👨🏾‍🎓 Vandy removes DEI statements

🏳️‍⚧️ TN Family Files Lawsuit Against Executive Order

Seven families have filed a lawsuit against Pres. Trump’s executive order to halt federal support for gender-affirming health care for transgender youth, including one Tennessee family who fled to Virginia to seek that care. [WPLN]

• Is Nashville safe for trans kids? [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

💰 What Should Nashville’s Budget Include?

At Tuesday’s Metro Council meeting, members heard public input on future spending in preparation for crafting the next budget. Community requests included additional funding for the library, affordable housing, the Office of Youth Safety, and more. [Nashville Banner]

• What is the Office of Youth Safety? We’ve got the answers. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

🧑‍🎓 Vanderbilt Removes DEI Statements

Vanderbilt University’s libraries have removed the “Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility” statement on their “About” page, and Vanderbilt has also deleted other diversity statements from its website. [Nashville Banner]

• This comes on the heels of Vanderbilt’s drop in racial diversity since the affirmative action ban. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

💸 TSU’s Financial Plan

TSU Interim President Dwayne Tucker spoke at a recent town hall organized by the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators about the financial future of the historically Black university, and his 5-year plan to get it back on track. [NewsChannel 5]

• Inside TSU’s financial plight [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

Black history is American history, and though we pay special attention to the significant achievements and contributions Black Americans and people of African descent have made to this country during February, learning and honoring Black history is absolutely of year-round importance.

“Black History Month shouldn't be treated as though it is somehow separate from our collective American history,” said President Barack Obama in 2016. “It's about the lived, shared experience of all African Americans, high and low, famous and obscure, and how those experiences have shaped and challenged and ultimately strengthened America.”

History of Black History Month

Black History Month’s roots started in 1915 — half a century after slavery was abolished — when scholar Carter G. Woodson co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. He urged other Black scholars and civic organizations to promote their community’s achievements, and out of that motivation the Association sponsored Negro History Week in the second week of February 1926.

By the late 1960s, Woodson’s concept was expanded into what we now recognize as Black History Month, officially recognized by President Gerald R. Ford during the 1976 bicentennial.

Why February

Woodson, considered the “father of Black history,” chose February to coincide with the birthdays of former slave and prominent abolitionist Frederick Douglass (believed to be Feb.14) and President Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12), who was influential in the emancipation of slaves. Woodson also chose this week out of tradition, as Black communities had already been honoring these two birthdays during the second week of the month.

Ways to Honor Black History Month in Nashville

🎭 Watch a Performance

• See “Elijah Rock! A Jubilee Battle” at the Nashville Children’s Theatre from Feb. 1-16.
• Step Afrika! performs at TPAC on Feb. 7.
• “The Mountaintop” is being performed at TPAC from Feb. 14-23.
• The Nashville Opera reads and performs the picture book “When Marian Sang” at the Tennessee State Museum on Feb. 15 for free.
• Get laughing at Zanies, which has many Black comedians performing this month, like Mike Goodwin, Nicole Byer, and David Jolly.
• The Belcourt has several movies centering Black stories playing this month: “Nickel Boys,” “Hard Truths,” “Dahomy,” and “Mo’ Better Blues.”