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Getting the Tri-State Defender to the people

As The New Tri-State Defender observes and celebrates 70 years of continuous publication, we take note and salute the boys and girls, men and women who – over the years – put it in the hands of the people.

15 cents – ‘a lot of money for a boy my age’

George W. Tillman Jr.

“Selling the Tri-State Defender was my very first job. I was about 9 or 10. 

“I lived right there near the corner of Lamar Avenue and South Parkway. I had regular customers that I developed on my weekly route. 

“I would deliver the paper right there on Chadwick Circle where most of my customers were. I would come back to collect the money. That was my weekly routine.

“The paper was 15 cents, I remember. I would go and turn my money in, and I was given my $5 for the week. 

“That was a lot of money for a boy my age. You could do a lot with $5 back in those days.” 

– George W. Tillman Jr.,

Independent filmmaker, historian


‘Everyone was … excited when I came around’

Pastor Larry Lewis

“Selling the Tri-State Defender was my first real job. I was 13 at the time. I lived on Hayes Street in Castalia growing up,” said Pastor Larry Lewis of Wisdom, Knowledge and Understanding Ministries.

“I would sell the Tri-State Defender door-to-door. Everybody wanted one, and so, I did very well each week. The paper was either $.15 or $.25, I can’t quite remember. But everyone was always excited when I came around with a new edition every week. 

“I especially loved going to the barbershop. Everybody bought a copy at the barber shop. That would be my last stop because I liked to sit and listen to the men talk about what was in the news. Those conversations meant a lot to me. 

“I have thought of those times in my adult life. My father was in our home, but I liked what those men represented to me at 13…” 

– Pastor Larry Lewis

Wisdom, Knowledge, and Understanding Ministries


Good to know ‘it’s still being 

published after all those years’ 

Michael Arvin

“I sold the Tri-State Defender as a boy.

“I can’t quite recall how old I was when I started, but I had a friend who sold the Memphis World. We kind of competed to sell the most papers each week. 

“After a while, the Memphis World closed, and I just continued selling the Tri-State Defender

“It’s good to know that it’s still being published after all those years.” 

– Michael Arvin

Retired


A seed ‘that continues to be nurtured’

Dr. Willie W. Herenton

“I was taught that all work is honorable. 

“Starting as a paperboy, delivering the Tri-State Defender was a beginning which planted a seed that continues to be nurtured.

“At age 81, I am still working. Thank God!”

– Dr. Willie W. Herenton

First African-American superintendent, Memphis City Schools 

First African-American elected Mayor of Memphis


‘It was important to carry the paper’

Cleveland Jackson

“I ran a corner store in Orange Mound from 1970, for nearly 30 years. It was right there at the corner of Carnes Avenue and Pendleton Street. We carried the Tri-State Defender each week and sold it right there on the counter. 

“I hired little boys and girls to work in the store. They were all between the ages of about 10-12. I taught every one of them how to run that business, including how to sell the paper. 

“The Tri-State Defender was sold there up to the last day the store was open. It was a newspaper about our community, and it was important to carry the paper. 

“There were four or five stores on Carnes during that time. We all carried the Tri-State for the convenience of our customers.” 

– Cleveland Jackson

Former owner of Jackson Store


‘The paper sold itself’

Dorothy Jones and LaVerne Jones

“Our family had three stores in Memphis, and we carried the Tri-State Defender in all of them. Jones Big Star was over there on McLemore Avenue, right near where Stax Recording Studio was. 

“My father was State Rep. Rufus Jones, and I was the youngest. I worked in the stores the most because I was the youngest, and everyone else had gone off to college. I remember we got a bundle of papers every week. 

“Our ads ran each week in the Tri-State, and we had to get the specials and changes in every Wednesday, if my memory serves me correctly. The papers were placed right there under the phone booth near the entrance of the store. 

The Tri-State Defender was important to the Black community, and people looked for it each week when they came to shop for their groceries. We really didn’t have to do much selling.

“The paper sold itself.” 

– Dorothy Jones, daughter of State Rep. Rufus E. Jones and Marvis LaVerne Jones, one of the Memphis State 8


‘I was the man in Binghampton’

Ekpe Abioto

“Selling the Tri-State Defender was my first job. I started when I was about 10, in the fourth grade, I believe. 

“I was all up and down Binghampton. I had Binghampton all to myself. I was the man in Binghampton. I sold it to my customers on my route and on Sunday at Providence AME Church. 

“I would get the papers on Thursday and start after school on Thursday through the weekend. I kept that job up to the seventh grade. It sold for $.15, and I made $.06 off of every paper I sold. 

“I made so much money. I loved it.”

 – Ekpe Abioto

Memphis-based musician,

founder African Jazz Ensemble


TSD and the Morris connection

Alma Morris and Charlie Morris

Fixtures and North Memphis activist, Alma Morris, along with her husband, Charlie Morris, rode around each week with two bundles of the Tri-State Defender

Charlie Morris sold the newspaper in his barbershop on Evergreen Street in North Memphis.

Alma Morris sold the Tri-State Defender all over the city, including the Vollintine community where she lived.

The Morrises – both deceased – were among some of the strongest supporters of the Tri-State Defender

– Alma Morris and Charlie Morris

Community activists,

 North Memphis advocates

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