There are 21 article(s) tagged Earle J. Fisher:

• September 2026

  • Memphis tensions spill into viral Reaves-Young showdown

    As residents weigh in online, debates over SpaceXAI, the Safe Task Force and city leadership collide in one highly public exchange.

    By Bill Dries September 17, 2026

• April 2026

  • Democratic mayoral candidates on MSCS lawsuit, Task Force, jail

    With Election Day around the corner, it was a busy week in Shelby County. Mayoral contenders hit forums across the area to talk with voters one-on-one. Meanwhile, early voting turnout is higher than the pivotal 2018 County primaries.

    By Bill Dries April 27, 2026

• December 2024

  • Did Trump’s return prompt the release of DOJ report on MPD?

    The last Justice Department review of the MPD began a month before Donald Trump was elected to his first presidential term. Trump ended the investigation, and others like it, 10 months into his term, and the Memphis report never saw the light of day.

    By Bill Dries December 05, 2024

• March 2022

  • Coalition says limiting first days of early voting to one site is unfair

    The Election Commission’s decision not to open early-voting sites at churches during the Easter weekend is renewing charges of voter suppression.

    By Bill Dries March 09, 2022

• February 2022

  • Guest column: Proposed bill to outlaw ranked choice voting disrespects voters

    “RCV makes elections fairer, faster, easier and cheaper, reducing barriers to participation by allowing voters to go to the polls just once rather than having to come back a second time for a runoff election” but the Tennessee Legislature is considering a bill that would outlaw it.

    By Earle J. Fisher, Mike Carpenter February 14, 2022

• July 2021

  • People’s Convention to return with ‘People’s Summit’

    The summit comes during an off-election year in Shelby County politics, which Rev. Earle Fisher said is useful to emphasize the coalition’s focus on issues and policy.

    By Bill Dries July 04, 2021

• July 2020

  • Black clergy oppose police residency referendum as insufficient

    African American clergy call for residency requirement for public safety to be taken off the November ballot. They don't think the measure will help bring about the police reform for which they are pushing. 

    By Yolanda Jones July 07, 2020

• June 2020

  • George Floyd’s death leaves police and fire residency ballot question in new light

    A city task force on public safety started its work this week with several calls for hiring local in the police and fire ranks. Meanwhile, an effort to remove from the Nov. 3 election ballot a proposal for allowing the city to hire police and firefighters who live outside the county may be picking up momentum.

    By Bill Dries June 19, 2020

  • Fisher: What’s next isn’t just about protests

    A critic of the Strickland administration, the Rev. Earle Fisher, says on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast that he hopes Mayor Jim Strickland's talks with religious leaders produce solutions. But he also expressed skepticism, as some of those in the group have accused police of using excessive force in the city's first George Floyd protest.

    By Bill Dries June 15, 2020

• October 2019

  • Peoples Convention organizers see longer road for building progressive voting base

    Rev. Earle Fisher and Sijuwola Crawford talked about the blue wave of the 2018 county elections and the money that fueled a different outcome in the 2019 nonpartisan city elections on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast.

    By Bill Dries October 25, 2019

• September 2019

  • African-American elected officials, community leaders call on local media to diversify newsrooms

    A group of male African-American elected officials and community leaders called on Contemporary Media and other local media to diversify newsrooms after caricatures of Memphis mayoral candidates some complained as being racist published in Memphis magazine and then were pulled from circulation this weekend.

    By Omer Yusuf September 04, 2019

• June 2019

  • People’s Convention endorses Tami Sawyer for mayor

    The convention at the Paradise Entertainment Center in South Memphis Saturday drew no city council incumbents before a group of 600 to the nightclub, with about 200 participating in the process that stretched over six hours.

    By Bill Dries June 09, 2019

  • People’s Convention gauges impact of new generation of activism

    The Saturday gathering in South Memphis will include endorsements in the October Memphis elections. But its organizers hope the platform will be just as strong as the appeals from different candidates.

    By Bill Dries June 08, 2019

  • People’s Convention gets RSVP from 18 candidates for Saturday gathering

    Two mayoral contenders are among those confirmed for the South Memphis gathering built around a platform and endorsements in some, if not all, of the races on the Oct. 3 Memphis ballot.

    By Bill Dries June 04, 2019

• April 2019

  • People’s Convention set for June 8 with survey results forming agenda

    A “People’s Convention," designed to develop a ticket of candidates in the 2019 Memphis elections around a particular agenda, is back on the calendar for June 8.

    By Bill Dries April 30, 2019

  • People’s Convention date pushed back for community surveys

    The People’s Convention, set for later this month to assemble a platform and back candidates in the 2019 Memphis elections, is being pushed back to later in the spring or early summer by organizers.

    By Bill Dries April 03, 2019

• February 2019

  • New ‘People’s Convention’ planned in April for 2019 city elections

    A new "People's Convention" is being organized to run a slate of candidates in the 2019 Memphis elections. It shares some features of the 1991 gathering that backed Willie Herenton's historic bid for mayor, but there are some significant differences as well.

    By Bill Dries February 06, 2019

• January 2019

  • Reality and Jeremiah dominate political prayer breakfast

    At the city's longest running New Year's Day prayer breakfast, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen talks about a new Democratic majority in Congress, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris discusses the new juvenile detention center and religious leaders talk about reality and the Biblical prophet Jeremiah.

    By Bill Dries January 02, 2019

• November 2018

  • Past the Election: Issues remain after the last election of 2018

    The last election of 2018 will decide winners and losers in numerous local, state and federal offices and three city referendums.

    By Bill Dries November 04, 2018

• October 2018

  • Appeals court stays most of ruling on voter registration forms

    The Tennessee Court of Appeals stayed Wednesday, Oct. 31, the effect of most of a ruling last week by Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins governing how the Shelby County Election Commission handles a backlog of voter registration forms.

    By Bill Dries October 31, 2018

• September 2018

  • Ford, Fisher on different sides of instant-runoff voting

    Most of the 50 citizens at a Hickory Hill town hall meeting Monday, Sept. 17, came to talk and complain about city garbage and trash pick-up. There were so many complaints the host, City Council member Patrice Robinson, began setting up a meeting just to talk about the city’s solid waste services, which are in the process of changing.

    By Bill Dries September 18, 2018