For MLK50: Justice through Journalism, 2019 was a year of spurring change by shedding light, particularly on exploitative medical debt and its effect on the poor.

Investigations by MLK50 and ProPublica effectively interrupted the use of the courts as a collection agency for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and Southeastern Emergency Physicians, which contracts with doctors who staff emergency rooms at four Baptist Memorial Hospital facilities. After the stories broke, Methodist and Southeastern ended their aggressive debt collection practices and Methodist erased about $11.9 million in medical debt.

While this revelatory reporting took place, our photographers spent time reflecting on a Memphis landscape in constant flux. We wanted to slow down horse-race coverage of this year’s municipal election, but be present and ready to document when the People’s Convention sought to encourage communities to organize according to their needs and principles.

We aimed to center workers and voters as much as possible because these are the stakeholders who matter most — not the politicians, the corporations nor the institutions.

Below are highlights of our year. Thank you for helping us uplift the people of Memphis.

January 2019 | Photos from the annual King Day parade through downtown Memphis, including Baxter Leach (top right photo) as a special guest on the route. Mr. Leach was one of the sanitation workers that participated in the 1968 strike. He died in August. Photos by Andrea Morales for MLK50
February 2019 | Aretha Franklin’s childhood home in South Memphis. Photo by Andrea Morales for MLK50 (Story)
March 2019 | Tami Sawyer’s mayoral campaign kickoff rally. Photos by Johnathan Martin (right) and Andrea Morales (left) for MLK50 (Story)
March 2019 | Eula Burks, a custodian at the University of Memphis and one of the workers organizing to raise the minimum wage on campus. Photos by Johnathan Martin for MLK50  (Story)
March 2019 | Scenes from Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign stop in Memphis. Photos by Johnathan Martin for MLK50 (Story)
March 2019 | Photos from anti-gentrification protest in New Chicago. Photos by Andrea Morales for MLK50 (Story)
April 2019 | Scenes from a vigil for Manuel Duran, the Memphis journalist who spent 465 days in ICE detention after his arrest in 2018 while covering a protest. Photos by Andrea Morales for MLK50  (Story)
April 2019 | The 51st commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination at the National Civil Rights Museum. Photos by Andrea Morales for MLK50  (Story)
Sarah Rushkoff
Paul Wakerfield
Sepia Coleman
May 2019 | Memphis workers from left to right: Sarah Rushkoff (Photo by Andrea Morales); Paul Wakerfield (Photo by Kirstin Cheers); and Sepia Coleman (Photo by Andrea Morales).  (Story)
R. Alan Pritchard, a Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare attorney.
Raquel Nelson, a former Methodist patient who was sued by the hospital
Raquel Nelson, a former Methodist patient who was sued by the hospital
Carrie Barrett, a former Methodist patient, at church.
Carrie Barrett
Photos by Andrea Morales for MLK50
Methodist University Hospital
June 2019 | A Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare worker who received care through the hospital system for chronic abdominal pain. She owed Methodist more than $23,000, including around $5,800 in attorney’s fees. (Story)
June 2019 | United Campus Workers’ annual Juneteenth celebration at LeMoyne-Owen College included a keynote from Jackson, Miss., Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba. Photo by Johnathan Martin for MLK50  (Story)
June 2019 | The People’s Convention. Photos by Andrea Morales (top) and Johnathan Martin (bottom) for MLK50
July 2019 | Journalist Manuel Duran celebrates in Springville, Ala., with his family after being released from ICE detention. Photo by Andrea Morales for MLK50 (Story)
September 2019 | Early voting block party organized by Memphis for All at the Glenview Community Center. Photo by Andrea Morales for MLK50
October 2019 | Voters portraits on Election Day, a collaboration with High Ground News. Photos by Andrea Morales for MLK50 (Story)
October 2019 | Supporters listen as Tami Sawyer delivers her concession speech on election night. Photo by Andrea Morales for MLK50 (Story)
October 2019 | Memphians gather to mourn the death of Atatiana Jefferson, a Texas woman who was gunned down in her home by local police. Photos by Andrea Morales for MLK50  (Story)
December 2019 | Images from our investigation of Southeastern Emergency Physicians suing patients who had gone to Baptist Memorial Hospital (center image) to receive medical care. Jennifer Brooks (top left — photo by Andrea Morales); Loretta Baxter (top right — photo by Brad Vest,); and Laurie Kimborough (bottom left photo by Andrea Morales, and bottom right photo by Brad Vest) were all patients sued as a result of the company’s aggressive debt collection practices.

Andrea Morales is the visuals director for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Email her at  andrea.morales@mlk50.com

This story is brought to you by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a nonprofit newsroom focused on poverty, power and public policy. Support independent journalism by making a tax-deductible donation today. MLK50 is also supported by the Surdna Foundation, the Southern Documentary Project at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and Community Change. Sign up for our newsletter.

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