Vital link detailed between support groups, AfricanAmerican women with breast cancer. Community, Page 8
VOL. 69, No. 9
POLITICS 2020
Early Voting numbers are in; Super Tuesday is March 3
BTW sweeps the 15-A District Championships. Sports, Page 14
February 27 - March 4, 2020
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Mayor Harris amplifies on State of the County
by Erica R. Williams
Special to The New Tri-State Defender
Early voting for the presidential primary election has concluded in Shelby County and now Tennessee voters are preparing for Super Tuesday on March 3. It is called Super Tuesday because it is when the greatest number of states hold presidential primary elections and caucuses. Those events determine how many delegates candidates will have at their party conventions later this year. The results are crucial because they can boost or bust a candidate’s presidential nomination bid. In Shelby County, so far, 43,698 voters have cast their ballots, according to a preliminary report from the Shelby County Election Commission Tuesday. The report also showed an overwhelming number of Democrat voters (34,263) compared to 9,435 Republicans. Linda Phillips, Shelby County Election Commission administrator, is expecting a similar turnout next week. “There’s just a lot of local and national interest surrounding the Democratic race this year,” Phillips said. “So I think we’ll continue to see more Democrats come out on Election Day.” Many of the presidential candidates have garnered local support from prominent Shelby County leaders. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is a national co-chair for billionaire and former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg’s campaign. “He was a really good mayor of New York City for 12 years. He lowered crime, increased graduation rates, brought in half a million jobs to New York, so he was extraordinarily successful,” Strickland has said about Bloomberg. Other Bloomberg supporters include former U.S. representative Harold Ford Sr. and Tennessee State Rep. London Lamar (District 91). Lamar also serves as outreach director for Bloomberg 2020 Tennessee. “Mr. Bloomberg’s economic policies for black communities – if implemented – I feel will be the best for cities like Memphis,” London told The New Tri-State Defender earlier this month during the opening ceremony
For Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, seen here delivering his second State of the County address, driving conversations that matter to a broad swath of the community is a self-defined goal. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises)
Erica R. Williams
Special to The New Tri-State Defender
There is more to be done. That is the theme Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris hammered home throughout his second State of the County address delivered Feb. 21 at Collierville High School. He echoed the same sentiments days later when we met for a one-on-one interview in his Downtown office. Harris considers his office an “advocacy organization that sparks dialogue on issues that matter to the public.” The mayor certainly has pushed
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the envelope on conversations surrounding livable wages for county employees, criminal justice reform and a progressive plan for public transit. He is quick to point out many of the complex issues that still exist, including high rates in poverty and ex-felon recidivism, crumbling school buildings and an outdated public transit system. Still, he said progress has been made. Just a few days after his State of the County speech, Harris doubled down on his plans for Shelby County, including an additional proposal for funding public transit, another massive investment in education and the plans to lift thousands of
residents out of poverty. Harris, a Democrat, was sworn in as the sixth mayor of Shelby County on Sept. 1, 2018. He graduated from Overton High School and earned a law degree at Yale Law School. He was elected to the Memphis City Council in 2011 and to the Tennessee Senate in 2014. Here are highlights from his interview with The New Tri-State Defender: TSD: You just gave your second State of the County address. How do you feel
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AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH
Descendents of Memphis beauty remember 1929, historic movie debut by Dr. Sybil C. Mitchell
Special to The New Tri-State Defender
Georgia Rodgers Woodruff was a gifted, 22-year-old pianist working under the tutelage of Miss Lucie E. Campbell at Central Baptist Church in South Memphis. But it was her angelic soprano voice that landed her in King Vidor’s epic AfricanAmerican movie “Hallelujah” in 1929. “We called her ‘Money,’ said Woodruff’s
granddaughter Erlene Carter. “She was always, and I mean always, dressed to the nines. Our grandmother looked like money, and she was beautiful. Even without make-up, she was stunning, but when you saw her anywhere, that face was camera-ready.” Carter’s mother, Rubye Woodruff Carter, was Ms. Georgia’s only child. The story of her mother’s breakout movie role was has been part of the family lore as long as she can remember. Now, Ms. Rubye’s daughters, twins Erlene
and Verlene Carter, and older sister, Evelyn Carter, are keepers of the legacy. “Of course, when I was growing up, I didn’t see my mother as this larger-than-life woman,” said Rubye Carter. “She was just ‘Mama’ to me. But her wonderful story was instilled in me, I guess, from the time I got here. “This was before I was born, but she played under Miss Lucie Campbell who wrote so
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Georgia Rodgers Woodruff (Courtesy photo)
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