The New Tri-State Defender - August 31-September 6, 2023

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August 31 - September 6, 2023

VOL. 72, No. 35

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Tennessee lawmakers adjourn tumultuous session spurred by school shooting

by Kimberlee Kruesi and Jonathan Mattise

Varied rules restrict public voices in statehouses Perspective Page 4

NASHVILLE –Tennessee lawmakers on Tuesday abruptly ended a special session initially touted to improve public safety in the wake of a deadly elementary school shooting, but it quickly unraveled into chaos over the past week as the GOP-dominant Statehouse refused to take up

gun control measures and instead spent most of the time ensnared in political infighting.

In a particularly heated moment, Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson appeared to have a brief physical interaction where both ac-

Associated Press

cused each other of shoving moments after the House adjourned.

Ultimately, lawmakers could only agree to pass four bills, which encourage but don’t require using safe gun storage devices; require an annual human trafficking report; add the governor’s existing order on background checks into state law; and increase funding for mental health and higher education safety initiatives. Only a few gun control measures fell within the session’s narrow parameters, and

Democratic Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis speak with supporters and reporters after adjournment.

(Photo: Marta W. Aldrich / Chalkbeat) those were rejected without debate.

Tuesday’s dustup was captured on video by reporters, showing Sexton departing as Pearson approached the

speaker’s dais holding a sign calling for gun control. The two made con-

SEE SESSION ON PAGE 9

County Commissioners give first-reading approval to measures to curb over-policing

by James Coleman

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

WLOK Radio President Art Gilliam said it is “vitally important to our community for Black businesses to be able to have continuity over the years.” (Photo: Tyrone P. Easley/The New Tri-State Defender Archives)

WLOK’s Art Gilliam shares the journey that led to the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame

by Karanja A. Ajanaku kajanaku@tsdmemphis.com

In July, Art Gilliam was inducted into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame … just outside of Nashville in Columbia, Tenn. He was excited, yet he took it in matter-of-factly.

“In the sense that anything that I can do that actually helps project the image of what we do as far as WLOK is concerned, is always good,” Gilliam said in an interview with The New Tri-State Defender before the awards ceremony. “And of course from the

standpoint of we put in a lot of years in radio, so it’s nice to be recognized….

“The fact is though, that no one person is really getting into a hall of fame by themselves. … I’m happy for our whole organization more so than just for me personally.

It’s remembrance time for Gilliam, 80, and WLOK. The 2023 WLOK Stone Soul Picnic will be Saturday, September 2, from noon to 7 p.m. at the Memphis Music Room. It is a free event with a significant lineup of national and regional artists.

Gilliam agreed to travel memory lane during a conversation in WLOK’s Down-

town office. His first remembrance of radio was “me, mom and dad, grandma sitting around the radio. … This was before there was television. … It was one of those old-fashioned radios … and we were listening to Joe Lewis fight.”

He was about nine. The family lived in Nashville. Radio was a family magnet.

Gilliam’s mother was a school teacher from Nashville and had attended Tennessee State University before Columbia University in New York. She graduated and returned to

SEE GILLIAM ON PAGE 2

Under pressure from on-hand activists, Shelby County Commissioners on Monday approved three work-in-progress ordinances in their first reading to curb over-policing by Shelby County Sheriff Office’s deputies.

However, the ordinances to ban specialized units, end pretextual traffic stops and create a data collection system on police interactions following traffic stops all fell short of the seven votes that will be needed to pass in their third and final reading.

A ban on task forces and specialized units – such as the Memphis Police Department unit that stopped motorist Tyre Nichols on the night of his death – has been the most difficult to navigate.

“I echo the sentiments of those who have come down to speak today. I just ask that we open our minds to this particular ordinance, which I know probably has the most opposition,” said sponsor Britney Thornton.

“I think that whenever we get the opportunity to contemplate a better use of our operation, then it’s incumbent upon us to do so.”

The ordinance would also end participation in multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency task forces. The SCSO currently cooperates with the MPD in several ongoing operations. Conversations with Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner are ongoing. A follow up meeting has been scheduled before the second reading.

One commissioner warned the resolution could also make it impossible for some deputies – such as undercover narcotics officers – to perform their jobs.

“I’m 74-years old. I have experienced all of this. I have experienced walking while Black; talking while Black; driving while Black; living and breathing while Black. I have

SEE COUNTY ON PAGE 2

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GILLIAM

been stopped many times.

Many times. My life has been threatened. I have had police escorts because someone did not like me based on the color of my skin,” said Commissioner Henri Brooks.

“But, let me say this to you, I’m reading this. I’m reading and I’m hearing you. But, also…maybe we need to come to the table, because there’s some things in here that really would put me in jeopardy as a 74-year-old senior citizen.”

Voting against the item were Brooks, and Commissioners Amber Mills, Mick Wright, David Bradford, Amber Morrison, Shante Avant and Mark Whaley.

Thornton was the only yes vote.

Commissioners Edmund Ford, Jr., Miska Clay-Bibbs and Mickell Lowery abstained.

Vote-wise, the other ordinances faired little better.

For example, the ordinance banning pretextual stops mustered yes votes from members, while five members voted it down. Brooks abstained.

Such stops typically occur over low-level violations, like a expired tag or sagging bumper. The ban also seeks to limit searches, questioning and the use of unmarked vehicles. It would also bar surveillance as an alternative to pretextual stops. The policy has been criticized for targeting minorities and low-income motorists.

“In this city – where we’re listed as the most dangerous city in the country – you know, those resources could be better utilized, as opposed to stopping people on the street because of the color of their skin, or things of that nature, could be better utilized in catching these criminals,” said Erika Sugarmon.

While all three items were presented in amended form, after being sent back to committee on Aug. 14, the resolution concerning data collection has undergone the most refinement. Among the changes from the last meeting are a phased rollout. This will allow time for budget amendments, to fund the program.

“The phases we’re talking about, the currently collected data that the Sheriff’s office collects, and then report that through a third-party data aggregator, so that the data’s objective. It’s not housed internally. It’s something that’s looked at independently,” said co-sponsor Mark Whaley.

Starting on July 1, the program would gather the data collected by the SCSO. Instead of being housed internally, it would then be reported to a third-party aggregator. This would provide a layer of objectivity.

Data will only be collected if a ticket is issued, or “if a stop results in a warrant checks, searches of persons, removal of any person or property from the vehicle, or use of handcuffs, use of force, or restraint.”

The resolution still allows for a verbal warning to be issued.

The amended resolution also includes a clause concerning officer-worn body cam footage, which the original ordinance did not include.

“This will likely be narrowed, because we wouldn’t be publishing all body camera footage. We’d have to narrow to specific incidents. So, that’s an amendment we might make on a second reading,” said Whaley.

It received four yes votes.

Two members voted against it.

Another two abstained.

Nashville to teach.

His father was from Newbury, South Carolina. He had attended high school but was not college educated.

“His experiences more came through, I guess the school of hard knocks going to New York and being a Pullman porter and doing a lot of odd jobs along that line because his parents passed away when he was younger,” said Gilliam.

The elder Gilliam landed in the insurance business and ended up in Nashville. He progressed up from a debit and eventually became vice president of sales for Universal Life Insurance Company, and moved the family to Memphis.

Ultimately, he became a second vice president at Universal Life Insurance Company.

Gilliam was about 10 when the family moved to Memphis. His mother taught began teaching. He attended Hamilton and in the 10th grade was sent to a prep school in Connecticut.

“It was a culture shock … going from the all-black Hamilton, segregated south … And I was the only black student in the class … a small school of 40 people in each class …”

His parents, said Gilliam, likely thought sending him to the prep school would be greater educationally.

“That was also around the time that Emmett Till was killed in Mississippi as well. … I wasn’t privy to all the discussions about why (he was sent), and in those days you didn’t question. … They told you what to do, you did it. …”

After prep school, he went to Yale University, where he was one of five African-American students in a class of thousand.

With his dad in the insurance business. Gilliam looked to follow suit. He earned a degree in economics and focused on become an actuary, later getting a master’s in actuarial science at University of Michigan.

The military draft was in effect, so Gilliam volunteered to go into the reserves, served six months and committed to a seven-year reserve obligation.

After securing his master’s degree, Gilliam returned to Memphis and began work as a debit agent for Universal Life Insurance Co. in Dixie Homes.

Later, he worked in the claims department. He was at universal until 1974, including 1968 when Dr. King was killed in Memphis.

In 1974, Harold Ford Sr. was serving as the U.S. Congressman from Memphis. Gilliam, who had made Ford’s acquaintance, became his

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

August 31 - September 6, 2023

Page 2

NEWS

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

Last year’s 27th Annual Stone “EBEN” Awards featured a special salute to WLOK radio and its founder, Art Gilliam, during a ceremony at the Bartlett Performing Arts Center Theatre. The tribute included the artistry of Walter “Sir Walt” Andrade.

(Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises/The New Tri-State Defender Archives) administrative assistant and headed to Washington, DC. By this time, Gilliam had blazed a trail at The Commercial Appeal, where, in 1968, began writing opinion columns. He had approached the editor, making that point that the newspaper didn’t have any representation of a Black point of view.

From ’68 to ’74, Gilliam wrote op-eds, the first about the sanitation workers strike.

Eventually, WMC-TV approached him about being on television and he was hired as the weekend anchor.

In the early part of ’76, Gilliam moved on from Washington.

“At that point, I had gotten involved in wanting to purchase a radio station. … For me, radio, I always liked radio because radio is closer to its community.”

During that period, radio in the African-American community, of course, involved W D I A, the first radio station in the country oriented toward a Black audience. There were no more than a dozen stations in the whole local market.

“My interest was in getting involved in the community, really the fact that radio had such an opportunity to be helpful to your community. … I thought it was good business, but my primary interest wasn’t in the business aspect of it…”

When he and an ownership group bought the station in 1977, he did not realize that the previous owners had put Operation PUSH off the air.

“You may recall Operation PUSH was considered a militant organization at that time … I didn’t find out until after

we had closed the deal (that) they had been pushed off the air.

Among the first moves was restoring Operation PUSH. Gilliam’s initial interest in radio ownership came as Memphian Benjamin L. Hooks served on the Federal Communications Commission. He talked with Hooks, who linked him with a broker aware of an opportunity in Memphis. It was WLOK. Gilliam spent about a year and more putting the financing together.

“It was $725,000 as I recall.

And I had a total of 750,000 bucks. … By the time I got through getting everything together, I had $25,000 in working capital to deal with a $725,000 purchase. So it was pretty tight.”

Excited, Gilliam knew he had to “do a lot of on-the-job learning,” benefitting from people already at the station, Melvin ‘Cookin’Jones.

The radio deal was consummated in February of ’77 during Black History Month.

“We were the first African-American-owned radio station and the first locally owned.… It had a profitability, but there were some challenges that they were facing for sure. … we did a lot of upgrading. And I mean, just as a physical plant, that alone.”

With the induction into the Tenneesee Radio Hall of Fame as the backdrop, Gilliam fielded a question: “What stands out to you relative to that journey? I mean, now that you’re here and looking back, what stands out to you?”

Said Gilliam: We’ve accom-

plished a lot of the things we wanted to accomplish in terms of being a positive influence on the community in terms of people who listen to us. We have some very, very loyal listeners. And so, W L O K becomes a catchword, something that’s avery positive for them….”

WLOK, he said, provides an outlet for “certain things … you are not going to see in the same way anywhere else.

The opportunity for those who are opposed to what’s going on in the society to be able to express that, we offer that as a central part of what we do.

“But we’re basically a music station. Radio is essentially music. People listen to radio for music…. We are a gospel radio station, but we consider ourselves a community station as opposed to a religious station.”

WLOK is “still a religious station in the sense that the majority of our listeners are Christians and church-going Christians,” said Gilliam. “But the thrust of what we provide is a broader experience than simply we’re playing music and talking about Christianity.”

Along the way, an FM component was added. Community connections have been strengthened through the annual Stone Soul Picnic And now there is the Black Film Festival, this year being the seventh.

Taking in the entirety of the journey, Gilliam said, “… it’s a long way from the back of the bus by law to the Radio Hall of fame.”

The Radio Hall of Fame, Gilliam said, wasn’t something that he thought about

along the way, other than thinking that “W L O K ought to be in the Hall of Fame. I had thought that because of the history of the station, and we are a Tennessee historical landmark also….”

Gilliam has been in the radio business 40-plus years and married for 18 of those years.

His wife, Dorrit, was a tutor in Denmark. They met via the Internet.

“Well, when she first moved here, she was in a tutoring program over at Booker Washington High School. … they closed down the tutoring program, and we happened to have, at that time, someone who left here who was in radio traffic. So, I said to her, ‘since you’re not tutoring right now, we got this opening.’ …

“She learned so much about radio that she is really became like, you might say, a partner, but not because we started out that way, but because just by happenstance. That’s one of the best hires I ever made … getting her involved because she’s done such a great job….

What’s the future for W L O K? “My hope is that W L O K can continue for an ongoing period as far as the radio part of what we do to be a community voice as we have been … but also be able to have a black-owned business that is successful; That’s ongoing. “ … there are challenges that all businesses face, but that small and minority businesses face even more so.”

A big part of WLOK now is making sure “that the people who are here, who wish to go forward, and many of them have a sense of pride about the fact that it’s a Black business, but they’re not all Black.

But they have a sense of pride about that. … We’re trying to bring in people who have that spirit.”

As for Black radio in general, Gilliam said, “The state of Black radio is that stations like us are the exception, and therefore it’s challenging to make that go forward. But yet it’s important. The state of Black radio is, a lot of people that I knew who were in Black radio in the beginning are no longer in radio.”

Meanwhile, he continues to crank out editorials.

“I’ve got to reflect the attitudes and views that you see within the Black community, but I also try to get people to think about what the subject is, whatever that thing is, and to pose something that they (think) about.

“But essentially, the editorials are reflective of the point of view of our community to a great extent. You try to reflect that, but also try to get people to think about issues.”

The New Tri-State Defender

August 31 - September 6, 2023

Page 3

NEWS

“We have made progress, over the last 60 years, since Dr. King led the March on Washington. Have we reached the mountaintop? Not by a long shot.”

— Alphonso David

T’Kyrra Terrell, 6, who her grandmother says has been marching and protesting since she was 2, poses for a portrait on her way to the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Thousands converge on National Mall to mark the March on Washington’s 60th anniversary

by Aaron Morrison and Ayanna Alexander WASHINGTON (AP) – Thousands converged Saturday on the National Mall for the 60th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, saying a country that remains riven by racial inequality has yet to fulfill his dream.

“We have made progress, over the last 60 years, since Dr. King led the March on Washington,” said Alphonso David, president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum. “Have we reached the mountaintop? Not by a long shot.”

The event was convened by the Kings’ Drum Major Institute and the Rev. Al Sharpton ‘s National Action Network.

A host of Black civil rights leaders and a multiracial, interfaith coalition of allies rallied attendees on the same spot where as many as 250,000 gathered in 1963 for what is still considered one of the greatest and most consequential racial justice and equality demonstrations in U.S. history.

Inevitably, Saturday’s event was shot through with contrasts to the initial, historic demonstration. Speakers and banners talked about the importance of LGBTQ and Asian American rights. Many who addressed the crowd were women after only one was given the microphone in 1963.

Visitors to Lincoln Memorial say America has its flaws but see gains made since March on Washington Pamela Mays McDonald of Philadelphia attended the initial march as a child. “I was 8 years old at the original March and only one woman was allowed to speak — she was from Arkansas where I’m from — now look at how many women are on the podium today,” she said.

For some, the contrasts between the size of the original demonstration and the more modest turnout Saturday were bittersweet.

“I often look back and look over to the

A person holds an image of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as they listen to speakers during the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/ Andrew Harnik) reflection pool and the Washington Monument and I see a quarter of a million people 60 years ago and just a trickling now,” said Marsha Dean Phelts of Amelia Island, Florida. “It was more fired up then. But the things we were asking for and needing, we still need them today.”

As speakers delivered messages, they were overshadowed by the sounds of passenger planes taking off from Ronald Reagan National Airport. Rugby games were underway along the Mall in close proximity to the Lincoln Memorial while joggers and bikers went about their routines.

Yolanda King, the 15-year-old granddaughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., roused marchers with remarks delivered from the same spot her grandfather gave the “I Have A Dream” speech sixty years ago.

“If I could speak to my grandfather today, I would say I’m sorry we still have

to be here to rededicate ourselves to finishing your work and ultimately realizing your dream,” she said. “Today, racism is still with us. Poverty is still with us. And now, gun violence has come for places of worship, our schools and our shopping centers.”

From the podium, Sharpton promised more demonstrations to push back against injustices, new and old.

“Sixty years ago Martin Luther King talked about a dream. Sixty years later we’re the dreamers. The problem is we’re facing the schemers,” Sharpton said. “The dreamers are fighting for voting rights.

The schemers are changing voter regulations in states. The dreamers are standing up for women’s right to choose. The schemers are arguing whether they are going to make you stop at six weeks or 15 weeks.”

After the speeches, the crowd marched

to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

Several leaders from groups organizing the march met Friday with Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the civil rights division, to discuss a range of issues, including voting rights, policing and redlining.

Saturday’s gathering was a precursor to the actual anniversary of the Aug. 28, 1963 March on Washington. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris observes the march anniversary on Monday by meeting with organizers of the 1963 gathering. All of King’s children were invited to meet with Biden, White House officials said.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Washington remarks have resounded through decades of push and pull toward progress in civil and human rights. But dark moments followed his speech, too.

Two weeks later in 1963, four Black girls were killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, followed by the kidnapping and murder of three civil rights workers in Neshoba County, Mississippi the following year. The tragedies spurred passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The voting rights marches from Montgomery to Selma, Alabama, in which marchers were brutally beaten while crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in what became known as “Bloody Sunday,” forced Congress to adopt the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Speakers warned that King’s unfinished dream was in danger of being further whittled away. “I’m very concerned about the direction our country is going in,” Martin Luther King III said. “And it is because instead of moving forward, it feels as if we’re moving back. The question is, what are we going to do?”

Rosetta Manns-Baugh knew the answer: Keep fighting.

PERSPECTIVE The New Tri-State Defender, August 31 - September 6, 2023, Page 4

Protest this way, not that way: varied rules restrict public voices in statehouses NASHVILLE (AP) – Shaking violently between sobs, parent Sarah Shoop Neumann could only manage a whisper as state troopers escorted her out of a Tennessee legislative hearing where she was waiting to testify against a bill that would let teachers carry guns.

“I was supposed to speak. I was supposed to testify,” said Neumann, whose son still attends an elementary school where six people — including three 9-year-old children – were fatally shot this year.

Moments earlier, a Republican subcommittee chairman ordered law enforcement to clear the public out of the room after the crowd erupted into applause and others defied a new ban on holding signs during committee proceedings. Only after troopers cleared the room was Neumann allowed to return to testify.

While acts of protest big and small are common in legislatures, states often have rules in place to limit disruptions to government proceedings, with authorities given wide latitude to remove people who jeer, chant or are otherwise seen to interrupt debates.

People who go to capitols to voice their opinions often face a varied set of regulations that limit the display of signs, political messaging on clothing and even where people can gather, with penalties ranging from expulsion to criminal charges.

In some cases, lawmakers have pursued policies that effectively limit acts of protest, such as requiring people to get permission before protesting, leading to legal resistance and criticism that lawmakers are trying to tamp down on dissent and free speech rights.

“These kinds of rules limit our ability to communicate directly with our elected representatives who are supposed to be reacting to these views,” said Vera Eidelman, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology project. “They make it more difficult for the public to have an impact on the legislation that will very much impact them.”

Tennessee provides the latest example, where a judge took swift action to block the new GOP-approved rule to penalize disruptive lawmakers and ban the public from holding signs during government proceedings. State officials are fighting to uphold the ban.

Neumann was among the grieving families that had come to the Tennessee Capitol this week for a special session that many of them hoped would address gun laws after the shooting at The Covenant School. She has spent the past five months attempting to win over hesitant lawmakers.

The hundreds of families, community organizers and advocates who have shown up to the Republican-dominated Legislature have been met with an enhanced law enforcement presence and found large sections of the building roped off – forcing many to be turned away from watching their government at work.

“I think this is a dangerous step that we are taking,” said Democratic Rep. Jason Powell, who represents Nashville.

“I thought it was a dangerous step when I saw the halls of the chamber and saw more people with batons than people who are here to fight for justice.”

Similar policies elsewhere have faced legal pushback.

A law in Georgia that blocks disruptive protests at government buildings is being legally challenged. A federal judge in Mississippi has recently blocked a law that requires permission from state police for protests or other gatherings near state government buildings in the capital city.

Earlier this year, Tennessee Republicans attracted national attention for expelling two young Black Democratic lawmakers for breaking House rules during a demonstration in support of gun control.

During this week’s special session in Tennessee, the existing political tensions were only enhanced when the Republican-dominated House established the new policy on signs and disruptive lawmakers. Protesters were quick to test the boundaries of the new parameters.

“Rules exist for two reasons: One is to provide order and second, to promote civility,” said Republican Rep. Gino Bulso. “These rules do that exceptionally well.”

Joe Cohn, legislative and policy director at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said it is understandable for the government to impose rules that allow officials to carry out their duties but added that the policies must be carefully calibrated with the public’s free speech rights.

Memphis-area voices meshed with those from other parts of the state in a push to get the Tennessee General Assembly to embrace gun-safety legislation during the special session that ended on Tuesday. (Photos: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises/The New Tri-State Defender)

Rep. Justin Pearson of Memphis (left) looks on as Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville seeks recognition as the state House of Representatives met during a special session called by Gov. Bill Lee.

Determined to be heard, a group of Memphis-area, gun-reform advocates bussed to Nashville in an effort to affect the course of the special session of the Tennessee General Assembly.

“The most important thing to remember is that when the government imposes rules on members of the public who wish to observe official proceedings, those rules have to be reasonable and they have to be content and viewpoint neutral,” said Cohn.

At the Georgia Statehouse, protestors risk criminal charges under a state law that prohibits disruptive protests

in the state’s Capitol and adjoining buildings, although the law’s constitutionality is being challenged following recent arrests of protestors. Charges were later dropped by county prosecutors.

A Democratic state lawmaker and other protestors sued over the law in federal court in 2020, arguing that it is overly broad and violates the First Amendment. The Georgia Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that a similar law meant to bar disruption of public meetings was unconstitutionally vague.

Despite questions about the law’s constitutionality, frequent protesters at Georgia’s Capitol are mindful of the law. For example, Democrats staging a sit-in over a recent voting law left an aisle open on the stairway that they sat on, because fully blocking it could have triggered their arrest.

This year, the majority-white and Republican-led Mississippi Legislature passed a bill to require state-issued permits for protests in parts of Jackson, the capital city, which is majority-Black and governed by Democrats.

In effect, the law would require people to obtain permission from state law enforcement officials for any protest near the statehouse, Governor’s Mansion or other state government buildings in the capital city. A federal judge blocked the law in a ruling that said it would have a chilling effect on First Amendment rights.

There was already a scheduling process for people who wanted to have events in and around the Capitol, but the law would have given broader authority to the state over issuing permits for protests or other large gatherings in other parts of downtown Jackson.

Many statehouses also have rules around the display of political signs, with policies not allowing banners or signs to be displayed in legislative chambers but granting permission for people to have them in common areas like rotundas.

Kansas allows handheld signs inside the building during protests, but not sticks with those signs -- even though state law permits people to carry concealed guns in the building.

Those policies were set separately, but state Rep. Kyle Hoffman, a western Kansas Republican, said, “Concealed carry is a passive defensive weapon.”

“A stick, I think, would be more considered offensive,” he added.

(By Kimberlee Kruesi, Jeff Amy and Anthony Izaquirre.

Amy contributed from Atlanta and Izaguirre contributed from Albany, New York. AP statehouse reporters contributed from across the United States.)

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The New Tri-State Defender

August 31 - September 6, 2023

Page 5

RELIGION

‘They say don’t question God … But I just want to know why’

“I never thought I’d have to bury my baby brothJacksonville shooter killed a devoted dad, a er,” Quan Laguerre said Monday outside the family’s house not far from the Dollar General store a gunman killed A.J. Laguerre and two othbeloved mom and a teen helping support his family where ers who worked at the store. (Screen captures)

by Russ Bynum Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A.J. Laguerre worked at a Dollar General store after finishing high school to help support the grandmother who raised him. Angela Michelle Carr was an Uber driver and beloved mother. Jerrald Gallion relished weekends with his 4-year-old daughter.

All three were slain Saturday (Aug. 26) when a gunman with swastikas painted on his rifle opened fire at the Dollar General where Laguerre worked in Jacksonville. The sheriff said writings left by the killer, a 21-year-old white man, made clear that he was motivated by racism. Each victim was Black.

“I never thought I’d have to bury my baby brother,” Quan Laguerre said Monday outside the family’s house not far from the store.

“They say don’t question God,” he said. “But I just want to know why.”

A.J. Laguerre, 19, was the youngest of five siblings, all raised by their grandmother after their mother died in 2009, his brother said. The family celebrated in 2022 when A.J., like his older siblings before him, graduated from high school. As he looked into going to college to study cybersecurity, he got a job at the Dollar General store several months ago to help their grandmother pay the bills.

When he was off the clock, A.J. played Fortnite and other videogames on the live-streaming platform Twitch, his brother said, using the gamer tag galaxysoul. His goal was to build a large online following.

“He had dreams and aspirations of being a professional streamer,” Quan Laguerre said. “So after he would get off work, he’d just stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning just grinding, you know, trying to get that stance and have followers.”

A.J. Laguerre was shot inside the store while trying to flee the gunman, Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters told reporters.

Carr, 52, was killed in the parking lot when the shooter fired bullets into her car.

“My mother, she was a good woman,” son Chayvaughn Payne said in a brief phone interview Monday.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Carr family, said at a news conference later Monday that Carr had just dropped off a customer and was waiting for the person to get back in the car.

Carr joined St. Stephen African Methodist Episcopal Church in Jacksonville when she was 3 and still attended

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is representing the family of Angela Michelle Carr, an Uber driver and beloved mother, who was killed in Saturday’s mass shooting.

A makeshift cross signals the tragedy that unfolded in Jacksonville, Fla. services there. The pastor said the church community has rallied behind her family.

“She was just a loving, caring mother,” the Rev. David Green said.

Gallion, 29, was shot while entering the store’s front door with his girlfriend, who escaped.

“My brother shouldn’t have lost his life,” his sister, Lat-

iffany Gallion, said. “A simple day of going to the store, and he’s taken away from us forever.”

Relatives recalled Gallion’s sense of humor and work ethic. He worked two to three jobs, including as a restaurant manager, to provide for his daughter, Je Asia Gallion.

Je Asia’s fifth birthday is approaching, and the family had planned a big party, said Sabrina Rozier, the child’s maternal grandmother. Gallion was looking forward to a father-daughter dance in February.

“He was so excited about it, talking about the colors they would wear,” Rozier said as Je Asia played with the microphones during Monday’s news conference. “Now she’s asking, ‘Who shot my daddy?’”

Although Gallion’s relationship with the child’s mother didn’t last, they worked together to raise Je Asia. That earned him lasting affection from Rozier.

“He never missed a beat,” Rozier said. “He got her every weekend. As a matter of fact, he was supposed to have her (Saturday).”

Gallion never made it to pick up his daughter. Now the pastor of the church he attended is preparing to bury him.

“In two weeks I have to preach a funeral of a man who should still be alive,” the Rev. John Guns, of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, said during the vigil.

“He was not a gangster, he was not a thug – he was a father who gave his life to Jesus and was trying to get it together.”

“In two weeks I have to preach a funeral of a man who should still be alive. He was not a gangster, he was not a thug – he was a father who gave his life to Jesus and was trying to get it together.”

— Rev. John Guns, of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church

The New Tri-State Defender, August 31 - September 6, 2023, Page 6

Rick Farwell’s mission is to bring high-quality services and products to his community while educating them. (Courtesy photos)

Local entrepreneur uses new Business venture to educate people about wine and spirits

by Taylor Batson

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

R

ick Farwell spent most of his time as a child watching his family operate their own businesses. His uncles owned laundromats and repair businesses, his father owned his own liquor business and his grandmother owned one of the first Black-owned daycares in the city.

Since he was six years old, Farwell was able to observe the people that he loved the most make a living for themselves through the fruits of their own labor. It was around that time that he started to realize that he wanted to follow in his family’s footsteps and be an entrepreneur.

“I think it was in my blood. During that time, that was all I was looking at,” said Farwell. “Older people in my family, people that I look up to, are their own boss.”

Now, Farwell is a second-generation entrepreneur.

Farwell was inspired to go into the liquor business specifically after watching his dad run his own liquor business when he was younger. When Farwell was in the fifth grade, his dad opened his first liquor store, and since then, Farwell

has worked hard to be in the position that he is in today.

After completing high school, Farwell pursued a college degree to become more knowledgeable in how to navigate entrepreneurship, and after graduating college, he went into business with his father.

In 1995, Farwell partnered with his dad and opened Pyramid Liquor” in Downtown Memphis. Since then, the liquor business has been a passion project for him for the last 35 years.

Although he grew up watching his dad, it was at this time that Farwell learned the ins and outs of how to truly run a business. He was also able to apply the skills he learned in college to become more active in the business side of everything.

While it is his passion, being an entrepreneur is not easy.

Freedom is one thing that Farwell enjoys, but one of the hardest parts for him is the amount of work he has to put in to keep his company rolling smoothly.

“I dislike wearing all the hats, but it’s part of it,” said Farwell.

Since his businesses mean so much to him, it was important to Farwell to go the extra mile and learn how to operate his business in every position. He wanted to be sure that he understood each role before hiring someone

else for the job.

The work Farwell has put into his businesses for the last 35 years has continued to pay off. Earlier this year, Farwell opened a new store in the same neighborhood that he grew up in.

Double R Wine, Spirits & More was opened in the Raleigh-Frayser area. As a kid, Farwell saw this same area thrive in more ways than one.

After a period of economic decline and an increase in crime and poverty, the Raleigh-Frayser area is back on the rise, and it was important to Farwell that he was part of the resurgence of the neighborhood that meant so much to him growing up.

He believes that even though the household income in the area is not the same as other areas his businesses were in, the people are the same. It was important to Farwell to give the people the store he felt they deserved; one with a positive shopping experience.

Why he would go into the Raleigh-Frayser area and invest in such a nice business? Farwell had a simple answer.

“Why not?”

It is now Farwell’s mission to bring high-quality services and products to his community while also educating them in the process.

The New Tri-State Defender

August 31 - September 6, 2023

ENTERTAINMENT

Find ‘Holler, Child’ and enjoy, or you’ll always wonder why didn’t you...?

by Terri Schlichenmeyer

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

So why didn’t you...?

Your life wasn’t random, there was a plan of some kind somewhere. Why didn’t you pick this path instead of that other, make this choice a priority, decide in favor of something else? Surely, you didn’t simply fall headlong into every opportunity.

Now, as in “Holler, Child” by LaToya Watkins, a collection of short stories, you’ll always wonder what if...

Ever since her son, Hawk, died, news reporters have been sniffing around Mrs. Hawkins’ house, asking questions. She wants to explain why she gave her son away, why he told people he was God’s son before he ended up in Abilene, and why he hurt that little girl. But in “The Mother,” lies come easier than the truth.

After Lettie found her husband, Chuck, dead on the floor, her Momma moved in, though Lettie didn’t want her there. Momma was never loving, like kids need their Mommas to be. She liked to remind Lettie that Chuck was no good. In “Tipping,” Momma’d hurt too many people for too long, but what could Lettie do?

Opal never wanted that dog, but they got the ugly cur for Nate, who’d always wanted an Old English Bulldog. After he had his stroke, though, it seemed like that dog was all he cared for and Opal despised it. In “Moving the Animal,” that dog stood for everything wrong.

Clayton had done nothing but cheat on Lotrece for years and she retaliated in so many petty ways that even she began to think it was silly. One day, she might forgive him but until then, it was more fun to poke him in a dozen little ways, to make him mad and make him feel some sort of way – like wearing lingerie, when he knew darn well that their love life was over. But when she reached for her thong, Lotrece felt the gun in her dresser drawer, the one Clayton said never worked. In the high-tension story, “Sweat,” Clayton lied.

Does it seem like you don’t have enough time to read a book, with all you’ve got going on this time of

LaToya Watkins (Photo: C. Rene Photography) year? Then you want “Holler, Child,” because none of these eleven short stories will take long to read, but they’re long on enjoyment.

Using tiny slices of life and cool-as-ice prose, author LaToya Watkins brings readers a series of snap decisions and bad ideas in tales that will keep you guessing. But these are not mystery-like whodunits; instead, they’re everyday tales, brilliantly set in a single afternoon or overnight or two, but with enough back-story inside the set-ups to make you care about each character and to make you have an opinion on what those characters should do. It’s like having a ringside seat up next to the people you know and love to gossip about.

This is a book for anyone who likes surprises in their stories, for short-story fans, or for people who are time-crunched now and always. Find “Holler, Child” and enjoy, or you’ll always wonder why didn’t you...?

“Holler, Child: Stories”

by LaToya Watkins c. 2023, Tiny Reparations Books $28 224 pages

Page 7

COMMUNITY The New Tri-State Defender, August 31 - September 6, 2023, Page 8

Memphis plant that uses potentially hazardous chemical will close, company says

by Adrian Sainz Associated Press

A medical equipment sterilizing plant that uses a chemical whose emissions could lead to cancer and other health risks says it plans to close its Tennessee location by next spring, according to a letter sent by the company to U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen.

In the July letter, lawyers for Sterilization Services of Tennessee told the congressman that the company has dealt with issues relating to a lease extension for its Memphis plant and the facility will be closed by April 30.

The Environmental Protection Agency has said the plant has used

ethylene oxide to sterilize medical equipment and materials. The facility has operated since 1976. The county health department’s air program has permitted the facility since 1985.

Ethylene oxide is used to clean catheters, syringes, pacemakers, plastic surgical gowns and other items.

While short-term or infrequent exposure to ethylene oxide does not appear to pose a health risk, the EPA said long-term or lifetime exposure to the colorless and odorless gas could lead to a variety of health problems, including lymphoma and breast cancer.

The EPA has regulated ethylene oxide emissions for 30 years. But in 2016 new scientific information re-

vealed that the chemical is more toxic than previously understood, the EPA said This past April, the EPA proposed limiting the use of the chemical after finding a higher than expected cancer risk at facilities that use it to sterilize billions of medical devices each year.

The EPA said its proposal will reduce ethylene oxide emissions by roughly 80 percent by targeting 86 medical sterilization facilities across the United States. The companies will also have to test for the antimicrobial chemical in the air and make sure their pollution controls are working properly.

On its website, Sterilization Services said its Memphis plant is the

company’s flagship location, with other facilities in Georgia and Virginia.

The company’s letter to Cohen said the Memphis plant “has never been out of compliance with reference to federal, state and local mandates and regulations by which it is governed.”

In response to public concern about the chemical emissions, the Shelby County Health Department held an Aug. 24 meeting about a petition for an emergency air pollution order related to Sterilization Services’ operations sought by Memphis Community Against Pollution, an environmental watchdog.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Southern Environmental Law Center said the closing is “a major

victory for nearby neighborhoods who have been fighting for cleaner air.”

“Families living near the Sterilization Services of Tennessee plant have been exposed to toxic ethylene oxide pollution for far too long, and we are pleased that they may soon be able to breathe easier,” said Amanda Garcia, a senior attorney with the center.

The SELC notes that the plant is located in south Memphis, which is majority Black and includes other industrial sites that present a threat to residents’ health. One of those locations is a former U.S. Army depot where waste disposal contaminated soil and groundwater with dangerous chemicals.

Stomp the City Iconic Awards hailed as a united stand against gun violence TSD Newsroom Key community leaders and influencers gathered on Tuesday for Shelby County’s official endorsement of the Stomp the City Iconic Awards and its mission to combat gun violence.

On hand for the press conference were Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, State Rep. Joe Towns, Telecast Founder Michael Dockery and Stomp the City Iconic Awards Organizer, Ladell Beamon of the Heal the Hood Foundation, Jon-Marc Sandifer, Vice-President of Original Programming at BET Networks, and rapper and entrepreneur NLE Choppa.

“I am pleased to share that Memphis and Shelby County will be host-

(Photos: Gary W. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises/The New Tri-State Defender)

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris ing the Stomp the City Iconic Awards for the third year in the row,” said Harris.

The press conference served to solidify the collaborative effort be-

tween the public sector, media networks, recording artists, and grassroots organizations. State Rep. Joe Towns highlighted the importance of these partnerships.

“This alliance signifies how leaders and icons from across the board including the entertainment sector can come together to fight a common issue that affects our society deeply,” said Towns.

“We are standing in unity today to address a crisis that affects us all – gun violence,” said Dockery. “We’ve created a platform that not only celebrates excellence but also seeks to make a meaningful difference. This endorsement amplifies our efforts and helps us reach corners of the community we couldn’t have touched otherwise.”

Beamon emphasized the need for

action.

“This partnership is not just symbolic; it is a call to action that will result in real-life changes and safer neighborhoods,” he said.

Tickets for the upcoming Stomp the City Iconic Awards are available online.

For more information, contact Sheri Neely at 714-365-6441 or email sheri@theneelyagency.com.

Families Matter, Inc. helps men become better fathers with AFIRM program

by Taylor Batson

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

According to the Journal of Family Psychology, involved dads improve their children’s overall emotional and social well-being. Families Matter, Inc. provides resources to help fathers be more involved in their children’s lives.

Families Matter is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to strengthen families, change lives and transform Memphis. They do these things through a series of different tools and programs that give families the resources that they need for success in many different areas of life.

One of those resources is the AFIRM program.

AFIRM, an acronym for A Father’s Involvement Really Matters, is an eight-week program designed to support low-income fathers, ages 1840, in Memphis and Shelby County, through increased economic mobility, healthy education, co-parenting skills, and improved support for dads.

Although the program is fairly new in the community, it has already started to make a tremendous impact on fathers in Memphis and Shelby County.

On August 17, the organization hosted its second Fatherhood Graduation of the year, and 15 graduates

(Courtesy photos)

were celebrated for their completion.

Some graduates also received milestone payments for other achievements they completed throughout the program.

While at the graduation, the fathers talked about how invaluable the experience was for them. It gave them a community that understood them and could help them navigate through their struggles.

“The program was good because it was surrounded by a group of guys who had children themselves,” said AFIRM participant Robert Barlow.

“They had been through the same situations I was going through.”

Barlow was one of the 15 graduates who completed the eight-week fatherhood program. Barlow had struggled with the system for many years, and he credits AFIRM for giving him an outlet when he felt like no one else was listening. For him, one of the greatest aspects of the program was the fact that case managers and program directors were open and willing to support the fathers throughout their different challenges.

“Having a program with advocates,

people who can help speak with you and for you, that’s the icing on the cake,” said Barlow.

The graduates also spoke about how the program gave them a sense of security. Many times, men are expected to suppress their emotions. In society, there is a stigma surrounding men who are open with how they feel.

The AFIRM program gave these men a judgment-free space to be completely open and honest about their feelings and the challenges that they face daily.

“We all gave in, we had sad moments, emotions and happy moments,” said Kaiser Gilkey Gilkey was also a graduate of the AFIRM program. He attributes his newfound direction in life to the teachings and resources gained during the classes.

Families Matter executive director Carol Jackson knew that AFIRM could make a huge impact in the community, and now she is determined for the program to change the landscape of Memphis and Shelby County. For Jackson, it is important that people know that the AFIRM program, and others like it, is something that everybody can benefit from; no matter the background.

“It is imperative that it is inclusive because Memphis has a wide range of demographics,” said Jackson. “We want everyone included because we are all impacted by each other.”

(If you or someone you know wants to find out how you can benefit from the AFIRM program, visit one of their local locations, contact them at 901-455-0115 or visit www.familiesmattermemphis.org/AFIRM.)

The New Tri-State Defender

NEWS

SESSION

CONTINUED FROM FRONT tact as Sexton stepped to avoid a photographer; meanwhile, other legislative members, staffers and security guards rushed to the front of the floor.

Yelling erupted from both lawmakers on the floor and protesters in the gallery above as House Republicans quickly left the chamber. Democratic Rep. Justin Jones, who had been holding a sign on the other side of Pearson as Sexton walked by, later grabbed the speaker’s gavel and banged it, yelling, “This house is out of order.”

Pearson and Jones were expelled by the Republican supermajority earlier this year.

Both were reappointed, then reelected, and remain critical of Sexton’s leadership.

Sexton said a security guard put his hand on his back and knocked Sexton forward, prompting the speaker to move to step past the photographer. Then, Sexton said Pearson “comes in and pops me,” bumping his shoulder.

Sexton said he did not throw his shoulder into Pearson.

Pearson told reporters that it was an “act of aggression, an act of violence against me” by Sexton, saying he was not being aggressive with Sexton or pushing him.

Republican leaders countered that Pearson and others took attention away from the special session’s purpose and lacked maturity.

Tuesday’s tense standoff marked the latest turn in a session Republican Gov. Bill Lee initially organized in response to a shooter opening fire at The Covenant School in Nashville, killing three young children and three adults. Lee had hoped to convince fellow Republicans to pass legislation to limit dangerous people from accessing guns, but the proposal never gained enough support. Some Republicans said they didn’t think a session was even needed and tried to adjourn from the outset last Monday.

Lee attempted to tout the session as a positive step for hesitant lawmakers.

“We made progress in public safety, and we elevated a conversation about public safety that will continue into the future,” Lee told reporters.

“And that’s important.”

As the special session neared, Lee largely stopped mentioning his “extreme risk protection order” proposal and instead stressed that lawmakers would work to improve public safety and mental health services.

Yet in little more than a week, lawmakers advanced just a few bills and struggled to break through an icy stalemate between the House and Senate. Even as Lee worked with

warring legislative leaders, both sides took turns blaming others for the inaction.

Further adding to public outrage: Republican leaders limited public access to the Capitol building and increased the presence of law enforcement.

In the House, Republicans banned the public from holding signs during floor and committee proceedings, but a Tennessee judge has since blocked that rule from being implemented. In one hearing, a House subcommittee chairman had troopers kick the public out of the room after deeming the crowd too unruly.

That included grieving parents closely connected to the school shooting, who cried after the decision.

Sexton also silenced Rep. Jones for the remainder of Monday’s session after ruling his comments were out of order under new stricter decorum rules.

Lawmakers wound up agreeing on minor changes to existing state programs. These add more money to advertise a state program offering free gun safes and codify the governor’s executive order that set a 72-hour period for reporting new criminal activity to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Lawmakers also approved $30 million for higher education safety grants for both public and private colleges and universities; $50 million for grants to community mental health agencies; and $12.1 million for retention bonuses for behavioral health state employees.

Republican Senate Speaker Randy McNally told reporters the session was a success. But he said he believed more work would be done when lawmakers return for their regular session in January.

House Majority Leader William Lamberth conceded that public safety had only improved a “little bit but not enough” because of the session, pointing to the wide variety of bills passed by the House, but not the Senate.

“There’s much more work that we have to do,” he told reporters.

After lawmakers adjourned, Pearson and other Democratic lawmakers consoled a sobbing Sarah Shoop Neumann, a member of a group of Covenant School parents who had pushed for gun control and other changes for months. Pearson also led a prayer with Neumann and other Covenant parents.

“It’s difficult to find the words to say for such a time as this, that we held a special session following the extraordinary tragedy of a mass shooting that took place at The Covenant School, and yet we took no meaningful action,” said Neumann, whose son attends the Nashville school and survived the March shooting.

August 31 - September 6, 2023

CLASSIFIEDS

NOTICE TO BIDDER(S) Sealed bids will be received by the Shelby County Government in the Department of Housing online until 9:30 a.m. on Friday, September 8, 2023, as shown below: MULTIPLE AND ENTIRELY DIFFERENT LEAD HAZARD REDUCTION AND REHABILITATION JOBS ARE CONTAINED IN THIS BID NOTICE. BIDDER(S) MAY ELECT TO BID ON ANY OR ALL OF THE JOBS IN THE NOTICE. SEALED BID I000830 DUE ONLINE AT 9:30 a.m.: Friday, September 8, 2023 1. Rehabilitation of Owner-Occupied Housing Units throughout Shelby County some of which may require the use of lead-safe work practices and techniques; and 2. Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Jobs.

Detailed specifications for the items above may be obtained through the Neighborly Portal beginning Friday, August 25, 2023. All bids will be opened and publicly read by the Shelby County Government at the time mentioned above at the Department of Housing, 6465 Mullins Station Road Memphis, TN 38134, (901) 222-7600; TTY Number (901) 222-2301; or for information in Spanish 901-222-7601. Award recommendations will be posted at the following website https:// www.develop901.com/housing upon review of the bid opening results.

As a condition precedent to bidding, each bidder must apply and qualify for a Vendor Number and Equal Opportunity Compliance (EOC) Eligibility Number prior to submitting your response.

We have now transitioned to conducting bids online through Neighborly. If you have not already signed up, you can do so at https://portal. neighborlysoftware.com/ SHELBYCOUNTYTN/contractor.

All documents submitted must be current and uploaded into your Neighborly account.

Bids submitted without all required documentation will be unacceptable. Paisley Pogue (Paisley.Pogue@shelbycountytn. gov or 901-222-7600) will be assisting with any questions you may have regarding uploading the documents.

All new contractors will need to register with the Neighborly portal in order for their bids to be accepted on projects. Interested contractors not currently on the contractor list should contact the Department of Housing in order to schedule a meeting with the Housing Site Inspector.

Paper copies of bids are no longer available. The Department of Housing encourages participation from WBE, MBE, LOSB, and Section 3 Contractors under these rehabilitation programs.

The Shelby County Government reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to waive any informalities therein.

By order of LEE HARRIS, MAYOR SHELBY COUNTY GOVERNMENT Scott Walkup, Administrator

Good morning, BMW 2007 x5 blue color / 4 Doors. win Nbr 4UFSE43547LY79662 My Name ELhadji Sow 7957 Capilano Dr Apt 304 Memphis, Tn 38125 cell 9012886592

Notice of Dissolution Bartlett Travel, Inc. Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 48-24-107, notice is hereby given that Bartlett Travel, Inc., a corporation organized and existing pursuant to the

laws of the State of Tennessee (“Company”), will be dissolved and its corporate existence will be terminated. All persons with claims against the Company must send the claim in writing to the Company at 6281 Stage Road, Bartlett, Tennessee 38134, setting forth:

to T.C.A. §67-5-2507, that Shelby County Government has received an Offer to Purchase for the following property:

(a) The name and address of the claimant; (b) The description and basis of the claim; (c) The amount of the claim; (d) The date the claim arose; and (e) Any documentation substantiating the claim.

Additional Offers to Purchase, of at least ten percent (10%) higher, may be submitted within Ten (10) working days of this notice.

If additional offers are received during this ten (10) day period, all prospective Purchasers must attend a Public “Bid Off” at 10:00 a.m. on September 28, 2023, to be held in the Shelby County Land Bank Office, to determine the highest and best offer. The property shall thereafter be sold to the prospective Purchaser making the highest and best offer without warranties of any sort.

A claim against the Company will be barred unless a proceeding to enforce the claim is commenced within two (2) years after the date of the publication of this notice.

Dated: August 31, 2023

NOTICE OF PROPOSED SALE OF REAL PROPERTY

BY SHELBY COUNTY GOVERNMENT Notice is hereby given, pursuant to T.C.A. §67-5-2507, that Shelby County Government has received an Offer to Purchase for the following property: Travis Rosser Tax Parcel #: 05205500000060 Tax Sale #: 1804 Price Offered: $3,500.00 Terms: Cash Additional Offers to Purchase, of at least ten percent (10%) higher, may be submitted within Ten (10) working days of this notice.

If additional offers are received during this ten (10) day period, all prospective Purchasers must attend a Public “Bid Off” at 10:30 a.m. on September 28, 2023, to be held in the Shelby County Land Bank Office, to determine the highest and best offer. The property shall thereafter be sold to the prospective Purchaser making the highest and best offer without warranties of any sort.

Shelby County Land Bank 1075 MULLINS STATION, BLDG. E-1 MEMPHIS, TN 38134 (901) 222-1150 NOTICE OF PROPOSED SALE OF REAL PROPERTY

BY SHELBY COUNTY GOVERNMENT Notice is hereby given, pursuant

Omar Barajas Tax Parcel #: 06906400000020 Tax Sale #: 1201 Price Offered: $2,250.00 Terms: Cash

Shelby County Land Bank 1075 MULLINS STATION, BLDG. E-1 MEMPHIS, TN 38134 (901) 222-1150 NOTICE OF PROPOSED SALE OF REAL PROPERTY

BY SHELBY COUNTY GOVERNMENT Notice is hereby given, pursuant to T.C.A. §67-5-2507, that Shelby County Government has received an Offer to Purchase for the following property: RELi LLC Tax Parcel #: 06900400001000 Tax Sale #: 1701 Price Offered: $5,700.00 Terms: Cash Additional Offers to Purchase, of at least ten percent (10%) higher, may be submitted within Ten (10) working days of this notice. If additional offers are received during this ten (10) day period, all prospective Purchasers must attend a Public “Bid Off” at 9:30 a.m. on September 28, 2023, to be held in the Shelby County Land Bank Office, to determine the highest and best offer. The property shall thereafter be sold to the prospective Purchaser making the highest and best offer without warranties of any sort.

Shelby County Land Bank 1075 MULLINS STATION, BLDG. E-1 MEMPHIS, TN 38134 (901) 222-1150 NOTICE OF PROPOSED SALE OF REAL PROPERTY

BY SHELBY COUNTY GOVERNMENT

Page 9

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to T.C.A. §67-5-2507, that Shelby County Government has received an Offer to Purchase for the following property: RELi LLC Tax Parcel #: 06903500000020 Tax Sale #: 1303 Price Offered: $1,800.00 Terms: Cash Additional Offers to Purchase, of at least ten percent (10%) higher, may be submitted within Ten (10) working days of this notice. If additional offers are received during this ten (10) day period, all prospective Purchasers must attend a Public “Bid Off” at 9:00 a.m. on September 28, 2023, to be held in the Shelby County Land Bank Office, to determine the highest and best offer. The property shall thereafter be sold to the prospective Purchaser making the highest and best offer without warranties of any sort.

Shelby County Land Bank 1075 MULLINS STATION, BLDG. E-1 MEMPHIS, TN 38134 (901) 222-1150 NOTICE OF PROPOSED SALE OF REAL PROPERTY

BY SHELBY COUNTY GOVERNMENT Notice is hereby given, pursuant to T.C.A. §67-5-2507, that Shelby County Government has received an Offer to Purchase for the following property: KANEGRA JONES Tax Parcel #: 05007700000140 Tax Sale #: 1803 Price Offered: $4,000.00 Terms: Cash Additional Offers to Purchase, of at least ten percent (10%) higher, may be submitted within Ten (10) working days of this notice.

If additional offers are received during this ten (10) day period, all prospective Purchasers must attend a Public “Bid Off” at 10:00 a.m. on September 27, 2023, to be held in the Shelby County Land Bank Office, to determine the highest and best offer. The property shall thereafter be sold to the prospective Purchaser making the highest and best offer without warranties of any sort.

Shelby County Land Bank 1075 MULLINS STATION, BLDG. E-1 MEMPHIS, TN 38134 (901) 222-1150

SPORTS

The New Tri-State Defender, August 31 - September 6, 2023, Page 10

Tigers set to kick off season with annual ‘901-Game’

by Terry Davis

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

The University of Memphis Tigers football team opens the season on Saturday (September 2) at 6 p.m. at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium against Bethune-Cookman in the annual ‘901 Game.’

While the backdrop is a summer of multiple teams switching conference and Memphis’ desire to upgrade its conference status, players and coaches are focused on the schedule and the upcoming season.

Picked to finished fourth in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll, many among the Memphis faithful are looking for the team to compete for the conference championship with the departure of CincinTerry Davis nati, the University of Central Florida and Houston to the Big 12 Conference.

Meanwhile, the transfer portal has been swinging both ways for the Tigers, with a noteworthy number of players exiting as others enter.

Third-year quarterback Seth Henigan will be the face of the team. The Denton, Texas QB has been moving up the program’s statistical ladder. He enters the season with 6,893 total passing yards, 47 touchdowns and two bowlgame wins.

The Tigers, who have been hovering around the .500mark for the last couple of seasons, have made it to a bowl game nine consecutive times. The beneficiary of explosive playmakers such as Tony Pollard, Calvin Austin II and Anthony Miller, who have moved on to the NFL, the Tigers are looking for a new weapon. ““We want to be a smart tough and physical football team. I think you are going to see explosiveness,” said

Brandon Thomas head coach Ryan Silverfield. “We have not been as explosive as we want to be. We have playmakers in all three phases – offense, defense and special teams. That will be something the fans will see, and it will be on full display on Saturday.

The defense should be one of the best in several years. That unit will be led by senior Jaylon Allen. The lineRyan backer from Humble, Texas was an Silverfield All-Conference player and is expected to compete for first team all-conference this season.

An improved secondary should position the Tigers to put more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Junior de-

Seth Henigan fensive back Greg Rubin (White Station High School) has switched from cornerback, where he started the last two seasons, to safety.

If the Tigers are to meet their success goals for the season, a key will be the viability of the offensive line. There hasn’t been a 1,000-yard running back in the last couple of seasons and that element is considered crucial to the team being competitive. Running backs Brandon Thomas, Jay Ducker and Sutton Smith are poised for a breakout year.

The annual 901-game can be seen on ESPN+. Those with season tickets get free tickets to the next game, if the Tigers win.

Former prep stars Hampton, Miller suited for the Tigers

by Terry Davis

Special to The New Tri-State Defender

For many high school football players, playing in the Southeastern Conference – the gold standard of college football – is atop the wish list. Sometimes, however, the chemistry just doesn’t mix and things just don’t work out as planned.

Two former Memphis-area prep football stars – Maurice Hampton and Cameron Miller – have returned to Memphis and are set to play for the University of Memphis Tigers football team during the season that begins Saturday (Sept. 2).

Hampton and Miller play in the defensive backfield.

Hampton originally signed to play with LSU and Miller played last season at Tennessee.

“It feels great to be back home,” said Hampton. “I can help to bring a championship to Memphis. I am playing in front of my family and my grandmother is less than a mile from the Liberty Bowl. I am super excited for the season.”

Hampton is confident in the talent he brings to the team.

“Talent is one thing, but championship pedigree is a lot.

I have won a national championship before, and I know what it takes. Bringing those experiences into the locker room and telling guys what it is, and it is not. Anyway, I can contribute to help the team will, I will do that.”

Hampton was drafted in the MLB draft coming out of high school, but he chose to go play football and baseball at LSU. He is isted on the Memphis baseball roster and plans to play for baseball Tigers in the spring.

“I am a centerfielder in baseball and a safety in football,” said Hampton. “I take my baseball skill to the football and football skills to the baseball field. You see a mix of both of them. The skills show up on both fields.”

For Miller, “It feels good to be back home playing for the city and just playing with these guys.”

Maurice Hampton

Cameron Miller

(Photos: Terry Davis/The New Tri-State Defender) He is expecting a rush of emotions coming out of the tunnel for the first game.

“Emotionally, I will be happy. I will find a place to get on the field and play. I think it is a better opportunity for a chance to play with coming home.”

As for the hardest part of transition, Miller said, “The workouts have been different. Everyone trains different.

The plays and schemes I have always been able to pick that up.”

The Tennessee team he played for last season had some

great receivers and Miller plans to apply lessons learned. ““Going against guys who ran faster routes and some of them are in the league now (NFL). … I didn’t go against them all the time, but I was able to take notes. It is slow to me now, because I have seen it.”

Miller and Hampton had explosive offensive careers while in high school here and each is willing to play on both sides of the ball, if needed.

Game time for Miller, Hampton and this season’s Tigers is 6 p.m. at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.