The early 1990s
saw a number of eventful times for the African American community both
nationally and in Nashville. Nelson Mandela was freed after serving 27 years in
a South African prison and George Augustus Stallings became the first Bishop of
the African-American Catholic Church. While Ebony Magazine celebrated its 45th
anniversary on November 1, Nashville’s African American community was getting a
new magazine all its own. Rosetta Miller-Perry, who created Nashville’s
newest magazine, launched a newspaper specifically designed to serve
Nashville’s diverse African American community.
Rosetta Irvin
Miller-Perry, daughter of the late Anderson and Mary Irvin and, was born in
Coraopolis, PA. She worked during high school as a dinner assistant for a
Pittsburgh Judge, whose daughter was Rosetta's classmate. After graduating from
Coraopolis Senior High School, Miller-Perry served in the United States Navy,
married, had three children and obtained an undergraduate degree from
Memphis State University (currently known as University of Memphis). She
was among the first few African American students to graduate from Memphis
State University forty years ago.
Miller-Perry
later moved to Washington D.C. to attend Howard University Law School. Shortly
afterwards she worked for the United States Commission on Civil Rights and
moved south where she divided her time between Memphis and Nashville serving as
Director of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under
Clarence Thomas, now on the Supreme Court. After working for the United
States government a quarter of a century, Miller-Perry retired. Of course
retirement means different things for different people, and in true Miller-Perry
fashion, retirement for her meant more work – so she decided to try her hand at
publishing.
In 1990, she
founded Perry & Perry & Associates Inc. and launched Contempora
Magazine. The following year, she created The Tennessee TRIBUNE, a newspaper
highlighting the African American community locally, regionally and
nationally. Like her newspaper, Miller-Perry has spread her positiv e
influence locally, regionally and nationally.
During the early
1990s, approximately 200 African American newspapers were published
nationwide. Denied funds from local banks, Miller-Perry invested $70,000
from her personal savings into the TRIBUNE and watched as it became one of the
most influential African American publications in Tennessee.
Locally, within five years Miller-Perry,
purchased her first building on Morena Street. But wanting to be in the
“heart of the African American community,” she found a 60-year old building in
need of repairs, purchased it and then moved her operation to historic
Jefferson Street. Following renovation of the old historic Universal Insurance
Building, Miller-Perry’s publication now had a permanent home in the
center of Nashville’s most affluent African American community.
Regionally, Miller-Perry founded the Nashville
Black Chamber of Commerce and Anthony J. Cebrun Journalism Center. Since
completing the one-year program with Leadership Nashville, she participates
with this organization as a panelist. She is also active with Leadership
Middle Tennessee, College Trust Fund, North Nashville Community
Development. Miller-Perry has received more than 100 awards
during her career. In light of her altruistic contributions and
accomplishments, a scholarship was established in her name at the University of
Memphis. Miller-Perry’s name was placed on an award that honors
outstanding African American filmmakers nationally and internationaly at the
Nashville Film Festival.
Nationally, Miller Perry was nominated and accepted
as a member into HistoryMakers. This organization represents the largest
archival project of its kind in the world. The HistoryMakers is unique
among other collections of African American heritage, because of its massive
scope. Like other oral historical collections, the HistoryMakers’ collection
hear kens back to the earliest and most authentic efforts to capture the voice
of a people, while introducing state-of-the-art technology to increase
accessibility. The HistoryMakers provide living proof that African
American history did not begin or end with the civil rights movement.
Additionally, the HistoryMakers number in the thousands nationwide and their
names are not just Harriet Tubman, W.E.B. DuBois, Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Ella Fitzgerald; but include Tennesseans such as
Rosetta Miller-Perry, John Britton, Leatrice Mckissack, Dr. Jayme
Williams, Rev. Benjamin Hooks, Judge D'Army Bailey and Nikki
Giovanni.
Under
Miller-Perry's regime, The TRIBUNE has become the most effective African American
community weekly in Middle Tennessee. For more than 19
years, the paper has championed the cause of Civil Rights and leadership of
African Americans. Miller-Perry remains at the helm of the publication with her
son-in-law Steve Benson as associate publisher.
The Tennessee Tribune 2010. Copyright. All rights reserved. Updates by www.jlyndsignz.com
