People come into our lives for a variety of reasons and seasons. In January of 2016 I returned home to Johnson City and over the next year I learned just how much Ralph Davis, President of the Washington County-Johnson City NAACP branch, had given to this community. The loss of his light will be deeply … Read more
American democracy is dependent on free and equally accessible quality public education. Without that, the bedrock of what we hold dear would deteriorate. The founding principle of everyone is equal with equal opportunities, a principle we currently aspire to achieve, is only possible by fully funding public education. The first American public school opened in … Read more
It’s no surprise that it’s only February 20, 2019 and yet the 2020 election is upon us. The 2016 election ended with heartbreak and calls to action, action that is now coming to fruition. So it should come as no surprise that we have Democratic candidates filling the field and vying for our votes. This … Read more
Many big ticket items are on the ballot this year. Almost every seat from the US Senate on down to City Commission have candidates running, vying for your vote. And with the nation focused in on Tennessee to see if Democrats can flip the seat, which would flip the US Senate. Lots of money from … Read more
Registering to vote is a right of passage for young adults who turn 18. There are scores of voter registration drives on high school campuses to get these young people registered. Yet what they don’t tell students in Tennessee is that unless they stay local, voting in their first election will require many hoops to … Read more
October 11 is a day I didn’t used to notice. I had no idea the significance of it or the significance it would one day hold for me. October 11 is National Coming Out Day. My story is much like others and yet also uniquely my own. I came out in 2007 at the age … Read more
Friday delivered a decided gut punch to many Democrats across the state when Governor Bredesen released a statement supporting U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. None of us knew how to react or how to respond when this happened. And no one is here to sugar coat this; this move was strategic and hurtful. It … Read more
As soon as the 2016 election results were decided, we all had so much to say. And our first opportunity to express that those emotions was during the 2017 Women’s March. Some people went to the march in Jonesborough, some went to Washington, D.C., and some went to the marches in Asheville, Knoxville, as well … Read more
We are days away from the August 2nd Election Day. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for since November 9, 2016 to change the tide of the country, a moment of redemption reflective of all of our collective hard work, protesting, advocating, letters to the editor, sign making, candidate recruiting, canvassing, phone-banking, and donating. … Read more
I know this is a long one, but this is what we’re up against. When a confrontation happens, one of the things you have to consider is how much to share with others about the back and forth. Whom you have the exchange with will factor into that consideration, as will whether the confrontation was … Read more