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Volu m e 14

| Number 22 | October 14 - 28, 2020

Oct.. 2nd

2020

L a N ticia www.hispanicpaper.com

“DONDE OCURREN LOS HECHOS QUE IMPORTAN, SIEMPRE PRIMERO... ANTES”

Año 18 - No. 316

Nashville, Tennessee

Lo Que Significa Ser Hispano En Estos Tiempos De Pandemia

El Mes de la Herencia Hispana, que comenzó el 15 de septiembre, está llegando a su fin, y mientras celebramos las contribuciones de los hispanoamericanos a la economía y la cultura de este país, millones viven Por Yuri Cunza La Noticia en las sombras, incapaces de trabajar ple- Editor inChief namente y vivir libre e independientemente. aquí en los Estados Unidos, debido a su estado migratorio.

IN THE ISSUE Cuando vine a Nashville por primera vez en 1992, las cosas se veían muy diferentes. No era tan fácil conocer a alguien de México, o de cualquier país de habla hispana que viviera aquí hace 28 años aproximadamente. Al menos, no como es hoy. Ahora si estamos por todo lado.

La gente de aqui, de Tennessee no sabía mucho sobre poblaciones inmigrantes, y esa falta de conocimiento creaba barreras para los recien llegados. Es por eso que me dedico a trabajar para fomentar el espíritu empresarial y para contar historias y educar a las personas sobre las contribuciones de los inmigrantes. Como presidente y director ejecutivo de la Cámara de Comercio Hispana, trabajo con grandes corporaciones pero también con la pequeña empresa familiar que invierte todo lo que tiene con la esperanza de lograr el sueño americano. Hoy en día, nuestra comunidad hispana local es diversa, vibrante y exitosa, y supera el 10 por ciento de la población de Nashville.

Nuestro éxito aquí en Tennessee se refleja en el resto del país. La estudios de investigación muestran de manera inequívoca que los inmigrantes han contribuido de manera significativa, a

Tuesday, September 15, 2020: Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and NAHCC Foundation leadership at the steps of the Historic Nashville Metropolitan Courthouse mark the official kick off for Hispanic heritage month joined by Mayor John Cooper, the new director of the Office of New Americans Mohamed Shukri Hassan and Fabian Bedne with the Mayor's office of Neighborhood Development and Infraestructure.

veces vital, a sectores clave de nuestra economía. Un estudio reciente de la Partnership for a New American Economy muestra que los inmigrantes tienen el doble de probabilidades de iniciar un negocio que los nativos. En el sector manufacturero, los inmigrantes han creado o preservado más de 1.8 millones de empleos a nivel nacional, no solo creando empleos, sino también riqueza, con emprendedoras latinas a la cabeza, abriendo negocios seis veces más rápido que el promedio nacional, lo que se suma al 44 por ciento de crecimiento de todos los negocios propiedad de hispanos y promoviendo un impulso económico colectivo de aproximadamente $ 465 mil millones anuales. De hecho, ha habido un aumento del 200 por ciento en las empresas propiedad de latinas durante la última década, según la Cámara de Comercio Hispana de los Estados Unidos. Por supuesto todo esto es antes de la pandemia que nos afecta actualmente, pero podemos imaginarnos lo que significamos para cuando empecemos a reactivar nuestra economía.

Conoce tus derechos: ¿Que hacer en caso de una redada?

por

1. Mantenerse callado 2. Sólo dar nombre y apellido 3. No mentir 4. Nunca acepte/lleve documentos falsos 5. No revelar su situación migratoria 6. No llevar documentación de otro país 7. En caso de ser arrestado, mostrarla Tarjeta Miranda (llámenos si necesita una)

Así como yo, los empresarios hispanos no esperamos trofeos por ponernos a trabajar duro, sino simplemente lo hacemos por tener la oportunidad de vivir con dignidad dentro de nuestra comunidad. Estamos agradecidos de estar en un lugar donde florece la libre empresa y donde las personas, sin importar su orígen pueden trabajar arduamente por una mejor vida y la de nuestras familias. Dejando a un lado los argumentos económicos, aquí están en juego implicaciones sociales más importantes. Las cifras son ciertamente convincentes, especialmente teniendo en cuenta que nuestra economía ni siquiera se encuentra todavía en modo de recuperación. La seguridad fronteriza es siempre un tema importante en este debate: debemos asegurar nuestras fronteras al igual que debemos dar la bienvenida a quienes buscan legalmente crear una vida aquí. Doce millones de personas que viven como ciudadanos de segunda clase, irónica-

mente décadas después de que sus países de origen obtuvieron la independencia, presenta una situación inaceptable. Es verdaderamente irresponsable seguir avanzando como país sin incluir a un grupo que tiene aproximadamente el mismo tamaño que la población de Ohio. Nuestro gobierno debería gastar sus recursos protegiendo la frontera de organizaciones criminales y terroristas en lugar de buscar a personas que llegan aquí por las demandas laborales económicas de nuestra economía estadounidense.

Naturalizar a una nueva generación de inmigrnates es un proceso riguroso y debería seguir siendo así. Pero la naturalización marca la diferencia. Los inmigrantes naturalizados se comprometen a largo plazo con los EE. UU., una decisión que a menudo conduce a contribuciones más importantes a nuestras comunidades. Si bien seguir el proceso de ley es necesario, no debe terminar perjudicandonos rechazando el talento internacional, asfixiando el espíritu empresarial que esta ya aquí y obligando a un gran grupo de personas a vivir en las sombras. El jueves por la noche (15 de octubre de 2020), al cerrar el Mes de la Herencia Hispana con nuestra fecha 16 de Premios ahora virtuales a los Negocios y Comunidad, líderes de nuestra ciudad y empresarios se unirán a la nación en reconocer las contribuciones culturales, económicas, profesionales y cívicas de 60.6 millones de hispanos en nuestro país y en nuestra comunidad de Nashville, en honor a quienes están diariamente detrás de escena y en la vanguardia de nuestra prosperidad económica. ¡Únase a nosotros! . Envíenos sus sugerencias por e-mail: news@hispanicpaper.com

Basados en la Quinta Enmienda de la Constitución, los derechos de guardar silencio y contar con un abogado fueron denominados Derechos Miranda luego de la decisión de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de Estados Unidos en el caso Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, de 1966.

Customer Spotlight

Moving Pictures

Vendor Writing

La Noticia + The Contributor

Contributor vendor Keith Doehring and Lynn Jones form a friendship through their shared love of food

The Trial of the Chicago 7 recreates the trial following the 1968 Democratic National Convention police attacks against protestors.

In this issue, vendors write about subpar living conditions, Halloween, and one vendor asks you to please vote.

La Noticia, one of the leading Spanish-language newspapers in the nation, brings Spanish content to The Contributor.

w w w . j u a n e s e . c o m

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Contributor Board

Tom Wills, Chair Cathy Jennings, Bruce Doeg, Demetria Kalodimos, Ann Bourland, Kerry Graham, Peter Macdonald, Amber DuVentre, Jerome Moore, Erik Flynn

Contributors This Issue

Amanda Haggard • Linda Bailey • Hannah Herner • May Hartness • Kami Baergen • Ingrid Miller • Morgan Storicks • Iraven Katz • Clare Fernandez • Michaela Anne • Chloe Cooper • Ellen Angelico • Anna Dufur • Leslie Boehms • Lydia Luce • Taryn Wolf • Ali Humbrecht • Tristen Gaspadarek • Emily Mayer • Eric McAnally • Becky Warren • Jess Nolan • Kelsey Smith • Logan Chung • Ali Buck • Heather Openshaw • Cybelle Elena • Ashley Adkins • Joe Nolan • Jen A. • Deanna H. • June P. • John H. • Mr. Mysterio • Gary “Pops” • Vicky B. Yuri Cunza Contributor Volunteers Joe First • Andy Shapiro • Michael Reilly • Ann Bourland • Patti George • John Jennings • Janet Kerwood • Logan Ebel • Christine Doeg • Laura Birdsall • Nancy Kirkland • Mary Smith • Andrew Smith • Ellen Fletcher • Richard Aberdeen • Shayna Harder Wiggins • Pete MacDonald • Robert Thompson

Cathy Jennings Executive Director Tom Wills Director of Vendor Operations Hannah Herner Staff Writer Jesse Call Housing Navigator Raven Lintu Housing Navigator Barbara Womack Advertising Manager

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Amanda Haggard & Linda Bailey Co-Editors Andrew Krinks Editor Emeritus Will Connelly, Tasha F. Lemley, Steven Samra, and Tom WIlls Contributor Co-Founders

Editorials and features in The Contributor are the perspectives of the authors. Submissions of news, opinion, fiction, art and poetry are welcomed. The Contributor reserves the right to edit any submissions. The Contributor cannot and will not endorse any political candidate. Submissions may be emailed to: editorial@thecontributor.org Requests to volunteer, donate, or purchase subscriptions can be emailed to: info@thecontributor.org Please email advertising requests to: advertising@thecontributor.org

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FEATURE

‘Contributor’ Keith and The Creole Diva KEITH DOEHRING AND LYNN JONES FORM A FRIENDSHIP THROUGH THEIR SHARED LOVE OF FOOD BY MAY HARTNESS When Keith Doehring sold Lynn Jones a copy of The Contributor in 2012, the two had no idea their encounter would lead to a lasting friendship. “I sell at Hamilton Church and Murfreesboro Road. At that time, Lynn was buying papers once a week, and we would talk for a few seconds at the light. One day I wrote her a little letter explaining why I was selling the paper, then she wrote me a letter back explaining why she was in Nashville. We’ve been friends ever since,” Doehring says. Jones, a long-time resident of New Orleans, La., moved to Nashville soon after Hurricane Katrina struck her community. And although she left Louisiana behind, Jones proudly packed the flavors of her hometown to bring along with her. In fact, one of the topics Jones and Doehring frequently discuss is their mutual

love for food and cooking. “One day Keith asked if he could bring me some zucchini from his garden. I said yes, and he brought me a bag.” Jones said she wasn’t sure of what to do with a bag of freshly grown zucchini, but when she got back home she immediately began searching for recipes. She settled on a recipe for lemon zucchini bread, and baked extra so Doehring could enjoy it with her. “Anybody can bake and anybody can cook, but I can taste the love you put into this bread,” was Doehring’s response after tasting Jones’ zucchini bread. He went on to tell her that she could sell her food at the Nashville Farmers Market, and greatly encouraged her to do so. Although she was hesitant at first, Jones eventually agreed to try. Now, eight years later, Jones is a

well-known vendor at the Richland Park Farmers Market on Charlotte Avenue. She’s known as “The Creole Diva,” and sells foods indigenous to her home in New Orleans. Whether its red beans and rice, jambalaya, dirty rice, or cajun seasonings, The Creole Diva brings Louisiana spice to Nashville. “Keith was the force behind The Creole Diva. He has been nothing but a blessing to me and my family,” Jones says. One of Doehring’s favorite memories is spending time with Jones at the farmers market and talking with her customers. To this day, he tells her that she gets the first choice of anything grown in his garden — and the two often trade seeds, plants, and tomatoes with one another. “Something I’ve learned from Keith is that if you do not judge a book by its cover, you can be blessed,” Jones says. “If

PAGE 4 | October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

you look at the heart of a person and not look at color, you will be richly blessed. I think this whole world is missing out.” As a Black woman and a white man, the two agree that there is value in sharing a friendship with someone different from themselves. Doehring recognizes that while he and Jones may have different backgrounds, that doesn’t need to stop them from sharing a deep friendship. “What gives me hope is that people can come together, no matter what,” he says. Jones and Doehring look forward to continuing their friendship, and even potentially working together one day. Although it’s a dream now, Jones talks excitedly about the idea of opening her own restaurant, and says Keith is more than welcome to work alongside her whenever that dream becomes a reality.

October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 5

The New Christian Year Selected by Charles Williams

Charles Walter Stansby Williams (1886–1945), the editor of the following selections, is today probably the third most famous of the famous Inklings literary group of Oxford, England, which existed in the middle of the 20th century, and which included among its ranks the better-known and longer-lived Oxford Dons J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. First published in 1941, this series of profound quotations, encompassing all walks of life, follows the sequence of the themes and Bible readings anciently appointed for contemplation throughout the church's year. It is hoped that the readings reproduced here will prove beneficial for any who read them, whatever their place in life's journey. — Matthew Carver

19th Wednesday after Trinity IN the midst of my morning prayers I had a good meditation, which since I have forgotten. Thus much I remember of it— that it was pious in itself, but not proper for that time; for it took much from my devotion, and added nothing to my instruction; and my soul, not able to intend two things at once, abated of its fervency in praying. Thus snatching at two employments, I held neither well. Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Bad Times. GOD hath not forgiven thee thy sins because of thy repentance but because of thy thought to deliver thyself to Christ. The Paradise of the Fathers.

19th Thursday after Trinity WHEN the devil leaves any one he watches his time for return, and having taken it, he leads him into a second sin . . . Something like this took place in Judas, who after his repentance did not preserve his own heart, but received that more abundant sorrow supplied to him by the devil, who sought to swallow him up . . . But had he desired and looked for place and time for repentance, he would perhaps have found him who has said, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Or perhaps he desired to die before his Master on his way to death, and to meet him with a disembodied spirit that by confession and deprecation he might obtain mercy; and did not see that it is not fitting that a servant of God should dismiss himself from life, but should wait God's sentence. Origen, quoted by Aquinas: Catena Aurea.

19th Friday after Trinity PRIDE calls me to the window, gluttony to the table, wantonness to the bed, laziness to the chimney, ambition commands me to go up-stairs, and covetousness to come down. Vices, I see, are as well contrary to themselves as to virtue. Free me, Lord, from this distracted case; fetch me from being sin's servant to be thine, whose "service is perfect freedom," for thou art but one, and ever the same. Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Bad Times. WOULD wicked men dwell a little more at home, and descend into the bottom of their own hearts they would soon find Hell opening her mouth wide upon them, and those secret fires of inward fury and displeasure breaking out upon them. John Smith: Discoveries.

19th Saturday after Trinity SOME men the fiend will deceive in this manner full wonderfully. He will enflame their brains to maintain God's law, and to destroy sin in all other men. He will never tempt them with a thing that is openly evil. All men will they reprove of their faults right as though they had a cure of their souls: and yet they think that they dare not else for God but tell them their faults that they see. And they say that they be stirred thereto by the fire of charity, and of God's love in their hearts; and truly they lie, for it is with the fire of hell, welling up in their brains and in their imagination. The Cloud of Unknowing. [THERE are] . . . those who form too strong a love for one spiritual art, and make, as it were, an end for themselves of this act, and if, by any chance, they lose it, straightaway they despair and cease from all other acts. St Catherine of Siena.

Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity HE who did not suffer as the man suffers upon whom hardships and adversity suddenly fall but who has before him every instant the possibility that everything nevertheless might be redressed—for He knew that it was inevitable; He who knew that with every new sacrifice He made in behalf of the truth He was hastening His persecution and destruction, so that He had control of His fate, could ensure for Himself the splendour of royal power and the devout admiration of the race if He would let go of the truth, but knew also with even greater certainty that He

would ensure His destruction, if (oh, eternally certain way to destruction!) He were in any respect to desert the truth—how did he manage to live without anxiety for the next day? . . . He had Eternity with Him in the day that is called to-day, hence the next day had no power over Him, it had no existence for Him. It had no power over Him before it came, and when it came, and was the day that is called to-day it had no power over Him than that which was the Father's will, to which He had consented with eternal freedom, and to which He obediently bowed. Kierkegaard: Christian Discourses.

20th Monday after Trinity IN suffering and tribulation there are really certain situations in which, humanly speaking, the thought of God and that he is nevertheless love, makes the suffering far more exhausting . . . For either one suffers at the thought that God the all-powerful, who could so easily help, leaves one helpless, or else one suffers because one's reason is crucified by the thought that God is love all the same and that what happens to one is for one's good . . . The further effort which the idea of God demands of us is to have to understand that suffering must not only be borne but that it is good, a gift of the God of love. Kierkegaard: Journals.

The Feast of St Luke the Evangelist I WAS at a stand in my mind whether I should practise physic for the good of mankind, seeing the nature and virtues of the the creatures were so opened to me by the Lord. But I was immediately taken up in spirit, to see into another or more steadfast state than Adam's in innocency, even into a state in Christ Jesus that should never fall. And the Lord showed me that such as were faithful to Him, in the power and light of Christ, should come up into that state in which Adam was before he fell; in which the admirable works of the creation, and the virtues thereof, may be known through the openings of that divine Word of wisdom and power by which they were made. Great things did the Lord lead me into, and wonderful depths were opened unto me beyond what can by words be declared; but as people came into subjection to the Spirit of God, and grow up in the image and power of the Almighty, they may receive the word of wisdom that opens all things, and come to know the hidden unity in the Eternal Being. George Fox: Journal.

20th Tuesday after Trinity GIVE peace, that is, continue and preserve it; give peace, that is, give us hearts worthy of it, and thankful for it. In our time, that is, all our time: for there is more besides a fair morning required to make a fair day. Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Bad Times. TEACH me the art of patience whilst I am well, and give me the use of it when I am sick. Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Bad Times.

20th Wednesday after Trinity LOVE does the work of all other graces without any instrument but its own immediate virtue. For as the love to sin makes a man sin against all his own reason, and all the discourses of wisdom, and all the advices of his friends, and without temptation, and without opportunity, so does the love of God; it makes a man chaste without the laborious arts of fasting and exterior disciplines, temperate in the midst of feasts, and is active enough to choose it without any intermedial appetites, and reaches at glory through the very heart of grace, without any other arms but those of love. Jeremy Taylor: Holy Living.

20th Thursday after Trinity THEN first do we attain to the fullness of God's love as His children, when it is no longer happiness or misery, prosperity of adversity, that draws us to Him or keeps us back from Him. What we should then experience none can utter; but it would be something far better than when we were burning with the first flame of love, and had great emotion, but less true submission. Tauler: Sermons.

HIS life has been brought into mine, so that I am atoned with Him in His Love. The will of Christ has entered into humanity again in me, and now my will in me enters into His humanity. Boehme: Signatura Rerum.

20th Friday after Trinity NOW this is the ground and original of the Spirit of Love in the creature, it is and must be a will to all goodness; and you have not the Spirit of Love till you have this will to all goodness at all times and on all occasions. You may indeed do many works of love and delight in them, especially at such times as they are not inconvenient to you or contradictory to your state or temper or occurrences in life. But the Spirit of Love is not in you till it is the spirit of your life, till you live freely, willingly, and universally according to it. William Law: The Spirit of Love. "THUS it must be" —The ground of this necessity is in himself, whereas the ground of the created universe is not in itself but in him. Doctrine in the Church of England, Report of the Commission.

20th Saturday after Trinity HE made all things in fulness of goodness, and therefore the blessed Trinity is ever full pleased in all his works. And, all this showed he full blissfully, meaning thus: "See! I am God: see! I am in all things: see! I do all things: see! I lift never mine hands off my works, not ever shall, without end: see! I lead all thing to the end I ordained it to from without beginning, by the same Might, Wisdom, and Love whereby I made it. How should anything be amiss? Juliana of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love. JESUS Christ is a God whom we approach without pride, and before whom we humble ourselves without despair. Pascal: Pensées.

Twentieth Sunday after Trinity MEEKNESS in itself is nought else but a true knowing and feeling of a man's self as he is. For surely, whoso might verily see and feel himself as he is, he should verily be meeked. Two things there be that be causes of this meekness, the which be these: One is the filth, the wretchedness, and the fraility of man, into the which he must always feel in some degree the whiles he liveth in this life, be he never so holy. Another is the over-abundant love and the worthiness of God in himself; in beholding of which all nature quaketh, all clerks be fools, and all saints and angels be blind. Insomuch, that were it not, through the wisdom of his Godhead, that he measured their beholding according to their ableness in nature and in grace, I cannot say what should befall them. The Cloud of Unknowing.

21st Monday after Trinity WE would fain be humble; but not despised. To be despised and rejected is the heritage of virtue. We would be poor too, but without privation. And doubtless we are patient, except with hardships and with disagreeables. And so with all the virtues. Eckhart: Sermons and Collations.

HUMILITY is deep enough when God has mortified a man with the man himself, then and not till then is a man satisfied, and the claims of virtue. Eckhart: In Colllationibus.

21st Tuesday after Trinity IF thou hast not the prayer of the spirit, strive for the prayer of the body, and then shall be added unto thee the prayer in the spirit. If thou hast not humility in the spirit, strive for the humility which is in the body, and then shall be added unto thee the humility which is in the spirit. The Paradise of the Fathers. BE not humble in thy words only, but also in thy deeds. The Paradise of the Fathers.

Sponsored by Matthew Carver, publisher

PAGE 6 | October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

NEWS

NEWS BRIEFS Income limit raised for help with energy payments Metro Action Commission has raised the income limit for its energy assistance program. This is a one-time payment that is open until September 2021 and can cover electricity, gas, propane, or other energy payments. The limit is now $31,191 for a household of two or $45,869 for a household of four. Applicants must be residents of Davidson county, but do not have to have an income currently — just an active energy account. The application, which includes a full list of income limits, is available at Metro Action Commission’s website (www.nashville. gov/mac) and at the main Metro Action office. Customers may also request an application by email to metro.action@nashville.gov or call to 615-862-8860. Applicants need the following to apply for help: • Completed energy assistance application • A copy of the applicant’s government issued ID (such as a driver’s license, passport, birth certificate or federal or state identification card) • Copy of the most recent energy bill and the 12-month bill history • Proof of current income for the past 4 weeks for adults receiving income

•

(pay rol l check stubs, social security income, DHS award letter, child support, etc). Copies of social security cards or verification for all household members

New program connects people without housing to landlords Open Doors Atlanta, an organization that connects people experiencing homelessness with landlords that will house them, may expand to Nashville. The organization presented to a host of Nashville area homeless service providers at the Sept. 17 Continuum of Care general membership meeting. Executive director Matt Hurd described the organization’s eightyear focus on landlord engagement, brokerage and matching. Open Doors Atlanta promises landlords up to 12 months of rent even if the tenant is evicted or the lease is ended by the tenant, and creates a searchable database of housing options available to homeless service providers. In eight years, the organization has housed 7,800 people in Atlanta through partnerships with nonprofits there. Open Doors Atlanta’s goal is to house people within two weeks of being entered into Coordinated Entry, a shared database that

homeless service providers use to hold information on people experiencing literal homelessness — meaning they live somewhere not meant for habitation. Hurd says with Open Doors, 80 percent of applicants are placed and 95 percent of them are still in housing after 12 months. Questions arose around the longevity of housing and whether or not the organization helps to house sex offenders. Hurd said Open Doors does not house those who are registered sex offenders, or have charges of arson or meth production. They do work with those with other criminal history, past evictions, or poor credit history. They do not have data on the tenants they match past 12 months. Hurd described the funding for Open Doors as 60 percent grants, 30 percent corporate funds, and 10 percent individual contributions. If the city works out a partnership with Open Doors, it would help find places to live for the 400 that the city’s nonprofits have pledged to house through government Rapid-Rehousing dollars. Rapid-Rehousing helps to pay for housing for up to one year. Nashville is set to receive $10 million divided between nonprofits for the purpose of Rapid-Rehousing, street outreach, and homelessness prevention.

2020 VOTING

The last Day to Register to Vote in the Nov. 3, 2020 election is Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. For further information Call the Davidson County Election Commission at: 615-862-8800 The Deadline to request a MAIL-IN BALLOT is Tuesday Oct. 27, 2020. Early Voting Starts Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020 through Thursday Oct. 29, 2020. October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 7

Why Johnny STILL can't read? 3 out of 4 children in Tennessee cannot read at grade level. Find out why at N2Reading. com or check out N2Reading on Facebook.

TO HELP PAY YOUR BILL, WEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;VE BOUGHT YOU SOME TIME. 2020 has been a difficult year and NES wants to help our customers by easing some of the financial burden brought on by the global pandemic and economic downturn that have affected our city. Anyone with an overdue electric bill has automatically been enrolled in an installment plan with no penalty. Back in July, NES evenly distributed past-due balances into 12 monthly payments. These charges appear on each monthly bill and customers who keep up with their payments going forward are assured service.

V I S I T NE S P O W E R NE W S .C OM OR C A L L 615.736.6 90 0 F OR MOR E DE TA IL S .

COMMUNITY IS OUR TRUE POWER

PAGE 8 | October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

BALLOT BREAKDOWN

Please Vote Nashville helps to fill the election education gap with ballot breakdown put together by an allvolunteer team INTRO BY AMANDA HAGGARD In 2018, Tennessee ranked 49th in voter turnout. More than 70 percent of voters don’t turn out for most elections in the state. Voter registration rates for Tennesseans aren’t much better, typically hovering around 40th in the entire country. Tennessee might be a red state, but the fact is that most people aren’t making it to the polls to make decisions about who will represent them. W hen mu sicia n Tristen Gaspadarek realized this after the 2016 election, she felt she needed to do something about it. “I thought, well, nobody’s voting,” Gaspadarek said. “And, you know, my first time I didn’t know anybody on the ballot and I just said, ‘I’m going to vote for all the women.’ I realized it takes a lot of research to know anything about the people on the ballot.” At first, she thought she’d work with some other people to register people to vote. She wanted to do it in a way that created ballot literacy and promoted voting as the cool and right thing to do. She hosted shows and urged people coming to see the bands to register to vote. Then Please Vote Nashville moved toward social media posts, where a group of about six people would write and post about all the candidates in a race. “We were doing all this work, and it was kind of insane, it didn’t look pretty, but it was something,” Gaspadarek said. She knew eventually she wanted to create a ballot breakdown that could work as a guide for voters going to the polls — something to make it easier for a working person to gather the information they needed to make a choice. Most people don’t have the 40 or more hours it would take to read article after article and come to a sense of the basics about a candidate. And while it seems like candidates would put a lot of infor-

mation online about themselves, that’s not always the case. This year, with all its tragedy and uncertainty, sped things up. Particularly after the police killing of George Floyd and ensuing protests this year, people started reaching out to Gaspadarek about needing to do something. Several people reached out and asked how they could help and what she needed to get a more exhaustive ballot breakdown done. Gaspadarek says people were searching for ways to feel engaged. The ability to register voters has been diminished because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So Gaspadarek and her volunteers went to work creating a free PDF for voters for the first time. The volunteers, somewhat of a who’s who of local artists (Daniel Pujol, Erin Rae and more), wrote basic profiles of each candidate. Whether someone is a candidate 100 people will vote for 10,000, Please Vote Nashville wants to be able to show a voter something about that person. The ballot breakdown also gives a description of the office a person is voting for. “So newspapers have to make news every single day, and they have to go into these specifics and follow the day-to-day of it all,” Gaspadarek says. “So a lot of what we’re doing is looking at all of the news articles, pulling the sources that they’ve written, and we’re aggregating it into a profile. It’s a short overview — an educational pamphlet — of all the information we could find.” The ballot breakdown for the Nov. 3 election (See the following pages for

a section of it.) is the second Please Vote Nashville has put together. About a dozen people volunteered to help with the first ballot breakdowns for social media, but this one utilized 27 volunteer writers and six editors. “You can have any belief system and volunteer with Please Vote Nashville and it will never come into discussion on what you believe and what you want to do and how you vote,” Gaspadarek says. “We have a strong motto of no matter how you vote, please vote.”

Illustrations by Kami Baergen, @Kbaergen Volunteer writers and editors: Ali Buck, Ali Humbrecht, Anna Dufur, Ashley Adkins, Becky Warren, Chloe Cooper, Clare Fernandez, Cybelle Elena, Daniel Pujol, Drew Maynard, Ellen Angelico, Emily Mayer, Emma Swift, Erin McAnally, Gabe Tanguay, Haley Engle, Hayes Peebles, Heather Openshaw, Ingrid Miller, Jacob Huff, Jess Nolan, Kai Welch, Kara Knappe, Kelsey Smith, Leslie Boehms, Logan Chung, Lydia Luce, Mel Bryant, Michaela Anne, Morgan Storicks, Nicki Bluhm, Pete Finney, Raven Katz, Skylar Levine, Taryn Wolf, Tristen Gaspadarek

October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 9

BALLOT BREAKDOWN

President of The United States The President is the chief public representative and the head of government of the United States of America and Commander-in-Chief of all five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. According to the U.S Constitution, the President’s ultimate responsibility is to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” In contrast to many countries with similar forms of government where presidents or heads of states are more ceremonial, the President of the United

States has significant authority and power. The President has the power to either sign legislation into law or veto bills enacted by Congress, although Congress may override a veto with a two-thirds vote of both houses. Article 2, Section 2 of The United States Constitution states that the president “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United

States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for...”. The Supreme Court appointment is of significance, as it is a lifetime appointment. One area that grants presidential power is the issuance of executive orders, directives from the President that have much of the same power as federal laws. Executive orders influence the internal functioning of government, determining how laws are enforced, and are often used to deal with emergency situations like war, and in the implemen-

tation of policies and broad statutes. All presidents have issued executive orders, some more than others, although there is no direct definition, right or limitations for the use of executive orders in the US Constitution. Executive orders are subject to judicial review and may be overturned if the order is not supported by statute or the Constitution; some require approval by the legislative branch. Once issued, executive orders remain in force until they are canceled, revoked, deemed unlawful, or expire on

their terms. The president has the power to cancel, modify, or make exceptions for any previously issued executive order, even those issued by a predecessor. During the first few weeks of office a president will typically review all executive orders currently in force. The president also serves as Chief Diplomat, which shapes American Foriegn Policy. Along with Chief Citizen, with the expectation that they will provide an example of moral character and integrity while representing all citizens of the United States.

Vice President of The United States The vice president acts as second in command to the president. Vice presidential candidates campaign alongside their presidential running mates, serve a term of four years if elected, and must meet the same requirements as those of potential presidents. The vice president must be a natural born U.S citi-

zen, at least 35 years of age, and must have lived in the United States for a minimum of 14 years. The first and arguably most vital role of the vice president is that the position ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The 25th Amendment to The United States Constitution clearly dictates that, if the

president becomes incapacitated, dies, resigns or is removed from office, the vice president assumes the office of the president. The second vital role of the vice president is to preside over the US Senate. The vice president is expected to maintain order and decency, recognize members to speak, and interpret the Sen-

ate’s rules, practices, and precedents. As president of the Senate, the vice president may only vote to cast a tie-breaking vote. In the modern day, the vice presidential role also functions as an important presidential advisor. Additionally, presidents in recent years have delegated authority to vice presidents in

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order to handle significant issues independently. During Barack Obama’s administration, then vice president Joe Biden was assigned directly by the president to oversee Iraq policy. In 2020, Donald Trump assigned current vice president Mike Pence the duty of overseeing the COVID-19 task force.

BALLOT BREAKDOWN

DONALD TRUMP Republican The incumbent President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, is a 74-year-old businessman, real-estate developer and reality TV show host originally from New York, NY. He was elected in 2016 by winning the electoral college vote, despite losing the popular vote by three million. Trump has been married to his wife, Slovene model Melania Trump, since 2005, with whom he shares one son, Barron. His first marriage was with the Czech model, Ivana Zelníčková Winklmayr from 1977 until 1992. They have three children together, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric. After his divorce in 1993, he married American actress, Marla Maples, after she gave birth to his fourth child, Tiffany. They divorced in 1999. Trump holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Upon graduation, he began working for his father’s real estate business. In 1974, he became president of a conglomeration of Trump-owned corporations and partnerships, which he later named the Trump Organization. He expanded the family business by investing in luxury hotels, residential properties and casinos. Trump built his reputation as a shrewd businessman and self-made billionaire. However, Trump has also been part of numerous lawsuits and financial struggles

MIKE PENCE Republican

throughout his career, including declaring bankruptcy on multiple businesses. In 1991, 1992 and 2009, his former online education company, Trump University, was the target of a class action lawsuit by former students and the New York attorney general. The lawsuit was settled in 2016 for $25 million. In 2019, two years into his presidency, Trump settled another lawsuit charging him of illegally using assets from his charity, the Trump Foundation, to fund his 2016 presidential campaign. This case was also settled for $25 million. In December of 2019, Trump became the third American president to be formally impeached by the House of Representatives, and the first President to be impeached during his first term. He was impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, but remained in office when he was acquitted by the Senate. Trump’s campaign and presidency have been centered around his “America First” platform, with goals to, “lower taxes for the American people, repeal and replace Obamacare, end stifling regulations, protect our borders, keep jobs in our country, strengthen military and law enforcement, renegotiate bad trade deals, and [create] a government of, by, and for the people.” Since he took office in 2016, Trump has strongly expressed anti-immigration and anti-refugee stances. In 2017, he implemented multiple executive orders banning nationals from the countries of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and North Korea from entering the U.S. He was ultimately forced to revise these bans as they faced legal challenges of their constitutionality in lower courts. In June 2018, the Supreme Court upheld a revised version of the ban in a five to four ruling. Trump has also implemented a “zero tolerance policy” regarding the illegal immigration process. The result of this policy has led to the separation of some children and parents who have either entered the U.S. illegally, or who are attempting to cross the border. The crisis surrounding the treatment of these children, including the decision to separate them from their parents and place them in detention centers without adequate

hygiene, clothing and food has gone largely unaddressed by Trump’s administration. Trump’s campaign goal of, “protecting unborn life through every means available,” has resulted in legislation that allows states to restrict funding to Planned Parenthood, and also expands the Mexico City Policy, which bans U.S. aid to any worldwide organization that performs abortions. Through the Education Innovation and Research Program, Trump has increased funding to promote school choice. Supporters of school choice want their education tax dollars routed away from public schools into private and parochial schools of their choice. During his 2016 campaign, Trump promised to appoint conservative judges. As of April 2020, Trump has installed 51 judges at the circuit court level — about 30 percent of all active judgeships — who sit at one level below the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump has appointed two of the nine justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. In September, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court seat vacated by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Sept. 18, 2020. In 2019, Trump signed the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019, which protected more than 1.3 million acres of wilderness area and expanded several national parks. Conversely, Trump has also removed a number of wildlife protections, including the removal of two million acres in the Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah. In 2017, Trump announced the U.S. would cease participation in the 2015 Paris Agreement, the first global, legally binding climate change agreement. For much of 2020, the U.S. has faced the challenge of containing the global outbreak of COVID-19. On March 27, Trump signed the bipartisan CARES Act, an over $2 trillion relief package which included assistance to small businesses, and payment to local, state and tribal governments. Individual Americans who qualified also received $1,200 in stimulus funds. The CARES Act also addressed

unemployment due to widespread shelter in place orders and business closures by state and local governments. According to Trump’s campaign website, he hopes to have a vaccine for COVID-19 available by the end of the year, and wants the country to return to normal in 2021. Trump has been criticized for downplaying the virus and giving mixed messages about wearing a mask and social distancing in public. In April, the CDC updated its guidance for COVID-19 prevention, recommending face coverings for all adults in public areas where social distancing wasn’t possible. Trump delivered this news at a press conference adding, “I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.” To date, more than 200,000 Americans have died due to COVID-19. On Fri., Oct. 1, President Trump and his wife Melania, along with a number of Trump’s cabinet members and advisors, tested positive for COVID-19. The Trump administration has remained unresponsive to nationwide protesting of police brutality and the killings of unarmed Black Americans by police. During the first presidential debate of the 2020 election, President Trump evaded moderator and FOX News host Chris Wallace’s question asking Trump to condemn white supremacy and violent right wing white nationalist groups, who often cite Trump as their leader. As of September, 2020, at least 26 women have accused President Trump of sexual misconduct, including assault. Trump has dismissed all allegations, which include harassment, groping and rape, as “fabricated” and politically motivated accounts pushed by the media and his political opponents. In October of 2016, prior to his election, an “Access Hollywood” tape recording was published, in which Trump, in conversation with host Billy Bush, speaks of grabbing a woman by her genitals. Recently, Trump has spoken publicly about his skepticism of the upcoming Nov. 3 presidential election, its legitimacy and the potential for voter and ballot fraud. Fact checkers have found there is no evidence to support his claims.

Michael R. Pence is the 48th and current vice president of the United States. In 1959, he was born in Columbus, Indiana, to working class parents who ran a convenience store business. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from Hanover College in 1981 and a law degree from Indiana University School of Law. He worked as a private practice attorney for several years and mounted two unsuccessful campaigns for Congress before becoming the president of Indiana Policy Review Foundation, a nonprofit that provides education on state and municipal issues. He then hosted The Mike Pence Show, a syndicated conversative talk radio show. In 2000, he again ran for Congress, this time successfully, and served in the

House of Representatives until he was elected Governor of Indiana in 2013. As governor, Pence expanded Medicaid in Indiana under the Affordable Care Act. He faced widespread national backlash for signing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which bans local governments from intervening if a business turns away customers for religious reasons. In 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump selected Pence as his running mate, citing his record of legislative and executive experience. As Vice President, Pence cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as education secretary, the first time a vice president’s vote was needed on a cabinet nomination. In 2017, Trump and Pence

revived The National Space Council, and Pence has lobbied for $8 billion in funding for United States Space Force, an independent space warfare branch of the military. In 2020, President Trump placed Pence in charge of the government’s COVID-19 task force. Pence is a devout Christian and cites his faith as central to his politics. He is staunchly conservative on social issues, including support of a powerful U.S. military and a national right to carry firearms in public. He opposes same-sex marriage, amnesty for illegal immigrants, No Child Left Behind, and abortion rights. In recent appearances, he has echoed Trump’s law-and-order message, saying, “you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”

October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 11

BALLOT BREAKDOWN

JOE BIDEN Democrat Joseph “Joe” Robinette Biden Jr., a 77-year-old Catholic from Scranton, Pa., is the Democratic presidential nominee. Biden grew up in Scranton, Pa. and New Castle County, Del. and received his law degree from Syracuse University. If elected, he would become the second Catholic to be president of the United States. Since 1977, Biden has been married

K AMAL A HARRIS Democrat Kamala D. Harris, the current U.S. Senator of California, grew up in Oakland, California and now lives in Los Angeles. She received her undergraduate degree from Howard University

to Jill Biden, an educator, and they have one daughter, Ashley. From 1966 to 1972, Biden was married to his first wife, Neilia, and they had three children: Beau, Hunter, and Naomi. In 1972, Neilia and Naomi died in an automobile accident. In 2015, Biden’s son Beau died of brain cancer. After receiving his degree, Biden spent two years serving as a law clerk and public defender before starting his own firm. Biden was elected to the New Castle County Council in 1970 and two years later, at the age of 29, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. Biden would go on to become the longest-serving senator in Delaware. Biden pursued the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, but was derailed when he admitted to plagiarizing a speech and a paper while in law school. In 2008, he ran again, unsuccessfully, and was later chosen to be Barack Obama’s vice presidential running mate. Biden served as Vice President of the U.S. from 2009 to 2017. According to allies, Biden’s devout Catholic faith defines his worldview and thus his politics. Over time, he has become less conservative in his views of LGTBQIA rights, and he has reversed his legal (but not religious) position on abortion. Biden

supports continuing the Affordable Care Act, but opposes Medicare for All. In 2006, he voted to build additional walls and barriers along the U.S. and Mexico. He is against drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants and is opposed to decriminalizing illegal border crossings. Biden has pledged support to those in the U.S. as part of the DREAM Act (also known as Dreamers). He supported the Paris Agreement, but has not endorsed the Green New Deal. He released a proposal to spend $1.7 trillion on green energy technologies, but was criticized for copying passages from outside sources without attribution. Biden does not want to ban fracking, but will ban new drilling on public land. In the 1980s, Biden introduced bills that imposed mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, and in the 1990s he helped to shape and pass the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. He is opposed to legalizing marijuana, but says he will decriminalize marijuana use and support legalization of medical marijuana. He is opposed to private prisons and the death penalty, but does not support defunding police departments or

ending qualified immunity. He supported drone strikes in Syria and the Iraq War, but has since said he made “a bad judgment” regarding Iraq. Biden introduced the Violence Against Women Act, which was signed into law by former President Bill Clinton in 1994. Biden is more liberal-leaning in his stance on education, taxation, and gun control. He supports the expansion of student loan debt forgiveness, free college for families making less than $125,000, and universal preschool. He also supports universal background checks, even for peer-to-peer sales of guns. Biden wants to renew the federal assault weapons ban and is pushing for a federal buyback program on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. He supports higher taxes for those earning more than $400,000 per year, and wants to increase the corporate tax rate to 28 percent. There have been accusations that Biden has touched people inappropriately — smelling hair, rubbing noses, and touching shoulders — and in March 2020, he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 1993, but has denied the allegation.

and her law degree from the University of California, Hastings. She is the first South Asian-American and second African-American woman senator in United States history. She started her law career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s office, moving her way up to San Francisco’s District Attorney, where she created a program to help first-time drug offenders earn a high school diplomas and find work. After serving as the district attorney for six years, Harris was elected attorney general for the state, where she helped homeowners during the foreclosure crisis by winning a $25 billion settlement, prosecuted transnational gangs for trafficking crimes, and helped secure marriage equality for each Californian citizen. As senator, she introduced bills for countless issues, such as criminal justice and wage reform. Harris’s economic policies focus on marginalized groups, such as women,

people of color, and low-income Americans. She proposed a $2.8 trillion middle-class plan that would pay tax credits to match a person’s earnings up to $3,000, while phasing out for higher earners and not being available to those who are in school, who don’t work, or have over $4,000 in investments. Harris also proposed a student-loan-forgiveness plan focusing on entrepreneurs who start businesses in poor communities and maintain them for three years. She would also like to raise teachers’ salaries. Her health care plan would limit private insurers, giving Americans the choice between enrolling in tightly regulated private health plans or picking a public one—seeking pay for costs without tax raises to the middle-class. She calls for new investments to address the nation’s Black maternal mortality crisis; Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related compli-

cations than white women. She endorsed the Green New Deal and released a climate plan, pledging a $10 trillion investment to transition to clean-energy over the next 10 years. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she supported banning evictions and foreclosures, plus proposed sending as much as $2,000 to each citizen every month. Harris is a leading voice against separating children at the border. She advocates for more oversight in detention centers and for reinstating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Harris believes the death penalty is unconstitutional. She wants to end mass incarceration through eliminating private prisons and mandatory minimum sentences, focusing on policies that target black and brown Americans. She also proposed a plan to reform the current cash bail system that disproportionately jails poor Americans who cannot make cash bail payments.

FULL PROFILES ON INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES AT W W W.PLE ASE VOTENASHVILLE .ORG

PAGE 12 | October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

BALLOT BREAKDOWN

United States Senate One of two branches of Congress, Senate membership is limited to two members per state, making each state equally represented, in contrast to the House of Representatives, whose membership is based on state population. With 100 members, it is each state’s responsibility to elect two residents who are at least 30 years of age and have been a US citizen for at least nine years. Each senator serves a term of six years, with one third

BILL HAGERT Y Republican

of the Senate being elected every two years. Citizens in Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and US Virgin Islands are not represented in the Senate, as they live in U.S. territories rather than states. A senator’s role is to address the concerns, problems, and goals of their constituents - the people who voted the senator into office. Senators work with their staff to research topics, identify issues

and propose laws. The Senate is composed of five types of committees, with 26 committees in total. Senators are required to serve on Senate committees that focus on areas such as health, education, armed services, national security and more. The head of the Senate is the current vice president, who only participates in voting to break a 50-50 tie. At a larger level, the Senate has three main responsibilities. First, the Senate can confirm or disap-

prove international treaties with a two-thirds vote. Second, it can confirm or disapprove presidential appointments like members of the Cabinet, Supreme Court justices, and members of the Federal Reserve. Consequently, the Senate can influence interest rates and monetary policy. Third, the Senate has the power to hold a trial, acting as jury and judge, for a federal official who has committed a crime against the country. This includes impeachment trials.

Tennessee has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1994, when Al Gore (D) served with Jim Sasser (D). Since 2003, Lamar Alexander (R) has served as Tennessee’s state senator and retired this year, leaving his seat open. After Bob Corker’s (R) 2019 retirement, Marsha Blackburn (R) was elected. With a record number of women currently serving in Congress, Blackburn is presently one of 26 women in the Senate.

Bill Hagerty is a Republican running for Senate who is “100% pro-life, pro-gun, and pro-Trump.” He is also pro-Israel, opposed to radical Islamic terrorism, and supports standing up to China. Son of a veteran road builder and teacher, Hagerty was born in Gallatin, TN, where he, “raised pigs and cattle, baled hay, and shoveled asphalt.” He is married to Chrissy Hagerty and has four children. Hagerty graduated from Vanderbilt with a B.A. in Economics and then a J.D. before starting his career in the financial sector with the Boston Consulting Group, where he spent three years based in Tokyo. He formed a private equity investment firm and has served as economic advisor to George H. W. Bush, Bill Haslam, and Mitt

Romney. Hagerty was on John McCain’s transition planning team and Donald Trump’s presidential transition team. Before throwing his support behind Trump, Hagerty first supported Jeb Bush and then Marco Rubio. He has served as ambassador to Japan for the past two years, where he “monitored closely the actions of China” while working on an international trade deal with the Japanese government, which cut tariffs on agriculture and manufactured products. Hagerty felt called to run for Senate after seeing that Tennessee and the nation were being threatened by a “liberal socialist agenda,” and after being encouraged by Trump to run for office over a game of golf. His goals are to stand

with Trump, stop illegal immigration, build build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, and confirm constitutionalist judges. More recently, he has supported Gov. Lee’s pursuit of a state law restricting abortion. On Twitter, Hagerty retweeted President Trump’s “LAW & ORDER!” tweet, and claimed that Biden wouldn’t release his Supreme Court list because he wants to fill it with “radical activists.” He supports President Trump and the GOP in filling the Supreme Court justice vacancy before the election. On Sept. 17, in response to national protests against police brutality, he tweeted that, “our law enforcement officers are the only thing standing between anarchy and your family’s safety.”

Marquita Bradshaw grew up in South Memphis, TN. The 46-year-old is a proud mother, community organizer and graduate of the University of Memphis, where she earned a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree. In August, Bradshaw beat her opponent, James Mackler, and his campaign budget of $2.1 million, with an $8,420 grassroots-raised budget, to secure the Democratic nomination and become the first Black woman to be nominated by a major party in Tennessee. A career activist with a long history of advocating for social and environ-

mental justice issues, she has been involved in volunteering and community organizing in the Memphis community for over a decade. She has worked with organizations like the Memphis Community Advisory Board, the AFL-CIO, and Tennesseans for Fair Taxation. She has served on boards of organizations like the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center and has received awards and commendations from organizations like the Sierra Club. Bradshaw has received endorsements from organizations like the Sunrise

Movement, Sierra Club, and the United Autoworkers Union in Nashville. She has also received endorsements from Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Pete Buttigieg’s PAC Win the Era. Bradshaw is running to support healthy and safe communities in Tennessee. She backs the Green New Deal, community policing and restorative justice, high quality public education, Medicare for All, a living wage and workers’ rights, universal background checks for gun purchases, and overturning Citizens United.

MARQUITA BRADSHAW Democrat

FULL PROFILES ON INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES AT W W W.PLE ASE VOTENASHVILLE .ORG

October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 13

BALLOT BREAKDOWN

Tennessee State Senate Similar to the structure of the US Congress, the Tennessee legislative branch consists of both a Senate and House of Representatives. Called the Tennessee General Assembly, the legislative branch enacts laws, proposes legislation, establishes a state budget and can allow for a forum for debate. Senators are elected to a term of four years and there is no limit on the number of terms a Tennessee legislator may serve. In order to serve, candidates must be at least 30 years of age and have been a US citizen for at least three years as well as a resident of the district in which they are elected for one year.

A senator’s role is to answer to their constituents. Based on the problems, concerns and needs of the citizens in their district, they then pass bills on public policy matters. Similar to the U.S. Senate, the Tennessee Senate has the power to hold a trial for a state official who has committed a crime against the state. The Senate also has the power to vote to uphold or override vetoes made by the governor. With the state divided into 33 districts with relatively equal populations, the Senate is comprised of 33 seats and 12 committees: Commerce and Labor;

DISTRICT 18 FERRELL HAILE Republican Sumner County native Ferrell Haile has served as the representative of District 18 since January 2013. He attended Lipscomb University before graduating from the University of Tennessee Pharmacy School with a Bachelor’s of Science in Pharmacy in 1970. Haile currently owns a cattle farm, Haile Farms, and previously co-owned six drug stores and pharmacies. He is also a member of the Tennessee Cattleman’s Association and the Tennessee Farm Bureau. Haile has been an Elder at the Station Camp Church of Christ since 2010. He was a Board Member of World Christian Broadcasting from 2004-2014, and a Board Member of Christian Towers-Gallatin, a senior housing facility, from 2005-2014. Haile is a member of the NRA.

JOHN GENTRY Independent John Gentry is running as an independent candidate aiming to replace eight-year Republican incumbent Ferrell Haile in the Tennessee State Senate. Gentry describes himself as a “conservative minded constitutional Republican” who supports President Trump. He graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park and served in the Marine Corps. He is now a certified public accountant who lives in Goodlettsville. Gentry believes that the Tennessee constitution and form of government have been unlawfully altered, unfairly limiting the rights of citizens to pro-

Education; Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources; Finance, Ways and Means; Government Operations; Health and Welfare; Judiciary; State and Local Government; and Transportation and Safety. While they constitute 51% of Tennesseans, women make up 15.2% of the Senate. Because terms are staggered, sixteen seats, roughly half of the Senate, are up for election in 2020. The Tennessee Senate is currently held by a Republican supermajority, with 28 Republicans and 5 Democrats, contributing to the state’s Republican trifecta.

DISTRICT 20

Haile is the Speaker Pro Tempore and serves on several state legislative committees. He is the First Vice Chair of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee and is a member of three others: Senate Rules Committee, Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee, and Senate Education Committee. Haile voted ‘Yes’ on HB2236 on June 19, 2020 banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected. Haile also voted ‘Yes’ on HB8005 on August 12, 2020 that made rioting and sleeping on state property punishable with a Class E felony. In the last year, he voted to allow adoption agencies to deny potential parents based on their religion. He has voted to cut state Medicaid funding, increase penalties for voter registration errors, and to allow “Indecent Exposure” to include violations from public restrooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, and showers, specifically preventing “gender dysphoria or gender confusion… [from being a valid] defense to the offense of indecent exposure.”

test unconstitutionality. He also has grave concerns about corruption of judges in the state. He sees his campaign as a way to further address these concerns. In recent months, Gentry has argued that Governor Lee is constitutionally required to meet with protestors at the State House, although he has also said he believes protestors are being led by ‘corrupt attorneys’ to push division and chaos. He has also said that lockdown measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic are criminal. Gentry also supports: gradually eliminating income taxes, reducing government regulation on businesses, adhering to Judeo-Christian principles in making laws, allowing parental choice in education, and supporting families “beginning with one man and one woman”.

STEVE DICKERSON Republican Steve Dickerson was born in Newton, Iowa. He earned a BA in history at The University of the South in Sewanee, TN, and his MD at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. He has lived in Nashville for more than 20 years and was elected to the TN State Senate in 2012 after Democrat Joe M. Haynes retired. A hobby musician and father of three sons, he is married to Katrina Dickerson. Professionally, Steve is an anesthesiologist and pain management doctor who has served on the Board of Trustees of the Tennessee Medical Association, as Chairman of the Board of the Middle Tennessee School of Medicine, as President of the Tennessee Society of Anesthesiologists, and as the elected Chief of Staff of two local hospitals.

HEIDI CAMPBELL Democrat Heidi Campbell is running for Tennessee State Senate after serving two terms as the Mayor of Oak Hill. She is the first female mayor of Oak Hill and is running against Steve Dickerson, a two-term incumbent. Campbell grew up in Nashville, attending Hume-Fogg High School before graduating from Sarah Lawrence College and receiving her MBA from the Vanderbilt University Owen School of Business. Heidi Campbell currently lives in Nashville with her family and worked in music licensing and publishing before getting involved in local government. Campbell was the owner and president of AAM Music Licensing Company and was motivated to get into politics after seeing the encroachment of commercial development in her community. As the current Mayor of Oak Hill, Campbell has increased Oak Hill’s financial reserves by $2M without raising taxes and has been vocal about how she will represent her constituents, emphasizing the importance of fighting for fair and ethical treatment under the law for people of all races, ethnicities, sexual

PAGE 14 | October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

In 2019, Federal prosecutors and the state of Tennessee sued Dickerson and several other Tennessee doctors for allegedly defrauding the government with years of unjustified tests, dishonest billing and forged documents associated with the pain management company he co-owned, Comprehensive Pain Specialists. In June of 2020, the case was dismissed after a settlement. According to the Tennessean, Dickerson declined to elaborate on the details of the settlement, which were not publicly available in filings. According to Senator Dickerson’s website, his campaign platform has three main focuses: bringing back American manufacturing, improving infrastructure and low taxes with a balanced budget. Dickerson believes that overregulation is getting in the way of improving Tennessee and wants to work to make it easier for big companies to operate in Nashville. He also rejects state income tax, arguing that it halts business growth in the region. He chairs the Senate State & Local Government Committee and is the first vice-chair of the Senate Ethics Committee.

orientation, and gender. Campbell currently serves on the Mayor’s Caucus of Middle Tennessee, the Oak Hill Planning Commission, the Greater Nashville Regional Council, the South Corridor Task Force and the Metro Solid Waste Board. Campbell’s biggest pushes on public policy include the systemic changes needed for racial justice. This includes the reallocation of funds to social services to handle things such as homelessness, addiction and domestic violence. She believes TN needs to adopt the ACA and have better support in crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Campbell opposes school vouchers and advocates for higher pay for public school teachers. Environmental justice is another major focus for Campbell, who stated that, “As Mayor, I made sure that my city joined the Tennessee Environmental Council program to encourage planting more trees and to educate citizens about recycling. I also fought for three years to bring a multi-modal path to my city to encourage people to walk and bike and to get cars off the roads.” Bipartisanship is important to Campbell, who says, “We need to stop allowing the radical right to divide us on a handful of issues we’ll never agree on and work together on the 80% of issues we do agree on. We need to stop wasting our time on ridiculous radical legislation to jail librarians and punish minorities.”

BALLOT BREAKDOWN

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives, alongside the Tennessee State Senate, forms the legislative branch of the Tennessee state government and works alongside the Governor of Tennessee to create laws and establish a state budget. The state is divided into 99 House districts. One representative is elected from each district and as of the 2010 census, each district represents about 64,102 citizens. All 99 House seats are up for election in 2020. In 2018, Re-

publicans increased their supermajority from 69-25 (with five vacancies) to 73-26. The Tennessee House of Representatives goes through a redistricting process every ten years following the Census. To qualify for election to the House, one must be 21 years old, a U.S. citizen, a state resident for three or more years and a resident of the county in which they are running for at least one year immediately prior to the election. Legislative authority and responsibilities

of the Tennessee House of Representatives include passing bills on public policy matters, setting levels for state spending, raising and lowering taxes and voting to uphold or override gubernatorial vetoes. The House has the sole power to originate impeachment proceedings against public officials, who are then brought before the Senate for trial. Tennessee is one of six states that requires a majority vote from both of its legislative chambers to override a veto.

FULL PROFILES ON UNCONTESTED RACES AT W W W.PLE ASE VOTENASHVILLE .ORG

DISTRICT 52 DONNA TEES Republican Donna Tees is running to replace 12-year incumbent Mike Stewart in the TN House of Representatives for District 52. Tees grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts and enlisted in the Army after high school, serving first as a military police officer and then as a sergeant. She moved to the Nashville area in 2017 when her husband was assigned to Fort Campbell. She has an associate’s degree from Columbia College, a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies from Kaplan University, and is currently studying for a law degree at Nashville School of Law. She currently works as a paralegal and has never held any public office. In response to COVID-19, Tees has

MIKE STEWART Democrat Mike Stewart is the TN House of Representatives, District 52, incumbent, having served in this role since 2008. A native of Oak Ridge, TN, he holds a BA in History from University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from University of Tennessee College of Law, where he served on the Law Review. He is currently a partner at Branstetter, Stranch, and Jennings and maintains a general litigation practice in state and federal court. His areas of practice are Civil Litigation and Class Actions and Complex Litigations. Stewart was an intelligence officer in the US Army and is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm. He was awarded the

DISTRICT 56

pushed for Nashville businesses and schools to reopen more quickly than the mayor has mandated, making economic recovery a key part of her campaign. She also supports police and first responders. While she has called police officer actions in the death of George Floyd appalling, she has frequently criticized Black Lives Matter protestors and supports legislation to increase penalties for protesting overnight on state grounds. Her campaign literature lists her key issues as fiscal conservatism, including lowering of taxes, upholding and protecting gun rights and increasing support and opportunities for veterans. She opposes government regulation of healthcare and continued pandemic unemployment assistance. Tees supports improvements in education, including fair salaries for teachers and greater involvement of parents. She also supports term limits for members of US Congress.

U.S. Eighth Army Distinguished Leader Award. In 2019, he was endorsed by Planned Parenthood. Stewart fought for Medicaid expansion under President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. During the Coronavirus pandemic, Stewart called on Governor Lee for expansion of healthcare resources to overcome the COVID-19 crisis. Stewart is one of the Democratic lawmakers that introduced the George Floyd Act for Police Reform to the House of Representatives. This bill is based on the national movement “8 Can’t Wait,” a movement to bring change to police departments across the country. According to his platform, he supports criminal justice reform and prison oversight; sensible gun laws; womens’, veterans, and workers’ rights; public schools and teachers; and protection of rights of LGBTQIA citizens. He opposes racism, President Trump, and the Republic Supermajority.

DIANE MICHEL CANADA Republican Diane Michel Canada’s father, a pastor, moved her family to 22 towns before she was in high school, eventually settling in Atlanta. She held a career in medical management before becoming a business consultant. During this time, she pursued a career as a professional singer/songwriter, eventually moving to Nashville, where she’s lived for nearly 20 years. Canada built two consulting firms, a staffing firm, and a syndicated international TV show. She founded Lady Like Leaders, authored the book Lady Up + Don’t Quit, and co-launched the Tennessee Entrepreneur Initiative to help small business owners and to train women for leadership roles. She served as the political advocacy chair

BOB FREEMAN Democrat Bob Freeman is a first-term state representative for Tennessee House of Representatives in District 56, which encompasses much of southwest Nashville including Belle Meade, Green Hills, Oak Hill, and parts of Brentwood. He was born and raised in the district, where he still lives with his wife Rachel and their three children. Freeman holds a bachelor’s degree in Construction Management and Land Development from Middle Tennessee State University, and a master’s in Sustainability from Lipscomb’s Institute for Sustainable Practice. In 2019, Bob became Executive Vice President at Freeman Webb, a private real estate investment firm.

October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 15

for the Nashville Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and on the Mayor’s Minority Business Advisory Council to represent local female business owners. She’s currently teaching entrepreneurial curriculum at the maximum security Tennessee Prison For Women. After losing her brother, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, she committed herself to supporting veterans and their families to help prevent suicide through therapy and family preparedness programs, as well. Canada sees inadequate access to care as the root cause behind gun violence and abortion. She aims to protect pro-life and pro-second amendment beliefs while in office. Her campaign examines the usage of taxpayer money on our prison systems to address criminal justice reform. She also plans to have retired military Special Forces rescue citizens who have fallen victim to human trafficking.

As a member of the General Assembly, Freeman serves on the Health and Select Ethics committees, and has sponsored or co-sponsored 141 bills. He believes in bipartisan action and has passed more bipartisan legislation than any other freshman legislator. His primary areas of focus are improving the health of Nashvillians through innovation and investment, building an educated workforce for 21st century job opportunities, improving early education and after-school programs, and allying with rural health providers to combat the opioid epidemic. In addition to his time in the legislature, Freeman has served on the boards of the Nashville Homelessness Commission, Tennessee Environmental Council, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Metro Sustainability Advisory Committee, and the U.S. Green Building Council’s Tennessee Market Leadership Advisory Board.

BALLOT BREAKDOWN

Nashville School Board Districts elect School Board Members to represent constituent values for public schools. In Davidson County, Metro council selects an individual to fill any vacancies and the individual selected serves until a successor can be elected in

the next election. MNPS District 4 in Northeastern Nashville, which is made up of council districts 11, 12, 14, and 15, is holding an election for a new School Board Member after a member passed away earlier this year. The

winner of November’s election will serve out the remaining two years of the former member’s original term. School board members set goals, determine the policies affecting students and schools, hire the Director of Schools, and hold the Director

of Schools and central office staff accountable for progress toward set goals. The board may also control the district’s funds and reach out to the community for input or support. We elect School Board Members for Metro Nashville Public Schools

(MNPS) to serve four years, with terms staggered so we elect no fewer than four members every two years. The public may speak at MNPS School Board meetings, which are also broadcast on television and published on YouTube.

DISTRICT 4

STEVE CHAUNCY

JOHN LITTLE

BERTHENA NABAA-MCKINNEY

PAM BARRETT SWONER

Steve Chauncy received his bachelor’s degree in biology, chemistry, and physics from the University of Tennessee, his master’s degree from Trevecca Nazarene. and his E.d.D. in Educational Administration Supervision from Tennessee State University. He is a graduate of Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). Chauncy spent more than four decades working in the MNPS system as a professional in roles of increasing responsibility, including assistant principal, athletic director, and executive principal. He is a four-time winner of MNPS Principal of the Year. Two of Chauncy’s main platforms include the retention of quality teachers, and investing in the latest technology for Nashville’s public schools. Other issues important to Chauncy include a focus on student safety, diversity, and equity; implementing more after school and tutoring programs; allowing teachers to have more autonomy in their classrooms; and removing administrative tasks from counselors and therapists to allow them more time to be present for students.

John Little, a parent and a community organizer, is a political consultant for Little-Smith Strategies. Little-Smith has done political consulting on several past Nashville democratic campaigns. Little cites his struggles as a young man as having influenced his desire to provide a better future for the youth of Nashville. Mr. Little is a believer in the implementation of charter schools in Nashville. He is active in both the parent advocacy group Memphis Lift as a surge team director and also a member in Nashville PROPEL (Parents Requiring Our Public Education system to Lead). Issues important to him are improving the reading ability of all local children, making sure every child is prepared to graduate, and taking care of teachers physically and financially especially during the pandemic. He is quoted from his website as saying, “My number one priority is making sure our kids are college, career and community ready.” Little has a son in sixth grade who is currently learning virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

After growing up in South Bend, Indiana, Dr. Berthena Nabaa-McKinney moved to Nashville in 1997 and obtained her Doctorate in Educational Leadership & Professional Practice from Trevecca Nazarene University. Her experience in education ranges from a former MNPS chemistry teacher, private school principal, plus a parent and guardian of both MNPS graduates and a current 2nd grader in a District 4 school. Nabaa-McKinney was appointed after a majority vote to fill the vacant District 4 School Board seat this past August following the passing of Anna Shepherd. Per Metro guidelines, Nabaa-McKinney is required to run as a candidate in this Nov 3rd Special Election to complete the unexpired two-year term until 2022. She serves as a commissioner for the Metro-Nashville Action Commission, board chair with the Muslim American Cultural Center, co-chair of Women of Color for Educational Equity, and is also the founder of Nabaa Consulting, LLC, which focuses on school improvement for Early Childhood and K-12 schools, in both public and private institutions. With more than 20 years of experience in educational and professional development, Dr. Nabaa-Mckinney’s focus is, “ensuring that all schools in District 4, and across MNPS will have the equitable funding they need to provide a high quality education for ALL students.”

Pam Swoner is running to join the District 4 Board of Education. Swoner attended Metro Public schools, including Donelson High School and McGavock Comprehensive High School. After attending Volunteer State Community College and Clayton State University based in Atlanta, Georgia, she continued to become a substitute teacher. With two children that attended Metro Nashville Public Schools, Swoner was a parent volunteer and Parent Teacher Association board member. Her previous experience in the education field includes teaching computer labs, operating school stores, coordinating field trips, directing health screenings, implementing school fundraisers, and obtaining sponsorship for outdoor educational programs. Swoner has formerly volunteered as a Girl Scouts troop leader and currently chairs MTSU’s Junior Master Gardener Program. Swoner’s campaign platform includes providing children with increased physical activity during the school day and an increased investment in teacher salaries. She believes that there is currently too much focus on standardized testing and supports Performance Based Learning and Assessment Models over Common Core, believing that it “...can address social and emotional skills, ethics, creativity, technology literacy and promote entrepreneurial qualities.” Pam Swoner has been endorsed by the Metropolitan Nashville Education Association (MNEA).

FULL BALLOT BREAKDOWN AVAIL ABLE ONLINE AT: WWW.PLEASEVOTENASHVILLE .ORG

PAGE 16 | October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

MOVING PICTURES

American Chaos ‘THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7’ COMES TO NETFLIX AIMING AT OSCARS BY JOE NOLAN Film Critic Writer-director Aaron Sorkin’s new Netflix film recreates the trial following the 1968 Democratic National Convention police attacks against protestors. The Trial of the Chicago 7 opens with a title montage, barraging viewers with images of American chaos in the late 1960s: Vietnamese jungles engulfed napalm, draft protesters back home, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy. The opening of the film also introduces viewers to the various factions converging on the convention: Students for a Democratic Society, the Chicago Police, the Black Panther Party, the Illinois National Guard, Yippie radicals led by Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman, the FBI. Before the final title Sorkin cuts to footage of Walter Cronkite announcing that, “The Democratic National Convention is about to take place in a police state.” Sorkin won a Golden Globe for his Steve Jobs (2015) screenplay, and he made his directorial debut with Molly’s Game (2017). Of course Sorkin is a master scribe of stage and television, and he even

won an Academy Award for his screenplay about Facebook (The Social Network, 2010). Sorkin stories like Steve Jobs, The Social Network and Moneyball (2011) manage to make incredibly compelling stories out of mundane settings like the behind-the-scenes hubbub of a computer launch or the mathematics behind building a baseball team on the cheap. The trial that followed the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago was anything but mundane. And this production pairs of one of America’s best dramatists with one of America’s most intense historical courtroom dramas. The titular trial attempted to prosecute a Who’s Who of American leftist radicals with the Rap Brown Act, which made conspiring to travel across state lines to incite violence a federal offense with a sentence of up to ten years. The law was a remnant of the Jim Crow era, originally created to crackdown on Civil Rights protestors. The prosecution occurred after Nixon won the 1968 presidential race and his administration sought to make an example of the protesters as part of their law and order platform. Again, Sorkin seamlessly incorporates all of this exposition into one closed-door meeting between prosecutor Richard Schulz (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell (John Doman). That first scene of the film gives viewers the context they need to understand the real life events depicted in the film, but it also introduces Sorkin’s all star cast which includes Sascha Baron Cohen and Jeremy Strong, who play Youth International Party co-founders Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin like a stoned and scene-stealing Cheech and Chong act. Mark Rylance plays legendary defense attorney William Kunstler with rumpled gravitas, and Eddie Remayne plays Students for a Democratic Society leader Tom Hayden through a veil troubled idealism. Frank Langella evokes Judge Julius Walker with bravura belligerence and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is volcanic as Black Panther Party leader, Bobby Seale. The Trial of the Chicago 7 opened in select theaters before its streaming debut on Netflix this week, and the movie

is already charging to the front of the Oscar buzz queue. Last year I gushed about Todd Haynes’ Mark Ruffalo film Dark Waters and predicted that the movie marked a return of the courtroom drama to American cinema. The Trial of the Chicago 7 joins Michael Almereyda’s visionary, lo-fi Tesla, and Abel Ferrara’s Siberia on my best American films

October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 17

of 2020 list, and its First Amendment themes couldn’t be more timely. The Trial of the Chicago 7 comes to Netflix this Friday, October 16 Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/ songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.

VENDOR WRITING

PLEASE FOR GOD’S SAKE VOTE! JEN A.

I’m asking you please with all of my heart To take just one moment to cast a ballot It’s a duty we share that requires we ought Choose leaders to guide us who’re able and smart

NEVER STOP LOVING YOU JOHN H.

Research and ponder a candidate’s record Then head to the polls and deliver their reward

As I open the door, there sitting in a chair

Don’t let them suggest your vote doesn’t matter

I looked at her, trying not to stare

Just turn a deaf ear to all of that chatter

So beautiful, she glanced up at me twice

You may be Gen Z or a crusty old fart

I smiled and did everything I could to be nice

Your vote always counts when it’s cast from the heart We’ll vote so our children can recognize facts

I saw her the next day, and all I could say

We’ll vote out corruption and dilettante hacks

I wish she was mine, in a very special way

We’ll vote hope for the future and begin life anew

I went into the store, I purchased a rose

We’ll vote just because it’s the right thing to do

went home, walked in the door, she disappeared I suppose.

THEME: H A LLOW EEN ACROSS 1. Bobby Fischer’s game 6. Reggae precursor 9. Octagonal sign 13. Haile Selassie’s disciple 14. Goose egg 15. Water-filled gorge 16. Blue eyes, e.g. 17. Jean of Dadaism 18. Pariah, for medical reasons 19. *Pumpkin’s Halloween precursor 21. *Famous magician who died on Halloween 23. *____ mortuaire, or body bag in Paris 24. Nordstrom’s outlet 25. “____ Now or Never” 28. Good or bad and felt by others, sing. 30. Haiku, e.g. 35. Equal to distance divided by time 37. Post-it slip 39. Quickly fry 40. Type of mountain goat 41. *Graveyard denizen

3. Isaac’s firstborn 4. Mixes up 5. Geo-spacial positioning system, for short 6. Ginger cookie 7. CrËme de cassis plus wine 8. Top dog 9. Musher’s ride 10. Language of Tupi people 11. *Black cat, possibly 12. ____wig or ____winkle 15. Oopsie daisy moments 20. Best part of cake? 22. *Halloween month 24. Alters to be more useful 25. Type of coffee with alcohol 26. Forbidden 27. Howard of radio fame 29. Physicist Niels ____ 31. Preakness, e.g. DOWN 32. Like cottage cheese 1. TV tube in days of 33. Piano student’s yore 2. Wagner or Powers in a exercise 34. *Leatherface’s state TV classic 36. Biz bigwig 38. ESPN award 42. To the point 45. *Scary story-related sensation 49. Lyric poem 51. Choice word 54. Upright 56. Nary a soul 57. Give up 58. Skin soothing gel 59. Boring 60. Fusses 61. Departed 62. *RIP pots 63. Like a bow string 66. Gunk 68. Fleur-de-____ 43. Heart of the matter 44. Tender spots 46. Bailing twine, e.g. 47. Icelandic epic 48. Boss 50. Greek muse’s strings 52. Up and down nod 53. “Beware the ____ of March” 55. One of seven, in eponymous 1995 film 57. *Dead one 61. *Jordan Peele’s scary 2017 film 64. Dodge 65. Freud’s concern 67. Pertaining to hours 69. *Funereal feeling 70. Swindle 71. Boredom 72. Adult elvers 73. Human digit 74. *What vampire does in a coffin

Went around the block, she’s nowhere to be seen She was a beautiful girl, and not this time just a dream.

THE WEEPING WILLOW

As I walked back home, wondering what to do She popped out of nowhere, saying can I go with you.

DEANA H.

These words, Jess, was written just for you I’m lying under a weeping willow

My way of assuring you that I’ll always be true.

It cries its tears on my pillow

Millions of other ideas of things I can do

Teardrops fall all day long

But I promise you I will never stop loving you.

Kinda sounds like a song as it taps one by one Love the weeping willow It cries for you, when you’re in pain or sick of any kind, or sad So you don’t have to One thing the weeping willow does have,

HALLOWEEN JUNE P.

A long life and lots of love Tell secrets and it will stay true to you

Witches is witchy Ghosts are spooky

It never lies or tells false stories

Halloween is great

Only the truth

Especially when I’m with you

God has a plan,

Happy Halloween

Even the willow knows that It feels your pain, loves your heart It knows you get a full start Amen

PAGE 18 | October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

FUN

HOBOSCOPES LIBRA

Remember when you used to go to the ice cream shop and look at all the flavors? You could narrow it down pretty quick. Nothing with fruit (it’s nearly healthy). Nothing with coconut (it’s almost a fruit). Then it’s mostly just a choice between the caramelly ones or the chocolatey ones. I wish every decision were that rewarding. But sometimes, Libra, you can’t have the exact flavor you want. You just have to choose the flavor that you think will do the least harm for the most people. And afterward, you can go get ice cream.

SCORPIO

There are lots of ways to know things about yourself. There’s tests you can take to find out what type you are and what category you fall into. For instance, maybe you’re a Scorpio. And maybe you feel like that makes you respond a certain way in certain circumstances. And that can be a helpful paradigm. Until you find yourself saying things like, “I can’t help it. It’s my nature. I’m such a Scorpio!” In that case, you may want to slow down and remember that your “nature” is where you start. It shouldn’t be where you finish.

SAGITTA R IUS

I cut my finger while I was unloading the dishwasher this afternoon. Just brushed the top of my pinky across an upside-down knife that I hadn’t noticed in the top rack. And my first thought was “I deserved that!” As though my absent-mindedness needed to be punished. It reminded me, Sagittarius, that we don’t often get what we think we deserve. And even when we do, we’re often wrong about why we’re getting it. I don’t know what will come to you today, but you deserve the opportunity to be heard and understood and loved. Just like I deserve the opportunity to change my bandaid.

CAPRICORN

What tabs are currently open in your web browser, Capricorn? For me, it’s a message-board thread about where to find used astrological supplies, a YouTube video about bicycle brake maintenance, and the Wikipedia page for “hell pigs” (Entelodonts! Amazing). Along with about 50 other pages that I’m keeping open just in case I get the time to give them some attention. Whatever’s been on your mind as of late, it might be helpful to clear it all out. Refresh. Restart. Drop the idea that you’ll get to that thing...sometime. Think instead about what you want to do right now.

AQUA RIUS

Sometimes I get a headache. The first rule of headaches is: never tell anybody you have a headache. The second rule of headaches is: maybe it will go away on it’s own. Neither rule is actually helpful in getting rid of the headache, Aquarius. But they both help me ignore the problem. Are you ignoring any problems right now? Anything you’re trying to pretend isn’t there? Good! I didn’t think so. Nothing you need to do about that, then.

PISCES

Of course, you’re familiar with the woolly mammoth. They ranged the tundra from Asia to Europe to North America. They were majestic and terrifying. And then in Australia, they had the diprotodon. It’s basically just a giant wombat. A kind of goofy-looking marsupial woodchuck who’s name means “two front teeth” and that happens to weigh 6,000 pounds. Not every giant prehistoric mammal can be a woolly mammoth, Pisces. Sometimes your problems don’t look like much to other people. They still might weigh 6,000 pounds. Give yourself some credit. Ask your friends for some credit, too.

ARIES

I’ve been watching a lot of scary movies lately. I used to avoid horror, Aries, but lately it feels like life is an endless string of mundanity interspersed with shocking brutality that eventually ends with the senseless death of every character and so the genre started to make more sense to me. That’s harsh, I know. Honestly, I think life can be pretty beautiful. But so is the cinematography in The Shining. What I’m getting at, Aries, is that it’s a good week to find the beauty that’s already all around you. And try not to jump when it moves.

GEMINI

Have you seen the house a couple of blocks over that decorated their yard with a single giant skeleton, Gemini? It must be at least 12 feet tall. It’s fun and it’s spooky and it’s ridiculously large. It also reminds me, Gemini, that there’s a skeleton inside every one of us. We’re all made of bones and muscles and skin and other human parts. Hardly any of us are 12 feet tall, but, like the skeleton a couple of blocks over, we are all temporary. Try to bring some joy to the neighborhood while they still let you run around the yard.

CANCER

This time of year all the candy bars get smaller. It makes me feel like I can eat more of them. How could six little tiny candy bars make me feel as lousy as if I’d eaten two big ones? It’s a mystery, Cancer, but it’s one I’m willing to continue to try to solve. Anyway, I think they make them so small so we’ll be more comfortable giving them away. It’s good practice. Try it out. Give away something little and see how you feel.

LEO

Right now it feels like things are happening very quickly. Yesterday’s world-shaking headlines have already been forgotten. The news that seemed so important just this morning has already been overtaken by the breaking stories of this afternoon. But then I remember, Leo, that, according to geologists, we are currently in the meghalayan stage of the holocene epoch, in the quaternary period which started about 2.6 million years ago. It’s always a slow news day for geologists. Try to take a longer view, Leo. No matter how weird things get, the rocks will still be here. Probably.

TAURUS

It’s possible, Taurus, that I check the news too often. Do you? Do you ever find yourself getting emotional about headlines? Do you ever feel angry in the middle of the day at something that is completely beyond your control? Yeah, me too. This week, Taurus, when you see the news and you feel that feeling, stop. Think about what you can control right now. Think about what action you can take to help someone you actually know. Think about what you can do to make their world a better place.

VIRGO

When I was a kid I wasn’t allowed to watch scary movies. But scary movies just sneak in. Like that one about the guy who gets the monkey’s paw that grants wishes but when the wishes come true it just makes things worse. It’s a good story, but that kind of thinking can make people reluctant to wish for things. And sometimes you really should wish for things, Virgo. Because you deserve good things. Just avoid monkey’s paws and I think you’ll be just fine.

Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a trained poll worker, or a registered 12 foot skeleton. Mr. Mysterio is, however, a budding intermediate podcaster! Check out The Mr. Mysterio Podcast. Season 2 is now playing at mrmysterio.com. Got a question, just give Mr. M a call at 707-VHS-TAN1

October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 19

VENDOR ART

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VENDOR WRITING

L E F T: T h e b r o w n p a t c h o f g r a s s i s t h e f e n c e d in ar e a f o r d o g s a t H a dl e y P ar k To w e r s .

R I G H T: T h e h o l e in t h e s i d e o f t h e b u li din g o n t h e s i x t h f l o o r.

Hadley Park Horrors STORY AND PHOTOS BY VICK Y B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR It’s supposed to be a happy time when a call comes in saying they have a place for you that’s affordable to live in. Ten floors of apartments give hundreds of elderly and disabled residents living on fixed incomes and even those without incomes, a place to call home. However, there is a dark side to this place many call home. Cathy*, a longtime resident of Hadley Park, discovered mold in her apartment after numerous visits to the doctor, complaining of allergy-like symptoms She called maintenance only to have the mold scraped and painted over. She contacted Legal Aid where they told her in a letter dated Oct. 1, 2019, “The fastest way to resolve this is to move out of Hadley Park and somewhere more suitable to your needs.” Cathy lives on a fixed income and can’t afford to move. They did move her to another apartment within Hadley Towers, but she had to replace clothes, food, and furniture out of her own pocket. Mold is an environmental hazard for a healthy person, and can cause serious health complications for individuals with other health issues if they breathe in this deadly fungus daily. Another resident also complained of mold in her bathroom vent, but in a statement from MDHA Executive Director James Harbison, their maintenance team determined, pending test results, it was not mold, but, “accumulated dirt.” Another resident told me she had a problem with roaches running around in the kitchen. I was there when she alerted the office about the roaches in her apartment. A pest control company came out and placed roach bait, but the problem persisted. Another resident gave her a $6 tube of Raid Roach Gel and she finally has relief. Another resident stated she’s noticed an increase in spiders and roaches since a PTAC (Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner) was pulled out of the side of the building on the 6th floor, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the building for 7 months. Ceiling tiles have also gone missing from previous leaks on the seventh floor,

creating more hazards. After reaching out to MDHA for a comment, the hole in the side of the building was patched and taped preventing roaches and spiders from entering the sixth floor. The morning after sending my email for comment, the missing ceiling tiles were also replaced. Harbison explained that, “Due to the impacts of COVID-19 on manufacturing and delivery of products, the replacement of PTAC has been delayed for approximately five weeks.” The statement went on to say that they will “take steps to make the opening less accessible to insects and do additional pest control.” This still doesn’t explain why it took so long to repair the hole. Maybe just maybe it was part of a pattern of a lack of regular maintenance such as floors not being mopped or inspected after the rains we’ve received. Harbison’s statement read, “The hole was left out so staff could observe the repair.” If the staff was observing the repair, I think they would have noticed the hole in the side of the building for the past 7 months. In responded to the lack of routine maintenance at Hadley Towers, Harbison stated, “In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are minimizing risk to Hadley Park Tower residents by modifying maintenance procedures to prioritize emergent health and safety and minimize routine maintenance,” citing the national and local standards to maintain social distancing and increase resident safety. COVID-19 is not an excuse to let regular building maintenance such as mopping the floors and maintaining the building’s integrity. I’ve been thinking about renaming the building The Patchwork Towers because nothing seems to be fixed just patched over. Work orders have backed up, which creates more issues for residents, general frustration and tensions run high. Broken elevators trapping residents on their floors when many residents are disabled and unable to use the stairs

is a weekly occurrence. Harbison addressed the elevators stating, “The State inspects our elevators annually and have consistently approved them.” That’s not much of a consolation when residents constantly get trapped or are unable to use them because of their disrepair. Last week, there were notes posted over the elevator buttons on each floor saying, “Elevators closed for maintenance. Do not use”. Harbison stated, “please notify the on-site property management team with any future concerns.” This puzzles me greatly. Since living here the office staff (the lady who collects the rent) has been here maybe 14 days out of the month and usually only when rent is due. In addition to these maintenance problems, since living here I’ve been on the receiving end of discrimination over the size of my ESA (Emotional Support Animal) dog, Faith. I get daily obscenities yelled at me and threats from residents and some staff. I’ve even heard rumors of a petition circulating to have me evicted because of my dog. I take my dog out back to a small fenced area for dogs to go off leash. Recently only the grass in the fenced area has died. The discoloration is so bad, my friend Mario who is a landscaper, stated after looking at the picture of the pet play area, that he thought it was “sand, mulch or wood chips.” I think it’s been done on purpose and with chemicals that have made a couple of dogs sick. In his statement, Harbison states, “brown grass in the dog park was not killed intentionally but rather the result of dry conditions and dogs using the area for its intended purpose of pet play and elimination”. I find it disturbing that the only area to have these “dry conditions” is the small, fenced in part. One night recently, what I thought were pallets being dropped turned out to be gunshots ringing through the neighborhood. I can see a “dope hole” outside my window behind a local Marathon store where I can see drug users sitting waiting for their next fix. During the

October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 21

COVID-19 outbreak I’ve noticed that MNPD has had the resources to keep an eye on this particular spot, but once MNPD leaves they are right back at it. There was talk during the COVID-19 outbreak of locking the basement entrance where many would sneak in their friends and family, but that hasn’t happened. Locking the basement entrance would also prevent many drugs (such as meth, heroin and crack) from finding their way into the building, drugs. Some dealers are even so bold as to drive up to the back entrance around 4 p.m. when they know people’s monthly checks have come in. A security guard only sits in the front entrance. Cameras fill the parking lot, but offer very little protection for those needing to go to the Marathon station. Instead, people must take their own precautions such as not going outside alone after dark. But for those of us who need to take our pets out at night, not having a security guard at the back of the building where the fenced dog area is, means we have little security. Ineffective security seems to be the word around here. This past Sunday morning the daytime security guard was found napping on the bench out front. Yes, MDHA has given low income residents a place to reside that may not be perfect and maybe no place is perfect, but Hadley Towers lacks proper management and maintenance. Responsibility now lies with residents obeying the rules to keep everyone safe. Longtime residents have said, “Nothing will ever change around here; I’ve lived here for 20 years.” I tell them to be the change. Create a place that you feel safe in. After all this is their home. Some people would even say that the issues with the building makes it uninhabitable. Most people probably wouldn’t dare move in here, however it’s still better than a tent, than a bench and even a car. *Names of residents were changed for their protection.

LA NOTICIA “The Contributor” está trabajando con uno de los principales periódicos en español La Noticia para llevar contenido a más lectores en Middle Tennessee. Nuestros vendedores de periódicos han pedido durante mucho tiempo que nuestra publicación incluya contenido que apele al interés de residentes de habla hispana en nuestra comunidad.

“The Contributor” is working with one of the leading Spanish-language newspapers La Noticia to bring content to more readers in Middle Tennessee. Our newspaper vendors have long requested that our publication include content that appeals to the interest of Spanish-speaking residents in our community.

LOCALES - POLÍTICA - INMIGRACIÓN - TRABAJOS - SALUD - ESPECTÁCULOS - DEPORTES Y MÁS...

L a N ticia 2020

GRATIS

Oct.. 2nd

Escanee esta imagen para ver La Noticia newspaper edición bilingüe digital

www.hispanicpaper.com

“DONDE OCURREN LOS HECHOS QUE IMPORTAN, SIEMPRE PRIMERO... ANTES”

Año 18 - No. 316

Nashville, Tennessee

Lo Que Significa Ser Hispano En Estos Tiempos De Pandemia

Cuando vine a Nashville por primera vez en 1992, las cosas se veían muy diferentes. No era tan fácil conocer a alguien de México, o de cualquier país de habla hispana que viviera aquí hace 28 años aproximadamente. Al menos, no como es hoy. Ahora si estamos por todo lado. La gente de aqui, de Tennessee no sabía mucho sobre poblaciones inmigrantes, y esa falta de conocimiento creaba barreras para los recien llegados. Es por eso que me dedico a trabajar para fomentar el espíritu empresarial y para contar historias y educar a las personas sobre las contribuciones de los inmigrantes. Como presidente y director ejecutivo de la Cámara de Comercio Hispana, trabajo con grandes corporaciones pero también con la pequeña empresa familiar que invierte todo lo que tiene con la esperanza de lograr el sueño americano. Hoy en día, nuestra comunidad hispana local es diversa, vibrante y exitosa, y supera el 10 por ciento de la población de Nashville. Nuestro éxito aquí en Tennessee se refleja en el resto del país. La estudios de investigación muestran de manera inequívoca que los inmigrantes han contribuido de manera significativa, a

Conoce tus derechos: ¿Que hacer en caso de una redada? 1. Mantenerse callado 2. Sólo dar nombre y apellido 3. No mentir 4. Nunca acepte/lleve documentos falsos 5. No revelar su situación migratoria 6. No llevar documentación de otro país 7. En caso de ser arrestado, mostrarla Tarjeta Miranda (llámenos si necesita una)

por

w w w . j u a n e s e . c o m

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Let’s Neighbor...Neighbor! Even before Covid19, The Salvation Army recognized the pains of social distancing. The greatest form of social distancing is social displacement, the social, economic, and environmental displacement of our neighbors. To the community what this looks like in many of our eyes and how most of us would express it is simply “the Homeless.” Social distancing has allowed all of us to realize the need for connections, the need for family, the need for life giving relationships. From our own experience, we must recognize the need not to distance those who suffer from poverty but instead draw them closer by building community connections that allow neighboring to happen. What is the idea behind neighboring? It's looking at those around us and realizing that we are but one community, one state and one nation. It is living together intentionally because we definitely are better together. So during this next season of response to the social, economic, health, and environmental unrest, we have the opportunity to reach out to others and welcome them in. To make community connections. To make “neighbor” a verb. Let’s neighbor! Give me a call and let’s get a cup of coffee - (615) 933-9305.

Major Ethan Frizzell serves as the Area Commander of The Salvation Army. The Salvation Army has been serving in Middle TN since 1890. A graduate of Harvard Kennedy School, his focus is the syzygy of the community culture, the systems of service, and the lived experience of our neighbors. He uses creative abrasion to rub people just the wrong way so that an offense may cause interaction and then together we can create behaviorally designed solutions to nudge progress. Simply, negotiating the future for progress that he defines as Quality of Life in Jesus!

The Salvation Army Lifenav App will soon be available to our neighbors to download! Our neighbors will have easy access to resource information and locations, scheduling appointments with Lifnav Engagement Specialists, a Calendar of Free Community Events, and more...all at their fingertips.

October 14 - 28, 2020 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE | PAGE 23

The Contributor: Oct. 14, 2020

Articles inside

Hadley Park Horrors

HOBOSCOPES

Vendor Poetry

American Chaos

NEWS BRIEFS

More than a customer

Ballot Breakdown