Tag: Representative John DeBerry

Majority White Executive Committee Ousts Respected Black Christian State Legislator from Tennessee Democrat Party

Laura Baigert

  The State Executive Committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party, which is majority white, voted Wednesday to oust respected State Representative John DeBerry, Jr. (formerly D-Memphis, now I-Memphis), who is a strong Christian and black, from the Party. DeBerry has served in the Tennessee General Assembly as the Representative for House District 90 for 26 years, since he was first elected in 1994. Of the 66-member State Executive Committee (SEC), 41 voted for the removal of DeBerry, while 18 voted against and 2 abstained, WREG reported. There are currently five vacancies on the committee. More than two-thirds of the current Tennessee Democratic Party SEC membership is white. While the SEC is designed to have one committeewoman and one committeeman for each of the state’s senatorial districts, the current makeup of the SEC is skewed toward women because four of the five vacancies are committeeman seats. The vote on DeBerry’s status within the TNDP was apparently triggered by a 29-page complaint dated April 1 submitted by a Janeita “Jan” Lentz, an attorney according to her Avvo profile. Ms. Lentz, who appears to be white, also identifies herself as the Co-Chair of Memphis-Midsouth DSA, which is the Democratic Socialists of America. In…

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Planned Parenthood Attacks Longtime Memphis Democratic Rep. DeBerry for Voting for Fetal Heartbeat Bill

Jason M. Reynolds

  Planned Parenthood doesn’t like that longtime State Rep. John DeBerry (D-TN-90) voted to support the heartbeat bill in the recent legislative session. Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood took advertising out for three billboards in Memphis to attack DeBerry on his vote, WBBJ said. The Memphis Democrat ran unopposed in 2018. His seat is up for reelection in 2020. According to WMC,  Francie Hunt, Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood executive director, said, “Today, we are kicking off a billboard campaign to help inform more people about his stance.” Norma Lester, Democratic Women of Shelby County president, told WMC, “There should never be a situation where Representative DeBerry has been allowed to be comfortable with what he has done.” DeBerry, the Democratic Leader Pro-Tempore, served as the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators Chaplain in the 111th General Assembly, according to his legislative biography. He has served in the Legislature from the 99th through the 111th General Assemblies. Although the heartbeat bill passed in the House, it stalled in the Senate and was sent to summer study. The Senate version of the Heartbeat Bill, SB1236 sponsored by Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) was sent to “summer study” by the Judiciary Committee on…

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Amid Division, Representative DeBerry Delivers Inspirational Speech from the State House Floor During an Honoring of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Laura Baigert

The House Black Caucus honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 51st anniversary of his death in Memphis, Tennessee with a reading of what is known as King’s final “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop” speech, even as there is division amongst the group. Dr. King came to Memphis for a third time in less than three weeks on April 3, 1968, to support the striking sanitation workers in a non-violent way after the second march erupted into violence and was called off, as explained by Stanford University’s King Institute. King delivered his inspirational and optimistic speech at the Bishop Charles Mason Temple, which he eerily closed by saying he wasn’t afraid to die. The next day, as he waited to go to dinner at Reverend Billy Kyles’ home, King was fatally shot at The Lorraine Hotel located at 450 Mulberry Street, Memphis. Division In The Black Caucus Ironically, over the past week, Rep. John DeBerry has been the subject of reports by Daily Memphian that the Black Caucus is at odds with him over his recent votes which seems to have brought to a head with a vote in favor of Governor Bill Lee’s Education Savings Accounts (ESA) legislation.…

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During National School Choice Week, Speaker Pro Tem Bill Dunn Receives Award for School Choice Efforts

Laura Baigert

In celebration of National School Choice Week, Tennessee Federation for Children sponsored a Champions of Choice event at the state capitol to present Representative Bill Dunn with the 2019 Champion award. Standing beside Tennessee Speaker of the House Glen Casada (R-Franklin), Shaka Mitchell, Tennessee’s State Director of American Federation for Children, said that as National School Choice Week is being celebrated this week, they wanted to come together to recognize one of the state’s leaders in education and strong advocate for students, Speaker Pro Tem Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville). American Federation for Children (AFC) is a Washington, D.C. headquartered non-profit organization that seeks to “empower families, especially lower-income families with the freedom to choose the best K-12 education for their children.” The event was held in the Legislative Library located at the state capitol with as many as 100 in attendance including legislators and members of Governor Bill Lee’s staff. AFC’s partner organizations in the effort including Beacon Center of Tennessee, Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee and Tennessee CAN (The Tennessee Campaign for Achievement Now) were also there. AFC’s Mitchell started off by speaking about the quality of education in Tennessee, “The reality is we still have a long way to go,” after…

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