Missing
 

Grateful for Great Women inspires; 2025 WA nominations due Jan. 10

Women of Achievement honorees at the 2024 “Grateful for Great Women” WomenTalk included panelists (seated) Rev. Roz Nichols, Jocie Wurzburg, Ines Negrette and Joyce Cobb and attendees Audrey May, Judy Card, Deborah Clubb and Bettye Boone.

 

    In this season of intentional gratitude, in a time of national angst and challenge, the Women’s Council hosted a gathering to celebrate and hear stories from four remarkable women from varied backgrounds and professions.

 

    “Grateful for Great Women,” the November WomenTalk, featured four history-makers. Reezon Eke, University of Memphis senior and upcoming intern for the Women’s Council, shares these impressions from the panel:     

 

     Joyce Cobb, 2002 Woman of Achievement for Initiative, turns 80 next year, has overcome serious health challenges and is “still living strong,” she told WomenTalk. A venture years ago into the Los Angeles-based music industry and a near-rape shifted her focus to legacy-building through song writing and owning her craft. “You can be anything that you want to be. Just be your best,” Joyce said, quoting her parents.

 

    Joyce was named Memphis Flyers’ 2024 Best Local Singer. She is grateful for her gift of music and that she could make it her livelihood.

 

     Ines Negrette, 2017 WA for Determination, emigrated with her law degree from Venezuela in 1989 and moved to Memphis in 2000. She is passionate about the power of voice. Even when she lost her nonprofit position due to strong advocacy challenging police authority and abusive conduct toward Hispanic or Latinx victims of domestic violence, she turned that challenge into opportunity to create CasaLuz, a nonprofit devoted to aiding her community. She leads cultural sensitivity training for police.

 

     She is proud of the cultural saying: “They thought they buried you --- but they planted you.” Ines sees strength in transforming adversity into new opportunities and growth. She embodies leadership and tenacity in creating systemic change for marginalized communities in Memphis.

 

    Rev. Roz Nichols, 2005 WA for Determination, is dedicated to faith-based collective action. She is pastor of Freedom’s Chapel Christian Church which she founded; a founding leader of MICAH (Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope) and currently an inter-faith officer for MIFA (Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association).

 

    Roz advocates for justice and equity and was dismayed by the recent national election. “I cannot do the work I need to do without hope, but I can acknowledge right now it is sagging.” Still, she said,  the work goes on as MICAH began gatherings this month to determine next goals.

 

   Jocie Wurzburg, 1990 WA for Courage, attorney, mediator and human rights warrior, has spent nearly seven decades advancing civil rights, feminism and civic engagement in a long fight for racial and gender equality. She said she sees everything in terms of race and fears future racism and anti-semitism.

 

    Jocie embodies courage in confronting old institutions and ideologies perpetuating systematic injustices. She feels a moral conviction to prepare the next generation to keep on the fight.
“We’ve got to do it all over again,” she said. “We’re going to have to fight for a woman’s right to take charge of her own body.”

 

     “Grateful for Great Women” takeaways:

 

     Legacy: build and leave something that will endure after your death.

 

     Resiliency: Use misogyny, racism, systemic injustices and political setbacks as motivators to take action and grow.

 

     Leadership: Champion equity, take others by the hand and inspire those around you to step into roles. It takes a collective to make change.

 

     Intergenerational influence: Change takes time and sustained effort. The work never truly stops and is more important now than ever.

 

     Women of Achievement celebrates and documents the work of changemakers of all generations, communities, faiths and backgrounds. We all know women whose stories should be captured and celebrated. Share them!

 

     Nominations for the 2025 Women of Achievement awards are due Jan. 10. Go to www.womenofachievement.org/nominate. The 2205 awards event will be March 30. Don’t miss it!

 

     Watch for information on the 2025 WomenTalk series in the weeks ahead.

 

The Women’s Council updates and distributes this info card which can save lives by providing victims/survivors with key resources. To get cards, contact dclubb@memphiswomen.org.

 

WHY WE KEEP WORKING

 

     Despite years of effort to maintain crisis hotlines, create a dedicated domestic violence court, make Orders of Protection more accessible, expand emergency shelter and provide advocates to accompany and support victims/survivors, the lethal scourge of intimate partner violence and homicide continue. This is a glimpse into the ongoing local impact, and the reason we must keep pushing for wider awareness and more services.

 

     This is shared from District Attorney Steve Mulroy’s weekly online newsletter of Monday Nov. 25:

Happening in Court

 

Man Sentenced to 65 Years for 2022 Murder of Girlfriend: On Monday, Michael Lurry was sentenced to 65 years in prison for the brutal murder of his girlfriend, Toneshia Hardeman, in 2022. A jury convicted Lurry of first-degree murder in August after hearing evidence detailing the events leading to Hardeman's death.

 

Prosecutors proved that Lurry deliberately struck Hardeman with her own car, running her over and causing fatal injuries. The 38-year-old woman died on the same day. Afterward, Lurry abandoned the vehicle at a lot and fled the scene, later attempting to carjack a civilian in his escape. When that failed, he stole a delivery driver's semi-truck. Lurry pled guilty to the truck theft before his murder trial.

 

The prosecution presented testimony from 16 witnesses, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation provided DNA evidence to further strengthen the case against Lurry.

 

Michael Lurry was sentenced on Monday for a total of 65 years on Murder 1, theft of property over $60k, and criminal attempt: Theft of property over $2500.

 

ADA Monica Timmerman handled the case.

 

 

Man Found Guilty and Sentenced to Life in Double Homicide Case: On November 16, a Shelby County jury convicted Jose Murillo-Salgado on multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree murder by premeditation, two counts of first-degree murder in the perpetration of a felony, and especially aggravated burglary. Murillo-Salgado was found guilty as charged for the brutal 2028 murders of his ex-girlfriend, Claudia Nunez, and her 14-year-old son, Kevin Nunez.

The incident occurred on July 22, when Murillo-Salgado broke into the home of Claudia Nunez, where she was with her three children, ages 16, 14, and 12. Armed with a kitchen knife, Murillo-Salgado fatally stabbed Claudia and Kevin. Claudia’s 16-year-old daughter and 12-year-old daughter witnessed the attack but managed to escape, saving their lives.
Murillo-Salgado has been automatically sentenced to life imprisonment on the murder charges. Judge Carlyn Addison will sentence him on the additional charge of especially aggravated burglary on December 17, 2024. At that time, the court will also determine whether his life sentences will run concurrently or consecutively.

 

ADAs Alyssa Hennig and Monica Timmerman handled the case.

The Women's Council is deeply grateful for all who support our work for women and girls and for all those who join in it. We must work together. Remember the Women's Council on Giving Tuesday and in your year-end donations.

Thank you.

 

 

Memphis Area Women's Council

PO Box 95, Memphis TN 38101