NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Nashville Public Schools is renaming Brick Church Middle School after a civil rights pioneer who helped shape Nashville's school system.
The school will now be called Richard H. Dinkins Middle School, honoring the man who worked for decades to create equity within the district and helped desegregate Nashville schools.
Dinkins was the lead attorney for the Nashville school desegregation cases as well as other high-profile civil rights and discrimination cases. He later became a Court of Appeals Judge before retiring.
"It's absolutely a full circle moment. We're very grateful to be working with his family on this project to re-dedicate this school to Richard H. Dinkins," said Sean Braisted, a district spokesperson.
"We believe that he would have been very proud to have had a school like this named after him. And we really look to invest and focus on making sure Brick Church Middle School which is now going to be Richard H. Dinkins Middle School is going to be a jewel within the MNPS system," Braisted said.
The dedication ceremony took place at 10 a.m. Saturday at the school on Brick Church Pike in East Nashville. Attendees heard from district and city leaders, watched a student presentation, and saw displays honoring Judge Dinkins' life and impact.
School representatives say they plan to incorporate elements of Judge Dinkins' legacy into the educational experience.
"We've been really working on making sure that we have elements of Judge Dinkins within the school experience so that when students come in they know why it was named after him, they understand his legacy," said Braisted.
"We really want to focus on that and making sure people understand you can be lawyers, you can be judges in the future. So creating that opportunity and pathway is going to be really important to the students," Braisted said.
Dinkins passed away in 2023, but representatives from the district say his legacy will live on through this school and the students who learn about his contributions to civil rights in Nashville.
Have thoughts about honoring local civil rights heroes? Email me at Eric.Pointer@NewsChannel5.com
This story was reported by Eric Pointer and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Eric Pointer and our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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