Last week, the Governor convened a special session to address growing concerns about education in Tennessee. Originally touted as resulting from the pandemic, teachers, parents, and legislators have long had concerns about Tennessee’s education system. U.S. News and World Reports ranks Tennessee 35th in education in the country.

We are so very excited to have Elena joining us as an If/When/How RJ Policy Fellow for the 2020-2021 fellowship year!

Advocacy around paid leave has increased during COVID-19. Many workers have needed to quarantine, but because of lack of protections and benefits, they have to worry about lost wages or losing their jobs. Paid leave advocacy has a long history, and the benefits extend beyond this pandemic. We wanted to build on the momentum in this moment around paid leave to offer an opportunity for our community to connect and deepen our analysis through an anti-capitalist and feminist lens. Paid leave is a reproductive freedom issue, because people shouldn't have to choose between caring for their families or keeping their jobs. To that end, we created the #CollectiveJournaling campaign, beginning March 30th, 2020 with daily journaling prompts, and opportunities to reflect and engage with others on social media using #CollectiveJournaling.

On February 4th, 2019 from 8:00-10:00 PM Healthy and Free Tennessee's Co-Executive Directors Anna and Briana were guests on WXNA's show Transmission with Jonathan Marx. We talked about lots of the issues we care about and the bill we are working on in the 2019 legislative session. You can learn more and listen to the full 2-hour show on WXNA's website here. 

Full playlist:

• 8:02pm Let’s Talk About Sex by Salt-N-Pepa 
• 8:19pm You Don’t Own Me by Lesley Gore  
• 8:21pm Promiscuity by Ani DiFranco 
• 8:47pm Control by Janet Jackson 
• 8:54pm Bodak Yellow by Cardi B  
• 9:20pm Q.U.E.E.N. (feat. Erykah Badu) by Janelle Monáe 
• 9:25pm This Body by Baum  
• 9:29pm Ain’t Afraid by Those Darlins 
• 9:53pm Feeling Myself (feat. Beyoncé) by Nicki Minaj 
• 9:57pm Respect by Aretha Franklin