News

This week was marked with a big win for bus riders as Shelia Williams, Co-Chair and founding member of the Memphis Bus Riders Union was appointed to the MATA Board of Commissioners.

MBRU members and supporters attended the appointment at City Hall on Tuesday. Williams will be the only transit dependent person on the 9 member board, which has the authority to oversee policy, service cuts, contracts and other actions taken by MATA’s administration.

Another shot in the arm for MATA this week was a last minute amendment by County Commissioner Steve Mulroy to add $70,000 in funding for service to Shelby Farms Park on weekends. This funding will essentially expand service for the 53 Summer route, which was heavily used by Southwest Community College (Macon Campus) students and faculty before massive budget cuts in 2013 caused a reduction in service. Now there is a real opportunity for much needed support from ever-sprawling suburban municipalities in the future.

Also on Monday, the MATA board voted to drop Pro-Tech, the security company at the North End Terminal, amid complaints of excessive force and harassment from riders. MBRU is now pushing for a review process by which the MATA Board can develop criteria for the new security company, including less intimidating uniforms, conduct, and sensitivity and non-violent communication and civil rights training.

Please join us at our next monthly meeting to celebrate the progress we’ve made this year.

Saturday Jun 14

12-2PM at the Memphis Center For Independent Living

1633 Madison Ave.

And check out this article about the MATA Board appointment!

H.O.P.E. is a Mid-South Peace and Justice Center-sponsored organization whose members are exclusively people have formerly  or are currently experiencing homelessness. HOPE has developed different projects to address and deconstruct specific dimensions of what is a dynamic problem that continues to affect so many in the Mid-South and beyond.

For meeting times & dates: 901-300-0006.

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Reaching Out

Under the leadership of HOPE Organizer, Jim Brown, members areforming a new Outreach Committee.  Members of this committee will be working in teams to do targeted engagement with encampments and ‘homeless-hotspots’ across the city. Our members recently attended a training hosted by the Community Alliance for the Homeless to learn the SPDAT, the new tool being implemented for assessing the needs of Memphis/Shelby County’s homeless population. We want to put together outreach packets as a way to help us build relationships with the men and women we are trying to help connect to housing and other services, and we could really use YOUR support!

We are reaching out to YOU for donations of clean socks, bottled water (by the case), and bug repellant. You can also click here to make a monetary donation.

If you are able to donate any of these items, we are asking that you drop them off Mon – Fri, 9AM-5PMat the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center :: 3573 Southern Ave, 38111 :: (901) 725-4990

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Street Wise INK

A BIG HOPE thank you to The Memphis School of Servant Leadership for making a generous gift to our Street-Wise INK t-shirt printing co-op, a worker owned and operated business venture started by members of HOPE! This gift will allow us to purchase a piece of equipment that will increase the efficiency of our operations so our members can take on more jobs, generating more income for people that need it.

THANK YOU!

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Memorial Day, HOPE-Style!

Memorial Day is a day to remember the men and women who have served in the US armed services. As many of the men and women that experience homelessness are veterans, HOPE members chose to commemorate this day by serving others in the community. On May 26th, HOPE set up the grill and cooked out for people at the All Saints Park, in the Washington Bottoms Neighborhood, which is also a concentrated area for homelessness, as it is close-by many essential services. We cooked over a hundred hot dogs, listened to music, and got to fellowship with community members about the work we are doing. Thanks to All Saints Presbyterian Church for letting us use the space, and thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the day with us!

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Feeding the Movement

H.O.P.E would like to once again thank Memphis Center for Independent Living for providing us with space for our meetings while we seek a permanent location.We would also like to thank Just for Lunch & Trolley Stop Market for providing some delicious food for our meetings. There are lots of ways to feed the movement, and we would like to thank all of our allies for their continued support. For more information about how you can support H.O.P.E. or our different project areas, please contact Jim Brown (901) 725.4990, or jim@midsouthpeace.org Like H.O.P.E. on Facebook!

Facilitation Skills Workshop

In these workshop will focus on practicing basic facilitation skills using interventions when disruption is happening in a meeting.

REGISTER NOW

Who should attend this workshop?

Organizers,  activists, community leaders, teachers, and anyone who wants to practice their meeting interventions skills.
Date: Thursday, June 19

Time: 6p.m. – 8p.m. Please, be on time.

Location: 450 Mulberry St.  Memphis TN 38103, Links Education Center – National Civil Rights Museum. Wheelchair accessible.

Cost: $20-$45 Sliding scale.  Limited to the first 12 people who register.

I WANT TO REGISTER!
Registration online or by phone is required to attend.
Some scholarships may be available.
Donations for workshop scholarships gratefully accepted!

For more information call 901-725-4990,
email to gio@midsouthpeace.org

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In this training we will focus on practicing the basic skills for nonviolent peacemaking and violence de-escalation; and experience the transforming power of nonviolence for oneself and society.

Light breakfast and vegetarian lunch provided!

Major components of this Basic Training:  Stories of empowerment, from one-on-one conflict situations to small and large peace teams, in domestic situations (such as dealing with neighborhood gangs, hate groups, etc.) and international sites (West Bank, US/Mexico border, etc.);

• The theoretical and spiritual (the interconnectedness of all beings and the earth) basis of nonviolence;
• Understanding the roots of violence;
• Theory and practice of communication skills: Active Listening, “I” messages; and the CLARA technique
• Theory and practice of consensus decision making;
• Theory of public witnessing and direct action;
• Mechanisms for social change;
• Cultural and racial sensitivity;
• Skills for deescalating potentially-violent situations.

Who should attend this Nonviolence Skills Training?

Organizers,  activists, community leaders and anyone who is open to learning about the power & efficacy of nonviolence. Limited for the first 30 people who register.

Where: 450 Mulberry St. Memphis TN 38103. Links Education Center, National Civil Rights Museum.  Wheelchair accessible.

When: Saturday, June 28, 9am – 5pm

Light breakfast and vegetarian lunch provided!

****** No partial attendance allowed******
Cost:  FREE

All participants should plan to make the entire scheduled training session so that we successfully build continuity and community. In other words, please arrive on time and plan on staying for the full training.

To register please call 901-725-4990, or email to gio@midsouthpeace.org

Training provided by the Meta Peace Team • Brought to you by Mid-South Peace and Justice Center.

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G.O.T. Power, a Mid-South Peace and Justice Center’s training program, is committed to building our community’s capacity through building skills in grassroots organizing, providing support to people doing community work and offering anti-oppression and liberation education.

Memphis United launches #CLERBspeakout2014 campaign to improve Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board

Memphis United urges Memphians to come forward about their troubling experiences with law enforcement through participation in a series of public forums.

For Immediate Release– Wednesday June 11th from 4:30pm 5:15 pm at the Caritas Village at 2509 Harvard Ave. Paul Garner, and Chris Merritt, and Journalist Deborah Robinson, will be speaking about their experiences with MPD, which prompted each of them to file complaints with Internal Affairs. They are standing with Memphis United, asking for people to come forward to share their experiences and suggestions on how to make the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB) more effective through social media and  participation in a series of public input forums throughout the city. The Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board according to the City of Memphis website, would be “an independent, non-police Mayoral Agency with … the power to receive, investigate, hear cases, make findings and recommend action on complaints.”

Over the years public confidence in Memphis Law Enforcement officials has come into question when, again and again, people have had troubling experiences with some officers of the Memphis Police Department. Recently, police officers have been accused of embezzlement, harassment, theft, sexual assault, excessive force, domestic violence, child abuse, and the list goes on. So, what happens when civilians have to report those who are sworn to protect and serve?

“I never expected to be put in a situation where I would have experienced police brutality. I was truly traumatized and disappointed that someone who was to shield me from danger could mistreat me so bad. I would have not known what to do if someone didn’t walk me through the process,” says Chris Merritt, who was recently maced and beat up by officers when he attempted to film his interaction with MPD on his phone.

“This is about balancing the scales, currently the only process for filing a complaint against M.P.D. is through M.P.D. If we want to restore any confidence in law enforcement, the citizens whose safety is in their hands need a process to ensure real transparency and accountability. If we are going to create that process, we need input from people in the community who are most affected by these issues,” Paul Garner, Organizing Coordinator with HOPE (Homeless Organizing for Power & Equality).

The only process available for someone filing a complaint against an officer, is to go, in person, to either a Memphis Police Department precinct workstation or to Internal Affairs. Many know first hand that this process is covert and can be drawn out over the period of several months. CLERB has been inactive for over four years. Even when CLERB was active, it had almost no power; no punitive authority, no subpoena power, and officers’ envolvement in the process was purely voluntary. CLERB was also limited in that it was only permitted it to review investigations that have already been completed by the MPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau.

Journalist Deborah Robinson, Paul Garner, Chris Merritt are standing with Memphis United asking for people to come forward to share their experiences and suggestions on how to make the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board more effective through forum participation and social media to improve accountability of law enforcement.

“We will be kicking off the first town hall style forum in Super district 8, on June 24, 2014 Lewis Davis CME Church @ 6:00 p.m. In the meantime, we are creating ways for people to utilize social media to share their experiences with law enforcement through twitter and Facebook using#CLERBspeakout2014 . People can also share their ideas on how to make CLERB more effective using #MYCLERB ,” Marquita Bradshaw Organizer Coordinator of Mid-South Peace and Justice Center.

Memphis United began as a grassroots response to the 2013 KKK protest of the renaming of Nathan Bedford Forrest Park. Now this body is refocused on issues of police accountability and looking at community led comprehensive criminal justice reform.

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Memphis United is a grassroots coalition made up of The Memphis Center for Independent Living, Homeless Organizing for Power and Equality, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Subliminal Thought, The South Main Cypher Series, Memphis Bus Riders Union, Pro-Memphis Project, Manna House Memphis, ADAPT of Tennessee, LOUD, All Saints Church, The Bridge: Memphis’ Street Newspaper, and the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center.

For more information call 901-725-4990 / marquita@midsouthpeacew.org

Support HOPE (Homeless Organizing for Power & Equality), a grassroots organization whose membership is made up exclusively of men and women who have formerly or are currently experiencing homelessness.

HOPE members all have different experiences and circumstances that have lead them to the organization. No one person’s story is the same as another’s, but we are all united by our experience of homelessness and our passion for finding solutions to this systemic problem. As our President, Toni Whitfield has said, “HOPE is a rainbow,” a multitude of colors that, together, form something beautiful. Our members also boast a wide variety of skills and talents. This includes the arts. We have poets, story-tellers, painters, illustrators, jewelry makers, and to be sure, talents yet to be discovered.

HOPE will be showcasing these talents at the HOPE Art Show, Friday, June 27th: from 6-9PM, at the KOART Gallery, downtown at 10 S. Main. Our members will have there work available for purchase and will be there to meet you and greet you. There will be Art, Music, and refreshments, as well as a special, limited edition, ‘HOPE-eweizen Brew’crafted by local brewer, Andrew Caldwell, with proceeds benefiting HOPE.
Please join us!
for more info: 901-725-4990
Facebook event page here.

_{(artwork by Anthony Parker)}

As we prepare for the transition of our long-time Executive Director, Jacob Flowers, from the organization we are pleased to announce that Brad Watkins will be stepping into the role. Brad has served our community through this organization for seven-years as our Organizing Director. He will officially assume his new position on June 1. Please join me in welcoming Brad into his new role. Please also consider giving a donation to the Ten for Ten Fund that we have established to honor our outgoing Executive Director’s ten-years of service to the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center.

Friends,

Under Jacob’s stewardship, the MSPJC has grown and evolved, producing an incredible body of work rooted in our most deeply-held principles. His work has connected global oppression to local injustice, asking us to focus not only on those that suffer overseas, but also those that suffer right next door. Beyond this, Jacob’s leadership allowed us to build a “people’s organization” with an amazing and diverse staff aided by one of the strongest board of directors this organization has ever had.

Over the past six years it has been my pleasure and honor to serve alongside Jacob as Organizing Director and with your help, we have made great strides towards a more equitable community. Local issues like environmental justice, homelessness, and public transit have become cornerstones of the MSPJC, as evidenced by grassroots movements like GrowMemphis, H.O.P.E., and the Memphis Bus Riders Union. The Gandhi-King conference has developed into a major event and our training department has provided resources and mentoring to foster leadership and build our base of local activists winning real victories for their communities.

We stand on the shoulders of giants and we all have a deep commitment to protect hard-won victories. Change can be scary, but it can also provide a space to envision new directions. Moving forward, we will continue to push on issues like criminal justice reform, housing justice, and tenant advocacy. I personally feel that it is past time that our community begins to have the deep conversations necessary for real solidarity and understanding between African American and Latino communities. In this time of transition, we will need your continued support and guidance to thrive and continue our most important work of building communities of liberation.

Executive Director is a temporary job in a permanent struggle. My goal is to constantly build a movement bigger than myself, my time, or any individual or era. Please feel welcome to approach me or my staff at any time.  As Executive Director, I will need your counsel and ideas. This is your organization and that’s one thing that will never change.

In Solidarity,
Brad Watkins
brad@midsouthpeace.org
901.725.4990

Please join us in welcoming and supporting Brad as he manages this important transition for our organization. In the next few days, we will be announcing a farewell Roast and Toast event to honor Jacob and his work. In the meantime please consider showing your support with a donation to the Ten for Ten Fund, A donation of any amount to this fund will get you into the Raost and Toast event free of charge. You can give securely online through this link or by mailing contributions to our office at 3573 Southern Ave. Memphis, TN 38111.

Help us honor Jacob’s ten years of service to our community here at the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. Make a donation today!

Thank you all for your ongoing support of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, ideas for action or for assistance in fighting the injustices in your community.

We’d love to see you tomorrow as Shelia Williams, Co-Chair and co-founder of the Memphis Bus Riders Union will be appointed to serve on the Memphis Area Transit Authority Board of Commissioners!

As a founder of MBRU, Shelia has provided our work not only with experience and insight as a daily MATA rider, but with the lasting commitment to building bus rider power that our grassroots movement needs to survive the frail moments.  She continues her commitment as our Co-Chair, representing a new era of public participation and transit justice in Memphis. Shelia looks forward to collaborating with the Board and Administration of MATA to establish new initiatives that bring the voices of MATA riders to the table in a real and meaningful way, so that the the needs of those who depend on public transportation are prioritized.

Join us at City Hall for Executive Committee at 2PM on the 5th floor. This is a historical moment for Memphis. Shelia will be the the only bus rider on MATA’s Board and will need lots of love and support. Shelia’s appointment comes before council committee tomorrow and then before the full council on June 3rd at 3:30PM.

This month our long-time Executive Director, Jacob Flowers, will be transitioning off of the staff of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. In ten years he has transformed this organization from a small and underfunded group to a cornerstone social justice organization doing some of the most important and innovative work in our city and region. Below you will find a letter from Jacob announcing his transition. We hope you will join with us in thanking him for his service by making a contribution to the Ten for Ten Fund which will raise $10,000 in honor of Jacob’s ten years of service.

I want to express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to every one of you for the role you have played in supporting me and this organization. May 30, 2014 will be my last day at the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. I have accepted a position as the TN State Director of Enroll America  a national non-profit group using grassroots organizing to educate and enroll people in healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act.

It’s been a hard decision to leave this job. But several years ago our Board and staff made the decision to build an organization that values leadership and growth. This is a part of that growth and also an acknowledgement that an organization like ours, one that values the leadership and perspective of all members of our community, must allow for that leadership to grow as well. Our leadership is ready to embrace this change and our community is ready to see change in their streets schools and jobs. So this change is but another step in realizing our vision of being a sustainable people-led organization that is building a people’s movement to fundamentally change our community for the better of all the people that live and work here. We will be making announcements in the coming weeks about the person that will take on the role of Executive Director, so please stay tuned.

The work that we all do here at the MSPJC is some of the most moving and potentially systems changing that I have seen. Many of my proudest moments and most moving memories have taken place here and I would not trade them for anything. I will continue to be involved in this organization’s work and our communities struggle for dignity and equality, but just in a different role. One task I am taking on before I leave is raising the funds necessary to support our work this year and into the future. So I hope you will join with me in raising $10,000 in honor of the ten years of work I have been privileged to lead here. The Ten for Ten Fund will ensure that all of our work continues strongly through this transition and beyond. I hope you will consider making a gift by following this link.

In Peace,
Jacob Flowers
Executive Director
Mid-South Peace and Justice Center

Please consider making a donation in honor of Jacob’s long-service to our community. Make a contribution to the Ten for Ten Fund securely online today!

We will also be planning a more formal farewell event for Jacob in June. So stay tuned for details!

Memphis United needs YOU to ensure that our resolution is more than just righteous words on paper. Join us at City Council Tuesday, May 6th, at 3:30PM and contact your council person, and urge them to support our resolution for comprehensive public input to reform Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board, enabling it to be a transparent process that the residents of Memphis can have confidence in when their complaints against officers are not handled in a satisfactory manner by Internal Affairs.

My name is Paul Garner and I am an Organizing Coordinator with the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center. I have worked with Homeless Organizing for Power & Equality (HOPE) since 2010. We regularly receive reports from people experiencing homelessness of mistreatment and harassment from law enforcement, ranging from unwarranted profiling to physical harm. In November of 2012, members of HOPE were harassed at the Manna House. Three members, including myself, were cited for for ‘obstruction of a sidewalk’. On October 21st, 2014 another incident occurred at the Manna House. Officers were attempting to enter the property without a warrant. They were told by staff in charge that they were not permitted on their private property without a warrant, but the police continued. When I arrived, John Holle, the volunteer in charge, was using his phone to film police, as he continued to request that they not enter the property without a warrant. He was instructed by officers to stop filming or he would be arrested. As I approached the scene, camera-phone in hand, officers were handcuffing him. I requested the officers’ names & badge numbers. The officers refused before telling me that if I continued filming, I’d be arrested too. I was cuffed and charged with ‘obstruction of a sidewalk & disorderly conduct.’ Upon our release from jail the next morning, charges were dropped, and we immediately filed complaints with IAD. It took six months just to receive a letter in the mail stating that my complaints against the officers, were ‘not sustained.’ Officials with the Inspectional Services Bureau told me that this was because MPD didn’t have a policy on filming in place at the time of the incident. This is contrary to statements made by Police Director Toney Armstrong. I will have to file an open records request with the city’s Office of Open Records to find out for sure.

I attempted to appeal the findings IAD’s investigation. I discovered that the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB), set up to review IAD investigations when complainants were dissatisfied, had been dissolved, despite being created by ordinance approved by the City Council in 1994. Therefore, CLERB cannot be disbanded without seven votes of the Council. The City’s Web-Site still listed a description of the process for filing a complaint through CLERB, as well as a hot-line. However, the number went to an unaffiliated person in the City of Memphis’ Legal Department, or a generic voicemail, where messages left went unreturned. Even when CLERB was operational, they were a powerless board with no subpoena power and officers’ involvement in the investigation was purely voluntary.

Days later, another incident involving the arrest of people for filming police happened at KPreSha Boutique on South Main, when police began pepper spraying young men and women at a Hip Hop Show during the downtown Trolley Night. These events sparked the reignition of Memphis United, a coalition made up of individuals and community organizations. We pressured MPD to release their policy on filming officers and drafted a list of asks for different city officials aimed at creating greater transparency and accountability of law enforcement to the community. Among these asks, was the reformation of a CLERB, and a resolution for Memphis United and the members of the City Council to jointly host public input forums in every Council District to determine the scope and powers of a reformed CLERB might look like. Our resolution has gone before the Public Safety Committee of the Memphis City Council, sponsored by Janis Fullilove, Wanda Halbert and Lee Harris, and will go before the full Council on Tuesday, May 6th.

Please join us at City Hall on Tuesday at 3:30 PM and contact your City Council representative and urge them to vote ‘YES’ on Memphis United’s Resolution!! Make the call today!

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Locate your Precinct HERE!

Bill Morrison, District 1
(901) 636-6786
Bill.Morrison@memphistn.gov

William C. Boyd, District 2
(901) 636-6786
bill.boyd@memphistn.gov

Harold B. Collins, District 3
(901) 636-6786
– or –
P.O. Box 301132
Memphis, TN 38130
(901) 545-5987 office
(901) 332-3691
Harold.Collins@memphistn.gov

Wanda Halbert, District 4
(901) 636-6786
Wanda.Halbert@memphistn.gov

Chairman Jim Strickland, District 5
(901) 636-6786
Jim.Strickland@memphistn.gov

Edmund Ford, Jr., Ed.D, District 6
(901) 636-6786
Edmund.Fordjr@memphistn.gov

Lee Harris, District 7
(901) 636-7010
Lee.Harris@memphistn.gov

Joe Brown, Super District 8, Position 1
1384 Jackson
Memphis TN 38107
(901) 274-4724
Joe.Brown@memphistn.gov

Janis Fullilove, District 8, Position 2
(901) 636-6786
Janis.Fullilove@memphistn.gov

Vice Chairman, Myron Lowery, District 8, Position 3
(901) 636-7016
(901) 828-4810
Myron.Lowery@memphistn.gov

Kemp Conrad, Super District 9, Position 1
(901) 636-6786
Fax (901) 636-6796
Kemp.Conrad@memphistn.gov

Shea Flinn, Super District 9, Position 1
(901) 636-6786
Fax (901) 636-6796
Shea.Flinn@memphistn.gov

Memphis Bus Riders Union will be holding it’s May meeting this Saturday, May 3rd from 12 to 2PM at MCIL 1633 Madison Ave.

We had to move the meeting from our regularly scheduled date due to Rolling for Independence which is May 10th. Rolling For Independence is a fundraiser for MCIL. We hope you can participate in this event as well and support our allies at MCIL. More info for the event can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/522927967790960/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

On the agenda for this Saturday will be some updates on city budget deliberations. Mayor Wharton has proposed a budget that would restore 1.5 million in funding for MATA. At the city council budget hearing yesterday, the committee passed an amendment made by Harris to add an additional 800,000 to MATA’s operations budget, bringing MATA’s city funding back to 2010 levels.

MBRU will be meeting with council members to ensure that this funding is approved.

Also we’d like to announce that our Co-Chair Shelia Williams has been appointed to the MATA board. This is a huge victory for bus riders!

Please join us Saturday and help continue to organize for improved public transit.

May 3rd from 12 to 2PM at MCIL 1633 Madison Ave.