What Nashville school got name change for civil rights champion Richard H. Dinkins and why
Nashville Public Schools start classes on Aug. 5, with a school that has a new name: Richard H. Dinkins Early College Magnet Middle School, previously Brick Church Middle.
A dedication ceremony held on Aug. 2 included Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell, Metro Nashville Schools Director Adrienne Battle and Richard H. Dinkins Middle Principal Robyn Beard-Tillman among the speakers.
Dinkins died in 2023 at the age of 71. The school board unanimously approved the new name for the school last March. Richard H. Dinkins Middle is in Metro's Whites Creek High School cluster.
Dinkins was the lead attorney in a long-running school desegregation case that helped reshape public education in Nashville.
Cousin Margaret Campbelle-Holman told dedication ceremony attendees in the library about Richard Dinkins stutter and how reading and education provided Dinkins "an unwavering belief in what education could do."
"He never forgot about removing barriers," Campbelle-Holman said. "He saw that any impediment for a child's learning had to be worked on," which she believed fueled Dinkins in his desegregation work.
Richard H Dinkins later became a judge on the Tennessee Court of Appeals in 2008 and served with distinction until his retirement in 2022. He had previously served as a Davidson County Chancery Court chancellor from 2003 to 2008.
"Nashville, and really everywhere, has a lot of unsung heroes and people who have done the work to get us to this point," said Richard Dinkins' son Ian Dinkins, 30. "So it's important that people like my dad, Robert Lillard, are honored ... and have students living out (their) legacy every day."
Dinkins Middle student Aria Telfor read a poem to the audience and signage that reflects the new name is up inside and outside in time for school to start.
"I think students have the opportunity to do anything they want if they put their minds to it," Aria said after reading her poem.
Dinkins Middle School feeds into Whites Creek High School, which offers the Early College program in partnership with Nashville State Community College. The initiative allows students to earn both a high school diploma and up to 60 college credits, placing them on a fast track to an associate degree.
"The name is more than symbolic, it's a commitment," Beard-Tillman said about the name change."
Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville's Brick Church Middle renamed for Judge Richard H. Dinkins
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