VENDOR WRITING
Proud to Be... BY JEN A., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR I sell newspapers by the side of the road. It's my only source of income and I'm proud to do what I do. The Contributor is a quality, award-winning, publication with an innovative model that lifts up, not only those of us who sell the paper, but the entire Nashville community. When I first started selling The Contributor, I believed I was the only one benefiting from the sale. But it didn't take me long to realize that my customers gain as much of a benefit — if not more. Contributor vendors standing out on the street throughout the city, forces the good people of Nashville to look poverty in the face and decide what they are going to do about it. Are they going to live their faith and buy a paper, or turn a blind eye? For the most part, my customers are wonderful people. A few are not
so wonderful and a few are downright obscene. But recently I've noticed some who puzzle me. They'll wave their dollars at me and when I get to the window, they snatch the money back and ask, “Are you a Christian?” I was raised in the Christian tradition, so at heart, that is really all I've ever known. I consider myself a Christian. I believe in the teachings of Jesus. I believe that we should all love one another and bring His light into our world. I don't demean anyone. But recently I've noticed that there seems to be a different kind of “Christian”. There are Christians like me, who live humbly and love our fellow citizens. And then there are “Christians” who revere vile, immoral, demigods and whose only purpose in life is to belittle the least of us and amass guns, great wealth and power. They call themselves "Christians", but
are they really? Republicans have been grooming these “Christians” for a very long time. I'm sure you've seen them. They and their families, each holding powerful guns, are photographed in front of a Christmas tree, then made into cards to be sent out to their friends and associates over the sacred holiday that celebrates the birth of Christ. They burn books and forbid our children from even discussing our state's history of the brutal treatment of Native Americans, Blacks, Jews, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, or any other group they arbitrarily disapprove of: anything that will get them votes from the “Christians” they've created. Maya Angelou once said, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." Maybe Tennessee “Christians” have let the
corruption of their core beliefs go on for so long they don't know who Jesus is anymore — let alone who they are themselves. Our “Christian” governor did nothing to stop a law that will send homeless residents to prison for six years and is about to turn our schools, and all the associated tax dollars that go along with them, over to out-ofstate “Christians” who say our teachers are stupid and that anyone can do what teachers do: no education training required. God save us all from these “Christians”. Instead of doing the Christian thing to help the poor, the sick, the homeless, and the suffering, these other “Christians” draft laws and level harsh penalties and fines against the least among us. Are our privatized prisons running low on people to lock up? Or maybe some new corporation
is moving to Tennessee and needs some captive, low-cost prison work crews. These “Christians” are so pervasive anymore, I expect to walk into a Tennessee church sometime in the near future to see an altar draped in American flags with an AR-15 suspended over it instead of a cross. I believe Tennessee “Christians” have lost their way and are wandering in a vast, endless desert. I pray they find their way back to Jesus. I don't really know what I'll say the next time a potential customer wants to play the, “Are you a Christian?” game. I will probably say nothing and just turn away to greet the next car in line. I know who I am in my heart. I'm proud to be the kind of caring Christian I am: no gun or fealty to an abhorrent demigod or political party required.
Meet our New Friend BY MAURICE B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR As it's a blessing that all humans are alike, but all have differenting ideas that make us a whole. This factor is facts world wide. Whereas many have an idea to remain right where they are at until their blessings fall from a tree or the skies. Then there are the multitude that realize that if one doesn't work then they aren't able to eat that's only one level of an aspect cause there are those that believe if you don't grind then you don't shine. Well by having an opportunity to have met Charlane Oliver finally there was that time that we were able to sit back and talk and talk deep. As we both are those types of individuals that seem to be reaching for the skies. We are both individuals from another state whereas she was raised in Arkansas and I in Texas. Now she is a marvelous achiever. For instance, even from a young age she has had enormous dreams for her future. And by her environmental move here to Nashville she has been only able to move forward whereas she first landed 20 years ago for her Vanderbilt Bachelor of Science in Human and Organizational Development and is still striving for accomplishments there shortly A Master of Public Administration from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Now as
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considered an achiever of prominent dreams here as a Nashvillian the larger aspects are to fulfill her dreams in which i back her. As I remember meeting and greeting her at the jazz fest and found out that her destiny is to become a Tennessee state senator. And after all her big girl dreams she has accomplished such as defeating a state of depression by stepping with our almighty God's will and becoming a loving and devoted mother and wife ad still moves forward into major accomplishments such as, according to her bio, "an award-winning servant leader, community organizer, nonprofit founder, and wife and working mother. Charlane is the co-founder and co-executive director of The Equity Alliance, a statewide nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization whose mission is to unapologetically build independent Black political and economic power and keep government in check. Under Charlane’s visionary leadership, she turned $250 of her own money into a $2.5 million-dollar powerhouse organization in just five years, growing currently with 12 employees and three chapters across the state. Her successes through TEA earned her the prestigious recognition of 2020 People of the Year by The Tennessean and numerous accolades."
