It is with great pleasure that Tennessee Alliance for Progress announces the 2008 TAP Long Haul Awardees!

This year we conducted the nominating process differently: We sent out a call to our email list asking for suggestions. We received many excellent suggestions from across the state. A committee of TAP Board members had the challenging task of making the final selections. Here they are:

2008 TAP Lifetime Achievement Long Haul Awardees

  • Charles Sumner, Nashville, is being recognized for his many years of service to Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.
  • Dick Williams, Nashville, is being recognized for his many years as a citizen lobbyist for Common Cause, Tennesseans for Fair Taxation, and Gathering to Save Our Democracy.

2008 TAP Long Haul Awardees

  • Sarah Bellos, Nashville, of Nashville Urban Harvest is being recognized for outstanding work to provide the Middle Tennessee community with a healthy, sustainable and abundant food supply.
  • Sally Causey, Greeneville, of Rural Resources is being recognized for outstanding work in developing a locally sustainable system of producing and marketing agricultural products.
  • Rita Harris, Memphis, of the Sierra Club, is being recognized for outstanding work in the area of environmental justice.
  • Michele Johnson, Nashville, of Tennessee Justice Center, is being recognized for outstanding work in the area of children’s health.
  • Rebekah Jordan, Memphis, of Midsouth Interfaith Network for Economic Justice, is being recognized for her outstanding work in the area of the living wage and economic justice.
  • Sharon Taylor McKinney, Memphis, of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development is being recognized for her outstanding work in the area of economic development for minorities and women.
  • Lourdes Perez, Knoxville, of the Community Economic Development Network of East Tennessee, is being recognized for her outstanding work in the area of community economic development.
  • Sarah Marie Smith, Carthage, of the Sierra Club, is being recognized for her outstanding work on environmental sustainability.
  • John Stewart, Knoxville, of Tennesseans for Fair Taxation, is being recognized for his outstanding work on fair taxation.

2008 TAP Young Leader Awardees

  • Eric Brown, Nashville, of American Baptist College, for his outstanding work as a community organizer in the areas of economic justice and youth empowerment.
  • Isaac Kimes, Nashville, of Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing, for his outstanding work to abolish the death penalty in Tennessee.
Each member of this stellar group will be presented with his/her award at the TAP Celebration on Friday, May 16, 6:30 to 10 PM, at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church, 419 Woodland Avenue, Nashville, 37206.


Our keynote speaker at the Long Haul Awards Celebration will be America’s #1 Populist, Jim Hightower! Jim is a humorist, author, radio commentator and publisher of the Hightower Lowdown. He will be promoting his new book Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow. As political columnist Molly Ivins said, "If Will Rogers and Mother Jones had a baby, Jim Hightower would be that rambunctious child -- mad as hell, with a sense of humor."

The TAP Long Haul Awards Celebration will also feature hors d'oeuvres and wine, a Silent Auction and music by singer-songwriter Julia Audretch. Festivities begin at 6:30. Suggested donation: $50. Bring a Friend: $90. Student with valid ID: $30. Please purchase tickets in advance, either by credit card [click here] or by check [click here].