TheVoiceOfJoyce The NAACP & The Democratic Party have filed 2 separate Lawsuits to stop the recent elimination of the only Democratic District. Especially, since the map was drawn in secret and is to implemented this Friday, 5/15? Other news, Southern Baptist are losing congregants and Christian music is in .

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Donate todayMonday, May 11, 2026Good morning! Emily SinerTennessee’s new congressional map is now facing multiple legal challenges.

First came the NAACP, filing a lawsuit on the same day that the Tennessee legislature approved a map to divide and dilute Memphis’s political bloc.

Then came a lawsuit from the Tennessee Democratic Party. 

The two lawsuits have slightly different legal strategies. The NAACP is arguing that the governor’s call for the special session did not specifically empower lawmakers to act in the ways they did.

In particular, it takes issue with Republicans repealing a state law that governed when redistricting can happen. Gov. Bill Lee signed that law Thursday morning; the legislature passed the new map later that day. 

The Democrats’ legal challenge, meanwhile, focuses on the timing of this change relative to the upcoming election.

WHAT TO KNOW

Protesters filled the Tennessee State Capitol on Thursday as lawmakers redrew the state’s U.S. House districts. Credit: Marianna Bacallao / WPLN NewsTennessee’s early voting was set to begin in July. But to accommodate the new districts, the legislature voted last week to extend the deadline to get onto the ballot to May 15.

Back in 2022, the courts rejected an NAACP challenge to Tennessee’s maps at the time because the decision would have come too close to an election. Election officials at the time said moving the candidate qualifying deadline past April 7 would “wreak electoral chaos,” cause “voter confusion,” and “risk disenfranchisement of voters.”

The Tennessee Democratic Party’s lawsuit now argues that the same timing consideration should apply to these new maps, which require county governments to update their voter rolls and readjust boundaries.

Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins even wrote a memo on May 4, later obtained by WPLN’s Marianna Bacallao, about the expected strain on the upcoming election: “This has the potential to affect ballot styles, voter assignments, notices and election administration across the state,” he said. 

The Tennessee Democratic Party filed its lawsuit in federal court, seeking an immediate hearing on whether the new maps can go forward.

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On today’s episode of the NashVillagerpodcast 
with host Nina Cardona 🎙️ 

How did a Tennessee farm boy become an influential voice in a movement that still shapes our area’s religious thought? Tolbert Fanning built an important means for Christians without a denomination to maintain ties across congregations. Plus, the local news for May 11, 2026, and Miracle Fields.

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MORE TO KNOW

  • Is Nashville buggier this spring? It is hard to know for sure, as the populations of insects and arachnids are notoriously difficult to monitor. But Belmont University entomologist Steve Murphree tells WPLN that the warmth is likely promoting earlier activity from ants, moths, ticks and more. Nashville had its hottest April and second-hottest March on record, contributing to an early spring. On the flip side, we’ve had an unexpected drought, which could lessen or delay some bugs, like mosquitoes.
     
  • Southern Baptist membership fell last year to its lowest level since 1973, but it also saw increases in baptisms and attendance. This decline in membership has been happening for nearly two decades, but it’s still the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., comprising about 12.3 million people. The executive director of Lifeway Research attributed the membership dip in part to church closures and to congregations cleaning up their rolls. Meanwhile, the 5% increase in baptisms is a key spiritual vital sign, a measure of how many people are being brought into the faith. [Associated Press]
     
  • The city of Clarksville expects to raise its property tax in the coming budget year by about 33% — after a smaller property tax hike last year. Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts says that growth and inflation are factors. The proposed budget also puts several capital projects on hold, with the mayor saying some buildings will get necessary repairs, but the city won’t launch new projects until its finances stabilize. [Clarksville Now]

Amy Grant is the undisputed queen of Contemporary Christian Music. Early in her career, she was celebrated for devotional songs. Almost half a century later, she’s steering her new music towards social consciousness in her album, “The Me That Remains.”

It’s the result of a continually evolving perspective that occasionally clashes with evangelical standards, something Grant is used to.

For example: Early in Grant’s career, there was the three-button controversy.

Her album cover for “My Father’s Eyes” featured a V-neck shirt with the first three buttons unbuttoned, causing a scandal amid the CCM ecosystem. Her album at that time was even banned by Christian bookstore owners.

Then there was a Rolling Stone interview where Grant said she enjoyed having sex with her husband and sunbathing topless. And then there was the divorce: In 1999, she split from her first husband Gary Chapman and shortly after married country legend Vince Gill.

Recently, she held a same-sex marriage ceremony at her farm in Nashville. 

But she has continued to release new music, ranging from collections of classic hymns to collaborations with mainstream figures like James Taylor. And those projects continued to top Billboard’s Christian album chart.

She recently spoke to music reporter Justin Barney about her new album, which finds a place squarely in the current era of political discord. The first track is titled “The 6th of January (Yasgur’s Farm).” Grant embraced it as a message of hope in a time of unrest, because it asks for understanding.

“The words that keep coming to me are, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do to you.’ The golden rule, you know, it’s basically the words of Jesus. The golden rule was taught day in and day out when I was a kid, and somewhere along the line, people stopped saying that,” she said. “But it hasn’t been lost.”Listen to the interviewCHECK OUT TICKET GIVEAWAYS

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