A huge, gorgeous, devastating investigation from my colleague Rebecca Cadenhead is out today on @mlk50.com. It tells the story of how a little-known Tennessee law sentences Black children to life in prison for murders they did not commit. A long read, but worth every word: mlk50.com/2026/07/27/p...

Power and Prejudice: How a little-known Tennessee law convicts Black children for murders they didn't commit

Visit the post for more.

mlk50.com

May we all be as resilient as this volunteer cherry tomato plant growing out of a literal crack in the pavement 3 feet above sidewalk level

The writer-editor relationship is so important cc @jduffyrice.bsky.social

Since H.R. 1, nearly 100,000 Tennesseeans have lost their SNAP benefits. That's over 14% of recipients. I've witnessed folks waiting in their cars at Memphis' free community fridges to grab whatever gets dropped off. People are hungry and out of options. Map/data: www.cbpp.org/research/foo...

Emotional longing counts as writing

I think writing sentences from scratch IS the thinking!

“Combined, these properties were responsible for nearly 10,000 eviction filings — or around a third of the 27,658 evictions filed in Shelby County in 2025.” mlk50.com/2026/06/02/t... By @mlk50.com’s @narwhallington.bsky.social

These 100 Memphis apartment complexes filed for nearly 10,000 evictions in 2025. Is your home among them?

Pieces of a broken globe sit on a sidewalk at Greenbrook at Shelby Farms. Photo by Kevin Wurm / MLK50 / CatchLight Local / Report for America The sprawling Greenbrook at Shelby Farms apartment comp…

mlk50.com

Just 100 apartment complexes in Memphis filed for nearly 10,000 evictions against their tenants in 2025. And almost 1/3 of these properties receive tax breaks from the city through a program meant to incentivize low-income housing. Here are Memphis' Top 100 Evictors: mlk50.com/2026/06/02/t...

These 100 Memphis apartment complexes filed for nearly 10,000 evictions in 2025. Is your home among them?

Pieces of a broken globe sit on a sidewalk at Greenbrook at Shelby Farms. Photo by Kevin Wurm / MLK50 / CatchLight Local / Report for America The

mlk50.com

look. is everything more expensive now? yes. but you have to look on the bright side too. now every time you open a computer, it doesn't work

No, I don’t want to see your AI picture. No, I don’t want to see your AI slide deck. No, I don’t want to read your AI writing. It all looks and feels the same. And it’s also creepy.

I've talked with a handful of politically-involved people in Memphis in the past 24 hours and I can only describe the prevailing sentiment as "incandescent rage"

Hey national media friends! Now that Tennessee's districts have been redrawn to specifically disenfranchise Black people in Memphis, y'all are going to be quoting a lot of Black people from Memphis, right? Not white dudes from Nashville, or scholars who've never set foot in Memphis, right?? 😅

Rep. Justin Jones burning a Confederate flag during the special session on Tennessee redistricting Jones: “It’s a form of Jim Crow terror — this is about race. This is about power. This is about silencing communities that have historically been excluded”

Tennessee is plagued by a whole host of issues that the state government struggles to solve. But when it's time to take political representation away from Black people, somehow it gets done in 2 days flat 🤔

The woman on the right in this photo is Memphis activist Amber Sherman, @mlk50.com's Creator in Residence. She's currently in Nashville protesting the Tennessee redistricting that strips Black voters of representation. Maybe invite her on the show next? To hear from someone directly impacted?

Democracy Now!@democracynow.org · 3mo ago

Since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act last week, Republican-controlled states have begun redrawing their voting maps in a “gerrymandering arms race” that “could lead to the largest drop in Black representation since the Jim Crow era,” explains Mother Jones correspondent Ari Berman.

Went out to polling places in the rain Tuesday morning to talk with Black seniors about the dismantling of Memphis' Congressional district that's currently underway in Nashville. Thank you to our friends at @capitalb.bsky.social for republishing this piece! capitalbnews.org/black-elders...

‘It Hurts My Heart’: Black Elders Reflect on Tennessee Plan To Strip Memphis of Power

Voters recall the creation of District 9, the majority-Black congressional seat representing Memphis, now it's being taken away.

capitalbnews.org

At least two people were shot today at OUTMemphis, my city's main LGBTQ+ nonprofit and resource center. The center, currently behind a police barricade, is 2 blocks from my apartment. I helped build the raised garden beds in its back yard. How can news be anything but personal? Visceral?

Trying again with a new photo... I was on the scene at xAI's Colossus 1 plant on Friday, where activists staged a protest to call attention to the air pollution and other impacts of the facility on southwest Memphis. I heard from them directly about why this fight matters: mlk50.com/2026/05/05/t...

The lead image for this piece is getting incorrectly flagged as graphic-- it just depicts protestors lying on the ground. Here's another beautiful photo from the protest taken by my colleague Andrea Morales:

Natalie Wallington@narwhallington.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Seven activists in respirator masks laid on the pavement beneath an eerie white sky. As police gathered, they sang. I was on the scene at xAI's Colossus 1 facility for the May Day die-in, and heard from participants about why this fight matters. My latest for @mlk50.com: mlk50.com/2026/05/05/t...

Seven activists in respirator masks laid on the pavement beneath an eerie white sky. As police gathered, they sang. I was on the scene at xAI's Colossus 1 facility for the May Day die-in, and heard from participants about why this fight matters. My latest for @mlk50.com: mlk50.com/2026/05/05/t...

'This is not acceptable:' Memphis activists block xAI operations to protest pollution

Protestors laid across one of the entrances to the xAI Colossus 1 data center for two hours on Friday. Photo by Andrea Morales / MLK50 The people lying on

mlk50.com

I'm at the XAI Colossus plant with @mlk50.com covering a die-in protest by local activists opposing the air pollution produced by the facility. Y'all know the drill: other outlets will have their stories out quicker, but ours will include perspectives no one else captures.

South Tucson Mayor Roxy Valenzuela rejects calls to increase policing as a response to rising homelessness. “Sometimes the best people to offer those resources are not the cops — it can be a community member or a clinician,” she says.

Facing Arizona’s Crackdown on Homelessness, Two Cities Offer Different Responses - Bolts

State intervention has led Tucson to ramp up sweeps and pass harsh new policies. Officials in the small town of South Tucson have emphasized support and services, even as they face blowback.

boltsmag.org

A newly proposed rule within the Department of Housing and Urban Development would target transgender people, allowing federally funded shelters and housing providers receiving funds from the government to discriminate on the basis of gender.

New HUD Proposal Targets Trans Housing Protections

HUD Secretary Scott Turner justified the changes by citing his personal religious beliefs.

buff.ly

Very well-reported features on topics that make me feel sick to my stomach, part ten million: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

We are bombarding America’s forests with Roundup

Scientists are wary of glyphosate. MAHA loathes it. And our investigation shows California is spraying it everywhere.

motherjones.com

Memphis Mayor Paul Young wants to add 10,000 homes to the city's housing stock by 2030. But officials say this number is "a goal, not a plan." The details-- including the new homes' affordability-- will largely be left up to developers. My latest for @mlk50.com: mlk50.com/2026/04/23/m...

Memphis wants 10,000 new homes by 2030 — but it’s leaving the details to developers

The city of Memphis is taking a largely hands-off approach to reaching Mayor Paul Young's goal of adding 10,000 new or renovated homes to its housing

mlk50.com

Just overheard someone use "Leroy Jenkins" as a verb in the year of our lord 2026

Dilly dallying is writing. Fight me Simon and Schuster

Has anyone written a thinkpiece yet about how companies are co-opting the little four-pointed 'sparkle' to symbolize AI features? Because I'm mad enough about it to write a thinkpiece