Vol. 8, Issue 2 | Fall 2022
philanthropy
Sponsored by
West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation
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editor's note
Our city recently dedicated a mural and historical marker to the late Gil Scott-Heron, a jazz musician, poet and activist who spent his formative years right here in Jackson, Tennessee. In the first pages of his memoir, he begins by talking about his childhood in Jackson, which included the experience of being among the first Black students to integrate Tigrett Elementary School. In the opening of his memoir, Gil speaks fondly of his time in Jackson, though riddled with the clear memories of segregation and hate. So when he sings, "I've seen everything there is to see/ And I know there is no sense in crying/ I know there ain't no sense in cryin'/ Yeah I think I'll call it morning," we get a glimpse of a kind of hope that has seen the worst yet still works for a better way.
Gil's legacy speaks to us today. Our responsibility is not to promote a blind positivity about our community, but to tell stories that encourage us to actually see the place we live and the people who live in it, and be moved to create a place where everyone can thrive.
It's from that kind of willingness to face reality that many of our city's most impactful philanthropists, non-profits, and more were able to build the programs that bring us so much pride in this place.
Thanks to our sponsor the West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation, in these pages we get to tell many of the stories of the people who were willing to take an honest look at the way things are and respond with action. It's an encouragement to all of us to follow in their path — to find ways to say with our money, actions, and time — it doesn't have to be this way. They inspire us, as Gil wrote, to say, "I'm gonna take myself a piece of sunshine/ And paint it all over my sky."
Courtney Searcy, Editor-in-Chief
details
64 pages | perfect bound | full color
Printed in Jackson, Tennessee, at Tennessee Industrial Printing, Inc.
featured writers
Britton Crenshaw
Lizzie Emmons
Gabe Hart
Lily K. Lewis
Courtney Searcy
Ginger Williams
featured photographers
Dan Battle
Isaac Elliott
Cari Griffith
Hannah Gore
Courtney Searcy
Contents
click the title to read each piece