We are happy to report that the Panel Discussion, postponed from February 22nd, HAS NOW BEEN RE-SCHEDULED for Saturday, April 26, 2025.
Our panel remains committed to come to hear your voices, as the Donald Trump reign brings us closer to Vladimir Putin, than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The location of the panel discussion is the same: the Douglass Room on the First Floor of the V.O. Dobbins Community Center Complex, 301 Louis Street, Kingsport.
The time is also the same: 12 Noon to 2 PM on that day.
Bring your questions and your concerns. We'll see you then.
Here are the panelists for the upcoming Black History Month panel discussion in the Douglass Room at V.O. Dobbins, on Saturday, February 22nd at 12 Noon:
Dr. Shayla Nunnally, PhD, Professor of African Studies, University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Dr. Nunnally is a professor of political science for the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Tennessee, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in American politics and African-American politics, public opinion and political behavior. She is a summa cume laude graduate of North Carolina Central University. She received her M.A. and P.hD. in political science from Duke University. Professor Nunnally specializes in research on political socialization, racial socialization, trust intergroup relations and attitudes, social capital, collective memory and memory transmission, Black American partisanship, Black (political) institutions and African-American political development. She has also published a book with New York University Press, Trust in Black America: Race, Discrimination and Politics (2012) and her book was cited in an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Supreme Court for the landmark affirmative action case, Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2013).
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Dr. Daryl Carter, the director of Black American Studies and a professor of history at East Tennessee State University. Dr. Carter has taught numerous courses and students in the program during his career at ETSU. As a trained historian in American political history and African-American history, Dr. Carter brings a deep knowledge and understanding of the complexities of African-American history. He is the author of the highly regarded Brother Bill: President Clinton and the Politics of Race and Class, published by the University of Arkansas Press. Currently, Dr. Carter is working on a book length examination of American liberalism, Edward M. Kennedy, and the United States since 1980. Dr. Carter holds a B.S. in Political Science and M.A. in History from East Tennessee State University. He earned his Ph.D. in American history at the University of Memphis.
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Rev. Jacqueline L. Nophlin's motto is borrowed from the late Civil Rights pioneer John Lewis: "Good trouble is necessary trouble."
Rev. Nophlin is the senior pastor, founder, and builder of HOFCC, Household Of Faith Community Church, Bristol, VA, for over 38 years. She is a self-described community activist. Jackie’s education consists of, Cumberland University in Lebanon, TN (Paralegal), Offenbach am Main, Germany College, Army Air Force Exchange Services (in Business Management), Draughons Junior College, Bristol, TN (in Nursing); Bristol Bible College, Bristol, TN (in Theology); Virginia Highlands Community College (in Psychology); and Phoenix University, Arizona (in Business).
Jackie is a notable figure in Bristol, VA-TN, for her work as a civil rights activist, environmental activist, and domestic violence activist, as well as her involvement with local organizations such as Bristol Faith In Action, Community Concerned Citizens, CCC, and as a Bristol Family Promise board member. She is currently in her second term as Vice Chairwoman, IDA, Industrial Development Authority, appointed by the Bristol, VA City Council. She has been the president of the Bristol Area Ministerial Alliance for four (4) years—more than any other in the history of this 75-year-old organization. She is a substitute teacher for the Bristol Virginia Public School system in Bristol, VA (K-12), a Columnist for the Bristol Herald Courier newspaper (Saturday Sermons), and a Domestic Violence Advocate. Jackie was shot by her husband of 19 years during a domestic violence altercation and is partially paralyzed. She was the 2000 and 2024 VA National Delegate Democratic Convention. Jackie is an entrepreneur and the owner of Nop’s Hair Shop Plus, LLC in Bristol.
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Dr. Shavonn Eric Sayers, Owner of Sonny and Sons Corporation, Johnson City. Retired U.S. Navy served in U.S. Army for 2 years. Science Hill High School Graduate, Olympia College Graduate, Universal Life Church Graduate. Assistant Pastor of Agape Church of God in Christ of Johnson City, Tennessee. Vice President and Incoming President of the Upper East Tennessee N.A.A.C.P.
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Panel Discussion Moderator: Calvin Sneed
Panel Coordinators: Rev. Pam Hoard, Johnnie Mae Swagerty, Gerri Harrison, Charlotte Maxwell, Douglas Releford and Vivian Releford.
