[ad_1] My family’s history in North America begins in North Carolina, where an ancestor, Lucy Hardiman, was enslaved. She must have been a resistor because her daughter, Mary Coleman, would weep when recounting the lashes Lucy received during her involuntary entrapment. Mary moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where my family lived from the late 1800s to … Read more
[ad_1] “Earlier this month, the president spoke to them by phone after they were subjugated to expulsion votes in the Tennessee Statehouse for peacefully protesting in support of stronger gun safety laws following the shooting at Covenant School in Nashville. During that call, the president thanked them for their leadership in seeking to ban assault … Read more
[ad_1] One of the first laws passed by the Tennessee General Assembly this year regulates drag show performances, criminalizing “adult cabaret entertainment” that takes place in public or in front of minors. Conservatives backing the legislation believe the performances expose minors to inappropriate sexual themes — a claim that advocates reject. Republican state Sen. Jack … Read more
[ad_1] “Continue to fight the good fight,” Caswell said. Pearson responded with a warning message to the Republican supermajority in the state House and a rally cry to his supporters. “The message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us: You can’t expel hope, you can’t expel justice, you can’t expel our … Read more
[ad_1] “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we have to take advantage of,” state Sen. London Lamar, a Democrat who represents parts of Memphis, said in an interview. A blue turnaround in Tennessee seemed like a pipe dream just a few weeks ago — and maybe still does. Democrats are outnumbered, out-resourced and hamstrung by a … Read more
[ad_1] “The state would swing left-right, left-right, Republican-Democrat, Republican-Democrat,” Carter recalled about Tennessee’s political tradition, before turning away from me and raising her voice toward a group of official-looking people in suits headed into the Capitol who perhaps could address gun violence: “Guys, think about the children!” The day after Easter was gorgeous here, a … Read more
[ad_1] The governor made the announcement amid political turmoil in the state Legislature over a GOP-led ouster of two Democrats for leading a gun reform protest inside the statehouse this month. The Nashville Metropolitan Council, a body that has sparred with Republicans in the Legislature, reappointed one of the lawmakers, Rep. Justin Jones, to his … Read more
[ad_1] State lawmakers occasionally remove their fellow colleagues, but it’s often for cases involving criminal misconduct or major ethical lapses. Last week’s vote in Tennessee was exceedingly rare for its speed and partisanship. Nearly all of the Republican supermajority voted to oust Jones and Pearson, and the effort to remove Johnson fell short by a … Read more
[ad_1] The Louisville shooting comes just two weeks after three children and three adults were killed at a Christian elementary school in Nashville. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said that one of the victims, Cindy Peak, was friends with his wife Maria. “What happened at Covenant School was a tragedy beyond comprehension. Like many of you, … Read more
[ad_1] When I covered the Tennessee Capitol from 2018 to 2021, the family-values espousing Republican House speaker had to explain why his text message trail included discussions of pole-dancing women and his chief of staff’s sexual encounters in the bathroom of a hot chicken restaurant. After a Republican lawmaker was accused of sexually assaulting 15- … Read more