Monthly Archives: February 2022
Black History Month: Spotlight on American Entrepreneurs
Have you heard the brand of coffee called Blk & Bold?
Pernell Cezar and Rod Johnson started the first nationally distributed Black-owned coffee brand.
Cezar and Johnson launched their business in 2018 in Cezar’s garage after deciding they both desired more personally fulfilling careers. That meant building a company that revolved around a social impact model – to provide a positive impact on their community. “We wanted to make sure that we found a way to reinvest back into those who just need a boost, who just need a helping hand to overcome and rise above their respective circumstances,” Johnson has said.
While researching their idea, they learned that Black Americans are distinctly under-represented in the coffee industry, as both customers and business owners. In the U.S., African-Americans are the least likely ethnic group to drink coffee regularly, according to a 2019 study from the National Coffee Association.
They began by selling bags of home roasted beans to independent coffee shops in the Midwest. Relying on social media and trade shows for marketing, and just within two years Target became their first big break into major retailing. Once the pandemic hit, online sales took off when Blk & Bold was featured as part of Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator. They have since expanded Blk & Bold products to include specialty teas.
Cezar and Johnson’s commitment to giving back to the community along with caring about the products they make has led to partnerships with Ben & Jerry’s, Amazon, Target, and the NBA. They dedicate 5% of the company’s profits to initiatives that help youth in need and have already donated $42,000 to community organizations like No Kid Hungry, to fight childhood hunger, as well as educational programs in Des Moines and a coding initiative for Black youth in Miami.
Bet on Yourself: Recognize, Own, and Implement Breakthrough Opportunities by Ann Hiatt
Starting a Business All-In-One for Dummies by Kathleen R. Allen
So You Want to Start a Side Hustle: Build a Business that Empowers you to Live your Life, your Way by Craig Clickner and Carrie Bohlig
The Soul of an Entrepreneur: Work and Life Beyond the Startup Myth by David Sax.
The Unspoken Rules: Secrets to Starting your Career off Right by Gorick Ng
Kathy, Reference
SPRING HILL, LIKE THE REGION, PREPS FOR FLOODS IF HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE
Press Release:
SPRING HILL, TN, February 24, 2022 – The City of Spring Hill is prepared, monitoring weather updates and ready to deploy additional personnel, as the region faces the potential of additional heavy rainfalls that could result in additional flooding.
On Tuesday evening, the Spring Hill Public Works, Police and Fire departments worked together to manage traffic and clear debris accumulating under the bridge on Port Royal Road at Tom Lunn Roads.
Other areas requiring attention Tuesday included the Derryberry Lane intersection at Rice Road, Old Kedron Road, and Clayborn Road near the Petty Lane intersection.
On Thursday morning, Public Works closed Old Kedron Road between Kedron and Duplex Roads after several inches of water accumulated. Crews are monitoring water levels in several locations across the city.
Public Works officials confirm that water levels in Rutherford Creek and other local streams have decreased since yesterday. However, ground saturation from continued rainfall in the region means less water can be absorbed, increasing runoffs and flooding.
“We are optimistic that the Harpeth and Duck rivers will allow local streams to recede” said Mayor Jim Hagaman. “But our staff and resources are prepared and ready.”
“We are working closely with our Williamson and Maury County emergency management leaders,” he said.
Spring Hill is located in both Williamson and Maury Counties.
The mayor urges residents to beware of city personnel on roadways and to resist the urge to drive through streams or accumulated water, if flooding occurs.
“Your car or your truck can be swept away by less water than you might think,” Hagaman said. “Please don’t risk your safety or that of emergency responders.”
Spring Hill Police Chief Don Bright and Fire Chief Terry Hood concur. They advise drivers to obey the Tennessee “move-over” law pertaining to emergency personnel and any vehicle, private or public, pulled over with its emergency flashers on.
Chief Hood was almost hit by a passing car while responding to the Port Royal bridge incident Tuesday night.
David Fish, Director of Communications, PIO
o: 931-486-2252, ext 222
m: 931-922-6842
dfish@springhilltn.org
OFFICE OF THE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
199 Town Center Parkway • Spring Hill, Tennessee 37174 931-486-2252, ext 222
Black History Month: Spotlight on an American Poet
Have you heard of Emtithal Mahmoud?
Known as Emi, she is a World Poetry Slam Champion, a former refugee, and a UNHCR (the United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees) Goodwill Ambassador.
Emi was born in Khartoum, Sudan. She grew up in Philadelphia, and attended Yale University, earning her bachelor’s of science in anthropology and molecular biology and then her Certificate in Global Health, also from Yale. It was during her senior year that she won the World Poetry Slam Championship in Washington D.C. In 2017, at 25 years old, she hosted the first fully inclusive civilian peace talks across Sudan. She walked 620 miles from Darfur to Khartoum, mobilizing people along the way as part of her One Girl Walk and Dreams for Peace Initiative. She has spoken before thousands around the world, worked with the Dalai Lama, President Obama, The Academy of Arts and Sciences, and several other Nobel Laureates, leaders, and organizations. She published her debut poetry collection, Sister’s Entrance, in 2018.
“I come from a place where the history is based on oral tradition, my tribal tongue isn’t written, everything is passed down from person to person,” Mahmoud has said. “While I could speak to people in a scientific way, or a political way, I choose poetry in the end because I think it’s the easiest way to reach people and have them respond with their humanity.”
To read a bit of her poetry, check out Ink Knows No Borders at the Main Branch of the Williamson County Library.
Kathy, Reference
Road Closure Map
The Williamson County Emergency Management Agency will be updating their page at https://tn-williamsoncountyops.civicplus.com/261/Current-Emergency-Information
with road closures due to flooding; there are three closures already. Please check the map prior to going out to be sure of your route.
As roads reopen, they will be pulled off of the map. Information regarding any facility closures, links to outage maps, and more can be found on the page. Any press releases that are disseminated will also be located at the bottom.
You can find Williamson County Emergency Management on Twitter – @WCTNEMA or on Facebook for further information.
Black History Month: Spotlight on an American Olympian
(Gary Ambrose / For The LATimes)
Have you heard of Erin Jackson?
The 29 year old is the first Black American woman to qualify for an Olympic team in 2018 and the first to win a world cup. She was already known as a 12-time Inline World Championship medalist and 47-time Inline National Champion. She did not start skating on ice until she was 25, and just 4 years later, she is the first Black woman to win an individual medal in speed skating in the 500-Meter at the Olympics, finishing her lap in just 37.04 seconds.
Erin was born and raised in Ocala, Florida, where she tried figure skating at 8. She graduated with honors from the Materials Science & Engineering program at the University of Florida, while winning awards for inline skating and roller derby along the way.
After her Olympic win, Jackson said, “Hopefully it has an effect. Hopefully we can see more minorities, especially in the USA, getting out and trying some of these winter sports. And I just always hope to be a good example, like, especially with helping kids see that they don’t have to just choose one between school and sports.”
Ice Dancing by Claire Throp (J 796.912 THR)
Passing the Baton: Black Women Track Stars and American Identity by Cat M. Ariail (796.42082 ARI)
Rise of the Rocket Girls: the Women who Propelled us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars by Nathalia Holt (629.4072 HOL)
A Skating Life by Dorothy Hamill with Deborah Amelon B HAMILL
Triumph on Ice: the New World of Figure Skating by Jean Riley Senft (796.912 SEN)
Kathy, Reference
🔎New True Crime Book Club
Join a NEW book club at the WCPLS for True Crime Enthusiasts on February 22, 2022, at 6:30 PM.
The meetings will be held at the Main branch of the Williamson County Library in the Learning Center on the second floor and continue monthly, on the fourth Tuesday of each month.
We will kick off our first meeting with recent NYT bestseller I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara. There are six copies of this book in our system, along with the audiobook on CD. The e-book and e-audiobook is also available at TN R.E.A.D.S.
Future readings will be discussed at the first meeting.
All Library programs are free and open to the public.
Friends of WCPL Quarterly Book Sale
This sale is Friday, February 18, 10 am to 5 pm, Saturday, February 19, 9 am to 5 pm,
and Sunday, February 20, 1 to 5 pm.
There is a Friends of the Library members-only preview for early shopping from 9 am to 10 am.
Current members and new members can renew or join online
The Sunday hours will also be a $10 all-day bag sale.
Black History Month: Spotlight
(Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Have you heard of Jessica Watkins?
At just 33 years old, Jessica is the first Black woman training to live and work on the International Space Station (ISS) for an extended mission. 250 astronauts have been to the International Space Station, but fewer than 10 have been Black. Jessica will spend 6 months onboard the ISS to be part of the Artemis program, which hopes to send humans, once again, to the surface of the moon in 2025. Her job will be to study geological changes on Earth and to become a test subject for the effects of long-duration spaceflight for humans.
As a young girl, Jessica knew she wanted to study the geology of other planets after attending an enrichment program at Sally Ride Elementary School. She went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in geological and environmental sciences from Stanford University and a doctorate in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
She has noted the importance of different countries that may be experiencing political tensions coming together for this mission. “We are all coming together to accomplish this really hard thing that none of us would be able to do on our own,” Watkins said. “I think that is just such a beautiful picture of what we can all do if we come together and put all of our resources and skill sets together.”
How to Astronaut: An Insider’s Guide to Leaving Planet Earth by Terry Virts (629.45 VIR)
Star Crossed: The Story of Astronaut Lisa Nowak by Kimberly Moore (629.45 MOO)
Chasing Space: An Astronaut’s Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances by Leland Melvin (B MELVIN)
We Could Not Fail: The First African Americans in the Space Program by Richard Paul & Steven Moss (629.40923 PAU)
Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut by Jose M. Hernandez (B HERNANDEZ)
Kathy, Reference
🔎2022 Edgar Award Nominations
The 76th Annual Edgar® Awards to be celebrated on April 28, 2022 at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square.
The Mystery Writers of America (MWA) pays tribute to Edgar Allan Poe and present “Edgars” to authors of distinguished work in various categories. MWA is the leading organization for mystery writers, professionals aligned to the crime-writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those of us that may be dedicated to this genre.
Here is a short list of the nominees; there are links to the items you can check out –
BEST NOVEL
The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby and the ebook and eaudio book in TN R.E.A.D.S.
Five Decembers by James Kestrel
How Lucky by Will Leitch and the ebook in TN R.E.A.D.S.
No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield; we also have the ebook and eaudio book in TN R.E.A.D.S.
BEST FACT CRIME
The Confidence Men: How Two Prisoners of War Engineered the Most Remarkable Escape in History by Margalit Fox and the ebook in TN R.E.A.D.S.
Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green
Sleeper Agent: The Atomic Spy in America Who Got Away by Ann Hagedorn
Two Truths and a Lie: A Murder, a Private Investigator, and Her Search for Justice by Ellen McGarrahan
The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade by Benjamin T. Smith
When Evil Lived in Laurel: The “White Knights” and the Murder of Vernon Dahmer by Curtis Wilkie (ordered)
There are other categories within the genre, such as Best Paperback Original, Best Critical/Biographical, Best Young Adult, and Best Television Episode Teleplay, among others. Visit the Mystery Writers of America website for a complete list.
Adult Craft Class: Painting Rocks🖌
We are going to paint rocks at the Adult Craft Class at the Franklin branch this month!
Rock painting, as a craft trend, has been around for a few years, but has really taken off in the past two. There are kindness rocks, those are rocks with inspirational messages to gift to those that could use words of encouragement, there are flower bed rocks to decorate those areas, and as garden markers, and the old-school paper weight. We have to be careful with rocks that will be left outdoors, making sure the paint is sealed, to protect the environment.
We will have rocks, paint, brushes, sealant, and a few blow dryers to speed the drying process. We also have markers if want to write a small message.
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