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There is much to do and many activities for center-city residents who live in the pockets of like-minded disconnected East Tennesseans in Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Maryville, and the Johnson City, Morristown areas. All are within an hours drive of Knoxville. The East Tennessee Enlightener is excited to share family activities, adult events, and more happenings…
TENNESSEE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE TN State Rep. Gloria Johnson Constituent Update The Tennessee Legislature will vote on these Bills the week of March 7, 2022 Take action to be heard by representatives! An action can be in the form of a phone call, email or both to voice your position on bills. Click on…
Knoxville Area Urban League to hire 20 community health navigators with national funding to bolster vaccination rates KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – (February 23, 2022) – The Knoxville Area Urban League will be able to hire 20 community health navigators after being awarded funding with five other National Urban League affiliates to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates among the…
By Josh Flory KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 2022) – Beauford Delaney grew up in Knoxville and went on to achieve international acclaim as one of the great modernist painters of the 20th Century. In many ways, his achievements were more widely recognized outside of Knoxville than they were local. But a group of local activists and…
A Knox County educator was in the spotlight after earning a national award, a $50,000 prize and an appearance on a daytime talk show! SAN DIEGO—Feb. 15, 2022— In recognition of inspirational teachers nationwide, Melody Hawkins has been named Teacher of the Year by the National University. On Tuesday, Feb. 15, Hawkins, an assistant principal…
Ruth Holloway, Maryville Huddle Women’s March Coalition of East TN ETEnlightener/politics/local/state Actions for Week of February 13, 2022 Oppose TN Gun Bill – HB1735 Seeks to lower the age requirement to obtain an enhanced or concealed handgun carry permit or lawfully carry a handgun in public from 21 to 18 years of age. Yes, that’s…
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 12, 2022) – The Knoxville Animal Welfare Alliance (KAWA) and ChainFree Knoxville have teamed up to advocate for changes to the City of Knoxville animal welfare codes in order to ban the unsupervised tethering of dogs throughout the City of Knoxville. The impact of constant tethering (chained and restricted) has a detrimental…
University of Tennessee-Knoxville Chancellor Donde Plowman recently announced the addition of the Department of Africana Studies. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Board of Trustees unanimously approved a new strategic vision that included the creation of the Department of Africana Studies, which has a 50-plus-year history as a storied program within the College of Arts and…
Knoxville, TN – Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) is partnering with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to double the amount of funding available to local nonprofit organizations through TVA’s Community Care Fund. TVA’s Community Care Fund has $200,000 available for Knoxville-area non-profit organizations addressing hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and KUB will match that amount for a…
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 10, 2022) – The American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC) in partnership with Voter Education Fund will offer Advocacy Training on the importance of civic participation in the Muslim community. The session will be this Friday, February 11, 2022 at 7 pm, at Masjid Annoor, 100 13th St., Knoxville 37916. The discussion…
This Tennessee History for Kids lesson is the second virtual in-service in the last three weeks to focus on African-American history. A virtual presentation, Thursday, Feb. 10, 4:45 to 6:45 Eastern Time. All virtual events are FREE. Attending teachers will receive a certificate showing 2 hours of professional development. Members of the general public and…
A breakdown of hidden politics. Many of Stan Lee’s heroes created for Marvel Comic books, were real with connections to Civil Rights, African history and activists. Stan Lee of Marvel Comics often used his characters and stories as commentaries to express his personal development, morals, US political insights, and Civil rights struggles. His process…
Please save the Date: February 10th, 6PM a Special Forum for BC Director of Schools Search is scheduled at the BC Schools Central Office at 831 Grandview Dr., Maryville. Anti-public school activists plan to be there, so please consider attending to offer a different perspective. Also spread the word.Actions for Week of February 6, 2022 Another TN…
FIRST BOOK TO TRACE ORIGIN OF BLACK PEOPLE FROM 200,000 YEARS AGO ACCORDING TO THE AUTHOR Nationwide (BlackNews.com) — Just in time for Black History Month comes the most definitive history of Blacks and their contributions, not only to the development of civilization but to the advancement of the species. The Clan of Southern Man: And…
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Jan. 25, 2022) – Comcast RISE is seeking applications diverse small business owners. Knoxville Women-Owned Small Business owners are encouraged to apply for two Comcast RISE (Representation, Investment, Strength, and Empowerment) Awards; and the Marketing and Technology Service Awards. The Comcast Corporation has expanded the Comcast RISE Investment Fund to all women-owned…
The Republican legislation aims to purge books and other materials deemed “obscene or harmful to minors” from school libraries. Marta W. Aldrich, Chalkbeat Tennessee Jan 28, 5:58pm CST Earlier this month in East Tennessee, McMinn County’s school board voted to remove “Maus,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, from its required reading…
(January 31, 2022) – The City of Knoxville Housing and Neighborhood Development department needs public feedback on the City’s planned spending of federal dollars intended to support local projects and the revitalization of Knoxville’s low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. This year the Knoxville Housing and Neighborhood Development Director Becky Wade and Community Development Administrator Linda Rust will…
(KNOXVILLE, Tenn.) InterFaith Health Clinic has a new dental services clinic. A grand opening will be on Monday, January 31, at 2607 Kingston Pike, suite 185, Knoxville. InterFaith Health Clinic provides accessible, affordable & quality health care services to low-income working people without health insurance in our community from its main location at 315 Gill…
APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR CITY’S COMMUNITY AGENCY GRANT FUNDING The City of Knoxville is accepting applications from non-profit organizations interested in applying for Community Agency Grant (CAG) funding for the Fiscal Year 2022-23, which begins July 1, 2022. Funding through the CAG program is one of the ways the City supports local arts organizations and social…
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (JANUARY, 22, 2022) – Senators Richard Briggs (R-Dist 7) and Becky Duncan-Massey (R-Dist. 6) have doubled down on intentionally gerrymandering districts to minimize the votes of Black and Brown voters. KCDP Chairman Matt Shears is speaking out against State Senators Richard Briggs and Becky Duncan-Massey’s support of the new gerrymandered State Senate maps…
UScellular and Boys & Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley Announce Seventh Annual Black History Month Art Contest Local UScellular associates will join the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley representatives have kicked off the seventh annual Black History Month Art Contest. Club members will be creating an original 8.5×11 work of art that…
“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” — the United States Postal Service unofficial creed TENNESSEE – The Postal Service is asking customers to help reduce the risk of injuries to your carrier while delivering mail. Please consider clearing snow…
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 1, 2021) – The American Nuclear Society (ANS) honored eighty-five Black civil rights era students from Tennessee, known as the Scarboro-Oak Ridge, TN 85, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with the society’s inaugural Social Responsibility in the Nuclear Community Award for their courage and leadership in pioneering the integration of public…
Young People Earning, Learning, and Working: SEEED is recruiting students for enrollment, as well as professionals and employers to volunteer their expertise for the Spring 2022 Career Readiness Program. SEEED, it’s not misspelled or a typo, but an acronym for “Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development,” which offers pathways out of poverty to young adults 18-24…
MLK Community Conversation: Every Voice Heard, Every Vote Counted Friday, Jan. 14, 7 pm; Virtual panel discussion. Our Civil Rights and 1st Amendment Speech is in grave danger throughout the country, Tennessee and in our own communities. This event will present a discussion of the problem and what we can do to save our basic…