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Director de funerarias hizo promesas a familias inmigrantes y no cumplió
Ramy Jadiel Ajualip Primero, el bebé de su familia, murió inesperadamente con solo 18 meses de edad. Fue trasladado de urgencia al hospital después de sufrir convulsiones. Se produjo un pronóstico sombrío. Sin esperanza de recuperación, el niño fue retirado del soporte vital 15 días después. En estado de shock, los padres de Ramy estaban […]
Katie Beckett healthcare program reports successful enrollment
An initiative to bridge the gap in Medicaid for parents with disabled children is already showing success after opening for applications in November. On Monday, the Division of TennCare and the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) announced that more than 290 children have been enrolled in the Katie Beckett Program with nearly 900 […]
Fear of law enforcement, communication issues hamper use of 911
For many members of Tennessee’s immigrant communities, calling 911 in an emergency situation is not a viable option, and advocates are working to remove fear of the system and make it more user-friendly. Last year’s police brutality protests and years of anti-immigration policies have strained relations between New Americans and law enforcement officials, and while […]
Nashville officials to push vaccine waiting list in immigrant communities
Metro Nashville officials may soon be traveling to reach and add qualifying members from hard-hit communities onto the COVID vaccine waiting list. At Fabian Bedne’s weekly Spanish-speaking press conference, guest speaker Leslie Waller, epidemiologist with the Metro Health Department, announced that they will now begin signing up people for the COVID vaccine waiting list at […]
Tuskegee study haunts vaccination efforts in Black community
This story has been updated. Once a year, Joyce Christian, 72, travels from her home in Fayette County to Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama. Upon arrival at the school, she meets at the National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care with descendants of the Black men who, like her father, were experimented upon by […]
Metro Nashville Schools get ultimatum from parent group on reopening
A group of Nashville parents has given Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) officials an ultimatum for releasing plans to reopen schools and allowing Metro Public School families the choice of in-person learning. The MNPS Board will meet on Jan. 26. and the group, Let Nashville Parents Choose (LNPC), is asking school officials to discuss the […]
Biden immigration reform bill gives faster path to citizenship
President Joe Biden sent a sweeping immigration reform bill to Congress on his first day in office, and immigrant-advocacy groups have been preparing individuals for a faster path to citizenship. “Today ushers in a brighter, more hopeful future for immigrants and refugees. After four years of harsh immigration policy under Trump, President Joe Biden and […]
Curbside booze sales save restaurants and retailers in 2020
Curbside alcohol sales were the saving grace in an otherwise dismal year for many restaurants and beer retailers, as Tennesseans drowned their sorrows during a socially-distanced pandemic year. In Nashville, the Metro Beer Board was the first entity to pass rules allowing for curbside beer pickup, with the support of its board members and Mayor […]
Education reform advocates weigh in on Lee’s education plans
Leaders of Better Student Outcomes Now, including a Metro Nashville Schools Board member and advocates of school reform, used the opening of Gov. Bill Lee’s special legislative session on education to say the COVID-19 pandemic gives an opportunity to reset education goals. “Not so long ago, Tennessee made national headlines for rapid education improvement, but […]
Shelby County officials vaccine plan to address racial disparities
Shelby County Health Department officials say they have long term COVID vaccination plans to address any potential racial disparities, a particular concern in Memphis, a majority minority city. According to the Tennessee Department of Health, current data shows less than 4% percent of Tennesseans who have received the COVID-19 vaccine identify as Black – and […]
First Latino MNPD captain to head diversity efforts
The Metro Nashville Police Department’s new Chief Diversity Officer, Captain Carlos Lara, plans on spending 2021 improving relationships between the police and minority communities. “There are communities with which we have had a good relationship, communities that we have not gotten in contact with, and communities that we used to have a good relationship with […]
Nashville community group holds ‘public lamentation,’ calls on Lee for COVID-19 relief
Faith leaders and physicians called on Gov. Bill Lee to institute a mask mandate and to use Tennessee’s $741 million earmarked for families to assist Tennesseans on the verge of eviction from COVID-19-related financial losses. Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH) organized the Tuesday event, which was held at St. John AME Church in […]