News

Greetings  Public Transit Warriors!

Memphis Bus Riders Union (MBRU) has been working on internal structure and leadership over the past few months. We formed our own by-laws, which where drafted by committee and approved by the general assembly at our monthly membership meeting.  We welcome the new structure which will provide a strength of organization for our work in the new year.

Core Organizer Training – Success!

Mid-South Peace and Justice Center held it’s three-day Core Organizer Training from November 8 – 10.  Here are some post-evaluation reflections from training participants:

The most effective aspect about training was the deference of responsibility to the training members. Gio and Allison did a great job facilitating, and the strength of their facilitation was that they empowered the training members to do the work on their own.
-G.O.T. Power Trainee

The Community-Police Relations (CPR) project held the final 2013 neighborhood forums for the Latino and LGBTQ communities. Both forums were well-attended, thanks to hard work by the CPR outreach team.

On behalf of [Tennessee Equality Project] Shelby County Committee, I want to thank you for including us in the CPR forum and for working with the greater GLBT community of Memphis and Shelby County to encourage the first step to better relations between law enforcement and citizenry. It was an amazing night, and we know that understanding was seeded. With a gratitude-

-Anne Brownlee Gullick

Read Paul Crum’s article to learn more about participants’ experiences at the LGBTQ forum.  We look forward to continuing our work in other communities in 2014.

Sharing Stories, Building Trust

Improving community-police relations is a slow process that has begun with sharing stories.  Our partner, Playback Memphis, an improvisational theatre ensemble, has allowed the stories not only to be heard, but to be seen.  Through this process, community members have reflected on how they have felt treated unfairly by law enforcement.  Those working in law enforcement have shared their own stories, sparking conversations that have helped community members understand their professional roles, and have begun to humanize law enforcement officers in some community members’ eyes.

We all acknowledge this work is challenging, but the benefit of this relationship-building process to our community as a whole will lead to real reconciliation.

H.O.P.E. is the name of a Mid-South Peace and Justice Center-sponsored organization whose members are exclusively people currently, or have formerly experienced homelessness. H.O.P.E. has been working hard to develop several project areas that address the issues that are a priority to the homeless community. For meeting times and dates, call 901-300-0006.

For almost a year now, H.O.P.E. members have been organizing around documenting and reporting incidents of police harassment.  Members elected to form a sub-group dubbed Street Watch with the goal of educating the public on their rights and using different methods to document potential cases of harassment, mistreatment or abuse by law enforcement or private security officers. The group initiated a series of Know-Your-Rights Workshops in conjunction with the public defenders office that they have held at different churches and community centers for the past five months.

In light of a recent surge in reports of harassment and the subsequent arrests of those who attempted to record these incidents, Street Watch committee members met to discuss collective responses to these incidents and decided to elect point persons and staffed working groups for Media, Outreach and Research.The group discussed plans for a town hall/community forum within the coming weeks and increasing the frequency of “Know Your Rights” Workshops.The group also discussed potential demonstrations and direct action tactics and messaging and the formation of a Copwatch program to video instances of police misconduct.

Since then, representatives of H.O.P.E., Manna House Memphis, and The Bridge: The Memphis Street Paper have met with MPD Col. Houston and his staff at the Crump Precinct to discuss the bigger picture of the negative relationship that exists between people experiencing homelessness and some police officers who work the area. We also introduced to them materials and a curriculum for Police Sensitivity Training created by Nashville Homeless Power Project and the National Healthcare For The Homeless Council,as well as 60 copies of the H.O.P.E. homeless survival guide. We also had deep conversations about the history of harassment at the Manna House and raised the concerns of the vendors of the Bridge as well as reports from our members about harassment of law abiding citizens at the park owned by All Saints Church. Col. Houston and his staff were respectful,open to dialog and showed our members courtesy. This is but the first of many dialogs but was a very promising first meeting.

H.O.P.E.’s Street Watch Initiative will be hosting its 6th Know Your Rights Workshop: Saturday,Nov 16th at the Memphis Center for Independent Living. 1633 Madison Ave. 2:30-4:30pm. “What are my rights? How do I assert my rights when I encounter Police? How do I file a compliant?” We want you to know!

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. 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 HOPE or our different project areas, Please contact Paul Garner(901)725.4990, or paul@midsouthpeace.org. Like H.O.P.E. on Facebook!

A letter from Homeless Organizing for Power & Equality (H.O.P.E.):

In the past weeks, we at Homeless Organizing for Power & Equality (H.O.P.E.) have witnessed actions by certain members of the Memphis Police Department and private security guards employed by our public transit system (MATA) that force us to ask the question: “HAVE YOU LOST YOUR EVER-LOVING MIND?!”

We watched our friend, a community organizer with the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, get arrested for filming an unjust arrest of a volunteer worker for Manna House, a service provider of homeless services on Jefferson Avenue. This building and its property is a place of hospitality, and it is considered a church, and as such, it is a sanctuary. A similar violation at other churches in our city (Bellevue Baptist, Mississippi Boulevard, Idlewild Presbyterian or any of the other fine churches) would bring a massive uproar. We ask that all other churches in our great city stand with this small institution and protest this illegal, unjustified, and immoral persecution by rogue members of the Memphis Police Department.

Furthermore, incidents have been reported to H.O.P.E. concerning the illegal harassment of vendors for Memphis’s new street newspaper called The Bridge. For people who do not know, The Bridge was started and is published by Rhodes College students. Stories and articles are written by people who have formerly experienced homeless or are currently experiencing homelessness. Some articles are also written by Rhodes College student staff. Vendors have gone through sales training to become distributors of The Bridge, and their sales are covered by our First Amendment rights.

For those who have forgotten their civics lessons, let us refresh your memory:

The Bill of Rights, Amendment I
Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly and Petition.
“Congress shall make no law, respecting and establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The vendors of The Bridge are upholding a grand American tradition, granted to them by the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This is the Freedom of the Press! It is more than just the right of ‘We The People’ to write and publish freely, but also the right to freely distribute that which we have printed. While the distribution of newspapers cannot infringe on the rights of others, such as the right to private property, the right to sell newspapers in the public space free from government interference is a solid American tradition. So solid, in fact, that Thomas Jefferson felt that the newspaper was more important to the freedom of the country than the government itself. He wrote: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

The Bridge is a street newspaper. A street newspaper is defined by the North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA) as a newspaper that primarily addresses issues related to poverty and homelessness and is distributed by poor or homeless vendors. Thus, our mission is not only to educate by word and image but also to introduce our readers to the poor and homeless members of our community who sell the paper.

Vendors: The police have no authority to keep you from selling your papers on public property. Always wear your vendor badge!

Mayor Wharton and our City Council need to acknowledge whether these 1st Amendment violations against the poor and homeless in our city are city policy or the actions of rogue officers. If rogue officers are to blame, then they need to be removed from the Police force. This needs to be done quickly, before our great city (already broken) is forced to pay settlements of lawsuits that are sure to come because of violations of our rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution!

The last incident happened at MATA Bus Terminal on North Main Street, Monday 10/21/13. Simply put, a H.O.P.E. member spoke up in support of a young man whom was being cursed, threatened and verbally humiliated in front of his 4 year-old daughter by a private security guard employed by MATA. This guard needed to be called to task for his out-of-control and abusive behavior. This guard threatened our member with arrest, told him that he also works in the jail at 201 Poplar, and promised that after being arrested, our member would have to deal with him inside the jail.

This member of H.O.P.E. has been riding MATA busses for 17 years and says he has never witnessed such abusive and threatening behavior. Police were called and he was banned for life from MATA property, at this guard’s discretion. What it amounts to is that MATA, which is fully funded by our tax dollars and run by a private company, is allowing a private security guard to selectively punish citizens who speak out against this type of behavior. Once again, this freedom to speak out falls under the 1st Amendment, which guarantees “Freedom of Speech.” As this is being written, we can just imagine the lawyers, counting their percentage of those lawsuits.

As this member’s 9th grade civics teacher, Mrs. Smith, taught him: “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.”

Memphis, stand up against these types of abuse–Next Time It Could Be You! 

If you believe you are the victim of police harassment please contact Paul Garner Organizing Coordinator for H.O.P.E. at 901-300-0006 or by email at paul@midsouthpeace.org.

The 10^th annual Gandhi-King Conference is in full swing today with almost 400 middle and high school students from our community coming together at the Gandhi-King Youth Conference!

Will you join us tomorrow at the Community Conference? If you’re still undecided take a look at the full schedule below and plan out your day of movement building. Then head on over to theregistration page and let us know your coming. Registration fees are on a sliding scale starting at FREE. We want you to be there, so go ahead and register.

2013 Gandhi-King Community Conference Schedule :: October 19, 2013

7:30am               Registration Opens

9:00 – 10:30am    Plenary Speaker: Medea Benjamin

10:45am – 12pm  Workshop Session 1

12:00 – 1:15pm    Lunch
                          food trucks on-site :: exhibition and tabling space open
book-signing with Medea Benjamin

1:15 – 2:30pm      Plenary Speaker: Jaribu Hill

2:45 – 4:00pm      Workshop Session 2

4:15 – 5:30pm      Workshop Session 3

5:30 – 6:30pm      Closing Ceremony and Reception

Location: Bridges, 477 N. Fifth St. Memphis TN

Plenary Speakers

Medea Benjamin :: 9:00-10:30am

Medea Benjamin is a cofounder of both CODEPINK and the international human rights organization Global Exchange.  She has been an advocate for social justice for more than 30 years. Described as “one of America’s most committed — and most effective — fighters for human rights” by New York Newsday, and called “one of the high profile leaders of the peace movement” by the Los Angeles Times, Medea has distinguished herself as an eloquent and energetic figure in the progressive movement. In 2005 she was one of 1,000 exemplary women from 140 countries nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the millions of women who do the essential work of peace worldwide. In 2010 she received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Since the September 11, 2001 tragedy,  Medea has been working to promote a U.S. foreign policy that would respect human rights and gain us allies instead of contributing to violence and undermining our international reputation.  In 2000, she was a Green Party candidate for the California Senate.  During the 1990s, Medea focused her efforts on tackling the problem of unfair trade as promoted by the World Trade Organization. Widely credited as the woman who brought Nike to its knees and helped place the issue of sweatshops on the national agenda, Medea was a key player in the campaign that won a $20 million settlement from 27 US clothing retailers for the use of sweatshop labor in Saipan. She also pushed Starbucks and other companies to start carrying fair trade coffee. A former economist and nutritionist with the United Nations and World Health Organization, Benjamin is the author/editor of eight books. Her latest book is called Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, and she has been campaigning to get lethal drones out of the hands of the CIA. Her articles appear regularly in outlets such as The Huffington Post, CommonDreams, Alternet and OpEd News.

Jaribu Hill :: 1:15-2:30pm

Jaribu Hill is a civil and human rights attorney and Executive Director of the Mississippi Workers’ Center for Human Rights (MWCHR), an organization which uses a human rights organizing framework to fight discrimination in housing, employment and voting. The MWCHR is a worker advocacy organization that provides organizing support, legal representation and training for low-wage, non-union workers in the state of Mississippi. Through direct action campaigns, organizing sessions and trainings, it raises awareness among workers as to the many ways their human rights are violated in the workplace and in their communities. Jaribu previously worked with Amnesty International in Oxford, Mississippi as a Soros Justice Fellow where she

did education and advocacy work that focused on issues affecting juveniles and inmates with mental retardation who are on death row. While in law school, Jaribu was an Ella Baker Intern with the Center for Constitutional Rights. After law school, Jaribu became a Skadden Fellow in the Mississippi office of the American Civil Liberties Union. Later, Jaribu went on to direct the Southern Regional Office of CCR.

In addition to founding the MWCHR, Jaribu also founded several other organizations, including the Southern Human Rights Organizers’ Conference, Black Women’s International Roundtable, CUNY Law School Mississippi Project, and the Fannie Lou Hamer Sister Roundtable. She is also a singer and composer and was lead singer with the renowned singing duo Serious Bizness for over 15 years.

Workshop Schedule

The 10th annual Gandhi-King Community Conference will feature three tracks of participatory workshops, panel discussions and presentations:

• Personal Nonviolence: Interactive workshops and personal explorations of nonviolence in our personal lives.
• Nonviolence in Academia: Scholarly talks on current topics in nonviolence.
• Revolutionary Nonviolence: Participatory workshops, training opportunities and discussions on the role of nonviolent resistance in movements for social change.

Sessions are marked below according to their tracks.

Session 1 :: 10:45-12:00

War on Earth! Atomic Appalachia and the Militarized Southeast: Environmental Impact: Clare Hanrahan and Coleman Smith, New South Network of War Resisters

Movement-Building Nonviolence
Room A
Visually engaging PowerPoint presentation of toxic environmental legacy of Military Industrial Complex in Southeast, depicting devastating scope of social, economic, racial, environmental and cultural injustices & accommodations thrust upon the region in the name of War and National Sacrifice. The real cost of war is contrasted with empowering examples of creative nonviolent Direct Action and Civil Resistance. Stimulates discussion of homegrown action ideas and facilitates horizontal networking of collaborating Environmental Justice / Peace Activists and War Resisters throughout Southeast.

Community-Police Relations: Building a community led vision: CPR Memphis, MSPJC and Playback Memphis

Room B
Movement-Building Nonviolence
CPR brings together members of the community and law enforcement to build relationships to address distrust between the two. CPR is hosting forums for various communities and constituencies around the city, hearing stories of experiences with community-police relations and gathering suggestions for solutions to these issues.  The next phase will be the development of Recommendations to have these solutions implemented. In this workshop, participants will experience a CPR dialogue circle and learn more about the project.

Peace and Justice to the End of Life: Dr. Jeanne Jemison

Personal Nonviolence
Room C
For many patients and their families, End of Life Care in the medical world lacks dignity and justice. In this workshop, participants will learn about current medical practice at the end of life: why it is worse for those with less medical knowledge and connection, how this came to be, and what they can do about it.  Participants will gain knowledge and skills to enable them to make a real difference in this for themselves and their loved ones as well as learn what they can do to help promote societal change in this critical and growing area of concern.

Public Transit Reform: Building a People Led Movement: Memphis Bus Riders Union

Movement-Building Nonviolence
Room D
The Memphis Bus Riders Union is an organization made up of those who are dependent on public transportation and supporters who stand together to put pressure on the officials of MATA and our city government to improve transit services for ALL Memphians! Come hear stories from members, learn about recent campaigns and find out how you can get involved.

Nonviolent Communication: Elaine Krueger

Personal Nonviolence
Room E
Elaine Krueger will be leading a workshop on Nonviolent Communication. She will introduce you to a way of communication that creates interdependence and power with others to meet the needs of all concerned. NVC is both a skill and a consciousness that helps to create connection with others through compassion rather than through criticism, blame and demand. The skills learned through NVC are useful in all relationships including our own internal dialog. Elaine is a national certified counselor who has been studying and teaching NVC for 5 years.

Session 2 :: 2:45-4:00

“Getting Naked:” Vulnerability and Realness in Organizing: Miguel Carpizo, Greater Birmingham Ministries

Personal Nonviolence
Room A
The purpose of this workshop is to break the walls that we have built through many years in order to uncover our real self and be able to come stronger together with our fellow organizers and show another kind of leadership; one that identifies with the struggle of the people, so they can see who we really are.

Interfaith Roundtable Discussion: moderated by David Waters of Faith Matters
Panelists: Dr. Bashar Shala, Rev. Dorothy Sanders Well, Dr. Mark Muesse, Pastor David Breckenridge, Rakesh Goorha and Chip Ordman

Personal Nonviolence
Room B
This panel will explore the importance and challenges of interfaith within various religions and how interfaith can play a greater role within our communities.

Nonviolence and Nonviolent Intervention Training: Elliott Adams, former President of Veterans for Peace and Co-chair of Creating a Culture of Peace with Meta Peace Team

Movement-Building Nonviolence
Room E
Nonviolence works in theory, but what about in practice? In this workshop, participants will explore the basics of nonviolence; gain experiential expertise in nonviolent conflict de-escalation; and grow in awareness of the power of nonviolent alternatives through the work of peace teams.

War on Poverty and Homelessness: Homeless Organizing for Power and Equality

Movement-Building Nonviolence
Room D
HOPE is a grassroots group made up exclusively of individuals who have formerly or are currently experiencing homelessness who are organizing and confronting issues that affect the unsheltered community in Memphis and Shelby County. Members will be leading a workshop on the dynamics of homelessness and poverty and discussing the different projects the group has been developing, which include the HOPE Women’s Caucus, The Garden Crew, Street Wise INK, and Street-Watch.

Combined Session

Academic Nonviolence
Board Room

Completing the Circle in King’s Sociology: The Case for Cultivating Nonviolent, Integrative Dispositions: Thomas McGowan, Rhodes College
The purpose of this presentation is to 1) describe the basic, sociological nature of King’s work, 2) suggest that King’s teachings may find renewed, contemporary relevance by extending the principle of nonviolence to the common, everyday world of social experience, and 3) describe the main features of the Rhodes workshop on the cultivation of interpretive competence and nonviolent, integrative dispositions.

Teaching the Holocaust as General Education: The Second Step: Tim Hacker, University of Tennessee at Martin
The study of the Holocaust rightly begins with the experiences of the victims.  But inevitably students want to try to understand the motivations of the perpetrators.  A general education course that takes this second step is the topic of this presentation.  It will discuss materials and tasks and the relevance of Holocaust studies that students see in their own lives.

Session 3 :: 4:15-5:30

De-stressing with Yoga: Caroline Schmidt, Midtown Yoga

Personal Nonviolence
Room D
This workshop will offer techniques to help manage stress and support clarity through the stress, demands and challenges of life.  These techniques are designed to support successful, vibrant living.Interactive teachings will include asana- physical postures, pranayama- breath exercises and meditation-  clarity.

Civil Disobedience and Direct Action in the TN Immigrant Rights Movement: Echoes of the Past, Pointing to the Future: Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, NAACP & Communidades Unidas en Una Voz

Movement-Building Nonviolence
Room A
This workshop will focus on the connections between the escalating civil disobedience in the immigrant rights movement and the use of civil disobedience in the civil rights movement.  Panelists and participants will storytell and situate themselves in a historical timeline in the history of nonviolent resistance and CD.  Participants will also leave with skill building resources in Spanish and English about the history and tactics of civil disobedience.

Transformative Justice and Social Movements: Matthew Johnson, Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County, MD

Personal Nonviolence
Room B
Restorative and transformative justice are philosophies and practices representing alternatives to retributive justice that emphasize the needs of those harmed, the obligations of those responsible for the harm, and the context in which the harm occurred. This session will focus on their practical application, particularly to cases of sexual and gender-based violence, in the context of social movements.

The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act & Beyond: Dr. Art Sutherland

Movement-Building Nonviolence
Room E
This presentation will educate the participants regarding the passage and the ongoing implementation of the PPACA Law (Obama Care). We will analyse the law, and point out areas of benefit and/or harm to certain segments of our population. We will discuss the social justice implications of the law, and finally we will explore the continuing national healthcare reform debate to try to see what the USA can do to develop meaningful and moral national healthcare reform for all people living in America.

Combined Session

Academic Nonviolence
Board Room

Gandhi’s Programme-King’s Justice: Richard Harnack, Lindenwood University, MO
“Gandhi’s Programme – King’s Justice” will focus on each man’s practical applications of NonViolence to lead toward a peace-filled and just society. Part of the focus will be on current issues surrounding economic and political inequities world-wide.

Love Walks: Pilgrimage as Political Spirituality: Beverly Pratt, University of Maryland, College Park
This presentation attempts to understand the act of pilgrimage as a potential act of political spirituality. In doing so, the biographies of (in)famous social movement leaders – i.e., Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, and César Chávez – will be explored, as each of these leaders journeyed on pilgrimage at pivotal moments along their political and spiritual histories.

We hope that you are as excited as we are to do some movement building this weekend. Register now to reserve your space!

Community-Police Relations (CPR) project is a groundbreaking partnership between citizens and law enforcement officers that is challenging both groups to overcome their differences and distrust to work together on the deepest problems of our community.

Our mission is to create a safe place for community and law enforcement to openly discuss barriers that prevent us from building a positive relationship. These discussions will lead up to recommendations for healthier community-police relations.

What’s Happening Now?

Building on over a year of intensive work among dedicated community members and law enforcement officers, in recent months, the Community-Police Relations group has taken their trust and relationship-building process to the streets, convening public forums in neighborhoods across the city.  There, community members and law enforcement officers are coming together to engage in honest dialogue, and encouraging us all to develop a deeper understanding of the issues that are obstacles to a healthy relationship between law enforcement officers and the communities in which they live and serve.  Already, forums have been held in Frayser, Orange Mound, Soulsville, and most recently, at Union Valley Baptist Church in South Memphis, and at Hickory Hill Community Center.

Hickory Hill CPR Forum

On Monday, September 30th, over sixty people from the Hickory Hill neighborhood gathered at the Hickory Hill Community Center and shared personal stories that reminded everyone that every person has a story and wants to be respected. With the help of improvisational theatre group, Playback Memphis, the stories told were brought to life before our very eyes.

Reflection from one forum participant:

Community members in our small break-out group poured forth their stories and questions.  Law enforcement attendees were willing to offer explanations or suggestions when necessary, but they were also willing to listen and to acknowledge problems that need further attention.  And it was lovely that community members also explicitly noted their positive experiences with law enforcement and what they appreciate about them.

And another:

All the people in our small group wanted to know how they can be involved in the project and contribute to the ongoing dialogue, as well as to the creation of a plan that will outline solutions.  The forum provided the space for honest dialogue that was at times intense but still respectful and that left people feeling excited about what we can do when we come together.

Our thanks to Hickory Hill Community Center director, Mrs. Margaret Flicker and her staff for their hard work in planning the forum.

South Memphis CPR Forum

At the South Memphis forum, held at Union Valley Baptist Church, participants felt enlightened by the discussion, saying:

“Playback Memphis gave me a chance to see how others feel when they are hurt”.

“I didn’t know others felt the way I do about calling 911 or the non-emergency number”. 

“I was stopped for speeding- yes I deserved the ticket- but I appreciate the Officer who had to give me the ticket we respected me – I believe if you want respect you need to give respect, we have good officers and bad officers just like we have good people and people who are going to do wrong.”

Our thanks to Dr. Kneeland for providing meeting space for the South Memphis CPR forum.

A note of thanks from Mrs. Hazel Burks on behalf of The Praise Temple Church in South Memphis, where CPR was invited to participate in a special event.

A  VERY SPECIAL THANKS–SIMPLY THE BEST
Melissa, on behalf of Pastor William Burks, The Praise Temple Church and the South Memphis Community, I would like to thank you for arranging for members from the Community Police Relations group to attend our very first Community Safety function.  We are definitely trying to train and help equip people in this neighborhood.

In addition to having the Best Police Officers in the world (Det. Price and Officer Colbert) we also had representatives from the Red Cross and FBI to join with your volunteers from the Community Police Relations group.

To see Commissioner Randolph, take time out of his busy schedule along with the CPR officers, made me proud to be a Memphian.  Our people go above and beyond to help people be prepared and informed.

Keep up the excellent work.
Be Well
Hazel Burks

The next CPR forum will be the LGBTQ Community Forum on Tuesday, November 19th. For details or any other information about the Community-Police Relations project, please contact:

Melissa Miller-Monie, CPR Organizing Coordinator
Phone: 901-725-4990, Email: melissa@midsouthpeace.org

The CPR Team- Bridging the Gap between Community and Police Relations: Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, Community Leaders, Memphis Police Department, Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, Playback Memphis, and a third party facilitator.

H.O.P.E. is the name of a Mid-South Peace and Justice Center-sponsored organization whose members are exclusively people currently, or have formerly experienced homelessness. H.O.P.E. has been working hard to develop several project areas that address the issues that are a priority to the homeless community. For meeting times and dates, call 901-300-0006.

Street-Wise INK

Already thinking about what to get folks for the holidays?Street-Wise has you covered… literally!

H.O.P.E. members are getting ready to print long-sleeved H.O.P.E. t-shirts, perfect for staying warm and looking cool! Each shirt is up-cycled from local thrift stores, and the money goes directly to workers, with 25% going back into the project.

Street-Wise INK is worker-owned and operated, and made up exclusively of individuals who have formerly or are currently experiencing homelessness.

For more info on Street-Watch or to reserve your H.O.P.E. t-shirt, contact Paul Garner: paul@midsouthpeace.org Make sure to include quantity and sizes. Colors may vary.

H.O.P.E. Women’s Caucus Thanks You

Thanks to community-based support, members of the H.O.P.E. Women’s Caucus will begin self-defense classes this week.  We are thrilled to work with Cat’s Ballroom of Memphis, who is offering these classes at a discounted rate.  Over the next five weeks, Women’s Caucus members will spend 3 hours per week learning a range of techniques for increasing personal safety.

If you want to read more about the H.O.P.E. Women’s Caucus and find out how you can support this initiative, please click here.

The Garden Crew is Kicking Up Dirt!

H.O.P.E.’s Garden Crew members have now put in over twenty-five beds on land that was once a neglected, overgrown eyesore. Miss K, an organizer with the garden explained, “We want to show people in the neighborhood, that even though we might not all have a place to sleep indoors, we are still an important part of this community and we want to make it better for all of us”  The Garden Crew is also focused on sustainability and food justice. “We don’t always want to have to stand in line for a meal at a shelter, we can eventually grow enough good, healthy food to feed ourselves…(We) don’t want to always be dependent on the allowance of our oppressors,” said Garden Crew member, Toni W.

If you are interested in getting involved at the garden, or if you would like to make a material or financial donation, contact Dallas Holland: dallasholland@gmail.com also, like us on facebook!

Street-Watch: Know Your Rights

Street-Watch initiative organizers had an engaged turnout at the October‘Know Your Rights’ workshop, the fifth in an ongoing series of workshops presented in collaboration with the Law Offices of the Shelby County Public Defender. The workshops, held one a month at various churches and community centers, are geared at educating people experiencing homelessness on their rights and how to assert them when they encounter law enforcement.

The group is also working to document potential cases of police harassment, mistreatment, and abuse. “We don’t just want our people to know their rights, we want to create a process of being able to do something about it when people rights are violated. If we work together, we can document these cases and use that information to push for that process,” explained Mike K., a Steet-Watch organizer. Street Watch would like to thank St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral and Josh Spickler with the Public Defender’s office for hosting the October Workshop. If you would like more information about H.O.P.E.’s Street Watch initiative, contact Paul Garner: paul@midsouthpeace.org, 901.725.4990

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. 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 HOPE or our different project areas, Please contact Paul Garner(901)725.4990, or paul@midsouthpeace.org. Like H.O.P.E. on Facebook!

Members of H.O.P.E. and their allies breathed a slight sigh of relief as TheBeers Van Gogh Peer Center of Excellence has finally terminated Peer Counselor, Hervelle Williams for sexual harassment. The Beers Van Gogh Peer Center is a part of the Tennessee Mental Health Consumers Association and is supposed to provide housing, support and Medicaid services for individuals with mental illnesses in a peer to peer model. Over the past year H.O.P.E. has received numerous complaints from people experiencing homelessness and former Peer Center employees about instances of lewd and homophobic language and repeated unwanted sexual propositions from Williams.

H.O.P.E-Homeless Organizing For Power and Equality, is an “Asphalt Roots” organization sponsored by the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. This group is made up exclusively of people who are currently or formerly experiencing homelessness.

Work on this issue began last summer when two members of H.O.P.E. shared their experiences of harassment by Williams with the group a weekly H.O.P.E. meeting.

“As I heard our members share their experiences I was stunned” says H.O.P.E. member Toni Whitfield, ” This situation with this staff person is out of control including offering one of our members $20 to show him her breasts and telling her and others about the size of his penis and asking a woman if she wanted to be in a “three way” with him and his girlfriend.“

Members of H.O.P.E. took immediate action by conducting street outreach to people experiencing homelessness to find other potential victims of harassment and sexual assault and launched a series of weekly protests outside of the Peer Center located at 669 Madison Ave. H.O.P.E. also partnered with the Memphis Public Interest Law Center to ensure that the rights of those stepping forward were protected.

“It did not take long before we learned that this was far from an isolated incident–in fact we think that this is part of a much larger systemic issue in our homeless services network. Folks on the streets call it “play to stay”, ” says H.O.P.E. Organizer Paul Garner.

“Play to Stay,” is a slang term coined by H.O.P.E. members and refers to the rumored practice of staff at some local homeless service providers allegedly coercing sexual favors from female clients in exchange to gain access to services.

“Whenever there are allegations like this one, the community must take it seriously! 92% of women experiencing homelessness have suffered severe physical and/or sexual assault in their lifetimes. Most people think that once you get off the streets and get housing or services, that you are out of the woods and finally safe but the sad fact is that there are predators in the system as well. For some of us out there, it’s only the beginning. This incidents with Hervelle is just the tip of the iceberg. This is much bigger than just one employee at one service provider.” Says H.O.P.E. members and former Peer Center employee Marian Bacon

As the weekly protest and calls to action continued,  the group was contacted by several additional former clients and staff members of the Peer Center, each one had similar experiences of harassment. In addition to the charges of sexual harassment the group also raised concerns about allegations of physical assault and other issues at the Beers Van Gogh. Members of H.O.P.E. spoke with the leadership of TMHCA in the pursuit of justice for the membership, but did not stop there. The group met with and filed official complaints with all appropriate regulatory agencies.This led to investigations being launched by Memphis Housing and Community Development, Tennessee Department of Mental Health, and HUD-TN and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Now that Williams has been terminated amid new allegations of continued sexual harassment,the group wants to continue to push for greater oversight and transparency within our homeless services safety net. Every year H.O.P.E lobbies our local city and county governments for improved funding of homelessness services and was involved in drafting the TEN YEAR PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESS, but they say that they are also going to be acting as a watchdog and work in concert with local agencies that are funded by taxpayer dollars to ensure that they are acting in a proper manner.

“We still live in a society where allegations of sexual harassment and assault are often swept under the rug and even women of means and wealth are not immune to this, so imagine how hard it must be for people who have no support system in place for the protection of their rights. That is what H.O.P.E. is for. The women and men who stepped forward and spoke out are truly courageous and we were proud to stand behind them, because it’s not easy.” Says H.O.P.E. member Kay Baker.

H.O.P.E. has also started a Women’s Caucus within its organization. This is a place where women who are experiencing homelessness can discuss issues, plan actions and campaigns around issues distinctive to women. One of the upcoming projects centers around a self defense class for the members combined with plans for peer to peer counseling. This project is co-sponsored by the Center for Research on Women at the University of Memphis, Women’s Caucus meets regularly for “Dinner and Discussion,” out of which a core group of organizers has emerged to focus on the unique challenges faced by women experiencing homelessness.

If you are the victim of sexual harassment or assault at a local homelessness service provider please contact Paul Garner Organizing Coordinator for H.O.P.E. at 901-300-0006 or by email at paul@midsouthpeace.org.

Soulsville Neighborhood Community-Police Relations Forum

The Community-Police Relations (CPR) project is a groundbreaking partnership between citizens and law enforcement officers that is challenging both groups to overcome their differences and distrust to work together on the deepest problems of our community. The CPR Group held a community forum in the Soulsville neighborhood on Monday, August 26th.  Here are some thoughts from one participant:

I believe it to have been a total success. I enjoy seeing the number grow as we move from different areas of the city. It really touched me to hear about the young lady who had her house broken into 15 times and still manages to have a positive outlook for her community and the police. I believe from what I observed that everyone has a willingness to work together in order to make positive changes. I heard different members talk about wanting to help and do more within their community to have positive changes occur. Each one of the members within my breakout group were positive and had feedback and asked questions about where the change will come from, how change can occur and this is a long term effort. Overall I believe that we are about to see history change right before our eyes as to the battle we are about to join to make a difference.
– L. Price

I believe that the Orange Mound Community and Police Relations forum was a game changer. It was the largest turn out that CPR Memphis had at that time. It showed us that the people are indeed concerned about their communities.  We were able to break up into 3 very large groups of Facilitators, Law Enforcement and Community members. In those groups we each were able to voice direct concerns of the actions of Police Officers in that area and throughout the city. The Officers were very open and gave feed back on many issues not just the ones that people were speaking of. That one of the things that  this platform allows which is  transparent dialogue about the grey areas of Law in a neutral setting. It was encouraging.

– Kelvin Cowans, Tri-State Defender

Upcoming CPR Community Forums

Hickory Hill Forum
Monday, September 30th, 6 – 8p (5:30 sign-in)
Hickory Hill Community Center, 3910 Ridgeway Road
Outreach Contact: Mr. Sonny Robinson, bongotiger1@gmail.com
CPR Coordinator: Melisa Miller-Monie, melissa@midsouthpeace.org

Youth CPR Forum/Gandhi-King Conference
Friday, October 18th at BRIDGES.  Please contact, CPR Coordinator, Melisa Miller-Monie for details on how to get involved. Email: melissa@midsouthpeace.org

LGBTQ Community Forum
Tuesday, November 19th, 6 – 8p (5:30 sign-in)
Holy Trinity Community Church, 685 South Highland Street
CPR Coordinator: Melisa Miller-Monie, melissa@midsouthpeace.org

For more information about the Community-Police Relations project, please contact:

Melissa Miller-Monie, CPR Organizing Coordinator
Phone: 901-725-4990, Email: melissa@midsouthpeace.org

The CPR Team- Bridging the Gap between Community and Police Relations: Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, Community Leaders, Memphis Police Department, Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, Playback Memphis, and a third party facilitator.