Author

J. Holly McCall

J. Holly McCall

Holly McCall has been a fixture in Tennessee media and politics for decades. She covered city hall for papers in Columbus, Ohio and Joplin, Missouri before returning to Tennessee with the Nashville Business Journal. Holly brings a deep wealth of knowledge about Tennessee’s political processes and players and likes nothing better than getting into the weeds of how political deals are made.

Equity Alliance survey shows Black and Hispanic Nashvillians experiencing pandemic hardships at high rates

By: - September 16, 2020

Nashville nonprofit The Equity Alliance released a study Wednesday giving data that backs up anecdotal assertions that minority communities in the Nashville/Davidson County are experiencing pandemic-related hardships at higher rates than white ones.  The community assessment study, titled “Our Fair Share,” was contracted by Metro Council and Nashville Mayor John Cooper, who selected The Equity […]

Vice-Mayor Jim Shulman (top) and Interim Nashville Police Chief John Drake. (Photo: Vice-Mayor Jim Shulman)

Nashville interim chief wants focus on de-escalation, says harassment has been investigated

By: - September 12, 2020

Community policing, peer support for police officers and additional training in de-escalation are ways to reallocate police funding, Metro Nashville Police interim Chief John Drake said Saturday.  Drake was the guest on a weekly “community conversation” Vice Mayor Jim Shulman holds via videoconference. Shulman asked Drake to address allegations of sexual harassment and assault  made […]

(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Tennessee ACLU launches voter turnout project

By: - September 9, 2020

Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Jason Isbell is working with the ACLU Tennessee on a campaign to mobilize Tennesseeans to vote via mail-in ballot or early voting for the November election. The campaign, called “Vote Like Your Rights Depend on It,” will feature a video from Isbell, virtual events, educational materials, social media tips and the […]

COMMENTARY
Brandon Ward (blue shirt) argues with Sully Barrett in mask. (Photo John Partipilo)

Commentary: Vigilantes not wanted

By: - September 1, 2020

This summer of political upheaval, protests and occasional violence has given Americans many troubling images –– the most recent of which was video of 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse freely walking the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin with an assault rifle last week both before and after shooting three people and killing two of them.  Rittenhouse was apparently […]

Family members of Pervis Payne were in attendance during a meeting led by the Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association at the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee on Monday Aug. 31, 2020. The group gathered to ask for DNA testing in the death penalty case of Pervis Payne. Payne is a black man with an intellectual disability who was convicted of killing a white woman and her daughter in Millington, Tennessee. He is scheduled to be executed Dec. 3rd, 2020. His sister Rolanda Holman is at left, his father Elder Carl Payne (center) ( photo by © Karen Pulfer Focht)

Memphis coalition pushes District Attorney for DNA tests in death penalty case

By: - September 1, 2020

A coalition of victims’ and civil rights groups, churches and professional organizations held a press conference Monday at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis to urge District Attorney General Amy Weirich to permit DNA testing in the death penalty case of Pervis Payne. Payne was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death […]

Nashville, Tenn. - Hanging a banner on the former statue of Edward Carmack designating the space "Ida B. Wells Plaza." (Photo: Alex Kent)

Black Caucus rips state’s top two leaders

By: - August 26, 2020

In a Wednesday press conference, members of the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators sharply criticized the state’s top two elected officials’ handling of racial issues. Specifically, caucus members denounced Gov. Bill Lee for ignoring an Aug. 2 caucus letter asking him for an emergency meeting to discuss treatment of protesters at the Tennessee Capitol […]

Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 18 - Celebration of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. (Photo: Alex Kent)

Historic Hermitage Hotel hosts 19th Amendment celebrations

By: - August 19, 2020

By the time the 19th Amendment passed on August 18, 1920, efforts for women to gain the right to vote had been in progress for over 70 years. In 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention adopted a Declaration of Sentiments, which included a resolution urging women to get the right to vote. After a number of […]

Clockwise from top left: Rep. London Lamar, Councilmember at Large Sharon Hurt, Sen. Brenda Gilmore, Knox County School Board Member Evetty Satterfield, Rupa Blackwell, Tullahoma Chamber of Commerce.

With Harris keynoting DNC, Tennessee’s elected women of color react

By: - August 19, 2020

The selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as vice-presidential running mate to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden last week has been lauded for its historic nature. Harris is the first woman of color to be named to one of the top positions on a presidential tickets and one of only a few women of any […]

"My voice, my right" protest in Franklin Monday. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Franklin protest of recent legislation draws hostility from Confederate statue supporters

By: and - August 18, 2020

A protest in Franklin of a controversial bill the legislature passed recently devolved into shoving when counter protesters became agitated over chalk graffiti on the Confederate statue in the town’s square. The “My Voice, My Right” protest was organized by a coalition of groups and individuals including the Franklin Equity and Justice Coalition, Franklin Teens […]

COMMENTARY
A Tennessee state trooper chases a protester holding a sign on 5th Avenue, N. in Nashville, across from the Cordell Hull Office Building. (Photo: Ray Di Pietro)

Commentary: The spirit of Bull Conner is alive and well in Tennessee

By: - August 18, 2020

If you wonder why many Americans, white as well as Black, distrust law enforcement, you need only visit the Tennessee State Capitol and the Cordell Hull Office Building to get an answer. Over the last couple of years, Tennessee Highway Patrol officers tasked with keeping law and order for the General Assembly, have devolved to […]

Equality March through Pulaski. (Photo: Jaymi Ray)

Pulaski holds weekend Equality March

By: - August 17, 2020

The sumner’s Black Lives Matter protests and marches calling for an end to police brutality have extended past Tennessee’s large cities to small communities in rural areas. Saturday, Pulaski joined the roster of towns to hold what organizers termed an “Equality March,” an event particularly fitting to some participants: The county seat of Giles County, […]