After a career in corporate human resources, Tina’s journey led to a passion to help build inclusive spaces where shared histories are highlighted, a sense of community is created, and connections forged that impact the lives of children, youth, and families. Upon retiring in 2016, Tina recognized that the history of African Americans and their contribution to the life of her community was largely absent from the local historical landscape. Tina believes that honoring and celebrating our shared history is an important component to building welcoming communities where people feel they belong.
Tina was one of the original coordinators for the first Bristol, TN/VA city-wide Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration in 2018. Tina’s work and partnerships have led to a Community History Day with Black in Appalachia and the development of a Bristol digital archive, the 2021 dedication of Bristol’s first historical markers acknowledging members of the African American community: Dr. Charles Spurgeon Johnson (a Bristolian, scholar, sociologist and first African American President of Fisk University in Nashville, TN), and Lee Street Baptist Church which at that time was located in the historical “Black Bottom” district of Bristol. Tina currently co-leads the Bristol Community Remembrance Project Coalition who is partnering with the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, AL to bring education and awareness about racial terror lynching in the American South and to memorialize Mr. Robert Clark who was kidnapped and lynched in Bristol, VA on June 13, 1891.
In 2023, Tina’s monologue, “The White Sheet Welcome” was featured in Barter Theatre’s “Black Stories Black Voices” “Shine” production. The monologue was written to honor her 89-year-old mother’s story about a childhood experience in Northeast TN.
Tina is a member of Jubilee World Outreach Church in Johnson City, TN and serves on Barter Theatre’s Board of Trustees, King University Institute for Faith and Culture, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Alliance for Northeast TN and Southwest VA, the Northeast State Community College’s Inclusive Excellence advisory board.
On April 2023, Tina was inducted into Phi Alpha | Chi Omega Honor Society by King University’s Social Work Department for her humanitarian work in the community. In April 2024, Tina was awarded the Public Citizen of the Year award from the Northeast TN Branch of the National Association of Social Workers. In May 2024, she was recognized as a YWCA Tribute to Women recipient for her work aligned with the YWCA’s mission of eliminating racism and empowering women.
Tina is currently the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program Coordinator for Appalachian Promise Alliance and lives in Bristol, TN with her husband of 43 years, William, and son, Tyson.
To learn more about Tina, click here.