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Demonstrators lined a busy intersection in Brentwood, an upscale community 10 miles south of Nashville, on Sunday, Jan. 11 to protest the killing of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.

Renee Good, a mother of three, was killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fired through the windshield of her car, according to videos of the fatal incident.

The January 7 killing of an American citizen by an ICE agent ignited protests in more than 1,000 cities across the U.S. in the days following the shooting.

I'm Rhonda Miller. I walked among about 150 demonstrators at a commercial intersection in Brentwood and talked to some protestors, who ranged from an 80-year-old military veteran to a mom who brought her four-year-old daughter.

This is what democracy sounds like one Sunday afternoon in January in Brentwood, Tennessee. I'm Rhonda Miller.

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Crowds of demonstrators lined a major commercial thoroughfare in Clarksville, Tennessee on Oct. 18 protesting actions by the Trump administration related to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, healthcare, education, immigration raids by ICE and the use of the National Guard in U.S. cities.

The Clarksville demonstration was part of the ‘No Kings’ nationwide protest that brought out an estimated seven million people in 2,700 cities and towns across America.

Clarksville is near Fort Campbell, a sprawling Army post that spans the Tennessee/Kentucky border.

Demonstrators lining up along Wilma Rudolph Blvd. included high school and college students, working professionals, parents with children in strollers, older Americans and military veterans.

The Oct. 18 protests happened during a U.S. government shutdown when most federal employees were not being paid.

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Concerned about cuts to Medicaid, the possible closing of area hospitals, cuts to SNAP food programs for children, immigration, the impending worker shortage affecting farmers, tariffs, the cost of groceries, reproductive freedom and threats to American democracy, about 70 people showed up at the Goodlettsville Branch of Nashville Public Library on Aug. 20.

The Town Hall held at the library 15 miles north of Nashville was planned as a way for area residents to get information about issues in Congress from Tennessee's 6th District Congressman Republican John Rose.

The only presence of Congressman Rose was a photo on an empty chair in front of the room. He was a 'no show' even though an organizer of the event said speaker requests were filed on the Congressman's website and emails and phone calls were made to his office. There was no reply.

So the group got information from two panelists, Kiran Sreepada and Marissa King, Tennesseans with expertise in government issues.

Longtime nurse Mary Jane Bidwell said if Rose was serving his constituents, he wouldn't be afraid to show up in person. Bidwell said as an advocate for the most vulnerable, including transgender people and residents on Medicaid, "Shame on me if I don't speak up and speak out."

Kiran Sreepada said one of his current advocacy projects is working with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. He said many immigrants in the state are scared due to ICE raids and because some who have been granted asylum hearings are picked up when they show up for their court date.

Tomesia Day said one of the issues she's most concerned about is reproductive health for women.

Twenty-year-old Trent Benge, membership director for Tennessee Young Democrats, said he's concerned about the attack on democracy. He said he's also keeping up the fight for his 16-year-old transgender brother, who can't get the care he needs in Tennessee. So his father, mother and brother moved to Colorado earlier this year.

Organizations supporting the area Town Hall meetings, and efforts to make Tennessee a more inclusive and equitable place for all, include Indivisible Nashville, Indivisible Sumner County, East Nashtivists and the National Women's Political Caucus of Tennessee.

A 6th Congressional District Town Hall Follow Up will be held at Tailgate Brew Works in Hendersonville on Thursday, Sept. 4.

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