MLK50

A nonprofit news organization dedicated to covering issues related to poverty, power, and public policy. Located in Memphis, Tennessee, this newsroom draws inspiration from the legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Ida B. Wells.

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A lineage of Mississippi daughters

1 week ago | mlk50.com | Ariel Cobbert

“Cameras gave to black folks, irrespective of our class, a means by which we could participate fully in the production of images.” Art on My Mind: Visual Politics. The New Press, 1995, p. 57What began as a small project to digitize my family’s archive as a favor — while peering into the records of ordinary Black life in South Mississippi — quickly became something else. It was a reckoning with my sense of self.
City funding for MATA will keep service at already reduced routes, allow no expansion

1 week ago | mlk50.com | Katherine Burgess

The Memphis City Council voted Tuesday to hold half of the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s $30 million funding for the upcoming fiscal year in a special fund that is restricted for public transportation. That money is to be released to MATA “upon presentation of (a) full financial audit alongside budget and operational plans for remaining funds.” Subscribe to MLK50’s newsletter and get Memphis-rooted news and insights right-sized for your neighborhood.
Council proposal would ‘end’ public transit in Memphis, says interim MATA CEO

3 weeks ago | mlk50.com | Katherine Burgess

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that MATA did present its budget requests to the City Council in June last year. A proposal by members of the Memphis City Council to slash the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s city funding in half in its upcoming budget would mean “pretty much ending public transit in Memphis,” John Lewis, interim CEO of MATA, told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism in an interview on Thursday. “The implications would be dire,” Lewis said.
We asked every member of Memphis’ new ‘Integrity Policing’ task force where they stand on the DOJ report.

Mar 24, 2025 | mlk50.com | Katherine Burgess

As Memphis’ new policing reform task force prepares for its second meeting, questions remain about the beliefs and motivations of the nine members and three liaisons tasked with proposing policy changes for the Memphis Police Department in the wake of a scathing U.S. Department of Justice report. Dubbed the “Integrity Policing Initiative,” according to internal emails, the group will meet monthly and has already met once behind closed doors.
Who will work with Judge Donald to monitor MPD? City names task force

Feb 18, 2025 | mlk50.com | Katherine Burgess

People with connections to the Memphis Police Department, clergy members, law professors, a mental health expert and a local organizer have been selected by the city of Memphis to join a new police reform task force that was announced after the city declined to enter a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Tax breaks drain millions from Shelby County coffers, robbing critical services of the support they need

Feb 12, 2025 | mlk50.com | Michael Finch II

Every year since 2014, Shelby County has given up nearly $41 million in tax revenue that could have been used to fund the county’s crumbling schools or cash-strapped transit agency. Instead, the money was funneled away from the county’s coffers by several obscure boards empowered to hand out tax breaks without lawmaker approval and with little to no oversight of their activities. Subscribe to MLK50’s newsletter and get Memphis-rooted news and insights right-sized for your neighborhood.
Tennessee’s blended sentencing law will lock up more kids

Nov 21, 2024 | mlk50.com | Rebecca J. Cadenhead

In January, a new “blended sentencing” law will go into effect in Tennessee that could usher hundreds of children into the adult criminal justice system with fewer checks than the existing adult transfer process. It will also keep those kids in the juvenile justice system longer. The law is “extremely harmful for youth in Memphis,” said Ala’a Alattiyat, coordinator for the Youth Justice Action Council.
A new board is responsible for MATA’s success, but their powers are limited

Nov 11, 2024 | mlk50.com | Katherine Burgess

The new members of the Memphis Area Transit Authority board, who have already exercised their power by pausing route cuts and layoffs late last month, now find themselves in the same difficult position as the board they replaced: MATA doesn’t have enough money to get through the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2025.
Voter turnout is down in Shelby County. How do we improve it?

Oct 31, 2024 | mlk50.com | Katherine Burgess

As early voting ends, fewer Shelby County voters have turned up to the polls than in 2020, limiting the influence of Tennessee’s Blackest county even as it remains a target of the state legislature. As of Monday, 194,598 Shelby County voters had cast ballots in the Nov. 5 presidential and state general election, compared to 270,151 by the same point in 2020, a nearly 30% decrease. Voter registration isn’t the main culprit. Shelby County had 604,353 registered voters as of Oct.
For transit success, ‘narrative’ around MATA must change For transit success, ‘narrative’ around MATA must change

Oct 22, 2024 | mlk50.com | Katherine Burgess

Just before the Memphis Area Transit Authority Board voted to cut routes, bus rider Annika Easley urged those board members to ride the buses themselves. “Y’all need to do better for you, not just for everybody else, but for people with disabilities, for people who do not have cars or who cannot afford cars,” Easley said. “… Give it a try. Ride the buses.