Johnson’s message was powerful as he urged Congress to pass voting rights legislation. Drawing from the gospel song that became a hymn of the civil rights movement, he said, “it is all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.”

'With 17 years of experience with military equipment, I can tell you that most police departments don’t have the experience and level of training needed to operate this equipment properly.'

Research shows that to include women in the peacemaking process is not a courtesy, it’s a necessity. Any negotiations that stakeholders hope to be lasting or meaningful can only be so with the input of women in the community.

'We are asking the MRPP to recognize their proposal for Tom Lee Park, their maintenance record and their neglect of Mud Island River Park are not working with or for the majority of people in Memphis.'

When people ask why protests in Memphis have been so different than in most other cities, they’re fishing for a compliment. But there’s one aspect that is never mentioned: They have been smaller than in most other cities. 

With Republicans in the driver’s seat in all three Mid-South Senate elections, are there competitive contests anywhere else on the ballot? The short answer: No.

We talk about “the homeless,” “the immigrants,” “the poor.” These are categories that are different from how we see ourselves. It allows us to remain in power. 

My kind of world-saving is the kind I can do from my kitchen, the kind that smells like a home-cooked meal and looks like a bit more menu planning and a strategy for leftovers.

We offer three suggestions for concrete steps to reduce the disconnect between our police and our community.

Police brutality and racism are not just black people’s problem; they’re an American problem, which makes them white people’s problem, too. 

Systemic racism and COVID-19 are both invisible and potentially deadly. Both are spread by fellow human beings and more likely to kill African Americans.

Apologies are necessary. Especially now. But it's what happens after the apology that matters. A story of two Memphis ministers and one simple request. 

The public protests of the past week would seem to violate current health directives against mass gatherings of 50 or more. Given the cause for the gatherings, it would be a mistake for officials to use that as a pretext for breaking them up. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t worry about them.

Stranded by COVID-19 and the loss of a wireless connection while watching weather stall the SpaceX rocket launch, it's hard to find order in this first-world life.

Lifelong best friends Zach Waters and Chris O'Conner are the same age and went to the same schools, but remember gradually discovering that one of them had to live more cautiously for a reason that confounded them.

Chris O'Conner learned at a young age that he and his best friend couldn't play with the same toys. One that looked like a knife "could cost little black boys their life."

The notion that low taxes are good for Memphis is a bill of goods, more hollow than the Pyramid and less financially sound. Low taxes help the richest in our society and hurt the rest of us.

Those who are hardest hit do not have the power or resources to change the economic, educational, health care and criminal justice systems. Even our democracy, which should have the potential to be an equalizer, is fundamentally broken and in many cases, morally bankrupt.

Edward Carmack’s statue in the Tennessee Capitol was among several monuments linked to racism and the Confederacy that bit the dust or were defaced during protests over the senseless killing of African Americans by police and vigilantes.

We, the leaders of the health care systems in the Mid-South, recognize that we must continue to do better in reaching at-risk populations. We must develop more effective intervention strategies. We must make engaging with our system easier and more practical.

Few of us who are not black have truly seen the lack of understanding captured by the pervasive question on social media: “Why are they so mad?”

The primary metric that was supposed to guide our decisions isn’t moving in the right direction. It wasn’t telling us what we wanted to hear, so it appears as if we’re choosing to ignore it. 

There's no right way to protest. But Tuesday in Memphis, several hundred protestors marched to Mason Temple and forged a moment of heartbreaking grace. 

If there’s a commonality among many who disagree about protest tactics as well as those who by profession are on the other side of a line, maybe it’s a care for the city. Defensive pride in place is a Memphis throughline, and it may be serving us here. 

Getting a COVID-19 test is getting easier. Testing sites are rarely full. Some already offer a painless self-test and others are headed that way.