At gatherings, I only have to share one fact to get people interested: It’s music from Memphis. 

Growing up in a small, modest African American community, we had each other. I remember how so much was poured into me by the generations of women around me. ... I want to pay forward the inspiration that I have received. 

On Saturday, there will be a memorial service for Norman Blackley – “Cap” to so many – at the Memphis Botanic Garden. The place will be chock-full of stories. And gratitude.

Republicans for the Rule of Law is advertising in Tennessee to drum up support for a fair Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump. The group hopes to put pressure on Sen. Lamar Alexander to vote to have witnesses during the trial.

I own a restaurant in Downtown Memphis, and I can’t tell you the number of times employees ask to leave work at 8 p.m. because they don’t want to miss the only bus they can catch to get home at night. Some will miss out on $40 or $50 in wages because they leave work early.

You can find FiveThirtyEight.com predictions more than a month in advance of the Tennessee primary and nearly two weeks before votes are cast in the Iowa caucuses. How much faith should we have in these forecasts? Not a whole lot.

On this King Day 2020, the 91st birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we do what we do every year. Lift his voice, his ideals, his teachings, his brilliance, his strategic leadership, his love for his family and mankind that put much of what we’re going through and need to change in perspective.

'We must be a unified and united body. If we are not, we run the risks of watering down our legislative authority and allowing outside entities comprised of individuals not elected by the citizens of Memphis, essentially, to make legislative and budgetary decisions.' 

A University of Tennessee fraternity brother invited me to lunch the other day, he said, to share my experience writing a column with his son. Instead, he turned to me and opened with, “Tell him the toilet seat story.”

Monday, for the first time in 48 years, Rev. Nicholas Vieron will not conduct his annual Adult Greek Class, a Memphis tradition. His mind and soul are willing. His body, not so much these days.

This political tempest involves the thorny issue of whether Tennessee should continue to participate in a federal refugee resettlement program.

The high rate of juveniles transferred to adult court in Shelby County is not due to differences in Shelby County youth. It’s due to differences in the operation of our juvenile justice system. 

Stern cared deeply about both civil rights and bringing the NBA to mid-size cities where the basketball team would be one of the biggest things in town. For Stern, that combination equaled Memphis. 

We can prevent HIV, or we can prosecute it, but we cannot do both.

This is about respect for time-honored process in a short-cut world, about pride in completion, about creating something for others. As chef Hallie said, “Baking is hard.”

Partisan anger for and against President Donald Trump will drive voters to the polls in high numbers. But other factors, such as health care, will play a role.

In the 2010s, we saw real-size people on TV and became experts at streaming. 

Even more remarkable than Hanover’s role in suffrage ratification was the rest of his life. 

Voters of the Ninth District know their congressman sometimes leans toward the outrageous. But he represents his congressional district with passion and commitment and that’s why voters have sent him to Washington seven times. 

Waking up with the flu. A power outage. A bad traffic jam. The Tigers getting into a Power 5 conference. These are all gravity issues. Nothing I do affects them.

We contain multitudes. 

As the assault on local journalism continues, we look back at a year of growth for The Daily Memphian.

For the new decade, Hattiloo Theatre is renewing its vow to amplify the voice of the African American community within the arts community, and doubling down on that effort by investing more in developing artists.

On Jan. 2, 2020, work to renovate Cossitt Library will officially begin. The project is scheduled to be finished in late September.

The Memphis congressman is the fourth most senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, which wrote the two articles that are the basis of the Senate trial. But Cohen’s peers tend to regard him as a grandstander rather than a team player.