This summer, the Juvenile Justice Project has already taught over 500 young people from ages 5 – 15 about their rights during police stops. Sine the beginning of June, we have been all over the city, visiting Liberty’s Mass Baptist Church, Girls & Boys Club of Hickory Hill, and 10 different community centers. We have another jam packed month ahead of us. Know Your Rights Theatre Workshops help our youth have safer interactions with law enforcement by arming them with knowledge.
We use improv theatre to help them act out realistic scenarios with police, tell them how to safely exercise their rights (which we tie back to the constitution and case law), as well as teaching them deescalation techniques. We believe that when we approach law enforcement from a place of knowledge, instead of what we learned on Law & Order, that everyone is safer.
Our youth council has also been hard at work planning new initiatives for other youth to help curb crime and increase their peers’ involvement in the community. They will be presenting their project ideas to our service partners this week—more information on these events soon! Our youth council is made up of high school students all across Memphis who are concerned about the issues facing people their age in our city. If you or your child would like to get involved reach out to Faith Pollan at faith@midsouthpeace.org
Your support of this work is crucial. We need food and beverage donations for our JJP Days of service (mostly snacks) and your financial support. Donate today at https://midsouthpeace.org/g