Daphene R. McFerren, executive director, and Curtis Ladrillo Chamblee M.A., Graduate Research Assistant, of the Hooks Institute are the editors of this Forum, Uplift Memphis, Uplift the Nation: Voices & Perspectives for Progress. Forum posts are curated by the editors and the views expressed in them are those of the authors and are not attributable to any official position of the Hooks Institute or the University of Memphis. Items to be considered by the Editors for potential Forum Post publication may be sent to BHI@memphis.edu. The editors hold sole discretion as to what blog posts are published. For more information about the Hooks Institute visit memphis.edu/benhooks.