Mid-South Peace & Justice Center

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.

WHAT: Memphis Bus Rider’s Union Kickoff
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 18th
LOCATION: AFSCME Union Hall, 485 Beale St.
TIME: 1pm-3pm-Meeting  3pm-Press Conference

MATA riders tired of high fares, overcrowded buses, and the lack of  bus service at night in some neighborhoods are invited to join the Memphis Bus Riders Union, which will hold its founding meeting on Saturday from 1-3 p.m. at the AFSCME Union Hall, 485 Beale St.

Following a well-attended town hall and several weeks of outreach to Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) customers, Transportation Task Force, a grassroots coalition dedicated to transportation issues announced plans for the creation of the Memphis Bus Riders Union (MBRU). The Union will be made up of MATA customers and will be dedicated to raising the level of service and dignity provided by the public transit system as well as to ensuring greater public accountability and public input over MATA policies and practices.

“Public transportation is a civil rights issue,” said Transportation Task Force member Laura Sullivan. “Bus routes still reflect Jim Crow laws when buses took domestic workers out east on routes running west to east.”

Starting on Saturday, February 18th, city bus riders can join the MBRU and stand together to pressure city officials and MATA to improve transit service so that it accurately reflects the realities of Memphis. When 40 percent of Memphians need access to public transit and nearly 25 percent of Memphians live under the poverty line, it is unconscionable to combine fare increases with reduced routes and times.

The Memphis Bus Riders Union is the next step to improving Memphis’ public transit system. TTF members cite imminent employee pension shortfalls, which combined with long standing route problems, increasing fares, and poor customer service, reveal the deep need for  grassroots public organization and direct action. Through this movement, Memphians can pressure city and MATA officials to address these most urgent issues and ensure that rider concerns are the chief priority of MATA.

Interested MATA customers who seek to join in the formation of the BUS RIDERS UNION are invited to attend their kickoff meeting at the AFSCME Union Hall, 485 Beale St., from 1-3 pm on Saturday, February 18th.

Following the meeting, at 3pm press conference will be held to announce future actions by the Bus Riders Union, where representatives will be available for comment. For more information, contact the Task Force at TTFMemphis@gmail.com.

On January 14, 2012 more than 800 people joyfully crammed into the sanctuary at First Congregational Church to celebrate thirty years of work at the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. It was by far our largest gathering yet, which can mainly be attributed to our amazing keynote speaker, Prof. Noam Chomsky. As Prof. Chomsky sad to a reporter from the Commercial Appeal, the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center is “carrying out King’s actual work and actual concerns.”

We cannot think of a more appropriate quote to synopsize our work today. We were after all founded on the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in order to carry forward the work that he and his peers and forerunners began before us. Indeed, we do stand on the shoulders of so many past heroes that have come before us.

One of those heroes, Mary Ruth Robinson, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the event.  In addition to recognizing our past heroes we were able to honor our current ones. Josephine Alexander, who recently stepped down as the coordinator for the GrowMemphis program, received the first annual Golden Pitchfork Award for her work not only to till the soil for justice, but to raise hell when necessary as well.

The evening was also enriched with dance performances by the Performance Arts Network and Bridging Souls Productions, a photo exhibit by Mary Ruth Robinson, the Global Goods pop-up store,  a delicious meal provided by Just for Lunch and much, much more.

We cannot thank our amazing community, the volunteers that made the evening possible, and most of all our members for making this work possible. We especially want to thank our sponsors for the evening United Healthcare, Rhodes College, First Congregational Church, St. Patrick Catholic Church, Marriott Hotels, Bartlett Art and Printing, Bridging Souls Productions, Christian Brothers University, Performance Art Network, David and Carol Ciscel, TN Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Janice Vanderhaar and Ed Wallin, Underground Art, Memphis Flyer, Bluff City Backsliders, Just for Lunch and Interfluency Translation+Culture. 

If you are not already, please take a moment to consider becoming a member of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. We are only able to do this work because of the generosity of time and resources of people like you! 

You can view all the photos from this evening on our Flickr stream here. Please also take a moment to enjoy Prof. Chomsky’s talk:

We are happy to announce two job openings at the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. We are hiring a full-time Organizing Coordinator and a part-time Operations Director. The job descriptions and instructions for applying can be found by following these links:

Organizing Coordinator Announcement
Operations Director Announcement

Deadline for application is Feb. 28, 2012. Any questions should be referred to our Executive Director, Jacob Flowers at 901.725.4990 or jacob@midsouthpeace.org.

Our training program, G.O.T. Power, has had a very exciting month. Jacob and Allison facilitated our first weekend-long Core Organizer Training January 20-22. Twenty-five participants from across the city participated in this weekend of learning the foundational skills of grassroots community organizing. Participants joined us from organizations such as Youth for Youth, Memphis Center for Independent Living, ADAPT, Workers Interfaith Network, Obama for America, Grow Memphis, and Landmark Training. We all learned so much together in this intensive weekend, and we look forward to offering the training in this format again soon.

Speaking of the next Core Organizer Training, we are thrilled to announce that our next training will be offered in Spanish this spring for the rapidly and powerfully growing Latino community of organizers in the Mid-South. Details to be announced soon. Contact allison@midsouthpeace.org to be placed on the wit-list for this training. 

A Support and Development training is was offered this Sunday by Laura Sullivan, Emotional Support for Activists. This workshop offered support, release and rejuvenation to those working for world change. MSPJC got a big shout out from national anti-racist activist and author Victor Lee Lewis when he wrote, “This is super awesome. We cannot win the struggle for social justice and create the health and happiness we need to enjoy it, except for work like this. Thank you, MSPJC, for supporting this empowered vision.” This workshop will be offered again in the near future, so email allison@midsouthpeace.org to be put on the wait list.

And finally we wanted to report on the statewide training work we’re engaged in as a part of supporting the Tennessee Statewide Movement Circle. This two day convening will bring together leaders and organizers of grassroots organizations from across TN to have conversations and take action to build collective power that is based and controlled by grassroots communities. G.O.T. Power has the unique opportunity through this statewide initiative to be developing the training alongside national organizations, Center for Community Change and Green for All. What an amazing opportunity for the MSPJC and for our community!

People First is a Mid-South Peace and Justice Center supported partnership with residents and activists working in the Binghampton community to raise voter turn out during elections and assist in long term resident-driven grassroots community organizing after the elections end.

For the past four months our team of activists and Binghampton residents have been canvassing door to door, talking with …residents and neighbors about the issues that they care about. Moving forward People First seeks to engage and organize residents from all races and religions across the Binghampton community to collectively address the needs of the neighborhood as well as ensure all redevelopment efforts in the area have real front end resident and community input. We have already hosted a candidate forum, a neighborhood BBQ and have just finished our second monthly meeting with area residents, talking about issues of the community and planning long term organizing for positive action….but..it’s not all about meetings…it’s about building community.

Upcoming Events

People First-Binghampton Earned Benefits and Tenncare application assistance and screenings.

Earned benefits is a program in partnership with Seedco is a system of facilitated enrollment services used to screen and connect low wage workers to a range of income services such as Tax credits, food stamps,health insurance and bank accounts.

Join us on Saturday, January 21st from 2pm-5pm as we partner with service providers to offer a one day service providing screening and application assistance for qualified applicants seeking EBT and Tenncare among other services.

Date- Jan 21st

Time-2pm-5pm

Location-Caritas Village-2509 Harvard,Memphis Tn 38112

Please refer any questions to Brad Watkins, Organizing Director of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center at 901-725-4990 or by email at brad@midsouthpeace.org