Loretta McNary talks to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris

Loretta McNary Live is a live call in lifestyle show featuring high energy resolution oriented interiews with celebrities, thought leaders, industry experts and amazing unsung heroes helping others find and live in their purpose.

Our guest today is Mayor Lee Harris. Mayor Lee Harris shares his plan, purpose and passion for decreasing juvenile delinquency in Memphis/Shelby County.

In 2014, Lee Harris was elected to the State Senate, becoming the youngest senator in the state of Tennessee. Other Democratic senators selected him as Senate Minority Leader, making him the first African American leader of the state senate in Tennessee history.

Among his legislative initiatives, he has pushed for treatment coverage for persons with sickle cell, a condition that plagues communities across the state; advocated for new laws to protect children from abuse; fought for expansion of recycling and environmentally-friendly practices in state government; championed new laws to reform our criminal justice system; helped create system to ensure immediate public notification if lead is found in drinking water; and worked to expand community college scholarships for students with learning disabilities. 

Harris served on the Memphis City Council. Among other accomplishments, Harris was a leader in the fight for a new citywide non-discrimination ordinance. He led the charge to preserve and redevelop city museums and historic structures in Victorian Village, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. 

Senator Harris is a tenured full professor of law at the University of Memphis Law School. He is believed to be the only African-American to achieve that rank in the history of the Law School and he is the inaugural holder of the Federal Express Professorship in Law. He is the author of two textbooks.

He earned his undergraduate degree from Morehouse and his law degree from Yale.