Archives for March 2012

THE OPEN WOUNDS

Less than fifty years ago during the civil rights movement, police brutalized peaceful marches and planted informants in the communities and organizations that led the movement. This relationship where the police are seen as adversaries rather than allies to certain communities and constituencies has continued through to today.

The current environment between law enforcement and the community has deteriorated dramatically due to a number of factors.

*CoAct units were systematically defunded over the past ten years.

*CoAct units were placed in privileged communities, with low income and communities of color left largely out of the strategy.

* Blue CRUSH was implemented in 2005. Its aim was to pinpoint concentrations of criminal activity using data gathered from a wide array of sources. Police would then saturate that area with police resources as well as law enforcement personnel.

*As a result of these factors a large number of young people of color were stopped and many arrested and jailed, where the average time to disposition is 9-12 months.

*Finally, most police officers do not live in the area they patrol and have little contact with community members outside of negative interactions.

All of this has led to feelings of fear, mistrust and frustration on both sides of the community-police relationship.

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HEALING THE BREACH

The Neighborhood Alliance is a MSPJC partnership with neighborhood and community groups and activists working collaboratively on issues of mutual interest across our city. The issues of community policing, police harassment, racial profiling and building better and stronger relationships between police and neighborhood residents were all high priorities listed by members of the Alliance in 2011. This also aids in the Alliances work to curb juvenile recidivism via outreach and community service with youth offenders.

We are working to implement a citywide community-police reconciliation project to heal old wounds, prevent future harm and build respect and trust between the African-American, Latino, youth, and GLBTQ communities and local law enforcement. The project will create safe space, where project participants can learn, reflect, and build the trust necessary to move beyond exploration to action on identified

problems that have a negative impact on community-police dynamics.

The Neighborhood Alliance invites you to join us in the first of many gatherings across the community at our next general meeting on Monday, April 30th at 6:30 pm at the offices of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center inside First Congo Church at 1000 South Cooper. Refreshments will be served. 

Please come to the north rear entrance by the red double doors by the children’s playground. Ring the doorbell labeled  Mid South Peace and Justice Center. 

For more information please contact Organizing Coordinator Melissa Miller-Monie at 901-725-4990 or by email at Melissa@midsouthpeace.org. You can also contact Brad Watkins Organizing Director at brad@midsouthpeace.org.

“The Homeless people don’t have a lobby. So they’re not going to be down at city hall and the legislature.” Those were the words spoken by Memphis Mayor AC Wharton while giving a speech on the need for Ten Year Plan To End Homelessness in April of 2010. The Mayor was correct; people who are experiencing homelessness did not have a lobby or organization whose chief priority was to ensure that the needs of this constituency were being heard loud and clear by our elected officials. That was true until now.

Over the past four years the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center has worked to make the struggle against of homelessness and poverty cornerstone issues of this organization. Together….

• We fought against the criminalization of homelessness and addiction by opposing unconstitutional anti-panhandling laws that seek to move those with addiction away from needed services.
• We created Memphis’s first user friendly comprehensive hand held directory of all homeless, addiction, runaway and veteran services in our community with the Memphis Survival Guide.
• We organized to exposed police harassment and mobilized to oppose the Downtown/Midtown police sweep of those experiencing homelessness and as a result there has not been such a sweep in the past two years.
• We have worked with countless families and individuals to help them navigate the network of homeless of homeless services.
• We worked as members of the planning and policy committee of the Memphis and Shelby County Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness.
• We recruited volunteers for the Memphis/Shelby county Point in time count of our population living in homelessness.
• We successfully organized for $2.3 million dollars in funding for programs such as the Shelby County Drug Court and the Jericho initiative for alternatives to incarceration for those with addiction and or mental illness in our criminal justice system.
• We organized and advocated for funding of the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness and showed how increased services and housing opportunities actually can save tax payer dollars.
• We recruited volunteers and worked as a sponsor for Project Homeless Connect, a citywide day where various homeless services were placed under one roof to better facilitate people being provided access to immediate services.

Over the past four years we have worked very hard on all of these fronts….but it’s not enough.

What is needed at the core is an organization made up of, directed and led by those who are the real experts on homelessness and the harsh realities of life on the streets, those who have directly experienced it for themselves. Since last fall our organizers have been working with a core group of individuals with the Homelessness Caucus of Occupy Memphis. From these discussions the word has begun of creating a new organizing team made up exclusively of people who are currently or have previously experienced homelessness. Over the past five months this group has met weekly to not only talk about issues and plan actions and campaigns but also to begin the work of a real movement for justice on our streets.

Homeless Organizing for Power and Equality (H.O.P.E.) was the name of all MSPJC activities related to homelessness, but now it’s poised to be so much more. This group with assistance and support from allies is going to be at the forefront of not only confronting issues of lack of affordable housing and criminalization of poverty but the wide spectrum of issues that stem from and feed into homelessness. From domestic violence, the leading cause of homelessness among women and children, to felony disenfranchisement and lack of adequate mental health services to name a few.

Recently, H.O.P.E has begun to solidify it’s purpose and vision around four core values. DIGNITY, SELF DETERMINATION, SOLIDARITY and MUTUAL EMOTIONAL SUPPORT. Under this lens exciting and desperately needed work is already starting to emerge.

DIGNITY

• Senate Bill 2508 recently passed by the Tennessee Legislature makes it a Class A Misdemeanor to sleep on public property owned by the state. This new law will effectively make homelessness a crime with a penalty of a jail sentence up to 11 months and 29 days and/or a $2500 fine.
• This is a civil rights issue and a violation of our constitutional rights. The time has come to stand up and in one voice push back not only against this law but also rally support for badly needed reforms of our criminal justice system and for employment and housing opportunities.
• H.O.P.E. asserts that District Attorney Amy Weirich and MPD Director Armstrong should come forward and publicly state that neither the DA nor MPD will make arrest or prosecute offenders under this unconstitutional law. The H.O.P.E. group has started recruitment meetings every Thursday at 9AM at Manna House 1268 Jefferson to begin a campaign to relentlessly push back against the criminalization of HOMELESSNESS.

SELF DETERMINATION

• H.O.P.E. members are working on creating a Workers Co’op for an all organic cleaning service for local companies, churches and other organizations. This will be created in part with the help of business students who will work with the group in drafting a business plan and bylaws. This service will be fully owned and operated by the members themselves.

SOLIDARITY

• Members are currently planning a mobilization around the issues of homelessness,felony disenfranchisement and the civil rights abuses that occur daily at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center at 201 Poplar on May 1st. This action is part of a larger day of action planned by various organization and issues on that day.

MUTUAL EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

• For the past two weeks members of H.O.P.E. went through the first in a monthly series of regular workshops on emotional healing and community building. The isolation and alienation of homelessness can create barriers to escaping it. Which is why we don’t just want to build a group that addresses issues and policies but also creates a space of solidarity and mutual emotional support. Our members teach us a great deal via such conversations and shared profound insights like “Everyone talks about how mental illness can cause homelessness, but nobody talks about how homelessness can cause mental illness.” The loneliness, isolation, the daily stress and fear takes a terrible toil on a person and that pain may reinforce or promote making the wrong choices. We believe at our core that people who have their emotional needs met and a feeling of belonging and “family” make better life choices.

H.O.P.E meets every Thursday night at Manna House If you have any questions or if you or your congregation would like to join H.O.P.E. as a member or an ally please contact Brad Watkins at 901-725-4990 or by email at brad@midsouthpeace.org

March 15, 2012 Vanderhaar Symposium at First Congregational Church

The struggle for justice is the main avenue to achieve peace–fullness of life.  In the 21st century there is an urgent need to heal enmity and bridge rifts between persons and among communities and nations.  Today reconciliation is the face of justice.  In order to enable reconciliatory practices we need to engender and strengthen compassion and create solidarity among all people,between the human species and other species, and between humans and the biosphere.

Since the 1980’s Dr. Isasi-Diaz has focused on the elaboration of mujerista theology based on the religious understandings and  practices of Latinas living in the U.S. She has lectured throughout  the country as well as internationally on issues of justice, and  Latina/o theology. She co-authored the first Latina theology book published in the USA.

March 15, 2012, 7 pm
First Congregational Church
1000 South Cooper Street • Memphis, Tennessee

Habrá interpretación simultánea al español disponible.

Walk Against Fear Launching Celebration

March 11, Sunday
10am – 12pm
National Civil Rights Museum 450 Mulberry St.

Join us to celebrate as the walk starts. You are welcome to join the walkers as they walk towards the Mississippi state line. You can go for as long or little as you like. We would love to have you with us!

The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center had the privilege of hosting a Nonviolent Direct Action training for Walk Against Fear participants last weekend. We are honored to support this important act of defiance by brave members of our community. Please keep up with progress of the walk and find out how you can take action to support on their Facebook page.

(En español abajo)

Fifty years ago James Meredith and a few companions began a march from Memphis, TN to Jackson, MS in order to encourage African-Americans living under Jim Crow to register to vote. Today, Patricio Gonzalez, José Salazar and Ingrid Cruz decided to recreate Meredith’s Walk and this time, bring awareness about the civil rights violations immigrants suffer nowadays due to the anti-immigrant laws such as Arizona’s SB 1070, Alabama’s HB 56, Georgia’s HB 87, among others. Tennessee and Mississippi have not learned from the lessons of these states, who have violated the human rights of various people after these laws, and have suffered economic devastation due to the fear brought about by these laws. We hope to raise consciousness, change hearts, and bridge the gaps between immigrants and other historically oppressed communities. We begin walking on March 11, 2012, the day after National Coming Out of the Shadows.

Hace 50 años James Meredith y algunos compañeros comenzaron una marcha de Memphis, TN al capitolio de Jackson, MS para motivar a los afroamericanos viviendo bajo Jim Crow a que se registren para votar. Hoy Patricio Gonzalez, José Salazar e Ingrid Cruz han decidido recrear esa marcha para fomentar discusión sobre las violaciones a los derechos civiles que sufren los inmigrantes a causa de leyes como la SB 1070 de Arizona, HB 56 de Alabama y HB 87 de Georgia, entre otras. Tennessee y Mississippi no han aprendido las lecciones de estos estados, quienes han violado los derechos humanos después de implementar estas leyes y que han sufrido devastación económica a causa del miedo que traen estas leyes. Esperamos levantar la conciencia de las personas, cambiar corazones y crear dialogos entre los inmingrantes y otras comunidades oprimidas. Empezaremos nuestra caminata el 11 de marzo 2012, del día después del Día Nacional de Salir de las Sombras.