The UCLA ophthalmologist worked to combat blindness in underserved communities. By SHAWNA WILLIAMS (Jun 6, 2019) Retired University of California, Los Angeles, ophthalmologist Patricia Bath, an inventor whose research on lasers advanced…
Legendary Cicely Tyson Gets Honorary Academy Award
(Feb. 2019) There’s Black girl magic on the front and the back cover of TIME magazine’s 2019 Optimists issue. The cover features the legendary Cicely Tyson and was guest-edited by visionary filmmaker…
Oldest Black-Owned Grocery Store Shuts Down After 51 Years
Leon’s Thriftway, the country’s oldest Black-owned grocery store located in Kansas City, Missouri, has closed its doors marking the end of 51 years in business. Leon Stapleton, the store’s owner, is now…
Carl A. Cowan 1902-1985, Knoxville, TN
Carl Cowan was born in Knoxville and lived in Mechanicsville on College Street, near the Knoxville College campus, with his father and mother, Hugh and Maggie, and his younger brother, Clause. Cowan…
Unita Blackwell, 1st Black Woman Mississippi Mayor Died
Civil Rights Icon and the first black woman mayor in the State of Mississippi. Unita Blackwell died May 13, 2019, in Biloxi, Mississippi of complications of dementia at the age of 86…
Top 3 USA Pageants Culminate in Historic First
By Patricia Williams For the first time in the history of the top beauty pageants in the country, three Black women are simultaneously wearing crowns as 2019 Miss USA, Miss Teen USA,…
Davene Delories (Davis) Thomas, Accomplished Pianist Died
Arlington , TX – On April 3, 2019, Davene Delories (Davis) Thomas, 77, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee and former resident of Paducah, Kentucky, departed her earthly home on Wednesday April 3, 2019 at Arlington Memorial Hospital in Arlington, Texas.
Remains of WWII Tuskegee Airman Buried with Honors
Seventy-five years after his fighter plane crashed in Austria, Tuskegee Airman Capt. Lawrence E. Dickson was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, March 23, 2019. Air Force jets roared…
Legal Lessons from a Member of the Central Park Five
One of the Central Park Five will be the featured speaker tonight Feb. 25th at 6 pm in the UT-Knoxville Student Union Ballroom 272C. Yusef Salaam will address “Visions of American Criminal…
Lecture Explores White Supremacy, Black Nationalism, and The Civil Rights Movement
“BENDING THE ARC OF THE MORAL UNIVERSE: WHITE SUPREMACY, BLACK NATIONALISM, AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT” will be the subject of guest speaker Prof. Hasan Kwame Jeffries at the Fourth Annual Fleming-Morrow…
Celebrating Past and Present Episcopal Trailblazers
The Rev. Phoebe A. Roaf, Bishop elect of the Episcopalian Diocese of West Tennessee, will be the guest speaker at a community-wide Celebration of the Life and Work of The Blessed Absalom…