“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Audre Lorde
With this wisdom from the brilliant black feminist Audre Lorde in mind, the MLK50 team is taking a break.
This is one of two annual, weeklong pauses we take to rest and recharge. We’ll be back at our desks Aug. 17. While we’re away, read more about Audre Lorde here, here and here.
And read some of our favorite stories from this year.
What Trump and Strickland share: A dangerous obsession with law and order
Mayor Strickland’s alliance with the president’s law enforcement officials nets Memphis 40 federal officers
Getting a read on Memphis: Books to help newcomers navigate the Bluff City
What books should a newcomer to Memphis read to learn about the city’s history, people, politics, and culture? MLK50: Justice Through Journalism reporter F. Amanda Tugade, who joined the staff June…
Being black and pregnant during a pandemic
Pregnancy is stressful. Being pregnant during a pandemic is even more stressful. But being Black and pregnant during a pandemic and an uprising is devastating. As a Black woman who is 39 weeks…
‘Nice Young Man. Don’t Harm.’ A black mother’s plea for her son on Nextdoor
Sonja Jackson woke up from a nightmare Wednesday, picked up her phone and began a post on the Nextdoor.com app. “Good day everyone,” she wrote. “I just wanted to say hello and ask everyone to look…
Remembering July 10, 2016: The day they took the bridge
On Sunday, July 10, four years ago, protesters created the most significant act of spontaneous civil disobedience in recent memory. They flooded Memphis streets, heading over a bridge that spans the…
Police Have Been Spying on Black Reporters and Activists for Years. I Know Because I’m One of Them.
This article was produced in partnership with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On Aug. 20, 2018, the first day of a federal police surveillance…
The fire this time: Memphis’ response to police violence and civil unrest
Past is prologue. In 2016, about 1,000 Memphians came together in righteous protest of racial injustice, state sponsored violence and the prevalence of inequitable conditions in Memphis. That same…
King’s radical economic agenda just right for a nation in pandemic mode
Fifty-two years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, his radical economic agenda reverberates through a pandemic-ridden nation at a prophetic tilt.
One thing the pandemic hasn’t stopped: Hospital debt collections
While hospitals nationwide are being heralded for their role at the front lines of fighting the pandemic, some Americans continue to experience a less favorable side of the medical facilities’…
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