Echols: Thinking about what’s behind our thinking
“Once you take a thought captive and lock it up tight, you must replace it with another thought. Very few of us are able to sit quietly with nothing at all going on up top.”
Topic: Guest Columns
RSSThere are 208 article(s) tagged Guest Columns:
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December 2025
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Opinion: ‘The moral obligation to extend hospitality to the migrant and the stranger’
“Regardless of political affiliation or denomination, Christian people must speak clearly and with one voice that such treatment of the immigrant or cultural outsider in our midst is immoral and in direct opposition to the way of Jesus.”
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Opinion: Why is the City of Memphis treating loans as grants?
“We hear so much about the need for transparency in government; this might be a good and easy place to start. It all boils down to the people’s trust in their government.”
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November 2025
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Opinion: Protecting public safety from digital manipulation
“The internet isn’t just a separate world we visit; it is now an inseparable part of our streets, schools and homes. The ultimate safety app is awareness.”
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Opinion: The high price of the social media highlight reel
“I am a proponent of the Shelby County’s school board’s decision to ban phones from school and wish it would have been done sooner.”
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Opinion: TVA should finish the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant
“Our low energy costs, abundant land, strong distribution network, and leadership in advanced manufacturing give Memphis a competitive edge. But we’ll only keep that edge if we expand generation capacity now.”
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Guest Column: Novella Smith Arnold Cromer built a beloved community in Memphis
“In a world of widespread division, racial profiling, and individual, systemic, and institutional racism, Novella ignored all the social constructs that divided neighbors from one another.”
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Opinion: Rep. Cohen says flight reduction sparks outcry and frustrations
“I am frustrated on behalf of my constituents, whose flights to or from Memphis may be canceled or delayed, effecting untold numbers of business meetings, family gatherings, and vacations.”
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Opinion: Comparing violence intervention in Memphis to Baltimore
“Reducing violence requires ... data — credible data — which requires collaboration.”
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Opinion: Brent Taylor accuses Otis Sanford of ‘shag carpet’ hypocrisy
Otis Sanford “accuses Republicans of selective fury while practicing it himself: outraged at Trump’s pardons for nonviolent individuals but mute about Biden’s pardons for violent criminals.”
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Opinion: Beyond the scroll — what social media is really doing to us
“Research shows ‘fake news’ spreads significantly faster than the truth. Why? Because the social media algorithm is structured to reward engagement.”
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Guest Column: ‘Living in Memphis means choosing life over fear’
“We can’t let people who don’t actually live in Memphis tell us how terrible our own city is. ... Yes, there’s risk here – but there’s also rhythm, resilience and beauty.”
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Opinion: What the federal task force proves about the council’s traffic-stop policy
“Instead of treating a horrific tragedy as an isolated incident and holding those specific officers accountable, the council put the entire MPD culture — and legitimate policing — on trial.”
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Opinion: Memphis once again finds itself at a crossroads. Let’s make sure a MATA bus is there to give us a lift.
“Would 79% of Shelby County households who believe in MATA support an investment of $2 and change a month to fund public transit? Especially if it means they would be able to ride the bus, microtransit and trolley all fare-free?
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October 2025
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Opinion: We must address forensic crime lab needs
“Failure to act will increase backlogs, slow investigations, and create questions regarding the reliability of forensic evidence in the courtroom. That is why a taskforce should be developed including key stakeholders and experts in forensics to build local capacity.”
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Opinion: Mayor Harris isn’t listening to Memphis families about MSCS
“Instead of waiting for the school board election, we demand an immediate, concrete commitment to fix our schools and restore public trust.”
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Echols: What word does God use for you and me?
“What we name each other, both on legal documents and in earned fellowship, is enough to determine some amount of lifelong meaning. But the grace-filled name God gives to us, both in secret and in stone, will be who we are for the rest of eternity.”
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Opinion: Environmental justice is not negotiable
“Every person has the right to breathe clean air, drink clean water and live free from the fear of corporate exploitation.”
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Opinion: How a circular economy supports the ‘Digital Delta’
A circular economy is about designing systems that are efficient, adaptive and less vulnerable to shocks.
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How Boss Crump stared down a governor’s threat to send the National Guard to Memphis
Memphians may be intrigued to learn what happened in 1938 in a world where Memphis stood largely united against a National Guard deployment, behind a self-assured leader with a powerful political organization and friends in Washington, D.C.
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Opinion: Amend Germantown’s charter to support a full-time mayor? Where’s the outrage?
“The qualities needed to win an election are not the same qualities needed to manage a modern city like Germantown.”
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Opinion: The Shelby County criminal justice system needs sustained state support
“While Memphis Safe Task Force agencies are here now, their assignment is temporary. When they depart, the resulting caseloads and responsibilities will remain with our local courts, clerks and correctional facilities.”
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September 2025
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Opinion: Memphians deserve a choice in how we are governed and policed
“The outsiders ... who think this “surge” is a wonderful idea for the city have little insight into how the deployment of a few hundred people in a city as sprawling and diverse as Memphis can effectively combat crime.”
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Opinion: Driving Tennessee’s prosperity in divided times
“Our goal is simple: to create a space where partisanship fades and common sense takes the lead. We may not agree on everything, but we can agree on this: We all want our families and communities to thrive.”
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Opinion: School vouchers expand opportunities for families
“Suggesting that school choice programs drain public schools is misleading and distracts from the real conversation we should be having — how do we give every child in Tennessee access to a high-quality education, regardless of ZIP code, income or circumstance?”
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