Author: Smart City Memphis

There’s nothing that we can write that does justice to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s impact on our lives. For those of us in the Boomer generation, he looms as an influence over our lives as much as our own families....

In the not too distant future, government in Memphis and Shelby County will look nothing like it does today. And it will happen with or without consolidation.Voters outside Memphis who reflexively oppose the merger of Memphis...

If the Memphis Invaders hadn’t existed, the Memphis civil rights movement would have had to invent them.They were the militant yin to the mainstream movement’s yang. They were the tough talk to the leaders’ persuasive rhetoric....

The power of art to change people and communities can be breathtaking. This week we talk with Johann Zietsman who has orchestrated powerful art experiences internationally from South Africa to Mesa, Arizona. Johann is executive...

Government efficiency studies are all the rage. Across the U.S., cities, counties and states are paying for studies ostensibly aimed at increasing efficiency and decreasing costs. In our community alone, more than $1.2 million...

Memphis Mayor Willie W. Herenton reminds me of an absurdist friend who told his wife that he was having an affair, but he wasn’t sure where it was headed, and he might be back to her in the end.Her response: “What makes you...

Here’s what we learned from the recent controversy regarding Barack Obama’s minister: too few white Americans have close black friends.Otherwise, they would have heard it all before. And more. Even if they don’t rachet up to the...

We got the following email from Eric Matthews updating us on the campaign to bring Startup Weekend to Memphis:Thanks for your coverage of the vote (about Startup Weekend). We got it . For three days in late spring, approximately...

Majora Carter surprised everyone when she founded Sustainable South Bronx as a way to reclaim that community’s quality of life. She has grown that into a movement, Green for All, that is using the green economy to move...

The signs that Mayor Willie W. Herenton was going to be a short-timer began almost immediately after his reelection.At his swearing in, he seemed almost detached and the ceremony certainly lacked the fire in the belly passion...