By Phyllis Qualls and Tennessee Tribune Staff Contributors
Rosetta Miller-Perry, trailblazer, visionary, bridge builder and motivator, passed peacefully Friday June 26, surrounded by family. She was 91.
In a statement shortly after she passed, the family posted a message on the Tennessee Tribune web page. “The Tennessee Tribune family mourns the passing of its founder, publisher and chief executive officer, Rosetta Miller-Perry.” Perry’s remarkable presence and influence extended throughout Tennessee and beyond.
After graduating from high school in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, she joined the Navy and earned an honorable discharge. She began work in the Pentagon and several government departments that included the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She was an observer in Memphis during the Civil Rights Movement. While working at the EEOC, she was assigned to Memphis to observe the sanitation protest. And, during that time, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Perry was compromised as well, and in constant danger, yet she was not afraid and continued her work.
She retired from federal government after 25 years of service and established Perry & Perry Associates. She also established Contempora Magazine in 1990 and the Tennessee Tribune in 1991. She could not get a loan, therefore she used her own funds to establish these media outlets, before AI, fax machines and cell phone use was so prevalent. The Tribune is now 35 years old.
At the 30th anniversary celebration of the Tennessee Tribune, NNPA Board Chair Ben Chavis dubbed Perry as “Queen Mother” of the Black press because of her years in journalism and the impact she has had in the industry.
Miller-Perry has been described as a motivator, role model and entrepreneur. She was either a founder or charter member of several organizations. She established the Black Chamber of Commerce, so that Black businesses could be recognized and receive civic and business benefits.
She was also a founding charter member of the Nashville Chapter of Les Gemmes, Inc., a social and civic group with a focus on exposing youth to the arts. It was as rewarding to Mrs. Perry as it was to the youth. Whatever she did, it was done with tenacity and class, because she knew she was right!
Her belief in education was strong and she has scholarships in her name at Tennessee State University, the University of Memphis and Meharry Medical College. She also supports a scholarship for Nashville chapter of the Les Gemmes’ Jewels, who attend the University of Memphis. The Celebration of Life services will be Friday and Saturday, July 10 & 11, in Nashville. The Friday night public viewing will be at First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill, 625 Rosa L. Parks Blvd. Nashville, TN. The funeral will be Saturday, July 11, at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, located at 2261 Murfreesboro Pike, Nashville, TN 37217.