MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

Memphis leaders want to close Ida B Wells. Parents say there’s no school like it.

Ida B. Wells Academy only has 84 enrolled students, leaving the building with 400 open seats. (Bri Hatch /) This story was originally published ...
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

Ordinance attempts to limit juvenile isolation, but county has no way to enforce it

Jerri Green, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and director of the Shelby County Department of Corrections Anthony Alexander ...
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

‘A different set of rules’: Thermal drone footage shows Musk’s AI power plant flouting clean air regulations

Left: Thermal drone imagery captured by Floodlight shows more than a dozen unpermitted turbines operating at xAI’s gas plant ...
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

What could independent oversight of the juvenile detention center look like?

The Shelby County Youth Justice and Education Center in November 2025. Photo by Andrea Morales / MLK50 Advocates are asking for a citizen review board to ...
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

Juvenile solitary confinement ordinance contradicts state law, advocates say

Friends and family of the youth incarcerated at the Youth Justice and Education Center walk through its halls following a ...
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

Mayor avoids talk of Trump’s task force during ‘State of the City’ speech

Memphis Mayor Paul Young delivers his State of the City address at First Baptist Church Broad in Binghampton on Tuesday. Photo by Kevin Wurm / MLK50 / ...
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism

White people were 6% of arrests by Memphis Safe Task Force in its first two months

Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations agents working with the Tennessee State Highway Patrol search a car during a traffic ...
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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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Loans got me into journalism. Student debt pushed me out.

A first-generation college graduate, Carrington J. Tatum, seen here visiting I AM A MAN Plaza in November 2021, made the difficult decision to walk away from journalism, in part, because of the burden ...
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FedEx says it’s a safe workplace. So why is Jessica James dead?

Jessica James had to get up and down that ramp. Her job at FedEx’s World Hub was to help ensure the trucks in her area were loaded and unloaded on time. That meant navigating forklifts on sloped ramps ...
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Bill Lee said people arrested by task force are “violent criminals and known gang members.” Data show that’s not true.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks during a Tuesday morning press conference with Memphis Mayor Paul Young at the temporary command center for the Memphis Safe Task Force. Photo by Andrea Morales / MLK50 ...
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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 ...