The New Tri-State Defender - January 6-12, 2022

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January 6 - 12, 2022

VOL. 71, No. 1

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County taking a punch from COVID’s Omicron variant

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Shelby County is riding a huge contagious wave of the Omicron variant, rendering thousands sick, mostly with mild symptoms and shorter quarantine times.

Between Dec. 30 and Wednesday (Jan. 5), Memphis/Shelby County has averaged 2,351.7 new cases per day, according to the Memphis Shelby County Health Department.

There were 15 COVID-19 related deaths over the same period.

Statewide, one in every three (34 percent) COVID-19 test recently reported to the Tennessee Health Department was positive, according to state health officials.

Health Department officials said are testing positive for the virus’ Omicron, sending the positivity rate to more than 40 percent in the

first week of the new year.

“Numbers tell the story about how contagious the Omicron variant really is,” said Dr. Bruce Randolph, Health Department medical officer. “The positivity rate for those tested is 43.15 percent, up from the 22 percent on Dec. 29. These percentages are especially alarming when you consider that just a couple of months ago, the positivity rate was four percent.”

While symptoms are milder with the Omicron variant, the fatigue, muscle aches, fever, congestion, cough and runny nose are still concerning.

Quarantining at least five days is recommended for those infected. According to health officials, the loss of taste and smell are not as commonly reported as with the Delta variant or original COVID-19 strain.

The less-severe-but-more-contagious-variant has sent infection numbers through the roof, but

Shelby County Schools is offering COVID-19 testing for employees and students this week at the Board of Education. (Photo: SCS Twitter) global health officials say the world could see an end to COVID-19 in 2022.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed optimism that the COVID-19 pandemic will end in 2022, but only on one condition — that health disparity and inequality end.

Ghebreyesus released a statement Dec. 31, stating that only a unified effort worldwide will

SEE COVID ON PAGE 2

COMMENTARY

TSD contributor Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell after getting tested for COVID-19. The result was negative. (Courtesy photo)

My personal journey to get tested for COVID-19

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

So, my niece caught COVID-19 two weeks before Christmas. That was only the beginning of our ordeal.

Lingering fever and sore throat signaled a stubborn hold on her, putting her in bed for more than eight days. I stayed away from her house, as several other family members also contracted the virus, including her 4-year-old son.

But prior to the baby catching COVID-19, I went over to house, wearing

a mask and visiting with my asymptomatic great-nephew. The baby seemed fine, talking with me and playing on an i-pad as he lounged in bed.

That was on Saturday, Dec. 18, sometime in the late evening.

The next morning, I woke up to a horrendous backache and a cough that irritated my already sore throat. I couldn’t possibly have COVID-19, I thought. Sure, the Omicron variant is more transmissible, but I had a mask on while I was visiting. I had no close contact with anyone else, since all the adults had contracted COVID-19.

Get tested—I had to get tested and make sure I was not infected. I already knew that Shelby County had closed all testing sites, leaving the task to area pharmacies in drug stores, private physicians, and Christ Community Health Centers, I was told by someone.

It was Sunday morning, and I could barely move. I called my pastor to say I would not be at church, and that I would try to get tested. I went online to find “COVID-19 testing in Shelby County.”

I saw a link for “The Little Clinic,” locat-

SEE TEST ON PAGE 2

$1.00

A break in Young Dolph killing leads to suspect

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

U.S. Marshals have identified a 23-yearold with “ties to organized criminal gangs” as a suspect in connection to the ambush killing of Adolph Robert Thornton Jr., widely known as Memphis rapper Young Dolph.

A warrant for first-degree murder has been issued for Justin Johnson.

U.S. Marshals, along with the Memphis Police Department, Crime Stoppers and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to Johnson’s arrest.

Johnson is alleged to have been one of the shooters, who ambushed Young Dolph on Nov. 17 at Makeda’s Homemade “Butter Cookies” at 2370 AirYoung Dolph ways Blvd.

He has been added to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted List.

Thornton, 36, was known to visit the cookie shop and was shot to death soon after stepping inside. Johnson was one of those shooters, Marshals say.

Johnson is also wantJustin ed for violation of fedJohnson eral supervised release on a weapons charge.

Pastor Rodney Herron of St. James Baptist Church (in Castalia) said the church, which Young Dolph grew up in, as well as Young Dolph’s family is certainly welcoming the news of a development in the case.

“We are all just elated about this news,” said Herron. “We know an arrest hasn’t been made yet, but identifying one of the shooters is certainly a step in the right direction.

Hopefully, the family and all those friends and fans out there can begin a journey to getting closure.”

Herron said Johnson should turn himself in for his own safety, now that he has been identified.

“We want everyone to let law enforcement handle the case,” said Herron. “But everyone does not have that same mindset. Justin Johnson just got a target put on his back.”

Johnson is about 5’8’ tall and weighs approximately 190 pounds. He has the name “Jaiya” tattooed on his right arm.

The Marshals said Johnson should be considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with any information on Johnson’s whereabouts should call the U.S. Marshals at 901-275-4562; 901-601-1575, or 731-571-0280.

Anonymous tips may also be submitted via the U.S. Marshals Tip App. Information can also be given on the TBI lines: 901-378-3132, or 1-800-TBI-FIND.

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The New Tri-State Defender

January 6 - 12, 2022

Page 2

NEWS COMMENTARY

COVID

CONTINUED FROM FRONT end COVID-19.

“As the world enters the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am confident that this will be the year we end it — but only if we do it together,” Ghebreyesus said.

“All countries must focus on vaccinating more and more of their populations,” Ghebreyesus said. “We need all countries to work together to reach the global target of vaccinating 70 per cent of people in all countries by the middle of 2022.”

Randolph said only 57.8 percent of Shelby County residents have been vaccinated.

The targeted number of county vaccinations is 700,000 residents.

“When we say count those who have been vaccinated, that number also includes people who have only had one shot of Pfizer or Moderna,” Randolph said. “Not only is that second shot important, but the booster shot is critical in fighting the Omicron variant.”

A booster may be administered five months after the second shot, Randolph said.

For those who took the J&J vaccine, one shot represents full vaccination. Boosters may be given in five months, and health officials say mixing and matching vaccines are allowed.

“What worked last year are the same things that work now,” said Randolph. “Getting fully vaccinated and taking the booster, wearing a mask while inside a public building, and being tested are all important tools in helping to eradicate the virus.”

The Health Department opened temporary testing sites over the New Year’s Eve weekend. Area drug stores and other designated sites continue to offer testing. Vaccinations are still being administered by the health department.

Randolph said many who are showing up for vaccinations have already taken one shot, or they are getting a

TEST

CONTINUED FROM FRONT ed in the Kroger Pharmacy. I tried to secure an appointment, but no appointment times were showing available…not at any locations. I had no better luck searching for locations in Southaven and Olive Branch.

A notification popped up, stating that there were no more appointments available until Tuesday. Monday, as it turned out, was completely unavailable at any location.

I tried Walgreen’s testing schedule, and it was no better. The MinuteClinic at CVS Pharmacies were my next stop online. No appointments available anywhere. I fell back asleep and woke up with the intent to go and sit at one of these places. Maybe, I could be worked in somewhere between appointments. But I felt too badly to even get up and go. Sunday was a complete bust.

Monday, I went online and tried to find an appointment.

No one had an available appointment. I had an idea to try and get a test at one of the Baptist Minor Medical Clinics. The Union Avenue location was closest.

As it turned out, I didn’t need an appointment for COVID-19 testing. I walked into the clinic, signed in, and prepared to pay whatever the cost was after insurance. My part was $55. I just casually asked what my insurance would be billed.

I can’t remember exactly, but

Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., speaks with the media after the House select committee hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 27, 2021. (Photo: Jose Luis Magana (AP))

“By getting tested, you protect those you love and everyone around you.” That was part of the messaging pitch as SCS offered testing for employees and students. (Photo: SCS Twitter) booster.

“We are encouraging those who have never taken a vaccination to come in and get it,” Randolph said. “We will see our infection numbers go down as everyone takes the vaccine and commit to wearing masks in public spaces, even after taking the vaccine.”

Meanwhile, the Omicron surge is having an impact on the people’s daily lives.

For example, LeMoyne-Owen College and Christian Brothers University have joined Rhodes College in delaying spring semester in-person classes amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Spring semester classes for LOC begin Jan. 10 and continue remotely until Jan. 24.

Classes at CBU begin Jan. 15 and continue remotely until Jan. 31.

Rhodes classes will start Jan. 12, but classes will begin remotely before tentatively

beginning in-person Jan. 31, depending on whether the virus surge continues or abates.

Also, Southwest Tennessee Community College announced Wednesday (Jan. 5) classes will be held virtually Jan. 18-24 when students return for the spring semester.

Shelby County Schools students returned to classes Monday (Jan. 3) after winter break with SCS officials preparing to expand in-school testing as the surge continues.

SCS, beginning Jan. 17, will test participating students and staff weekly.

Supt. Joris Ray emphasized, in a New Year’s Day letter to district families and staff, the district’s safety protocols – like masking and social distancing when possible – remain in place.

(For more information on getting a vaccine, call Shelby County Health Department at: 901-222-9000.)

it was close to $200. I thought that seemed exorbitant, so I walked out of that clinic without getting testing.

Back home in the bed I went.

This is what I learned.

COVID-19 testing is, indeed, free for those who do not have insurance. Insurance companies are billed for the test, including Medicare, for seniors, and any payment required over what is billed to insurance, is paid by the patient, just like any other service.

For those who are not insured, there is some government entity that is billed for the full cost of the test.

But nearly $250 for the test seemed extremely high to me.

I could have been wrong, but I just decided not to get that test.

Back home, back to bed, and another restless, achy night. Tuesday morning, I went back to The Little Clinic website and tried to get an appointment, but whatever was available on Tuesday was already taken.

Third day—woke up early Wednesday morning. The MinuteClinic at CVS showed a few appointments. The first available one was 10:30 a.m., at the Union Avenue location.

I got there at 9:45. I saw a little building outside of the store and wondered if that was the actual testing site. I went inside to inquire, and I was told that was, indeed the testing center.

As it turns out, I was to stay in my car for testing and instructed to park in one of the

closer, designated spaces. The medical person went to the car windows as they pulled up. I had a little while before my testing time.

I watched as people drove up in their cars, the attendant came out with a rapid test, which is taking the swab, placing it far up the nostrils, and twirling it three times. When my test came up, the attendant never touched the swab. I was instructed to place the swab up my nostrils, twirling it on each side three times. I guess, to get a good test sample. I was then instructed to place the swab into a plastic tube, which was immediately sealed.

I provided my insurance card, and signed the form on a clipboard as directed.

In one hour, I was told that test results would be emailed to me. That was the Rapid Antigen test. The other test takes 24 hours, still an improvement from the sometimes two-day wait.

And wouldn’t you know it? In about 45 minutes, I learned that I tested negative.

I did not have COVID-19. A touch of the flu, maybe, but not COVID-19. I had never been so happy to have the flu, I could hardly contain myself.

Don’t forget, I took the oneshot J&J, and later, the oneshot booster. I consider myself extremely blessed. I feel badly for those who really have the virus, and might run into days of unavailable appointments.

Thank God, Omicron is not as severe as the original and the Delta variant.

A year after the insurrection, where’s accountability for accomplices in Congress?

by Keith Reed theroot.com

Thursday marks a year since thousands of losers stormed the U.S. Capitol, trying to keep an even bigger loser in office. They failed, despite doing about 150 million times more damage than it would have taken for every cop in DC to open fire had the crowd been mostly Black.

Some of the insurrectionists are sitting in jail now, though not nearly enough have been tracked down and tried and sent there.

Their hero, exiled from DC in shame, is free to spend his post-presidency at his own posh Florida resort.

But while Trump is gone – for now – and as more of his followers get carted off to jail, 147 of his biggest co-conspirators in an attempt to hijack an election are still sitting members of Congress. All of them are Republican elected officials and all of them voted against certifying a duly-won election of the American presidency.

And now, seven of the biggest companies in the country are cutting off their funding.

The website Popular Information dialed up almost 200 companies to find out if they stuck to their word about no longer campaign contributions to the sitting lawmakers who tried to undermine the peaceful transfer of power.

Here’s what they found.

Popular Information contacted 183 companies and asked if their corporate PACs would suspend donations to the 147 Republican objectors in 2022. There are seven companies that have explicitly pledged to withhold PAC funding to the Republican objectors in 2022: Airbnb: Airbnb told Popular Information it would not donate to the Republican objectors in 2022.

BASF: “BASF is committed to staying with our approach for the remainder of the 2022 election cycle.”

Eversource Energy: “(W)e intend to uphold that pledge.”

Lyft: “Yes, we plan to uphold this pledge.”

Microsoft: “(W)e are committed to our pledge”

Dow: “This suspension will remain in place for a period of one election cycle (two years for House members; up to six years for Senators), which specifically includes contributions to the candidate’s reelection committee and their affiliated PACs. Dow is committed to the principles of democracy and the peaceful transfer of power.”

American Express: Last year, American Express told Popular Information that its PAC would never donate to the 147 Republican objectors again.

79 big firms in total kept the commitment they made a year ago, but another 58 haven’t, according to Popular Info.

In the meantime, Rep. Bennie Thompson’s Jan. 6 committee wants to know what Trump’s other closest buddies knew and when they knew it. CNN reported on Tuesday that Thompson wants former VP Mike Pence and Sean Hannity of Fox News to testify.

From CNN: “The idea that the former vice president would voluntarily throw himself back into the controversy by testifying appears far-fetched, however. He has painstakingly spent the last year putting space between himself and the infamy of January 6 as he struggles to keep himself viable for a possible future Republican presidential campaign. Still, various Pence aides have begun engaging with the committee, including his former chief of staff Marc Short, whom CNN reported last month is cooperating.

Thompson spoke to CNN moments after the committee fired off another request for cooperation, calling on Hannity, a prime-time Fox News opinion star, to discuss dozens of texts it says he sent to Trump and the President’s team in the days surrounding January 6. The messages once again lay bare the propagandistic synergy between the conservative network and the Trump White House. It also suggests that the panel is willing to go after the most high-profile witnesses and brave significant political controversy in its quest to tell the story of January 6.

Controversy, maybe. But how about full accountability?

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The New Tri-State Defender

January 6 - 12, 2022

Page 3

NEWS

Oldest US veteran of WWII, Lawrence N. Brooks, dies at 112

by Leah Willingham and Rebecca Santana The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS – Lawrence N. Brooks, the oldest World War II veteran in the U.S. – and believed to be the oldest man in the country – died on Wednesday at the age of 112.

His death was announced by the National WWII Museum and confirmed by his daughter.

Most African Americans serving in the segregated U.S. armed forces at the beginning of World War II were assigned to noncombat units and relegated to service duties, such as supply, maintenance and transportation, said Col. Pete Crean, vice president of education and access at the museum in New Orleans.

“The reason for that was outright racism — there’s no other way to characterize it,” Crean said.

But Brooks, born on Sept.

12, 1909, was known for his good-natured sense of humor, positivity and kindness.

When asked for his secret to a long life, he often said, “serving God and being nice to people.”

“I don’t have no hard feelings toward nobody,” he said

during a 2014 oral history interview with the museum.

“I just want everything to be lovely, to come out right. I want people to have fun and enjoy themselves — be happy and not sad.”

On sunny days, Brooks was known for sitting on the front porch of the double shotgun house he shared with daughter Vanessa Brooks in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans. Neighbors would call out to the local celebrity, wave and bring him soda and snacks.

Brooks was passionate about the New Orleans Saints football team and never missed a game, his daughter said. His church, St. Luke’s Episcopal, was also close to his heart and he never missed a Sunday service until the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Originally from Norwood, Louisiana, near Baton Rouge, Brooks’ family moved to the Mississippi Delta when he was an infant. He was one of 15 children, and lived too far from the nearest school, so his parents taught him what they could at home.

Brooks was working at a sawmill when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1940.

After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to the

mostly Black 91st Engineer General Service Regiment stationed in Australia.

Later in the war, troop losses virtually forced the military to begin placing more African American troops into combat positions. In 1941, fewer than 4,000 African Americans were serving in the military. By 1945, that number increased to more than 1.2 million.

The 91st, where Brooks served, was an Army unit that built bridges, roads and airstrips for planes. Brooks was assigned as a caretaker to three white officers. His job was to cook, drive and take care of their clothes.

Brooks did not often speak publicly about the discrimination he and other Black soldiers faced in the war, or the discrimination his family faced in the Jim Crow Deep South, his daughter said.

Crean, who got to know Brooks and his family through his work at the museum, said Brooks did talk about noticing how much better he was treated as a Black man in Australia compared with the U.S. But Brooks told Crean thinking about it would make him angry, so he tried not to.

During his oral history interview, Brooks said the officers he cared for treated him well

and he considered himself fortunate not to have to fight in combat.

“I got lucky. I was saying to myself, ‘If I’m going to be shooting at somebody, somebody’s going to be shooting at me and he might get lucky and hit,’” he said.

He often told the story about a time when he was a passenger in a C-47 aircraft delivering a load of barbed wire to the front when one of the transport plane’s engines went out.

After they dumped the cargo to conserve weight, he made his way to the cockpit. He told the pilot and co-pilot that since they were the only two with parachutes, if they had to jump for it, he was going to grab on to one of them.

“We made it, though,” he said during the 2014 oral history interview, laughing. “We had a big laugh about that.”

Despite not being in combat, Brooks did experience enemy fire during the war.

He said the Japanese would sometimes bomb Owen Island, where he worked. He said he learned to tell the difference between the sounds of Japanese, American and German planes approaching.

“We’d be running like crazy, trying to hide,” he said. They had to dig foxholes to protect

World War II veteran Lawrence N. Brooks sports a lipstick kiss on his cheek, planted by a member of the singing group Victory Belles, as he celebrates his 110th birthday at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans on Sept. 12, 2019. The oldest World War II veteran in the United States, Brooks died at the age of 112 on Wednesday (Jan. 5) in New Orleans. (AP Photo/ Gerald Herbert, File) themselves.

He was discharged from the Army in August 1945 as a private first class.

When he returned from service, he worked as a forklift driver until retiring in his 60s.

He has five children, five stepchildren, and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He lost his wife, Leona, shortly after Hurricane Katrina.

That 2005 disaster destroyed his home. Then in his late 90s, he was evacuated from his home’s roof via helicopter. His daughter described him as “resilient.”

“He’s been through a lot.

He’s real tough, and that’s one thing I learned from him.

If nothing else, he instilled in me, ‘Do your best and whatever you can’t do, it don’t make

no sense to worry about it,’” she told the AP. “I think that’s why he has lived as long as he has.”

Starting with his 105th birthday, the museum began throwing him annual birthday parties. His favorite part of the celebration was watching the Victory Belles, a trio performing the music of the 1940s.

During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the museum organized a parade in front of his home with brass bands and Krewe of Zulu warriors in full regalia.

“Even at 112, Mr. Brooks stood up for a little bit and danced,” Crean said.

(Willingham reported from Jackson, Mississippi and Santana from New Orleans.)

Governor to pardon Plessy, of ‘separate but equal’ ruling

by Janet Mcconnaughey Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Louisiana’s governor planned to posthumously pardon Homer Plessy on Wednesday, more than a century after the Black man was arrested in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow a Jim Crow law creating “whites-only” train cars.

The Plessy v Ferguson case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ushered in a half-century of laws calling for “separate but equal” accommodations that kept Black people in segregated schools, housing, theaters and other venues.

Gov. John Bel Edwards scheduled the pardon ceremony for a spot near where Plessy was arrested in 1892 for breaking a Louisiana law requiring Black people to ride in cars that the law described as “equal but separate” from those for white customers.

The date is close to the 125th anniversary of Plessy’s guilty plea in New Orleans.

Relatives of both Plessy and the judge who convicted him were expected to attend.

It spotlights New Orleans as the cradle of the civil rights movement, said Keith Plessy, whose great-great-grandfather was Plessy’s cousin — Homer Plessy had no children.

“Hopefully, this will give some relief to generations who have suffered under discriminatory laws,” said Phoebe Ferguson, the judge’s great-great-granddaughter.

The state Board of Pardons recommended the pardon on Nov. 12 for Plessy, who was a 30-year-old shoemaker when he boarded the train car as a member of a small

Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson, descendants of the principals in the Plessy V. Ferguson court case, pose for a photograph in front of a historical marker in New Orleans, on Tuesday, June 7, 2011. Homer Plessy, the namesake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1896 “separate but equal” ruling, is being considered for a posthumous pardon. The Creole man of color died with a conviction still on his record for refusing to leave a whites-only train car in New Orleans in 1892. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File) civil rights group hoping to overturn the law.

Instead, the 1896 ruling solidified whites-only spaces in public accommodations until a later Supreme Court unanimously overturned it in Brown v Board of Education in 1954. Both cases argued that segregation laws violated the 14th Amendment’s right to equal protection.

In Plessy, Justice Henry Billings Brown wrote for the 7-1 majority: “Legislation is powerless to eradicate racial instincts or to abolish distinctions based upon physical differences.”

Justice John Harlan, the dissenter, wrote that he believed the ruling “will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott Case.”

That 1857 decision said no Black person who had been enslaved or was descended from a slave could ever become a U.S. citizen. It was overturned by the 13th and 14th Amendments, passed in 1865 and 1866.

Plessy lacked the business, political and educational accomplishments of most other members of the group trying to strike down the segrega-

tion law, Keith Weldon Medley wrote in the book ”We As Freemen: Plessy v. Ferguson.” But his light skin — court papers described him as someone whose “one eighth African blood” was “not discernable” — positioned him for the train car protest.

“His one attribute was being white enough to gain access to the train and black enough to be arrested for doing so,” Medley wrote.

Five blocks of the street where he was arrested, renamed Homer Plessy Way in 2018, runs through the campus of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, where the ceremony was to be held outdoors for COVID-19 safety.

Eight months after the ruling in his case, Plessy pleaded guilty on Jan. 11, 1897. He was fined $25 at a time when 25 cents would buy a pound of round steak and 10 pounds of potatoes. He died in 1925 with the conviction on his record.

Relatives of Plessy and John Howard Ferguson, the judge who oversaw his case in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, became friends decades later and formed a nonprofit that advocates for civil rights education.

On May 24, 2013, President Barack Obama signed a bill designating the Congressional Gold Medal commemorating the lives of the four young girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. Standing, from left are Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., and Lisa McNair. Seated (right) is Thelma “Maxine” Pippen McNair, the mother of Denise McNair. Maxine McNair, the last living parent of any of the children killed in the bombing, died Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022.

She was 93. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Last living parent of child killed in 1963 church bombing dies at 93 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – Maxine McNair, the last living parent of any of the four Black girls killed in a 1963 Alabama church bombing, died Sunday. She was 93.

McNair’s family announced her death in a press release. A cause of death was not given.

McNair’s daughter, 11-yearold Denise McNair, was the youngest girl killed in the bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church, the deadliest single attack of the civil rights movement. Also killed were three 14-year-olds: Addie Mae Collins, Carole Rosamond Robertson and Cynthia Dionne Wesley.

Three members of the Ku Klux Klan were eventually convicted in the case, the first in 1977 and two more in the early 2000s.

Maxine McNair worked as a teacher for over three decades in Birmingham public schools.

Her daughter, Lisa McNair,

said she changed many lives through education and left a lasting legacy through the students she touched.

“Mrs. McNair was an amazing wife and mother and as a teacher of 33 years in the Birmingham public school system imparted knowledge in the lives of hundreds. We are going to miss her laughter and her humor. The family would appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers,” the family’s statement said.

Maxine McNair’s husband, Chris McNair, died in 2019 at the age of 93. He was one of the first Black members of the Alabama legislature since Reconstruction, and a Jefferson County commissioner.

In 2013, Maxine McNair attended an Oval Office ceremony in which President Barack Obama awarded the four girls the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the country’s highest civilian honors.

Funeral arrangements for a celebration of Maxine McNair’s life are pending.

Denise McNair was one of five girls who had gathered in a downstairs bathroom at the 16th Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963, when a timed bomb planted by KKK members went off outside under a set of stairs.

The fifth girl and sister of Addie Mae Collins, Sarah Collins Rudolph, was blinded in one eye by the blast. She later provided testimony that helped lead to the convictions of the men accused of planting the bomb.

The church bombing came during the height of the fight for Civil Rights in America, and as Birmingham’s public schools were being desegregated. The four girls became emblems of the racist hatred that emanated from much of the opposition to equal rights.

PERSPECTIVE The New Tri-State Defender, January 6 - 12, 2022, Page 4

New research shows Tennessee teachers who are Black or male are generally scored lower by evaluators who observe them in the classroom. (Photo: Karen Pulfer Focht for Chalkbeat)

Tennessee study: Blacks, males score lower in teacher observations

by Marta W. Aldrich Chalkbeat Tennessee

Black and male teachers in Tennessee have received lower classroom observation scores than their white and female peers every year since the state launched its teacher evaluation system in 2011, says a new study.

The same gaps show up even when comparing similarly qualified teachers whose students achieve similar test score gains.

The findings, released Monday and mirroring national research, raise important questions about the reliability and fairness of the state’s teacher evaluation system.

They also highlight concerns that the observation experiences could drive Black and male teachers out of the profession at a time when Tennessee seeks to diversify its teacher workforce.

Tennessee was among the first states to adopt comprehensive teacher evaluations to help educators and schools improve as part of state and national reforms. The high-stakes results inform decisions by school administrators about compensation, retention, and other personnel matters.

Classroom observation scores are the most important component and comprise up to 70% of a teacher’s final score, which also incorporates student achievement data. The resulting rating of 1 to 5 aims to gauge a teacher’s level of effectiveness, with 5 being the most effective.

The system has always been controversial, especially Tennessee’s early use of

The study found that Black teachers are assigned higher numbers of students with a history of disciplinary problems, lower attendance, and lower achievement. student test data to help rate teachers. More recent attention has focused on the quality of classroom observations.

“We want observation scores to give accurate information about teachers’ effectiveness in the classroom and not to reflect other factors beyond the teacher’s control,” said Jason A. Grissom, one of the authors of the new study from the Tennessee Education Research Alliance, a partnership of Vanderbilt University and the Tennessee Department of Education.

The president of the state’s largest teacher organization said the data isn’t surprising.

“This should force a much-needed conversation about unconscious bias in our evaluation system,” said Beth Brown of the Tennessee Education Association, which has called for an annual review.

The study offers few clues on what’s driving the gender gap in observation scores. However, the magnitude of the race gap is influenced by several factors, including the racial composition of the school’s faculty, differing characteristics of students who are assigned to Black and white teachers, and the race of the teacher’s observer.

Black teachers receive slightly lower

ratings from white evaluators, and the gaps are larger in schools where a Black teacher has fewer Black colleagues.

Also, the study found that Black teachers are assigned higher numbers of students with a history of disciplinary problems, lower attendance, and lower achievement.

A national study in 2018 found similar results and suggested that evaluations are one reason teachers may be deterred from working in classrooms where students lag farthest behind. It also raised questions about whether teachers of color – who often work most frequently with students of color – are getting a fair shot, especially when a growing body of research shows that a racially and ethnically diverse teaching force can have positive impacts academically, socially, and emotionally on students of all races.

This school year, Tennessee began requiring school districts to set goals and strategies to get more teachers of color in front of students. The new policy prompted the research alliance to dig deeper into ob-

servation score data broken down by race and gender.

“As we work to increase teacher diversity in Tennessee, it is critical that we understand more about the causes of these systematic differences so we can begin to address them,” said Erin O’Hara, the alliance’s executive director. “Are there potential changes needed in the observation rubrics, for example, or in training of evaluators?”

Tennessee trains mostly school principals and assistant principals to observe and score their teachers. A state-approved scoring guide focuses on instruction, planning, professionalism, and classroom environment.

The researchers say school leaders should receive regular training on potential sources of biases in their teacher evaluations. They also recommend administrators examine school-level data on student placement to guard against systematically assigning lower-achieving students and those with disciplinary challenges to Black educators.

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The New Tri-State Defender

January 6 - 12, 2022

Page 5

RELIGION

It’s your day ...

“Mother” John Etta Bachus of St. Mark Baptist Church celebrated her 83rd birthday on January 2. (Photo: Tyrone P. Easley)

Church honors city’s youngest licensed pilot

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Stephen Ferreira, the first student in Shelby County Schools to graduate with a private pilot’s license, was honored Dec. 26 by Pastor Peris Lester I and the Mount Olive Cathedral CME congregation.

“In light of all of the violence and the killing our young people are inflicting against each other,” said Lester, “honoring such an accomplished young, Black man gives all of us a great ray of hope.

“We must change the narrative about our young people. We must start speaking about the positive. Our young people who are actually doing something deserve to be recognized.”

Ferreira, 17, a senior at East High School, was bitten by the aviation bug when he was barely a teenager.

“It was the summer I was going into the seventh grade,” said Ferreira.

“I attended aviation camp at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. It was a kid’s introduction to aviation. On the last day of camp, they took us up for an actual flight, and that was it. I was

hooked.”

Ferreira returned home with a determination to make flying his career.

“I was attending Snowden in middle school, and I had planned all my life to go to Central High School,” said Ferreira. “But when I was in the eighth grade, the STEM Program brought aviation to East High. I immediately changed my mind about Central and set my sights on East.”

The outstanding senior graduates with the distinguished honor of being among young pilots earning their pilot’s license before leaving high school. He has 76.1 flying hours.

In both the civilian and military sectors, there has been an historical and long-standing dearth of pilots.

Presently, only an estimated 1.2 percent of all the commercial airline pilots are African American. In the U.S. Air Force, there are 12,639 pilots.

Only 236 are African Americans.

To address the issue of more diversity in the aviation industry, the Tennessee Board of Regents in December unanimously approved a program at Southwest Tennessee Community College to “help area students take flight in the aviation industry.”

STCC officials said the pro-

gram, which starts this month, is the first-ever two-year program of its kind in Tennessee.

The sky is literary the limit for Ferreira and other young African Americans who are considering aviation as a career. Both sectors are vigorously involved in recruitment of minorities.

Ferreira has chosen the civilian sector as his ideal career path.

“I have chosen to go to college after graduation and pursue my flight instructor’s license while I am still in school,” said Ferreira. “After college, I plan to work as a flight instructor until I have enough hours to earn my commercial pilot’s license.”

To earn a CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) license, the individual must log a total of 250 hours. For a commercial license, 1,500 flight hours are required.

“That may seem like a lot of hours,” said Ferreira. “But my first flight instructor earned enough hours for his commercial pilot’s license in two years. So, it’s not really as difficult as it seems.”

Ferreira’s mother, Stephanie Ferreira, has watched her son’s journey since adolescence. She has learned to “trust God” and not show fear when

Stephen Ferreica with his mother, Stephanie Ferreica, and Mt. Olive CME pastor Presiding Bishop Peris J. Lester I. (Photo: Tyrone P. Easley/The New Tri-State Defender) it’s time for another flying lesson.

“I have just taken things in stride over the years,” said Stephanie Ferreira. “I didn’t want to be one of those parents who conveys fear every time their children leave the house. But last year, when he was only 16, the solo flights began for Stephen. I pray and pray, but then I can move on with my day. I trust God with my child.”

As young Ferreira looks at choosing a college, he is finding that many are choosing him.

“I have been accepted at every college I have applied to,” said Ferreira. “I am looking at schools with a

strong aviation program, of course. If I were to choose my top three picks so far, they would be Western Michigan University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida and Sewanee in Tennessee.”

Wherever Ferreira chooses to attend college, his plans for a commercial pilot career will bring him back to Memphis.

“I will come back to Memphis after college,” said Ferreira. “All of my family and friends are here. I am a home body, so I’ve never really considered settling anywhere else. I love my city. I love Memphis.”

Ready to serve ...

Greater Mt. Moriah on Wellington was the setting for this recent gathering of the 2022-23 officers of the Alpha Kappa Alpha BEO Memphis Chapter. (Photo: Tyrone P. Easley/The New Tri-State Defender)

The New Tri-State Defender, January 6 - 12, 2022, Page 6

FILM REVIEW:

The best films of 2021

by Nsenga K. Burton NNPA Newswire

In 2021, the box-office did not disappoint with outstanding films on the big screen and streaming apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Apple TV +.

Films like Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” Denzel Washington’s “A Journal for Jordan,” Ridley’s Scott’s “House of Gucci,” Aaron Sorkin’s “Being the Ricardos,” Jeymes Samuel’s “The Harder They Fall” and the Marvel Universe’s first Asian superhero film “Shang-Chi” and “The Legend of the Ten Rings” have made a variety of lists as they should.

I wanted to use this list as an opportunity to elevate some films that may have been undervalued or overlooked for a variety of reasons including subject matter, perceived lack of star power, genre or release date. Check out some of the top films of 2021, some of which you may not have heard of and others you may not wish to forget as we head into 2022.

Watch movie trailers for the best films of 2021 at TSDmemphis.com

‘PASSING’ (Netflix)

‘MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY’ (Amazon Prime Video)

‘BOXING DAY’ (Amazon Prime Video) Looking for global Black love or remembering what being in love feels like? You’ve found it in this funny, heartwarming film that takes viewers from the Dirty South to South London.

Inspired by writer, director, and star Aml Ameen’s life, “Boxing Day” follows Melvin (Aml Ameen), a British writer and former soap opera star living in America, who returns home to London for Christmas to introduce his American fiancée, Lisa (Aja Naomi King), to his energetic British-Caribbean family. Their relationship is put to the test as she discovers the world her fiancée has left behind including a superstar former girlfriend named Georgia (Leigh-Ann Pinnock).

Marianne Jean-Baptiste gives an endearing performance as Shirley, Melvin’s mother who is getting her groove back following a painful heartache. Ameen and King show the magic that can happen when the Diaspora comes together in life and love.

chronicles the socio-political times in which Black people in America were living. Black musicians from all genres of music – funk, blues, jazz, classical, rock and roll, folk, gospel – played simultaneously personifying the influence of Black innovation and creation in historic Harlem, ground zero for Black Arts and culture in the 20th Century.

Footage with spine tingling performances from Nina Simone, the Staples Singers, Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, the Fifth Dimension, Sly and the Family Stone and so many more, “Summer of Soul” shows the magic that happens when Black creatives and artists come together and reminds viewers of the cultural significance Black music played in a revolution that was not televised.

The life of Rev. Pauli Murray is American history that is as important to the present as it is to the future. This documentary takes you on the journey of Murray, a non-binary African American woman, who was the first Black woman ordained as an Episcopalian priest and co-founder of the National Organization of Women (NOW).

The filmmakers make plain that Murray lived many lives – a professor, lawyer, poet and activist — all of which changed the course of society for the better. Murray’s legal theories were so brilliant and influential, Supreme Court justices Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsburg used them to win some of their most historic cases.

This documentary offers few bells and whistles – simply Murray telling and extraordinary story of a fully evolved human being in pursuit of justice and happiness.

‘CANDYMAN’ (Universal Pictures) In the fourth installment of the Black horror cult classic “Candyman” (1992) Director Nia DaCosta takes viewers on a journey into the modern-day horror that is gentrification and police occupation in Trump’s America.

Against the backdrop of one of America’s most storied housing projects, Cabrini Green in Chicago, Anthony (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a visual artist, delves into an old tale about a murder in the housing projects. Anthony, who lives a bourgeois life with his lover Brianna (Teyonah Parris) who manages an art gallery, seeks inspiration for his latest painting in all the wrong places.

Researching the story of what happened to Helen Lyle leads Anthony to roads less traveled and an introduction to Burke (Colman Domingo), a dry cleaner that holds many secrets. Written by DaCosta, Win Rosenfeld and horror maestro Jordan Peele, “Candyman” implicates all of the characters in the conjuring of this evil presence that refuses to die.

With stunning visuals, including art and cinematography and DaCosta’s intelligent reimaging of who Candyman is and what created him, makes the film feel more like a psychological thriller than a slasher like its predecessors. “Candyman” offers a smart window into the precarious world in which we’re living and why we should all be horrified.

With a cast that includes Ruth Negga, Tessa Thompson, Alexander Skarsgard and Andre Holland and a story based on a novel written by American novelist Nella Larsen, “Passing” is a must-see movie about the reality of passing at a time when being Black equated to having no rights and a life with no value to empowered Whites other than as unpaid or low-wage labor. One wrong move by a Black person could result in certain death or an uncertain future.

The story takes place in Harlem where Irene (Thompson), a light-skinned Black woman married to Brian (Holland), a Black physician, unexpectedly runs into a former high school friend Clare, a light-skinned Black woman who is passing for White and married to a wealthy White man John (Skarsgard) from Chicago. Writer, producer and director Rebecca Hall, captures the tension between the women as their lives become increasingly connected. (“Passing” features a) psychological dance between Irene and Clare as they literally sidestep landmines in a race war — some of their making — in which they have the most at stake. With beautiful Black and White cinematography that makes one feel as if they are looking through a photo album, Hall visually demonstrates that issues of race, sex and class aren’t always as Black and White as they may seem.

‘FATHERHOOD’ (Netflix) “Fatherhood” is a film about a happy family rocked by tragedy. In a refreshing departure from his usual role as the funny lead or sidekick, comedian Kevin Hart convincingly plays Matt, a broken-hearted father trying to raise his newborn daughter after the unexpected loss of his wife Liz (Deborah Ayinde), one day following childbirth.

Matt tries to balance the difficulty of raising a happy and productive child as an only parent with professional and romantic aspirations while navigating the precarious terrain of dealing with parents and in-laws yearning to maintain their connection to their deceased daughter.

Alfre Woodard delivers a powerful performance as Marian, Matt’s mother-in-law who is working through grief and the fear of losing her granddaughter. Hart holds his own in scenes with Woodard and Frankie Faison who plays, Liz’s father Mike. Lil’ Rel Howery, DeWanda Wise and Paul Reiser round out the cast playing the chorus to a devastating tragedy.

‘KING RICHARD’ (Warner Bros.)

If teamwork makes the dream work was a film, “King Richard” would be it. “King Richard” is the engrossing story of a father’s determination to write his talented daughters into the sports history books, 78 pages at a time.

Will Smith plays Richard Williams, the father who understands his daughters’ greatness and the context in which they are living, from the moment they were born.

Partnered with a dedicated and focused mother Oracene “Brandy” Williams played brilliantly by the white hot Aunjanue Ellis, the Williams family endeavors to take Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena Williams (Demi Singleton) to the top of a tennis world resistant to their presence or participation. Williams uses strategy, humility and confidence to engage legendary tennis coach Paul Cohen (Tony Goldwyn) who helps Venus hone her skills while Brandy literally keeps Serena in the game of life and tennis.

Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (Premature, Gun Hill Road) and executive produced by the Williams sisters and Smith, the film offers a humanistic view of Richard Williams as a loving father who makes sure two Black girls from Compton, can rewrite their destiny, rise to the highest heights and belong wherever they choose to be.

‘SWAN SONG’ (Apple TV+)

‘SUMMER OF SOUL’ (Fox Searchlight) Iconic musician and bandleader Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson makes his filmmaking debut with the documentary that is as much a historical document as it is an homage to Black musical excellence.

Thompson, founding member the legendary Roots crew and son of a jazz musician, escorts viewers into a world of Black music, fashion and culture at the Harlem Cultural Festival held at Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park) over the course of six weeks in 1969, one hundred miles from Woodstock.

This documentary features electrifying performances and

Cameron, a loving father played brilliantly by Academy award-winning actor Mahershala Ali finds out he is terminally ill just before learning he has a second child on the way with his beautiful and doting wife Poppy (Naomie Harris).

Presented with a life-saving and life-altering solution to his demise, Cameron must decide whether or not to change life’s trajectory or to stay the course and accept the future he knows instead of the unknown. Through this process, Cameron learns more about life, love and his full humanity as a man.

Mahershala Ali performs the hell out of this role taking viewers on this precarious ride of uncertainty. Academy award-nominated actresses Harris and Glenn Close deliver stoic and weighty performances. “It”-actress Awkwafina plays Kate and Kate’s duplicate giving Cameron more insight into his decision.

(Nsenga K. Burton, PH.D, is NNPA Newswire Culture and Entertainment Editor. Follow her on Twitter @Ntellectual.)

The New Tri-State Defender

January 6 - 12, 2022

Page 7

ENTERTAINMENT

“JANET JACKSON.” is a four-hour event in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Jackson’s first album, “Janet Jackson” (1982). It is set to simulcast on Lifetime and A&E on Jan. 28.

Janet Jackson talks about brother Michael’s molestation accusations in documentary trailer

by Matthew Allen Thegrio.com

Lifetime’s forthcoming Janet Jackson documentary “JANET JACKSON.” looks to dive deeper into the life and career of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer than ever before. The trailer reveals that Jackson will speak on her feelings surrounding the criminal accusations of her brother, Michael Jackson.

In the extended trailer, Jackson is heard being asked if Michael’s allegations affected her “career-wise.”

Janet responded, “Yeah. Guilty by

association, ’cause that’s what they call it, right?”

Michael, the late multi-platinum-selling singer and songwriter, was accused multiple times of child molestation in the latter part of his life. The first came in 1993 when Michael was accused by Evan Chandler and his 13-yearold son Jordan. Michael settled out of court in 1994.

In 2003, Michael was arrested for child molestation and intoxication of a minor; he went to trial and in 2005 was acquitted of all charges.

Through the process of Michael’s legal troubles, Jackson

always expressed her support for her big brother. In 1995, Janet wore a shirt that had “Pervert 2” written on the back at the MTV Video Music Awards when the two accepted their award for Best Dance Video for “Scream.” Janet was also a constant presence at Michael’s 2005 trial, whose footage is shown in the trailer.

Although Jackson paid tribute to Michael following his 2009 death at the BET Awards and the MTV VMAs that directly followed, she hasn’t spoken about her brother much since.

In the trailer, she’s asked who she’s closest to in her family.

Jackson answered, stoically, “Randy…and Mike.”

Jackson is also heard asking her mother, Katherine Jackson, “How do you feel talking about Mike?”

Katherine replied, “I can’t.”

Throughout his lifetime, Michael, a 13-time Grammy winner, spoke fondly of the kinship with his five-time Grammy-winning kid sister.

In his 2003 Fox special, “Michael Jackson’s Private Home Videos,” Jackson is seen several times with Michael at his Neverland Ranch engaging in water gun fights, sitting together at a magic show and buying a boat for

their father, Joseph.

Michael said that he and Jackson “think so much alike” and that he listened to her music while doing his at-home dance rehearsals.

Several other prominent figures in Jackson’s life and career were also interviewed for “Janet,” including her friend and collaborator Missy Elliott, rapper/producer Q-Tip, producer and former boyfriend Jermaine Dupri; as well as her family members, like her brother Randy and her oldest sister Rebbie.

“JANET JACKSON.” will premiere over two nights on Lifetime beginning Jan. 28.

COMMUNITY The New Tri-State Defender, January 6 - 12, 2022, Page 8

Memphis students return to class as officials prepare for COVID surge

by Samantha West Chalkbeat Tennessee

Students in Shelby County Schools returned to classrooms Monday after winter break as district officials prepared to expand in-school COVID testing amid an omicron surge.

Beginning Jan. 17, SCS will test participating students and staff weekly – ramping up from the testing offered every two weeks in collaboration with Poplar health system since the school year started in August.

While the district has been planning to ramp up student and staff testing for months to limit a possible post-holiday season COVID spike, the expansion later this month is coming at a more opportune time than the district could’ve imagined, said John Barker, deputy superintendent for strategic operations and finance.

The Shelby County Health Department on Sunday reported 3,394 COVID cases – the highest number of new cases since the start of the pandemic. And as of Monday, the county recorded 19,166 active cases, 3,647 of which are among children under the age of 18.

“We’re just really, really fortunate to have the money and the personnel and the commitment of everybody who’s participating [in the testing program] to make sure we’re using one more piece in our portfolio to try to stop the spread, especially at this particular time of year,” Barker said Monday.

The ramped-up testing in Shelby County Schools is just one piece of the district’s strategy as families, school staff, and administrators brace for yet another challenging month of pandemic-era school, Barker said.

In a New Year’s Day letter to district families and staff, Superintendent Joris Ray emphasized that the district’s safety protocols – like masking and social distancing when possible – remain in place. He noted state Department of Health data shows that Memphis schools and

Metro Nashville Public Schools – districts that have kept mask mandates in place and encouraged vaccines – have had the lowest cumulative case rate among children.

“Masks and vaccinations work and have been proven to help slow the spread of this virus. SCS has led the way for safety through this unprecedented time,” he wrote. “Let’s stay the course.”

In other areas of the U.S., the sharp rise in cases led some school districts, including those in Detroit and Newark, to take learning online and delay a physical return to classrooms until later this week or month.

Staffing shortages, also fueled by rising COVID cases, have also caused schools to shutter. School districts in Wisconsin and Iowa canceled classes on Monday because of a dearth of bus drivers.

And at a Sunday school board meeting in the nearby Collierville, Superintendent Gary Lilly cited staffing shortages as the reason the district should enact a mask mandate. As of Sunday, 89 teachers and staff in the Memphis suburb had either tested positive or were exposed to the virus, the Commercial Appeal reported, and the district only has 60 substitute teachers.

Beth Brown, president of the state’s largest teacher organization, called it “a very stressful beginning to a new semester.”

“We’re being hit with a much more transmissible omicron variant at a time when educators are exhausted and personnel resources are low. And our General Assembly has passed legislation that restricts mask mandates for most school districts,” said Brown, with the Tennessee Education Association.

Brown said she expects another wave of staffing shortages will force district leaders across Tennessee to request state waivers for some schools to shift temporarily to remote learning, similar to the beginning of the school year when the delta variant was surging.

The state waivers, which must be approved

by Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, allow remote instruction for seven days for individual classrooms or schools – not necessarily entire districts unless administrators can justify that move.

Although Shelby County Schools has been able to keep its mask requirement after a federal judge ruled it a “reasonable accommodation” to ensure students with disabilities have equal access to education, Barker hopes more parents, guardians and staff members will participate in the district’s testing program.

With more than 25,000 parents and guardians authorizing the district to perform testing on students as of Monday, and about 10% of the district’s student and staff population is tested every week, Shelby County Schools has luckily been able to maintain adequate staffing so far this school year, Barker said.

But Barker encouraged more to join the district’s “preventative” measure. Because the tests are only administered to asymptomatic students and staff, the program has allowed the district to detect cases they wouldn’t have otherwise, limiting spread in school buildings and resulting absences.

“It’s proactive rather than reactive,” Barker said. “This is another step in our mitigation strategies – we have masking, we’ve got vaccinations, we’ve got social distancing. And we also need regular testing.”

The nasal swab test will be available at all Memphis schools, as well as at the Board of Education office at 160 South Hollywood St. in Memphis.

Parents and guardians can sign their children up to be tested on the district website, or by downloading a consent form and returning it to their school.

(Marta W. Aldrich contributed to this report.)

McDonald’s, Memphis-area Byrd brothers settle ‘discriminatory practices’ lawsuit

by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

McDonald’s Corporation has reached a financial settlement with two Shelby County-based franchise owners after they sued the corporation for “discriminatory practices.”

Brothers James Byrd and Darrell Byrd, operators of four McDonald’s in Shelby County, filed suit against McDonald’s more than a year ago. The suit claimed, in part, that the company relegated minority franchisees to communities that are “financial suicide missions.”

James Byrd confirmed on Monday afternoon (Jan. 3) that a settlement had been reached, but declined to speak further concerning the matter, citing a gag order that forbids the brothers from discussing specific terms of the agreement.

According to a report released by Bloomberg, the Byrds agreed on Dec. 10 to drop the suit and leave the McDonald’s system as the company agreed to buy their restaurants for $6.5 million.

The Byrds had originally sought damages of between $4 million to $5 million for each store.

The Byrds alleged that McDonald’s gave preferential treatment to white franchisees and – beyond the lawsuit – were calling on the company to invest more resources into minority owners.

Court documents reflect that the Byrds considered the suit necessary because they “could not allow other Black McDonald’s franchisees to be misled and injured by the same pipeline of discrimination that has plagued Black franchisees for decades.”

Specifically, the suit claimed that the corporation deliberately steered Black franchisees to areas with higher overhead costs where white operators refuse to open a restaurant.

McDonald’s Corporation – in a released statement – touted the agreement as a way to move forward for all parties.

“Discrimination has no place at McDonald’s, and while we were confident in the strength of our case, this settlement enables all to move forward with an amicable resolution and in a

Memphis-area McDonald’s operators Jim Byrd and Darrell Byrd have agreed to sell their McDonald’s franchises as part of a “discriminatory practices” lawsuit settlement with the corporation. (Courtesy photo) manner that is consistent with our values,” the statement read.

McDonald’s was not found to have violated any laws, the statement noted.

McDonald’s announced before the settlement that it would commit to investing $250 million in minority owners through loan assistance programs, recruitment and training. Loans for women and other minorities over the next five years for American franchises were announced on Dec. 8.

“We’ve made clear that our ambition is to foster equitable opportunity for every single franchisee, and have made significant progress on this front,” Bill Lowery, vice-president of diversity and ombudsman at McDonald’s, said after the agreement.

In recent years, McDonald’s has been dealing with numerous legal challenges similar to the one brought by the Byrds.

In September 2020, 50-plus Black former McDonald’s franchise owners sued the company, alleging they were steered to less-profitable

restaurants when white franchisee owners were given more support and opportunities. The suit was filed in federal court in Chicago, where McDonald’s is based.

In mid-December 2021, McDonald’s agreed to pay $33.5 million to Herb Washington, a former baseball player, who owned more than a dozen restaurants in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Washington filed suit last February, asserting the company has treated white owners more favorably and denied him the opportunity to buy restaurants in more affluent communities.

Washington agreed to drop the lawsuit and no longer be a franchisee as part of the settlement agreement.

As it did in the case with the Byrds, McDonald’s issued a statement in the Washington settlement about its confidence in the company’s position and about how the resolution aligned with its values while allowing a continued focus on serving communities.

That statement also asserted that “discrimination has no place at McDonald’s.”

Council takes a pass on police residency – for now

by James Coleman

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Anticipating possible superseding legislation by the Tennessee General Assembly this year, the Memphis City Council Tuesday (Jan. 4) delayed until April the first reading on a police residency referendum.

At issue is the hotly debated question of whether Memphis voters should have the opportunity to decide whether police officers and firefighters should be allowed to live outside Shelby County.

The legislature is expected to consider legislation banning such residency requirements for public safety employees statewide. The legislation passed in the Senate last year but stalled in the House. The 2022 legislative session kicks off next week in Nashville.

Also, Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis has announced support for the ban, along with Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.

Councilmember Ford Canale suggested the pause and member Jeff Warren offered the date. The delay drew no objections.

Two likely supporters of the ban were also absent for the vote in the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.

The referendum would loosen requirements by allowing police and firefighters to live within a 50-mile radius of the city. The City Charter currently requires personnel to reside in Shelby County.

If the council approves the referendum, it would be on the August ballot, depending on what happens in the General Assembly.

The state bill would permit first responders to live where they choose. Sponsors on the Senate side are Paul Rose of Covington and Brian Kelsey of Germantown. Memphians Mark White and John Gillespie, and Republican Caucus chairman Jerry Faison of Crosby are its backers in the House.

“Reducing violent crime, public safety and safe streets are the number-one priority of the residents of Memphis,” said White, in a statement.

In an op-ed column published in The Commercial Appeal newspaper Monday (Jan. 3), Chief Davis said, “… Requiring potential police candidates to live in Shelby County to join MPD reduces our capacity to reach our public safety goals for the city. We know there are highly qualified candidates who live less than 30 minutes on the other side of the county line. They may want to come to Memphis to serve, but don’t want to give up their homes. And, an officer may also need to consider where their spouse works when choosing where to live.

Lifting the residency requirement will give MPD a crucial tool to attract candidates who do not have to make a move across the country but may simply have a little farther to drive to get to work…”

Council members’ interest in easing requirements has intensified as the city’s violent crime rate – including a record 346 homicides in 2021 – has soared.

Recruitment and retention efforts have also fallen short in recent years. With the MPD ranks currently under 2,000 officers, policymakers hope to up the count to 2,500.

The moribund numbers drew the attention of state lawmakers. Polling data from the Memphis and Shelby Crime Commission indicates public support, also.

“Studies have shown that the Memphis Police Department is understaffed by several hundred officers and that as the number of officers in the police force increases, the levels of violent crime in Memphis decrease.

This bill will aid efforts to make our streets safer,” White argued.

An effort at a similar referendum failed in 2020 when Davis’ predecessor, Michael Rallings, couldn’t close the deal with the council. It failed on a 7-6 vote.

A first reading also was delayed on Dec. 21 after council member Michalyn Easter-Thomas, an opponent of the rules change, asked the item to be pulled from the consent agenda.

The move provoked the ire of members Chase Carlisle and Worth Morgan, who accused her of trying to kill the resolution on its first reading.

The New Tri-State Defender

January 6 - 12, 2022

Page 9

NEWS

A parking space matter …

A collective called “Tom Lee Park For All” has filed suit regarding an alteration in plans for the Tom Lee Park renovation. The group is challenging a change from 130 parking spaces to 68 spaces, filing a lawsuit against the City of Memphis and Memphis River Parks Partnership in November 2021. A press conference was held at Butler Park overlooking the Tom Lee Park construction site on Wednesday, Jan. 5. Pictured (left to right): Jeremy Ellison, Gina Dickerson, Pearl Walker, Britney Thornton, Kathleen McMillan and Joe Kent.

(Photo via Candace A. Gray)

Lawmaker apologizes after ejection at HS basketball game NASHVILLE (AP) – A top Tennessee House Republican lawmaker has apologized for losing his temper and being ejected from watching a high school basketball game after a confrontation with a referee.

The dustup included what appeared to be either a feigned or failed attempt at pulling down the official’s pants, according to video footage.

On Tuesday, Rep. Jeremy Faison, 45, posted on Twitter that he “acted the fool tonight and lost my temper on a ref.”

“I was wanting him to fight me. Totally lost my junk and got booted from the gym,” Faison wrote. “I’ve never really lost my temper but I did tonight and it was completely stupid of me.

“Emotions getting in the way of rational thoughts are never good. I hope to be able to find the ref and ask for his forgiveness. I was bad wrong.”

Providence Academy, a private religious school in Johnson City, livestreamed the boys game Tuesday against Lakeway Christian Academy, a private religious school in White Pine. Faison’s son is on the Lakeway team.

The video feed shows Faison sitting in the stands before players hit the ground on a loose ball in the third quarter, spurring the referee’s whistle and a brief scuffle between the two teams.

According to the video, Faison shows up on the court talking to a referee, who appears to call a technical foul.

Faison is shown pointing a

Rep. Jeremy Faison finger at the referee’s face and then gestures as if he were trying to pull down the referee’s pants.

The referee’s pants stayed

up and Faison subsequently walked away.

Faison, a Cosby lawmaker, has been the House Republican caucus chairman since 2019.

In his apology, Faison wrote that “for years” he has thought it is wrong for parents to lose their temper at sporting events, saying it is “not Christian and it’s not mature and it’s embarrassing to the child.” Faison did not specifically mention the pants-pulling-down gesture in his post.

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In compliance with federal regulations 23 CFR 450, the Memphis Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) will hold twelve (12) virtual public meetings to provide the public the opportunity to comment on the development of the Moving Together: 2050 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP).

The virtual public meeting dates, times, and link to participate can be found below: Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 Time: 12:00 – 12:30 PM Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 Time: 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM Date: Wednesday, January 19, 2022 Time: 12:00 – 12:30 PM Date: Thursday, January 20, 2022 Time: 12:00 – 12:30 PM Date: Thursday, January 20, 2022 Time: 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM Date: Friday, January 21, 2022 Time: 12:00 – 12:30 PM

Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 Time: 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 Time: 4:30 PM – 5:00 PM Date: Wednesday, January 19, 2022 Time: 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM Date: Thursday, January 20, 2022 Time: 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM Date: Thursday, January 20, 2022 Time: 4:30 PM – 5:00 PM Date: Friday, January 21, 2022 Time: 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM

Please use the following link to join any of the meetings listed above: http://bit.ly/MovingTogether2050RTP Meeting attendees will be afforded the opportunity to comment on the information presented at the meeting(s). The MPO asks that all participants follow the participation instructions provided during the meeting(s). Any comments provided at the meeting(s) should be applicable to the information presented, and should be provided in a respectful manner.

If you need assistance participating in this meeting, please contact the MPO Office at 901-636-7190 at least five (5) days prior to the meeting.

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PUBLIC NOTICE THE MEMPHIS URBAN AREA METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION

It is the policy of the Memphis Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) not to exclude, deny, or discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, immigration status, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, veteran status, familial or marital status, disability, medical or genetic condition, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal or state law in its hiring or employment practices, or in its admission to, access to, or operations of its programs, services, or activities. For any and all inquiries regarding the application of this accessibility statement and related policies, please contact Nick Warren, at 901-636-7146 or Nick.Warren@ memphistn.gov.

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SPORTS The New Tri-State Defender, January 6 - 12, 2022, Page 10

Keeping the ‘main’ goal the ‘main thing,’ Grizzlies roll on with Morant

by Terry Davis

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Performing at a level that stirs fans of the opposing team to chant M-V-P is the world that Memphis’ Ja Morant is living in now.

“It is surreal,” said the Grizzlies’ star point guard, referencing the MVP chants directed his way as Memphis took down the Brooklyn Nets (118104) at the Barclay Center in New York on Monday night. “It is something I have been working for. My play of late has been helping with that and getting me a lot more recognition.

“Hearing the MVP chants on the road is different. It is from people that are rooting for the home team, but showing me love and respect.”

Keeping the “main” goal (winning) the “main thing,” Morant and the Grizzlies (25-14) kept it going against the improved Cavaliers in a back-to-back game win (110-106) on Tuesday night. Morant led the way with 26 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Jaren Jackson Jr. rebounded from a five-point outing

against the Nets, scoring 22 points (3 rebounds, 1 assist).

Accolades are flowing Morant’s way. He was named the NBA Player of the Week (DeTerry cember 27-Jan. Davis 2) for the Western Conference – his first such honor and the 11th for the franchise.

He averaged 34.7 points and shot 55.7 percent.

Along the way, Morant and the Grizzlies have turned back superstars LeBron James (Lakers) and the Net’s Kevin Durant.

“Being able to compete against guys on that level is definitely special,” said Morant. “It gives you a lot of confidence. I just try to be myself and put my team in a position to win.”

Memphis led Brooklyn wire-towire, with Morant – for the fourth consecutive game – finishing with 30-plus points (36), a franchise re-

cord. He exploded for 18 points in the third quarter as Memphis blew the game wide open.

As has been the case since he returned from an extended absence (sprained knee and COVID-19 protocols), Morant got plenty of help.

Starting at the shooting guard spot, Desmond Bane poured in 29 points and secured 8 rebounds.

Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said Morant and Bane have “organically developed the chemistry” the duo displayed against the Nets.

“It started when Desmond was drafted. Ja understood what he could bring from a play-making point of view,” said Jenkins. “I think there was a lot of work put in this offseason with those guys … around each other. Just watching them together from afar, I was really impressed … these guys have kind of found that (chemistry) pretty quickly (in) … their second year together.”

Bane said he and Morant are “workhorses. We both come in here with a chip on our shoulders. We have good chemistry off the court as well. It makes it easier when you are

Ja Morant, who scored 26 points, acknowledges the scoring drive of Jaren Jackson Jr., who had 22 points in Memphis’ win over Cleveland on the road Tuesday night. (Screen capture) playing with someone you like. I love seeing Ja do well. He has cheered me on the same way. …

“People are debating if he (Morant) should be an All-Star; we should be debating if he is the best point guard in the league.”

Memphis opened the Brooklyn game on a 7-0 run and led by as many as 28 points. The Nets trimmed the deficit to 10 points late in the fourth quarter but were not able to get it any closer. Durant, who played against the Grizzlies for the first time in twoplus years, scored 26 points. All-Star James Hardin had 19 points and 8 assists for the Nets (23-12), who remained second in the Eastern Conference while suffering their third straight loss.

Once again, the Grizzlies reaped the benefits of a defensive reassessment that Jenkins said happened 18-19 games back. “Our guys really locked onto that and it just got better.”

The NBA Coach of the Month for December, Jenkins guided the Grizzlies to a league-high 12 wins

(against four losses).

The Grizzlies benefitted, again, from a strong bench performance against the Nets. Brandon Clarke continues to deliver, this time contributing 16 points and 7 rebounds.

Jarret Culver, who returned after a COVID-protocols absence, scored his franchise-high 12 points in 30 minutes of play.

“Everybody plays hard. No one has an ego,” Culver said of the Grizzlies’ culture. “We bond together as brothers and we go out and win. That is the main goal.”

With the win, Memphis carved out a winning streak of 5 or more games for the second time this season.

“I feel like we are all underdogs.

We all want to win,” Morant said. “We love when our teammates are doing good. If winning is the main goal, then you have that we-over-me mindset throughout the entire organization. …

“We have a lot of talented players on this team. … Each night we go out and battle for 48 minutes. It has been working well for us.”

Tigers making next-level noise with depth, scoring, defense

by Liaudwin Seaberry Jr.

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Penny’s Tigers win, but …

Leading by 10 at halftime, the University of Memphis men’s basketball team held on to beat the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 67-64 at FedExForum on Tuesday night. Next up for Memphis (8-5,2-1 AAC) will be a nationally-televised game against the Cincinnati Bearcats on Sunday (Jan. 9) at FedExForum.

Tipoff is 2:30 p.m. (Photo: Terry Davis/The New Tri-State ­Defender)

More than 23 years have passed since the University of Memphis women’s basketball team last participated in NCAA tournament action.

As champions of Conference USA and under the tutelage of coaching legend Joye Lee-McNelis, the Tigers made their last appearance in the “Big Dance” after the 1997-98 season.

With the squad now under the guidance of first-year head coach Katrina Merriweather and her staff, the Tigers seek to become the antithesis of a historically mediocre program.

Memphis currently sports a 9-2 record heading into its first game this season within American Athletic Conference (AAC) competition, squaring off Wednesday (Jan. 5) against the University of Tulsa, which is 10-1.

The Tigers’ losses were a 5-point setback at the hands of Little Rock and a defeat against Alabama.

With the team sporting its best record through 11 games in years, there’s no reason for this Tiger squad to not be in the thick of the NCAA tournament discussion by the end of conference play in March.

Merriweather and company slowly molded this group of players, led by seniors Jamirah Shutes, Alana Davis and Tyler Frierson, into a defensive-minded squad that has yielded only 57.5 points per contest.

Additionally, the Tigers have held opponents to just 36 percent of their field goal attempts, further showing their relentless defense.

Merriweather is serious when it comes to rebounding and defense. She understands that while offense may come or go throughout the course of a game, defense and rebounding remain the team’s building blocks.

“If you don’t play defense or rebound, then you won’t play!!!” Merriweather yelled during a practice earlier in the season.

She means it as well. While last year’s squad struggled under former head coach Melissa McFerrin, the 2021-22 edition of this Tiger group has meshed well defensively.

Coriah Beck is an offensive force for the University of Memphis Tigers. (Photo: gotigersgo.com) And that goes well with players showing the ability to put the ball in the basket.

Shutes has bounced back from a severe injury that sidelined her for the majority of last season. She leads the team in scoring with 12.7 points per game while receiving help from junior sharpshooter Madison Griggs, who has contributed six points per contest so far.

“Both Maddie and Jamirah know that they have the green light to score, and I am happy that Jamirah has found her way while coming back from an injury …,” Merriweather said after Memphis’s victory over Florida A&M on Nov. 20.

Fifth-year post players Frierson and Davis provide sparks on the offensive end of the floor as well, with each scoring around seven points a game.

Despite both players featured at the center position, Frierson tends to be more of a back-to-the-basket kind of player, while Davis possesses the ability to knock down a long jump shot, or even the occasional threepoint shot.

Sophomore guards Emani Jefferson and Maya Stovall supply pressure on opposing guards. Jefferson’s 20 steals lead the team and her 8.3 points per game average is good for second on the team behind Shutes.

The secret, however, to the success behind this upstart team lies in its depth.

Merriweather and her staff employ a 12-to 14-player rotation that has remained consistent throughout the season.

The strategy provides players with the opportunity to display their talents.

First-year guard Makaiya Brooks averages around one made three-pointer per contest, and she converted on a career-high four triples in the Tigers’ victory against Nicholls State on Dec. 20.

Fellow newbies, forwards Hannah Riddick and Aliyah Green, have established themselves as hustle players, embracing the two things Merriweather desires most – rebounding and defense.

Sophomore Coriah Beck, who specializes on offense, summed up the energy of last year’s squad and coaching staff to this year’s unit.

“I feel that the coaching staff allows us to learn from our mistakes and the ability to play our way through tough stretches,” Beck said.

“It’s sort of a refreshing thing from last season, and it allows everyone to play with more freedom knowing that you aren’t going to come out of the game if you make one mistake.”

Picked to finish last in the AAC heading into the season, the Tigers now sit in a position to not make some noise in the conference.

And if they make enough of it, they could reach a level of play not seen by the program in almost a quarter of a century.