Our video of Indya Kincannon, a school board member running for mayor of Knoxville. Indya considers herself the “progressive” in the race, and has the support of State Representative Gloria Johnson.
Learn more about her HERE.
Our video of Knoxville mayor candidate Marshall Stair, a city council member running for mayor. He’s against vouchers, believes Detective Fritts should’ve been fired, and sees diversity as a strength. He see affordable housing as a major issue facing the city.
Learn more about him HERE.
At the abortion ban hearings last week, Cherisse Scott of Sister Reach stepped up and said what needed to be said, excoriating TN Senate members for “weaponizing the word of God to forward their political agendas”.
Needless to say, they didn’t take Kindly to it. Although MANY of the witnesses were off topic and went over their time, Cherisse was the ONLY witness Bell cut off – and he did it after just 5 minutes.
He let Hal Rounds, a tea partier who said he “remembers being born”, go twice as long.
Here’s video of the moments leading up to her mic being cut, and after:
TN Republicans are trying to ignore a motion from Gloria Johnson to expel Byrd at the special session on Friday, so here’s an extended version of him apologizing for what 3 women accuse him of doing to them in high school.
The context is clear as a bell. He did it.
Holler at Speaker Cameron Sexton and tell him to take up Gloria’s motion, and show up Friday to make your voices heard.
rep.cameron.sexton@capitol.tn.gov
Hal Rounds, Tea Party member and witness for the TN GOP’s abortion ban, says abortion is killing a person because he remembers being born.
“In the womb there was a sensation of compression and advancement.”
Alrighty then.
Speaking to supporters, Senator Mark Pody – sponsor of the Tennessee abortion ban bill – says his goal is to “destroy Satan”.
The TN GOP openly says it hopes to take it to the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade with the bill, which is clearly rooted in religious ideals.
We’ll have a video with highlights from the summer study hearings coming soon.
Our LIVE INTERVIEW with Francie Hunt of Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood & Anna Carella of Healthy and Free Tennessee!
Talking about women’s reproductive rights, abortion bans and more.
Coffee County Republican chairman Richard Brooks has posted – and now deleted – a meme on Facebook threatening “civil war” and to “hang corrupted politicians in front of the White House” if any politicians continue to talk about gun control.
Coffee is the same county where controversial DA Craig Northcott – who has been openly Islamophobic and Homophobic and refuses to recognize the authority of the Supreme Court – presides. Brooks has been a vocal supporter of Northcott in the past.
Brooks has removed the post. He owns a gun shop and range in Manchester.
In response to it, the Coffee County Young Republicans have already released a statement to distance themselves from it, saying:
“This post does not reflect the views of the Coffee County Young Republicans. While we share the same goal of promoting conservative values and are a part of the larger GOP organization and an affiliate of the County Party, we maintain a separate executive committee and membership from the County Party.”
We will update this story as it develops.
On the steps of the Capitol, Tennesseans came together to call for action in the face of one American massacre after another.
Watch & share, and holler at your reps to #DOSOMETHING.
On August 2nd, speaker Glen Casada became former Speaker Glen Casada. Cameron Sexton will be stepping in to fill his very small shoes during a special session August 23rd.
The disgraced now-former Tennessee speaker’s downfall can be traced back to his refusal to meet with activists who insisted the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest – the KKK’s first Grand Wizard – be removed from the capitol. This week, Casada’s also disgraced former chief of staff Cade Cothren, who was outed for using the N Word and calling black people “idiots”, among other things, joined them in their call to move the bust, saying in a Twitter conversation it should be “sent to a museum”.
The list of Casada’s transgressions is long – we did our best to list them in video form HERE – but the beginning of his downfall can be traced back to one very specific issue: The bust of the KKK’s first Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest, which sits prominently in Tennessee’s state Capitol, and Casada’s refusal to meet with the activists who have long been calling for its removal.
🚨NEW VIDEO: THE SPEAKER @GlenCasada SUPERCUT🚨
The lies, racism, drugs, sexism, fraud, spying, bribery, and covering for child sex abusers that has gone on here in Tennessee on Speaker @GlenCasada‘s watch.
Watch and share. #ResignCasadapic.twitter.com/TH652gvhU0
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) May 10, 2019
Casada’s predecessor Speaker Beth Harwell Met with the activists, many of which are students. Casada would not. Instead, he gave them the runaround, dodging them in the halls of the Capitol and having his chief of staff Cothren lie directly to their faces about misspelled emails.
NEW VIDEO: “Tennessee Students to Governor @BillLeeTN – Remove KKK Grand Wizard Bust From State Capital!”
“We’re tired of being tired.” – @JeneishaCHarris
Article: https://t.co/fG1Dm1kIMn pic.twitter.com/oH1ACXN3Li
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) February 1, 2019
Eventually the frustration of activists Justin Jones and Jeneisha Harris boiled over and resulted in Jones throwing a paper cup of iced (not hot) tea (not coffee) at Casada as he fled into a private elevator.
The assault & disorderly conduct charges filed against Justin Jones and Jeneisha Harris respectively in the aftermath are still pending. (The next hearing is August 15th at 9AM in courtroom 4D)
Another issue still outstanding is that of Casada’s former Chief of staff Cade Cothren, who resigned amid numerous scandals of his own, and whether or not he falsified the date on an email date to make it look like Jones contacted Casada in violation of a court order, which would have landed Jones in jail.
Casada and Cothren claim the date discrepancy can be chalked up to an issue with the legislature’s SPAM filters delaying the email, and special prosecutor on the case Craig Northcott – the D.A. in Coffee County, who himself is under fire for open Islamophobia, homophobia, and a refusal to respect the authority of the Supreme Court – appears to be taking their word for it. Despite calls by Jones, and even Cothren himself, for Northcott to bring in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for an independent investigation about the possibly fraudulent emails, Northcott has refused.
The possible framing of a civil rights activist aside, Cothren resigned due to numerous other scandals – many of which Casada was complicit in – including lewd, sexist texts and behavior, an admission that he was doing cocaine at his desk during work hours, and racism. Lots of racism.
Cothren used the “N Word” to describe quarterback Jameis Winston. He said “black people are idiots.” The list goes on.
A lot has happened since the beginning of Casada and Cothren’s downfall, and so many Phil Williams stories later it’s hard to remember how it all started… but it can all be traced back to one thing: That bust of the KKK’s first Grand Wizard in the legislature.
Casada has not expressed a willingness to move the bust, instead saying that adding “historical context” would be more appropriate (without specifying what that means).
Govenor Lee says a “conversation needs to be had” about the bust, again without providing specifics, and just recently agreed to take action to stop celebrating July 13th as “Nathan Bedford Forrest Day” after nationwide backlash – including from Republican Senator Ted Cruz – in the wake of his signing a proclamation to reaffirm it.
This is WRONG. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate general & a delegate to the 1868 Democratic Convention. He was also a slave trader & the 1st Grand Wizard of the KKK. Tennessee should not have an official day (tomorrow) honoring him. Change the law. https://t.co/XBgoRCBoI0
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 12, 2019
While Casada and Lee remain noncommittal, Casada’s “N Word”-using Former Chief of staff Cade Cothren has now changed his tune, conceding in a conversation on Twitter with Nashville native @AliceRolli1 that the bust should indeed be moved:
The comment comes as part of what appears to be an effort by Cothren to repair his image, an effort that has mainly consisted of joining Twitter and sending Taylor Swift memes to his critics while using Taylor Swift lyrics to challenge them to a fight in his Twitter bio.
“Sure, send it to the museum” is clearly a flippant, dismissive way to come around to a position on a serious topic concerning a statue much of Tennessee’s African-American population considers to be a painful reminder of a dark past. That being said, it’s also a clear departure from the official position his disgraced boss Casada’s office held when the then-speaker was dodging Jones & Harris in the halls, turning a deaf ear to protestors who were imploring Tennessee leadership to listen to Tennessee’s black citizens and move the symbol of hate.
Cothren is clearly trying to make himself employable in the state of Tennessee again so his motives can’t be viewed as entirely altruistic, but if a Republican speaker’s chief of staff who once said “black People are idiots” and called Jameis Winston the N Word is now willing to publicly call for the bust to be sent to a museum… well, these days in Tennessee, that certainly counts as progress.
Holler at Governor Lee and soon-to-be Speaker Sexton if you agree it’s time to “send the bust to the museum”.