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Juneteenth in Tennessee
By: John Partipilo, Karen Pulfer Focht and Lookout Staff - June 18, 2023
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
By: John Partipilo, Karen Pulfer Focht and J. Holly McCall - May 12, 2023
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 […]
Election 2022 in photos
By: John Partipilo and Karen Pulfer Focht - November 12, 2022
Throughout the 2022 election cycle in Tennessee, photojournalists John Partipilo and Karen Pulfer Focht documented candidates — and incumbents — debating, speaking at rallies and working polls, culminating on the Nov. 8 Election Day. The pair, with an Election Day assist from Nick Fantasia, captured the stress, excitement and tension of campaigning.
Memphis completes airport renovations
By: Karen Pulfer Focht - February 15, 2022
The $245 million multi-year project at the Memphis International Airport is complete. The modernized and newly renovated B Concourse will officially open the evening Tuesday at 5 p.m. In addition to updated retail, and food/beverage operations the redesign includes the addition of wider corridors, moving walkways, larger boarding areas, higher ceilings and increased natural lighting […]
The year in photos: Part Two
By: John Partipilo, Karen Pulfer Focht and J. Holly McCall - December 30, 2021
In our second gallery of photographs that defined 2020, we share works by photojournalists John Partipilo and Karen Pulfer Focht on topics including the environment, families with special needs children and immigration issues. While 2021 wasn’t characterized by the same type of demonstrations that marked 2020, the year nonetheless had its share of demonstrations by […]
2021: The year in photos
By: J. Holly McCall, John Partipilo and Karen Pulfer Focht - December 28, 2021
Great writing and excellent photojournalism go together like peas and carrots, and the Tennessee Lookout has the good fortune to work with excellent writers and photographers. 2021 was a lesser sibling to 2020, our launch year. If the latter gave us the opportunity to cover Black Lives Matter protests, COVID test sites and bombings, the […]
Tidings of Joy: West Tennessee gets lit
By: Karen Pulfer Focht and Lookout Staff - December 24, 2020
The December holiday season of Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa, is typically anticipated with joy. This year has been epically hard, filled with pandemic, recession, calls for racial justice and election strife. The holiday parties we look forward to? Gone this year. Big church celebrations? Not recommended. But holiday light displays are always accessible. Mask-clad Tennesseans are […]
From the 901: Potential Supreme Court Justice is Rhodes College grad
By: Michael Sangiacomo and Karen Pulfer Focht - September 23, 2020
The news that Rhodes College graduate Amy Coney Barrett is one of the top choices – and possibly the favorite – of President Donald Trump to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court came with pride tinged with sadness at her alma mater. As the debate rages nationally over whether the […]