The Tri-State Defender - February 26, 2026

Shelby County property tax rate expected to drop 3

By James Coleman TSD Contributing Writer

Shelby County’s property owners are set for an unscheduled tax rate cut after the state comptroller’s office overshot on appeal revenue applied to last year’s appraisals.

Shelby County Assessor of Property Javier Bailey informed the Board of Commissioners of the potential windfall from the $17.5 million “cushion” during the Wednesday, Feb. 18, Budget and Finance Committee meeting.

The current rate of $2.69 is expected to drop between “three and four pennies” in 2027. State law requires property tax revenue to remain revenue-neutral following reappraisals. Tax rates are set every four years after appraisals. The most recent was in 2025.

“The bottom line is you’re going to have to give some of this money back,” Bailey said.

In most years, reappraisals result in higher property values. When that happens, counties are required to lower tax rates to prevent collecting more revenue than the previous year. The appeal funds are made available to reimburse taxpayers whose properties are overvalued during annual assessments.

To date, less than $4 million of the money has been refunded to taxpayers, with projections totaling $6.5 million by the next certification on April 20. Moreover, the overestimates appear to be nearly countywide, with only Millington meeting appeal projections.

The county’s largest city, Memphis, has used 19% of its allowance, while Germantown has reimbursed 37%. Rounding out the estimated refunds are Bartlett at 56%, Collierville at 23% and Lakeland at 5.4%.

“They (Tennessee Comptroller’s Office) are going to come in and say, ‘Shelby County, you’ve got to recapture part of that … whatever that savings is, that quote surplus is, and give that back to the taxpayers,’ ” Bailey said.

Ironically, the projected windfall was set in motion by the comptroller’s office by creating such a large appeal cushion. A worksheet provided by the office sets the rate, and counties are required to abide by the figure. The 2026 projections were a holdover from the 2021 reappraisal year; officials used that in calculating the trend. A similar overshoot occurred in 2021.

“I objected to their using that figure. I said that was an anomaly.” Bailey said. “We thought it should be a little more than half that — about $8 million to $8.5 million — based on what we had seen from the trending of appeals.” However, two groups of lawyers sided with the state, so the larger cushion remained.

Commissioner Michael Whaley also criticized the comptroller’s office. During the 2026 budget season, Shelby County didn’t receive a certified tax rate until June 23 — just over a week before the July 1 budget deadline.

“The earlier we are able to get that back, the better. We didn’t get the certification rate from them until quite late last time, which put us a little behind, I think,” Whaley said.

The comptroller’s office will receive updated numbers from the county in 20 days, although officials have already been notified of the issue. Taxpayers will not receive rebates.

Term-limited Mayor Lee Harris is expected to submit his final budget proposal in late April or early May.

Cohen

announces $17.7 million secured through bipartisan effort for Memphis projects

By Judith Black Moore TSD Contributing Writer

Rep. Steve Cohen announced Friday, Feb. 20, that he secured $17.7 million in federal funding for Memphis projects, describing the package as one of the largest single-year allocations he has delivered to Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District.

“We deliver for Memphis,” Cohen said at a news conference at the Odell Horton Federal Building. “These are important projects.”

Working “across the aisle with a Republican administration,” Cohen said the funding was through the annual appropriations process. “I think it is the second greatest amount of money we have gotten in one year,” he said.

“You can see from the folks who are here, it’s a representation of different issues that are important to our future,” Cohen added. “Whether it’s the airport or historic structures or social projects or fighting crime — it’s helping us to get a step up. We’ve also helped our veterans.”

Since 2021, Cohen has secured roughly $69 million in targeted community funding for the district.

The projects span historic preservation, housing, infrastructure, public safety and youth services.

For Durrell Cowan, founder and executive director of Heal 901, the allocation has immediate implications for the work his organization provides.

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Federal funding to assist social service organizations, historic landmarks and city initiatives

Mayor Paul Young listens during a news conference Friday, Feb. 20, announcing $17.7 million in federal funding for various Memphis organizations and initiatives. “The organizations that are here today represent the best of Memphis,” Young said.

“As a Black-led nonprofit leader whose program lost $1.5 million when the current administration took a contract that we had through the Department of Justice, it was extremely imperative to get some resources back to keep the lifesaving programs we provide through Heal 901 going,” Cowan said.

Heal 901 will benefit from a $1,031,000 allocation to expand the City of Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Initiative into South Memphis.

“I am extremely grateful that Congressman Cohen was able to reach over to the other side of the aisle — understanding how things are in D.C. right now — to make sure that vital dollars were able to come back to this organization,” Cowan said. “This funding is

going to help families, parents … when it comes to our prevention services … . These are the dollars we need for future sustainability.”

One of the largest allocations — $3.1 million — will go toward restoring Historic Clayborn Temple, the organizing site of the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike that was heavily damaged by fire last year.

Anasa Troutman, CEO of The Big We, which oversees the restoration of Clayborn Temple, said the federal commitment ensures the landmark will rise again.

“We now know there is enough of the building left to do a replica of the building and do a real restoration,” Troutman said. “This grant for us is huge. Being able to double our fund-

“You can see from the folks who are here, it’s a representation of different issues that are important to our future. Whether it’s the airport or historic structures or social projects or fighting crime — it’s helping us to get a step up. We’ve also helped our veterans.”

— U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen

raising with this $3.1 million that we got from Congressman Cohen’s office has assured for us that Clayborn Temple will be rebuilt.”

“This is work that the Congressman and our team have been doing before the fire,” Troutman said. “Congressman Cohen has been working to restore Clayborn Temple not just as a response to tragedy but as a commitment to its history.”

Historic Mason Temple, headquarters of the Church of God in Christ and the site of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final “Mountaintop” speech,

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will receive $1.2 million for restoration, rehabilitation and technology upgrades.

“For you to champion this cause for us is meaningful and we appreciate it,” Bishop Brandon Porter said to Cohen. “Memphis is still our home, and what you have given to help us strengthen our facility and in other ways to beautify this spot will help make the touring of Mason Temple meaningful for the many that come through Memphis.”

The long-vacant Sterick Building also will receive $1.2 million toward restoration.

Other projects receiving funding include:

• $1 million for Covenant Gardens Senior Apartments to build 103 affordable housing units

• $850,000 for Monroe Plaza pedestrian improvements

• $850,000 for electrical upgrades at Montgomery Plaza

• $850,000 for University of Memphis Park Avenue campus upgrades

• $850,000 for youth facility renovations and housing for vulnerable families

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• $250,000 for homeless veterans housing renovations

• $250,000 for Southwest Tennessee Community College renovations

• $4.25 million for Memphis International Airport modernization and seismic protection

• $1,031,000 for Memphis Police Department equipment and software upgrades

• $1,031,000 to enhance the Shelby County District Attorney’s Victim/ Witness Unit and support the YWCA Domestic Violence Shelter

Mayor Paul Young said the projects reflect coordinated efforts across sectors.

“The organizations that are here today represent the best of Memphis,” Young said. “We are on a mission for Memphis. We are on a mission to support the needs of our great community.”

■■ NEWS Memphis board votes to close five schools at the end of school year

By Bri Hatch Chalkbeat

Five Memphis-Shelby County schools will close at the end of this school year, forcing more than 1,200 students to attend new schools starting in August.

Memphis board members unanimously voted Tuesday to shut down Georgian Hills Elementary, Lucy Elementary, and Chickasaw Middle without discussion. Frayser-Corning Elementary and Ida B. Wells Academy will close by a split vote of 7-2 and 5-3 respectively.

Michelle McKissack, whose district includes Ida B. Wells, abstained from voting. Several board members recognized that the alternative school was the only recommended closure that received significant pushback, including during the Tuesday meeting.

“Your passion, we all heard it,” McKissack said to school advocates. “Not a single board member up here wants to do this, but we are charged with making difficult decisions and being fiscally responsible.”

This is the first round of recommended closures in the district’s plan to close up to 15 schools by 2028 because of chronic underenrollment and increasing building maintenance costs. Those are growing problems throughout the district, with enrollment dropping quicker than the state average and building upkeep costs estimated to total around $1.6 billion over the next decade.

Chickasaw Middle, for example, would need $3.4 million invested in building repairs or upgrades in the next two years, including replacements of the HVAC and plumbing systems. Frayser-Corning Elementary would

“I never thought that I’d go to college. Like more than half of the students who completed (Ida B. Wells) with me, we all were in unusual circumstances. And without the teachers, who are more than likely the only constants in our lives, I don’t know where I would be.”

— Deja Bowen

need $2.6 million for improvements such as a new electrical system.

Superintendent Roderick Richmond, who was recently promoted from his interim role, recommended the first four schools for closure last September.

Lucy Elementary will be taken over by Millington Municipal Schools, a suburban district, as part of a state mandated transfer agreement.

In a series of community hearings held throughout the winter, parents

fought back against closure recommendations. Some questioned why a high-performing school would be shuttered. Others raised safety concerns about proposals to merge schools with different grade levels to absorb displaced students.

It’s unclear what will happen to affected teachers and school staff. District leaders have said they plan to keep as many employees in MSCS as possible. That was a point of contention during

the vote on Frayser-Corning Elementary school.

“We have to figure out where our teachers are going to go before we close a school,” said board member Towanna Murphy, who voted against closing both Frayser-Corning and Ida B. Wells.

Board member Stephanie Love, whose district includes the Frayser elementary school, also voted against its closure Tuesday. Love and vice chair Joyce Dorse-Coleman joined Murphy in opposing Ida B. Wells’ closure.

During Tuesday’s meeting, a number of parents and alumni from Ida B. Wells made a last-ditch effort to convince board members to keep their school open. The speakers questioned why the school, which is exceeding state expectations for improving student test scores, is being closed.

Deja Bowen attended Ida B. Wells from fourth through eighth grade and graduated high school in 2019. She now attends University of Memphis and is planning to join the Air Force as a nurse.

“I never thought that I’d go to college,” Bowen said. “Like more than half of the students who completed (Ida B. Wells) with me, we all were in unusual circumstances. And without the teachers, who are more than likely the only constants in our lives, I don’t know where I would be.”

Several rows of audience members wearing the school colors of blue and yellow stood in support of Ida B. Wells during public comment.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at bhatch@ chalkbeat.org.

Hundreds celebrate release of Rev. James Lawson’s memoir ‘Nonviolent’ at NCRM

Award-winning journalist Emily Yellin joins Lawson’s son John for evening of scintillating stories

By Lee Eric Smith TSD Contributing Writer

ASa child, the Rev. James Lawson Jr. chose nonviolence. And he would spend the rest of his life applying it as a strategy — using it not as retreat, but as a disciplined way of fighting back, dismantling discrimination and confronting what he called the deeper, systemic violence embedded in American life.

That dual legacy — moral conviction and tactical rigor — framed a book launch Friday, Feb. 20, at the National Civil Rights Museum, where Lawson’s newly released memoir, “Nonviolent: A Memoir of Resistance, Agitation, and Love,” was celebrated in a room filled with movement veterans, sanitation worker families and a new generation still wrestling with the same questions Lawson confronted decades ago.

Moderated by journalist and activist Carol Jenkins, the program featured Lawson’s eldest son, John C. Lawson II, and journalist Emily Yellin, who spent years working with Lawson to bring his voice to the page.

But the story at the heart of the evening began long before Nashville, Birmingham or Memphis. It began with a boy growing up in Ohio. “There’s got to be a better way.”

Lawson was 8 years old when he slapped a white child who had called him a racial slur. He went home

and confessed to his mother — “Big Mama,” as the family called her — expecting sympathy.

Instead, she asked a simple question: What good did that do?

Then she told him: “There’s got to be a better way.”

For Lawson, his son said, that moment became spiritual and strategic at the same time. It was the last time he chose violence. And it marked the beginning of a lifelong search for that “better way.”

On Friday night, that childhood decision was presented not as naïveté, but as the foundation of one of the most sophisticated organizing philosophies of the Civil Rights Movement.

Nonviolence as discipline

“People think of nonviolence as passive,” Yellin told the audience. “But it wasn’t. You do get angry. You do fight back. You just don’t imitate your oppressor.”

That distinction — fight back without becoming what you resist — became Lawson’s life work.

After refusing to register for the draft during the Korean War, Lawson served 13 months in federal prison. From prison, and later in India studying Gandhian philosophy, he sharpened his understanding of nonviolence not as sentiment, but as structure.

By the time he arrived in Nashville in the late 1950s, Lawson was training students in what amounted to tactical rehearsals: how to sit at a lunch counter without reacting, how to absorb insults, how to remain disciplined under attack.

In the book, he lays out written guidelines for demonstrators: Do not strike back; do not curse; remain courteous; remember your purpose. The list reads less like piety and more like military preparation.

“He saw it as training,” Yellin said. “As much preparation as being in the military.”

From those workshops emerged names that would shape history — including John Lewis and Diane Nash — and a model for direct action that spread across the South.

Not spontaneous. Not accidental.

Yellin also pushed back against one of the most persistent myths of the Civil Rights Movement — that its defining moments were spontaneous.

“Everybody acts like Rosa Parks was just tired,” she said dismissively. “Uh, No.”

The Montgomery Bus Boycott was planned, strategized and tested. The decision about when to act, who would act and how the community would respond was deliberate, Yellin said.

The same was true in Nashville, she said. The sit-ins that would help crack segregation across the South did not erupt because someone wanted a cup of coffee. Lawson and local organizers spent months meeting, listening, identifying targets and training students before a single lunch counter was occupied.

“They prepared for a year,” Yellin said. “They talked to people. They figured out where the problem was. They tested it.”

Nonviolence, in other words, was not improvisation. It was infrastructure. That extended even to leadership.

Lawson and Martin Luther King Jr., Yellin explained, were intentional about roles. King would often become the public face — the one who could command national attention. Lawson, by agreement, would frequently remain behind the scenes: recruiting, strategizing, building structures that could survive arrests and backlash.

“He was the strategist,” Yellin said. “Somebody had to stay out of jail and plan.”

The movement was not built around a single charis-

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matic figure, she added, but around cultivated leaders. In Nashville, Lawson helped shape and mentor young activists such as Lewis and Nash, placing them at the forefront while ensuring the architecture of resistance remained steady behind them.

There would be marches. There would be arrests. There would be cameras. But there also would be meetings, rehearsals, contingency plans and a carefully distributed leadership structure designed to outlast any one personality. That, too, was nonviolence.

Memphis: Poverty as violence

If desegregation was phase one, economic justice was phase two.

When Lawson came to Memphis in 1962, he encountered poverty he described as “deep … prevalent and vicious in a way I had not seen before in the United States.”

On Friday, Jenkins drew a straight line from that observation to today’s child poverty statistics, arguing that Lawson and Martin Luther King Jr. were moving beyond civil rights toward human rights — toward confronting what Lawson called structural violence.

“Reverend Lawson considered poverty violence,” Yellin said. “In the richest country in the world, people (are) living in poverty — that’s not accidental.”

“Reverend Lawson considered poverty violence. In the richest country in the world, people (are) living in poverty — that’s not accidental.”

— Emily Yellin

what his father sometimes described as “plantation capitalism.”

The sanitation strike of 1968, born with the now-iconic “I AM A MAN” declaration, was not only about dignity on the job. It was about wages, families and survival.

The audience at the book launch reflected that history. Family members of sanitation workers sat alongside museum leaders, longtime activists and young performers from Memphis Jazz Workshop. The evening’s music — “This Little Light of Mine,” “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” and a rousing, updated “Which Side Are You On?” — functioned less as nostalgia than as reminder.

Family ties

Yellin’s connection to Lawson was not academic. She first met him when she was 5 years old, growing up in Memphis, where her parents were active in documenting the sanitation strike and interviewing movement leaders.

She and John Lawson attended elementary school together. Decades later, after building a journalism career that included work for The New York Times, she reconnected with James Lawson while producing a 2018 project on the sanitation strike.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, she asked him if he had ever thought about writing his memoir?

“He said my family’s been wanting me to do this forever,” Yellin recalled. “And I said, well, I would love to help you.”

John Lawson told the audience the final decision rested with his mother, Dorothy Lawson, his father’s partner of 64 years. “When Mom said yes,” he said, “the vote was done.”

A continuum, not a chapter

James Lawson, who died in 2024 at age 95, never saw nonviolence as a relic of the 1960s.

His son recounted that even from a hospital bed, Lawson was watching news coverage of campus protests and talking about organizing students into disciplined, nonviolent movements.

John Lawson echoed that framework, recalling conversations between his father and King about tearing down “whites only” signs first — then turning toward

“The struggle for justice and equality in this country is not an end point,” John Lawson said. “It’s a continuum.”

COMMUNITY

Southaven residents oppose xAI air permit for 41 natural gas turbines at public hearing

By Alex Rozier Mississippi Today

In a room of a couple hundred attendees, not one spoke in favor of a proposed air permit for an Elon Muskowned operation in Southaven during a two-and-a-half hour public hearing.

MZX Tech LLC, a part of Musk’s xAI artificial intelligence company, applied for permits to construct and operate 41 natural gas turbines in the north Mississippi city. Those turbines would power the company’s nearby data centers, which include two just across the state line in Memphis as well as a recently announced $20 billion investment in Southaven.

Mississippi’s environmental permit board, which is made up of seven appointees from several state agencies, will decide whether to approve or deny MZX Tech’s application.

The South African-born billionaire has already funded 27 “mobile-temporary” turbines at the Stanton Road facility. Mississippi regulators maintain those turbines don’t require an air permit because of their “mobile-temporary” designation. Environmental lawyers disagree, and for months residents have complained about the turbines’ uncounted emissions and perpetual high-pitched humming.

The hearing, held Tuesday, Feb. 17, by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, affirmed and amplified those concerns. About 30 audience members spoke — few stayed under their allotted three minutes, and all either expressed fear of the turbines’ potential pollution, asked the agency to reject the application or requested MDEQ shut down the already operating generators.

Taylor Logsdon, a mother of three who lives less than half a mile from the plant, said two of her children have

developed respiratory problems just in the few months since xAI’s temporary turbines began running over the summer. Her eczema has spread “dramatically” in the last month, which

her dermatologist attributed to formaldehyde exposure, Logsdon said. Formaldehyde is a known release from gas production, but without a permit xAI’s exact releases are un-

known. Logsdon called the state’s lack of information on the turbines’ releases “irresponsible.” She and other members of a local advocacy group called the Safe and Sound Coalition donned T-shirts reading, “not all money is good money.”

“Since August, we have slowly fallen out of love with where we decided to grow our family,” she said.

Chestela Farmer, another mother who said she lives less than a half mile from the plant, said she’s recently felt increased shortness of breath and seen more frequent asthma flare ups.

“My family shouldn’t be forced to live in fear of long-term health consequences simply because pollution is being allowed to continue and expand,” Farmer said. “I never thought after 23 years here I would have to fight for the basic right to breathe clean air in my own house.”

A number of Southaven residents

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complained of the noise the turbines made, a concern they raised over the summer. In November, the city’s mayor, Darren Musselwhite, a supporter of the xAI investments, said the company assured him that any noise issues would be resolved in a matter of days. Yet just before the Tuesday hearing, Mississippi Today reporters could clearly hear the constant humming near homes less than a mile away from the facility.

Devan Jenkins, whose family has lived in a nearby neighborhood for five generations, described it as a “deep, constant drone that vibrates in your house.”

No officials from the city of Southaven or xAI spoke during the hearing.

Several residents pointed to the already poor air quality in the area. Last year, the American Lung Association gave DeSoto County — where Southaven is located — an “F” grade for high ozone, or smog.

The public hearing also saw attendees from neighboring Memphis, including Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson. In 2023, the Republican-led Tennessee House expelled Pearson and another representative because of a gun protest at the capitol. They regained their seats in a special election. Pearson also co-founded Memphis Community Against Pollution, which pushed back

against unpermitted xAI turbines there.

“The consequences of this air pollution are going to be in Southaven, in the Horn Lake area, but it’s also going to be in the Westwood and Whitehaven communities that I represent in Memphis,” he said. “Pollution doesn’t care

about the imaginary boundary between states, which is why we have to have solidarity.”

The hearing came just days after the Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice, on behalf of the NAACP, sent a notice of their intent to

sue over the use of the “mobile-temporary” turbines. The letter — addressed to Musk, xAI, EPA, Gov. Tate Reeves, MDEQ and others — argues the use of the turbines without a permit violates the Clean Air Act.

STAX Music Academy presents ‘A Century of Soul: Facing Our History’

Student-run production celebrates Black history and Black music in Memphis and beyond

By Candace A. Gray TSD Contributing Writer

Stax Music Academy, inextricably linked to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, is paying homage to its roots with its latest production “A Century of Soul: Facing Our History.” The completely student-run production will take place Friday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at The Coronet, located at 5770 Shelby Oaks Drive in Bartlett.

The production narrative centers on a character, Charles, who is on a journey to discover his voice and what he’s meant to do in life. He references history to chart a course for his future.

“The students are paying homage to the artists who have shaped American music over the last 100 years,” said Isaac Daniel, executive director of Stax Music Academy. “The journey begins with spirituals and continues on with gospel, blues, soul and rhythm & blues.”

Stax Music Academy is under the Soulsville Foundation umbrella, along with the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and Soulsville Charter School. The foundation aims to honor the legacy of Stax Records and its artists, whose legacies inspire artists of today.

“This show is a powerful example of storytelling through music and performance. These young artists share the story of African American resilience and cultural contributions, honoring the past while expressing the future they are building,” said Pat Mitchell Worley, president and CEO, Soulsville Foundation. “Now more than ever, it’s essential that young people know the full history of America, and telling our story through song resonates across audiences of all ages while ensuring the

next generation understands the full American story.”

Artists like Booker T. and the MGs, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, B.B. King, Whitney Houston, Frankie Beverly & Maze and a host of other musical giants will be celebrated and covered throughout the show. An original student composition will also be featured.

“Not only will our students explore the incredible musical legacy these giants have contributed to American music, but audience members will have an opportunity to experience the stories behind the music,” added Daniel.

Daniel and his instructors have guided students throughout the preparation of this immense production and equipped them to handle every aspect of the mass undertaking, behind the scenes and out front, from lighting to sound, instrumentation, singing, acting, filming, green screen using AI,

and more.

“I have seen tremendous growth in these students from beginning to now, and I’m so proud of the work they’ve done,” said Daniel. “They have put in so much hard work, and now they see what it takes to put on a production of this magnitude.”

Daniel said there were some tough days, when students wondered why they had to do things over and over. Starting and stopping, and starting again.

“Our instrumentalists were also challenged with sight-reading, which some of them weren’t used to. We’re stretching them in every way,” said Daniel.

A look back into their history also prepared the students for their big weekend. They visited the National Civil Rights Museum ahead of the production.

“We wanted them to understand why we are doing this — and being in

Memphis, it’s important that they see the significance of why we’re doing this here,” said Daniel.

The school is also partnering with Facing History and Ourselves, a national program that uses history lessons to challenge racism, antisemitism and other forms of bigotry and hate. This year’s production is the first of a new series that couples these concepts with music history.

For more than 25 years, Stax Music Academy has been preparing and training students to pursue careers in music, live entertainment and music-related fields. This production is an example and extension of that education.

“Our students have learned the difference between this type of work and being in the studio, where you have a chance to try and try again,” said Daniel. “They’re learning that there’s a standard that must be upheld, and the need for accurate portrayals … this is more than just ‘putting on a live show.’ We are all about excellence!”

And that’s what is expected this weekend.

In addition to an anticipated stellar production, there are a few surprises planned for Friday’s performance.

Attendees can expect to see and hear one of the artists from Memphis performing his or her song that rose to the top of the charts to become one of the greatest songs in American history. Who is it? You’ll have to attend to see.

More than 1,000 Memphis-area students are attending two free daytime shows Thursday, Feb. 19, and Friday, Feb. 20. The public can purchase tickets for Friday night’s production at https:// staxmusicacademy.org/

Learn more at https://staxmusicacademy.org/

Every day is a good day to learn about Black history

Book review

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

For weeks now, you’ve been remembering, studying various subjects, and celebrating Black History Month. But just a reminder: Every day is a good day to learn about Black history. Here are great books that can help. In April 2025, we marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and we remembered the men and women who served. Now step further: In “Until the Last Gun is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and the Fight to Save America’s Soul” by Matthew F. Delmont (Viking, $32), you’ll read about Black soldiers, activists, and protesters who helped bring the war to its end. This book isn’t just about war and peace, though. It’s also about justice, racism and rights, and it’s great for anyone too young to remember. Another book about battlefields — in this case, airfields — is “Forgotten Souls: The Search for the Lost Tuskegee Airmen” by Charyl W. Thompson (Dafina Books, $30). This small book packs 27 tales of airmen who vanished while fighting America’s enemies, and the injustices their families endured after they were lost. Written by the daughter of a Tuskegee airman, this is a must-read if you want a book that will thrill you and sadden you both. Perfect

for young readers, this is also one you’ll want to share with an elder. For readers who want to reach back much more into U.S. Black history, look for “A High Price for Freedom: Raising Hidden Voices from the African American Past” by Clyde W. Ford (Amistad, $30). It’s one of those little-known history books that are intriguing, thought-provoking, enjoyable and hard to put down. Also look for “The Great Resistance: The 400-Year Fight to End Slavery in the Americas” by Carrie Gibson (Grove Atlantic, $35). This is a huge book, but don’t let its size scare you. Its comprehensiveness makes the time it’ll take to read it worth it.

When thinking about Black history, the Cold War era might not come to mind, but “Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America” by Howard Bryant (Mariner, $32) takes readers to those years. It’s the story of two men, one who’d just integrated America’s favorite ball game, and how his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee affected the other man, who was one of the country’s leading Black American athletes and performers. But this book doesn’t stop there: It follows Robeson and Robinson as an equally tumultuous event happened years later and the aftermath of both that, says the author, still resonates today.

‘Evolution’ drives MMBC’s transformation into ‘Mid-South Business Continuum’

Organization will continue to help small businesses get ready for big business

By Lee Eric Smith TSD Contributing Writer

After more than four decades in Memphis’ economic development ecosystem, the Mid-South Minority Business Council Continuum is entering what CEO Jozelle Luster Booker calls its next stage of evolution.

On Thursday, the organization will officially rebrand as “The Mid-South Business Continuum” — a shift Booker says reflects what the institution has already become.

“This is an evolution of who we are,” Booker said Tuesday in an interview with the TSD. “When you’ve been in the marketplace for over 40 years, people get familiar with what they think you do. But we’ve evolved.”

The word “evolution” surfaced repeatedly as Booker described the organization’s trajectory — from a procurement referral council formed to address high unemployment in the Black community, to what is now a systems-driven business infrastructure engine serving companies across the Mid-South.

Over time, she said, the work expanded beyond maintaining a list of minority-owned vendors for corporate buyers.

“When we were first created, the thought was, let’s have a list of companies that we can share with corporate partners,” Booker said. “Today, it’s much more than that.”

For Booker, the greater challenge isn’t explaining what the organization does now — it’s recalibrating public perception.

“When you’ve been in the marketplace for over 40 years, people get familiar with what they think you do,” she said. “We sit down with people all the time and they say, ‘Wow, I didn’t

know you all do that.’”

That perception gap, she said, is one of the primary drivers behind the repositioning.

Over the years, what began as a procurement referral council evolved into what Booker describes as a fully institutionalized business development system — complete with in-house procurement expertise, readiness assessments, scalable tools and lifecycle planning designed to move companies from startup to contract-ready and beyond.

“People who were connected to us five or 10 years ago would see a very different organization today,” Booker said.

Board Chairman Keith Norman has echoed that broader framing, emphasizing that economic inclusion is not simply about access, but about building durable systems that allow entrepreneurs to compete and grow.

“The Mid-South business community is stronger when every entrepreneur has access to opportunity,” Norman said in a statement regarding the rebrand. “This name change reflects our evolution while honoring our legacy. We remain committed to economic growth, but now we can serve more businesses to

create even greater impact.”

The Continuum now operates around what Booker calls a lifecycle model — meeting businesses where they are, assessing readiness, and building a structured path to the “next step on the continuum.”

That structural evolution is backed by measurable scale. According to the organization’s recently released fouryear Economic Impact Report, businesses connected through the Continuum generated more than $1.4 billion in contract awards between 2022 and 2025, supporting more than 31,000 jobs and producing over $319 million in capital awards. Annual economic impact during that period exceeded $700 million.

“The purpose of that report is to show that small business has big return,” Booker said. “Small businesses create significant economic impact for communities.”

The name change also clarifies something that has been true for decades. Although founded as part of a national minority business council structure, the organization broadened its access model in the early 1980s after deciding it was in Memphis’ best interest to serve

a wider range of businesses.

“We made the decision about what was best for Memphis,” Booker said. “We have a model that we believe is best for Memphis.”

The Mid-South Business Continuum will continue connecting small businesses to public and private procurement opportunities through its B2B arm, while its sister 501(c)(3), TADP Inc., will continue pursuing grants and delivering technical assistance to both B2B and B2C firms.

The repositioning language emphasizes “Expanding Access. Powering Progress.”

But Booker is careful to frame the work less as a program and more as a system.

“I am not a proponent of program language,” she said. “I’m a proponent of system and process language.”

At its core, she said, the Continuum focuses on preparing businesses to be “qualified, capable and competitive” — ready to meet demand in the marketplace regardless of shifting policy or political language.

“If you’re not prepared foundationally, it doesn’t matter what program exists,” Booker said.

For Booker, the organization’s evolution is inseparable from Memphis’ own.

“When you create jobs, you give people hope. You strengthen neighborhoods. You improve quality of life,” she said. “We’re not Atlanta. We’re Memphis. And we have to look at what we want Memphis to be.”

After 40 years, the name may be changing. But Booker insists the mission — and the momentum — remain intact.

“This is just the next stage,” she said. “And if you believe in Memphis and want what’s best for Memphis and future generations, come invest.”