made the cover of Rolling Stone.
By the mid-1970s, Richard was battling a $1,000-a-day cocaine problem and once again abandoned his musical career. He returned to religion, selling Bibles and renouncing homosexuality. For more than a decade, he vanished.
“If God can save an old homosexual like me, he can save anybody,” Richard said.
But he returned, in 1986, in spectacular fashion. Little Richard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and appeared in the movie “Down and Out in Beverly Hills.”
A Little Richard song from the soundtrack, “Great Gosh A’Mighty,” even put him back on the charts for the first time in more than 15 years. Little Richard was back to stay, enjoying another dose of celebrity that he fully embraced.
Macon, Georgia, named a street after its favorite son. And Little Richard was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In August 2002, he announced his retirement from live performing. But he continued to appear frequently on television, including a humorous appearance on a 2006 commercial for GEICO insurance.
Richard had hip surgery in November 2009 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, and asked fans at the time to pray for him. He lived in the Nashville area at the time.
“I am happiest when I know I am helping,” said RN Deborah W. Mwazi. (Courtesy photo)
Deborah W. Mwazi is an RN at Methodist South Hospital in the Medical Surgical Unit on the 4th floor. The 12-hour grind taking care of both isolated COVID-19 and regular patients is grueling.
“Our job as nurses is to administer treatment and medication,” said Mwazi. “We want to alleviate distress and make patients as comfortable as possible. I am happiest when I know I am helping.”
National Nurses Week 2020 is being observed from May 6-12. This is one of several stories saluting nurses that TSDMemphis.com will feature during the tribute.
Mwazi recalls wanting to work as a nurse as she grew up in her village back in Kenya with her parents and seven siblings. When Mwazi began working, she landed a job at the Kenya Medical Research Institute as a secretary.
“At that time, HIV studies were being conducted to do research for a cure,” said Mwazi. “Even then, I dreamed of being a nurse, but there were very few opportunities.”
Her workload now includes demanding work with COVID-19 patents. Wearing the extra protective equipment, the stress of keeping COVID-19 patients stable and running almost nonstop on 12-hour shifts – all of it is fulfilling to Mwazi as a healthcare professional.
It was in 2004 that her dream of becoming a nurse felt possible. Mwazi won the green card lottery and came to America with her son. Almost immediately, she enrolled at Southwest Tennessee Community College (SWCC) to complete her prerequisites for nursing.
Mwazi worked in a warehouse to care for her son. Childcare was a challenge, but she made the adjustment.
“See, it’s different in the village,” Mwazi said. “When you go to work or school, there are many people who can watch your children. When I came here, there were childcare expenses. It was very strange, very different.”
Mwazi finished SWCC and took a year off and began working at Methodist Hospital. She visited her home village during her break from school and found her mother ailing.
“My mother had been complaining about pain for some time,” Mwazi said. “She was diagnosed with liver cancer and given six months to live. I didn’t go right back, but stayed two months longer.”
When Mwazi returned to Memphis, her mother passed three weeks later. She went back home to bury her.
Mwazi was accepted into the Christian Brothers University nursing program and continued to work fulltime at Methodist Hospital. She graduated with a BSN, landed her dream RN job, and has been employed as a nurse since that time.
Every other year, Mwazi visits her five sisters, who still live in their village. She has also traveled extensively to Germany, Italy and throughout Africa. Mwazi had plans to travel some this year, but those, of course, have been put on hold, indefinitely.
As one who has seen the ravages of COVID-19, firsthand, on both young and old, Mwazi has some advice for residents of Memphis and Shelby County.
“Be cautious when you go outside. Please wear a mask. This thing is not over. Take every precaution seriously because people are still suffering. People are still dying. Please take heed.”
I Am My Sister’s Keeper -- founded by Margaret Cowan -- helped distribute food during a giveaway with another nonprofit, Living Grace Inc. {Courtesy photo)
by Jerome Wright —
Getting back to work
Barber William Gandy Jr. is looking forward to getting back to work at his Whitehaven barbershop, Trimmers, on Monday.
William Gandy Jr.
A new health directive for Shelby County allowed hair salons and barbershops to open Wednesday (May 6), under strict guidelines, in the first phase of the Back to Business plan for Memphis and Shelby County.
But, Gandy, his fellow barbers and the owner of the Trimmers shops around the city needed time to prepare.
“We’re going back Monday. We have a whole lot of guidelines to prepare to get ready before we can reopen. You just can’t get back on track in two seconds,” Gandy said.
Those guidelines are:
■ Checking employee temperatures before they enter the work area, and not allowing employees to enter if they have a fever or other COVID-19 symptoms.
■ Stocking the workplace with hand sanitizer, soap and sanitizing wipes.
■ Maintaining an appointment book with customer details.
■ All employees should wear face coverings and gloves when providing services.
■ Items such as capes, smocks and neck strips should be one-time use between cleanings or disposable.
■ Work stations should be at least six feet apart.
■ Customers must be served by appointment, with walk-ins permitted if they wait in their vehicle.
■ Unless a customer is a minor, non-customer companions may not be allowed to accompany customers during a service.
Gandy said the shop’s owner is trying to find disposal capes and thermometers, and he is going to relax the booth-rental fee “to give us a chance to catch up” (on their finances).
Gandy and his co-workers are independent contractors. “We’re in business for ourselves. We just rent the space,” he said.
He plans to schedule customer visits 30 minutes apart, figuring that will give him enough time to finish a haircut and sanitize his equipment before his next customer arrives.
“The most important thing for us is to make sure the customer is safe, along with us,” Gandy said.
Barber shops have long had the distinction of be social gathering spots, as well as a place to get quaffed. That especially is true for shops that cater to an African-American clientele.
For example, the banter between the barbers, or between the barbers and the customers, can be highly entertaining and extremely funny.
When you add the people who constantly pop in and out just to say hello, drop off food to the barbers or to sell various items, the barber shop is a pretty lively place.
Gandy calls it “a big social club,” where all kinds of people come together to get a haircut.
All that will change now, he said, because of the virus.
“We will be keeping the doors locked to keep people from drifting in and out,” he said.
Rethinking who needs help
Margaret Cowan, founding keeper of the nonprofit I Am My Sister’s Keeper, and her three daughters spent Saturday (May 2) helping distribute about 300 bags of food in Cordova.
Margaret Cowan (right) and Sheleah Grace of Living Grace, Inc. at the food giveaway in Cordova. (Courtesy photo)
They represented I Am My Sister’s Keeper to help distribute the food with Living Grace Inc., a nonprofit that advocates for homeless unaccompanied youth and young adults, which had partnered with the Mid-South Food Bank.
Cowan said her initial thought was why would people in Cordova, one of the city’s more well-to-do areas, need bags of food?
“But then you realize these people aren’t working either (because of layoffs and furloughs resulting from the COVID-19 virus). They were really grateful,” she said.
I Am My Sister’s Keeper works with single working mothers to increase their earning potential.
Sticking with drive through
James Cook (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises)
James Cook has been cutting grass and working for a Lenny’s franchisee since he had to close his two businesses in Memphis International Airport – Runway 901 Bar & Grill and Lenny’s Grill and Subs – in March because of a lack of airport passenger traffic.
And, although local restaurants were allowed to restart limited dine-in business Monday (May 4), Cook said the franchisee he works for plans to continue allowing drive through only.
“We’re not going into in-house dining just yet,” Cook said. “We’re still successful with our drive through.”
He added, “We’re not going to jeopardize our safety or our customers’.”
Cook said people have been “pleading” with him to reopen his airport Lenny’s to add more diversity to the dining offerings there.
He is still waiting for a significant uptick in passenger traffic before reopening.
(Jerome Wright is deputy editor for The New Tri-State Defender.)
LOC’D IN WITH LOC: An inside view as Memphis’ only HBCU (historically black college and university) navigates through the coronavirus pandemic while maintaining its mission. Featured: Dr. Christopher Davis, who chairs the LeMoyne-Owen College Board of Trustees. (Courtesy photo)
by Dr. Christopher Davis —
Weeks into the pandemic, staggering data was released suggesting that African Americans were hit harder by COVID-19 than any other racial group in the country. In addition to being disproportionately impacted in our health, we are also impacted in employment, education and even day-to-day living.
Our institutions of higher learning, including LeMoyne-Owen College, have been severely impacted by the immediate need for social distance practices, and while the safety of our students, faculty and staff is top priority, following closely is ensuring that our students continue to engage in coursework remotely and providing support for them to be successful during this time.
I’m happy to share that over the past weeks, the Board of Trustees and College leadership have been working to assess our students’ needs to give them targeted support, and we’ve been successful. Our most impactful strategy, however, has been advocating for student financial assistance. While Lemoyne-Owen College has the lowest tuition rate of any of the Private Colleges across the state of Tennessee, nearly 90 percent of our students qualify for financial aid or currently receive Federal Pell Grants. To fill the gaps, we have applied for several streams of funding, including from the U.S. Department of Education, UNCF, Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) and others.
Just last week, the U.S. Department of Education signed the CARES Act to send nearly $600M to HBCUs nationwide. Our partners and friends in the work, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), have lobbied for HBCUs and as a result, distributed funds earmarked for tuition and scholarships to directly benefit students. And, of course, we have received gifts from our dedicated alumni network and friends in the Memphis community.
We’re using those resources to address very specific needs of our students, such as computers, housing, food and technology access, as well as ensuring those who had work study jobs continue to receive pay through the Payroll Protection Act. Our goal is to ensure that our students’ financial needs are met so they can finish this semester successfully and return to school next academic year.
The next phase of work is recovery. We are considering the future, which includes making necessary technology and infrastructure upgrades for blended learning, offering summer courses remotely and creating a comprehensive plan for Fall 2020. Even greater is the need for scholarship dollars to support our current and incoming students, recognizing that some of their families have suffered employment loss.
This pandemic has illuminated an issue that minority institutions and HBCUs, in particular, have historically and presently face: underfunding and a lack of consistent resources. We are grateful for the assistance provided to our institutions and students, but we know it won’t meet every need. To properly address this crisis and its layered economic effects, we simply need more financial aid for students. The UNCF is advocating for additional dollars, and LeMoyne-Owen College, a part of that network, supports this request.
We continue to fortify and advance our institution to serve our students, families and community. In alignment with our short-term goals, we continue to explore innovative practices and policies to retain our current students, boost our enrollment and expand our partnerships.
Although the need is great, the LOC family continues to work together with those invested in providing quality education for our scholars. If you do not currently support an HBCU financially, I encourage you to do so at this pivotal time. We are in a position to strengthen and accelerate what is already a beacon of hope for so many students, and every gift counts. Please consider giving to LeMoyne-Owen College today at www.loccares.org.
Nothing quite like a pandemic to turn an Innovative Storytelling Techniques class into a real-life improvisation. Yet, that’s exactly what happened in professor Robert Byrd’s class on the subject at the University of Memphis.
Robert Byrd
Initially tasked with developing their own podcasts, Byrd’s students were told to pivot amid COVID-19 restrictions that limited in-person interactions. Many podcasts became one virtual podcast – a class project dubbed “Life in Quarantine.”
The podcast features locals from various occupations discussing how their professional responsibilities have been altered by the public health emergency. What emergences in “Life in Quarantine” is a quilt of varying experiences and exchanges between students and interview subjects in service, music and other industries.
Katrina Smith
A. Kix Patterson and Katrina Smith, the two graduate students in the podcasting class, were tasked with overseeing the operation as hosts/producers, including editing the interviews, which were conducted virtually on an app called Zencastr. Episodes have already been released.
“I think the most challenging part was just adapting to this new way of doing things,” Smith said. “As a journalist, I have always preferred the face-to-face method of interacting and interviewing people.”
A. Kix Patterson
Patterson heaped praise on the undergraduates and their contributions.
“We are blessed with undergrad, young journalists that are determined to make this a great project,” he said. “They have picked topics and found the interviews that we needed the most.”
Senior Avana Swan reasoned that being part of the virtual podcast project would yield a reward that would help as she sought to enter the workforce. She’s ready to complete her podcast episode.
“I love to produce any type of broadcasting content when I can,” Swan said. “This interview will be good practice and proof of my abilities.”
Junior Ambria Thurmond helped conduct an interview involving the service industry. She came away from the project with much appreciation for the guidance of Patterson and Smith.
“I applaud them for overseeing the entire podcast,” Thurmond said. “I am sure that editing an entire podcast can be complicated, but they’ve done a really good job at it.”
For Smith, the host role was quite a shift from her behind-the-scenes experience.”
“As a host of this podcast,” she said, “this places me outside of my comfort zone and I like the challenge.”
(To hear the “Life in Quarantine” podcast, click here. Also, the website’s social media can be accessed via the link.)
The shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, 25, went viral on social media on May 6, months after he was gunned down. The video shows Arbery jogging down a street in Brunswick, Ga. It appears to demonstrate the involvement of three men — two on a pickup truck and another filming the scene from behind.
by Lauren Victoria Burke — NNPA Newswire —
Months after the U.S. House passed a new lynching law, which has been held up by the Republican led U.S. Senate, and a day after investigative journalist Ida B. Wells was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize — a lynching story dated February 23, 2020 is in the news.
The shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, 25, went viral on social media on May 6, months after his murder. The video shows Arbery jogging down a street in Brunswick, Georgia. It appears to demonstrate the involvement of three men — two on a pickup truck and another filming the scene from behind.
Arbery’s death took place on February 23rd about three miles from where he lived. Arbery was an avid jogger and played football.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_qaHL1vNVE
The two men on the pickup truck have been identified through numerous media reports as Greg McMichael, a retired investigator in the Brunswick District Attorney’s office, and his son Travis McMichael. They appear to follow Arbery from behind as he is jogging down a suburban street. Travis McMichael, the alleged shooter, is seen confronting Arbery and part of a struggle ensues in and outside of the camera’s range. The sound of shotgun fire is heard. Arbery is then seen on video collapsing after the sound of the gunshot in front of the truck.
Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself because one of the men seen in the video of the fatal shooting pointing a gun at Arbery worked in the district attorney’s office.
During an exclusive interview on Roland Martin Unfiltered on May 7th with Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones confirmed there was no support of her from anyone in the small Georgia community after her son died. That is changing. Since the viral video has been widely seen everyone from LeBron James to former Vice President Biden and President Trump has commented on Arbery’s death.
“Initially I was told there was a burglary and a struggle over a firearm,” Cooper-Jones said on Roland Martin Unfiltered. She confirmed she has not watched the video of her son’s death but the description of it from others did not line up with what authorities told her after her son died.
“I need to get these men indicted. They need to go to jail. Two months has been too long,” said Jones on Martin’s show answering a question from Dr. Gregg Carr, the Chairman of the African American Studies Department at Howard University.
Late on May 7, Greg and Travis McMichael were finally arrested. Many observers of the breaking news warned that the exotic charges and where any future court case is likely to take place matters.
The Congressional Black Caucus had demanded arrests the day before and released a statement that in part read, “the killing of Ahmaud Arbery shows us that the spirit of lynching is still alive and well in our nation and something that we cannot tolerate.”
“The scary thing for me is the they thought the video would help his client. The culture is so backwards down there they actually thought that,” said Arbery family attorney Lee Merritt on Roland Martin Unfiltered. The case has widely been compared to the 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida by George Zimmerman.
“What happened to #AhmaudArbery is a MODERN DAY LYNCHING. This February, the House overwhelmingly passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which would make lynching a federal crime,” wrote Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL)
South Carolina Republican U.S. Senator Tim Scott wrote, “ Every.single.time. The excuses pour in – ‘he looked suspicious’… ‘we thought he was committing a crime”…The fact remains, #AhmaudArbery was hunted down from a pickup truck and murdered in cold blood. My heart breaks for his family, and justice must be served.”
Likely Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said, Arbery was “shot down in cold blood,” and his killing reflected a “rising pandemic of hate.”
“AhmaudArbery should still be alive right now. This is tragic and unacceptable. It should ignite us all in demands for justice. I’m calling on the Department of Justice to investigate. We need justice for Ahmaud and his family,” wrote Sen. Cory Booker on Twitter.
(Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist for NNPA and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is also a political strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke.)
