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Nashville Pride 2023
Thousands celebrated the rights of LGBTQ Tennesseans on Saturday and Sunday in Nashville, including First Lady Jill Biden, who spoke to crowds on Bicentennial Mall in the shadow of Tennessee’s Capitol. “We know there are those who wish to undo the hard-won progress that this community has made and tomorrow we will brave those battles […]
Juneteenth in Tennessee
Tennesseans didn’t wait until Monday to celebrate Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the date in 1865 when enslaved Texans learned they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. In May, Gov. Bill Lee signed a law recognizing Juneteenth as a state holiday, two years after President Joe Biden declared it a federal holiday. Cities […]
The new civil rights leaders
In March 2021, the Tennessee Lookout published a photo essay on Nashvillians who participated in the Freedom Rides of the early 1960s — a series of protests against segregation on private bus lines — coupled with narratives taken from interviews with area Freedom Riders. So in early 2022, photojournalist John Partipilo began working on his […]
“Moral Monday” event draws thousands to Tennessee Capitol
More than 1,000 people marched to the Tennessee Capitol on Monday as part of Bishop William Barber’s “Moral Monday” movement to press lawmakers to pass safe gun laws. Barber, who began leading similar events in North Carolina in 2013, joined with Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, for Monday’s event. The two have been close since meeting […]
A wild two weeks in Tennessee culminates with reinstatement of expelled lawmakers
Days after Democratic Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis were expelled from the House of Representatives for leading a protest for safe gun laws, both men were reinstated to their seats: Jones was reappointed by the Metro Nashville Council on Monday, walking from the Historic Nashville Courthouse to the Tennessee Capitol, […]
Photo essay: Nashville reels after six killed in Monday school shooting
A beautiful spring morning devolved into chaos Monday, as emergency vehicles sped to the scene of a mass shooting at Covenant School in the Green Hills part of Nashville. Area schools, public and private, went on lockdown and frantic parents tried to reach their children. A shooter killed six at Covenant, including three children attending […]
“Slay hate” rally draws hundreds in Nashville
A Nashville rally sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign drew hundreds to protest recently-passed Tennessee laws that criminalize some drag performers and performances and prevent parents from providing their children with gender-affirming care. “Slay the Hate: Fight Back Tennessee,” featured appearances by several drag performers and remarks from LGBTQ leaders. The event was one of […]
A Nashville institution closes
Visitors to Nashville seeking favorite restaurants among locals have for 40 years been directed to a modest brick and cinderblock building, from which plates of roast beef and fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, turnip greens and whipped potatoes, banana pudding and improbably delicious hot pepper chocolate pie have issued by numbers uncountable. But on Saturday, […]
A civil rights leader comes home.
The campus of American Baptist College has changed little since Rev. Bernard Lafayette moved to Nashville in 1960 to attend seminary. A handful of neat red brick buildings, built in the 1920s and 30s, still cluster in the shadow of the headquarters of the newer National Baptist Convention off Brick Church Pike in North Nashville. […]