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.

Breaking news on the coronavirus serves an important public service. As does our live coverage of the protests in Downtown Memphis. That content also will be free for everyone to access.

Critics point out that these tragedies occurred outside of Memphis. They also complain that activists should focus on issues such as joblessness, educational deficits and crime. But in times of crisis, public protest is essential.

Protesters distributed a list of “suggested demands” at a weekend rally. Some are easier to achieve than others given the coronavirus-spiked budgeting chaos. All, perhaps, are debatable. But it would do the city great good for the current moment to become a more actionable one.

MATA should have the common sense to know that when you are not the one filling out an online application for unemployment benefits, it is easy to say to those who are struggling amid COVID-19 to “Be patient.”

Believe it or not, something important is on the August ballot.

Physical distancing and wearing masks will not prevent the rising number of people who do not have health insurance.

Giving a person who has a conviction a career is an investment, and that investment has a tremendous return. The dignity of work also serves as a deterrent to unacceptable behavior; it keeps a person on the right track.

In recent years, spending has begun to exceed revenue — a structural imbalance that is unsustainable over time without property tax increases.

So, yes, I do not care about whether a college basketball player stands up for an anthem. To complain about such a thing in this moment seems to me pointless, trivial, a kind of profanity.

I would like to dedicate the prom White Station didn’t have in 1967 to our classmates — the students of T.W. Patterson High — and to their quiet courage and inner strength. 

The death count is dramatically lower than early warnings, but no less tragic, as coronavirus precautions left many victims to die alone, isolated from their spouses and children, dear friends and clergy.

If this does not create sustained national outrage from the halls of government to the smallest police force in America, if this does not convince you that the Black Lives Matter movement had it right all along, nothing will.

When the Memphis/Shelby County Joint COVID Task Force moved from daily to twice-weekly briefings this week, I saw it as a sign that living with the virus, and accepting that you’re living with it, means not being gripped by a crisis report day after day after day. 

The experts are "optimistic and hopeful" about the trajectory of COVID-19 in Memphis. So you can be, too. 

To date, four independent studies – including one also financed by MLGW – have come to the same conclusion that if Memphis would leave TVA and join MISO, the city could save up to $450 million a year.