MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

Brent Taylor could represent District 9. He has a record of overturning the wishes of Memphis voters.

State Sen. Brent Taylor. Photo by Andrea Morales / MLK50 This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with MLK50: ...
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Shelby County has no way to enforce its new solitary confinement ordinance, experts say

The Youth Justice and Education Center in 2025. Photo by Andrea Morales / MLK50 Shelby County has no way to enforce an ordinance passed in August to curb the use of solitary confinement in the Youth ...
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Gov. Bill Lee declines to secure millions in federal funds to feed Tennessee kids during summer

Tonya Elam’s daughter, Hannah, 2, is seen carrying a canned good while shopping at First Congo’s food pantry on Oct. 29, 2025. Photo by Kevin Wurm / MLK50 / CatchLight / Report For America This story ...
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Want to support the library worker’s charter referendum? Here’s how to vote.

On the last page of the Nov. 3 ballot, there’s a proposed change to the City of Memphis charter. It’s wordy, and barely mentions library employees at all, but workers at the Memphis Public Libraries ...
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Inside the Memphis Chamber of Commerce’s push for Elon Musk’s xAI data center

Photo illustration by Shoshana Gordon/ProPublica. Source images: Andrea Morales/MLK50, screenshot by MLK50, U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley via Wikimedia Commons Marilyn Gooch was already ...
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38109 residents asked how to spend money from xAI tax payments

Volunteers distribute flyers during a town hall on xAI with KeShaun Pearson and Memphis Mayor Paul Young on March 22 at Riverside Baptist Church. Photo by Andrea Morales / MLK50 The city is asking ...
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No school, no fresh air and isolated

David spent eight months incarcerated at the Youth Justice and Education Center. Center portrait by Kevin Wurm / MLK50 / CatchLight Local / Report for America; Image of the Shelby County Youth and ...
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Judge Sugarmon says he didn’t know about solitary confinement until June. MLK50 reporting appears to contradict his statement.

Judge Tarik Sugarmon talks to journalists in the gymnasium of the Youth Justice and Education Center following an open house on Nov. 12. Photo by Andrea Morales for MLK50 Memphis-Shelby County ...
Opinion
MLK50: Justice Through JournalismOpinion

AI Memes: Public safety, transparency or shock factor?

Posts like this make it more difficult for him to do his job because the public believes all law enforcement officers “think like this,” he said. There are other AI-generated memes, too. One image ...
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Just 2% of immigration arrests by Memphis Safe Task Force were for violent crime, records show

Elmer, a street vendor from Honduras, said he saw three immigrants arrested by federal agents near his shoe stand in Memphis. Photo by Kevin Wurm/MLK50/CatchLight Local/Report for America This article ...