MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

Henrietta Lacks' Family Reaches Settlement in Fight Over Her Stolen Cells Details of the Novartis agreement aren't public, but the family says it is pleased with the outcome.

A long overdue reckoning for Henrietta Lacks — the Black woman whose cancer cells led to breakthroughs but were harvested without her consent. Novartis has settled a lawsuit by Lacks’ estate that alleged the pharmaceutical giant profited off her cells.
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Students protest after their classmate is taken by ICE Youth at Memphis Business Academy walkout to show support for classmate's mother, and to oppose ICE in Memphis.

"His dreams were left in those two backpacks."

"Hundreds of students at Memphis Business Academy marched outside their Frayser high school [..], chanting the name of a classmate who'd been detained by ICE."
#Tennessee #USA #Protest #Education #Policing #Incarceration #Deportation #EthnicCleansing

This awful story is indicative of the consistent problems we have with government services and why "more of the same" isn't what we need in Shelby County. While the MHA isn't under county authority (it's funded by HUD at the federal level), the issues here aren't uncommon.

Jerricia Harris felt blessed when she received her Section 8 voucher from the Memphis Housing Authority. But a recent increase in her rent is threatening her ability to stay in her home — and she’s not the only tenant with unexpected rent charges.

Read more here👇
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Bernard LaFayette, leader of Selma voting rights campaign, dead at 85 Rev. Bernard Lafayette, who led the 1965 voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama, an effort marked by violence toward civil rights workers, died Thursday at age 85.LaFayette’s son, Bernard…

Rev. Bernard Lafayette, who led the 1965 voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama, an effort marked by violence toward civil rights workers, died Thursday at age 85.

via @tennesseelookout.com

Students protest after their classmate is taken by ICE Students at Memphis Business Academy organized a protest on Feb. 27 in support of their classmate, a junior named Yasser, who was detained by ICE a week earlier. Photo by Andrea Morales / MLK50 Hun…

Hundreds of students at the Memphis Business Academy marched outside their Frayser high school Friday, chanting the name of a classmate who’d been detained by ICE a week earlier.

Read more here 👇

For the least of these, Jesse Jackson made “I Am Somebody” real Jesse Jackson gets into a car after a visit to the National Civil Rights Museum in 2018. Photo by Andrea Morales / MLK50 There are people whose stature

I wrote this because the Rev. Jesse Jackson made “I am somebody” real

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The AI political resistance has arrived Inside the secret meeting that united the AFL-CIO, the Congress of Christian Leaders, the Progressive Democrats of America, and Steve Bannon.

Inside the secret meeting that led to the AI political resistance

For the least of these, Jesse Jackson made “I Am Somebody” real Jesse Jackson gets into a car after a visit to the National Civil Rights Museum in 2018. Photo by Andrea Morales / MLK50 There are people whose stature

There are people whose stature and legacy loom so large that their name instantly conjures a powerful image in the minds of the public. The Rev. Jesse Jackson evokes many such images, all of historic import.

mlk50.com/2026/03/03/f...

The campus provided a sympathetic and accessible space for new approaches to theater when the most well-known theater programs in the city were majority white. #BlackHistoryMonth

How LeMoyne-Owen College grew Memphis’ Black theater scene Source image: Students in a MAP-South drama class practice a scene from “Go Down Moses” at LeMoyne-Owen College in 1969. From left are: Carol Gibbs, 15; Quincy Mosby, 13; Carolyn Brooks, 15; Franki…

Local media often gave more coverage to larger theater programs like the University of Memphis, Rhodes College and Theatre Memphis. But as a center for Black culture in Memphis, LeMoyne-Owen played a vital role in creating momentum for Black theater.
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Louisiana bets big on ‘blue ammonia.’ Communities along Cancer Alley brace for the cost. Carbon capture hasn’t delivered major climate benefits — and the plants would still emit thousands of tons of pollution.

Along Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, residents say new ammonia and fertilizer projects could add pollution to communities already facing some of the highest industrial health risks in the U.S.

The People's Perspective Made with Fillout, the best way to make forms, surveys and quizzes your audience will answer.

Because your time matters, everyone who completes it is entered to win one of five $100 Kroger gift cards.

Your perspective is not a footnote. Itʼs what matters.

Click here to add your voice 👇
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This record belongs to you, #Memphis.

The People's Perspective is being built right now. What you're experiencing—the challenges, the gaps, the things that go unseen—becomes part of it.

The survey takes about 10 minutes.

Memphis leaders want to close Ida B Wells. Parents say there’s no school like it. Ida B. Wells Academy only has 84 enrolled students, leaving the building with 400 open seats. (Bri Hatch / Chalkbeat) This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters…

Memphis-Shelby County leaders plan to close up to 15 schools in the next 3 years because of rising facilities costs and chronic underenrollment. The school board is expected to vote on the first 5 closure recommendations.

Risky, high-speed chases explode under Memphis Safe Task Force Photo courtesy of The Institute for Public Service Reporting Memphis This story is republished with permission from The Institute for Public Service Reporting Memphis. Read the original story here.…

The overwhelming majority of the task force’s vehicle pursuits — 66 — were conducted by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, which has mushroomed in size here since Sept., when Gov. Bill Lee began sending scores of troopers to Memphis to aid the surge.

This can't exist without the people who experience #Memphis each and every day.

Click here to complete the survey 👇
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A record is being built.

The People's Perspective is a public record of what Memphis is actually experiencing—what's working, what's failing, what's urgent, what's unseen.

The survey takes 10 mins. Because your time matters, everyone who completes it is entered to win 1 of 5 $100 Kroger gift cards

Rebecca Cadenhead: mlk50.com/author/rebec...
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Like Wells, MLK50 is committed to holding the feet of the people in power to the fire & sharing the stories of the silenced. We need the support of our community to continue delivering the reporting Memphis needs. Will you donate to support independent journalism in Memphis? mlk50.co/3K1gHuX

Investigative journalist Ida B. Wells exposed the inequity and the mistreatment of Black folks across the South. Wells was threatened and forced out of Memphis. It was not the law that protected Wells; it was her community and individuals who benefited from her outspoken bravery.

The First Amendment is meant to protect freedom of speech & freedom of the press, but the actions of the current administration have proven otherwise. While journalism plays a vital role in holding those in power accountable and keeping communities informed, many journalists are being silenced.

📍The free press is under attack.
📍Reporters are being threatened and belittled.
📍Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were arrested for covering a protest.
📍The Washington Post’s federal government reporter had her home raided by the FBI and then more than 300 people were laid off from The Post.

‘He gave me my wings’: Jesse Jackson opened doors for Black women in politics Jackson, who died Tuesday, worked to diversify the electorate and brought Black women into Democratic politics who ascended to positions of power.

Jackson, who died Tuesday, worked to diversify the electorate and brought Black women into Democratic politics who ascended to positions of power.

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Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights icon, dies at 84 “Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement Tuesday.

“Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement Tuesday.

www.nbcnews.com/news/obituar...

‘A different set of rules’: Thermal drone footage shows Musk’s AI power plant flouting clean air regulations Left: Thermal drone imagery captured by Floodlight shows more than a dozen unpermitted turbines operating at xAI’s gas plant in Southaven, Miss. Right: Standard aerial image of the same site. Photo…

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is continuing to fuel its data centers with unpermitted gas turbines, according to a @floodlightnews.org investigation. Thermal drone footage shows xAI is still burning gas at a facility in Southaven, Miss., despite a recent EPA ruling.

Mayor avoids talk of Trump’s task force during ‘State of the City’ speech Memphis Mayor Paul Young delivers his State of the City address at First Baptist Church Broad in Binghampton on Tuesday. Photo by Kevin Wurm / MLK50 / CatchLight Local / Report For America Memphis …

Memphis Mayor Paul Young did not mention the city’s cooperation with the #Memphis Safe Task Force during his State of the City address on Tuesday, instead describing Memphis’ progress under his leadership in celebratory terms.

If democracy dies in darkness, let's celebrate the people who are shedding some light. Here's our @surf.social feed of independent media outlets and journalists, including @marisakabas.bsky.social, @defector.com, @mlk50.com, @404media.co and many more.

📌 bsky.app/profile/flip...

In its first two months, the Memphis Safe Task Force arrested thousands. Only 6% appear to be white • Tennessee Lookout In its first two months, the Memphis Safe Task Force arrested thousands of people. Only 6% appear to be white.

More than 3,000 people were arrested during the first two months of the Memphis Safe Task Force’s deployment. Only 6% of them appeared to be white, according to an @mlk50.com analysis.