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VOL. 72, No. 48
November 30 - December 6, 2023
www.tsdmemphis.com
L.O. Swingler
$1.00
Karanja A. Ajanaku
From Swingler to Ajanaku, The TSD mission continues TSD Newsroom
The annual Season of Remembrance hosted by the Shelby County District Attorney’s office afforded family members and supporters of victims of violence the opportunity to share remembrances of loved ones. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/ GSW Enterprises/The Tri-State Defender)
Area crime concerns reverberate amid pain and need for solutions
by James Coleman The Tri-State Defender
Fielding questions as family members and supporters of victims of violence gathered for the annual Season of Remembrance event, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy outlined law enforcement efforts to address soaring violent crime rates in Memphis, including the city’s record-setting homicide rate.
The AG’s comments came during an interview at the University of Memphis on Monday (Nov. 27). The Season of Remembrance, which predates Mulroy’s election as DA, was his second. “We have an unacceptably high homicide rate, and we all need to come together as a community to do what we can about it. And unless we all come together and work together, we’re not going to be able to stop this scourge of violence,” Mulroy told reporters.
On Nov. 20, it was announced that Memphis suffered its 352nd homicide of the year, a new record. With 32 days left in 2023, the grim statistic has surpassed the previous high of 346, set in 2021. Since the announcement, the number has climbed to 359. The surging rate is often blamed on a revolving door judicial system that turns al-
SEE CRIME ON PAGE 2
Simple and direct, that was the mission statement published on the front page of The Tri-State Defender’s first edition 70-plus years ago. It was a mission statement that reflected the hopes and aspirations of African Americans struggling to grow and develop amid the harsh, inhumane conditions underpinning the reality of the “Jim Crow” South. Upon its founding in 1951 by renowned publisher John H. Sengstacke and over the past 72 years, The Tri-State Defender has been led by a succession of dedicated editors, who have worked diligently to see that the newspaper lives up to its mission statement. Editors such as L.O. Swingler, the Defender’s first editor, and L. Alex Wilson, who was severely beaten by an angry white mob as he covered the desegregation of Little Rock’s Central High School in 1957. For the past 16½ years, The TriState Defender has been guided by Executive Editor Karanja A. Ajanaku,
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Gov. Lee proposes extending school voucher program statewide, to all students by Marta W. Aldrich Chalkbeat Tennessee
Sens. Raumesh Akbari (left) and London Lamar, both of Memphis, listen as Rep. John Ray Clemmons of Nashville criticizes Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s education voucher expansion proposal during a news conference on November 28, 2023. – (Marta W. Aldrich/ Chalkbeat)
Gov. Bill Lee proposed Tuesday to take Tennessee’s education voucher program statewide, starting with up to 20,000 students who would get taxpayer money next school year to attend a private or home school. The Republican governor also called for all K-12 students to be eligible for vouchers beginning in 2025. Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act, offering $7,075 annually for each participant, would mark a massive expansion of eligibility for a voucher program that was billed as a pilot project and is now in its second year. The state’s education savings account program, which currently is limited to three urban counties, has just under 2,000 enrollees. During an announcement in Nashville attended mostly by lawmakers
and allies, Lee said statewide voucher eligibility was his vision for Tennessee during his first gubernatorial campaign in 2018, when he called for more education choices for parents. “Parents know what’s best for their child as it relates to education,” he said, adding that the vouchers would give all Tennessee families the freedom to choose a good fit, whether it’s in public, private, parochial, or home schools. His plan would eventually eliminate income requirements and change who could benefit from the vouchers. Rather than giving students from low-income families an opportunity to attend private schools — the original stated purpose of Lee’s education savings account program — the universal vouchers Lee now proposes could also subsidize tuition costs for students from more affluent families who already attend private schools. It’s uncertain whether the final leg-
islation would hold private or home schools accepting voucher money to the same accountability standards that public schools are subject to, including testing requirements or the A-F letter grades that the state is preparing to give out for the first time in December. “The final details of this legislation aren’t worked out,” Lee told reporters after his announcement. “This is Day One. This will be a legislative effort.” But Lee’s proposal will face a battle when the General Assembly reconvenes in January. Even under a GOP supermajority, Tennessee’s voucher law squeaked through the House of Representatives in 2019, after sponsors agreed to limit the program to a few urban areas. The open-ended cost of universal vouchers will be an issue in a state
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