News

Streetwise Ink, a cooperative screen printing business venture of Homeless Organizing for Power and Equality (H.O.P.E.), will soon be seeking several members for our Advisory Board. In a city where the average length of time people experience homelessness is 10 years, and barriers to safe, dignified and equitable employment abound, the creation of a member-managed, worker-owned print shop is truly a one-of-a-kind act of systemic resistance. We are looking for members who believe in our mission and are willing to be active in their advisory roles. We hope you will consider becoming a nominee.

The Streetwise Ink Advisory Board will be a subcommittee of Mid-South Peace and Justice Center volunteers that will work alongside the current Streetwise Ink Project Coordinator in the overall management and furtherance of Streetwise Ink until such a time that the members have gained the skills needed to become either the member-managed cooperative of Streetwise’s original goals, or until such a time that Streetwise is able to fund it’s own management position(s).

We are currently in the process of training ourselves in all the aspects involved in  becoming an LLC and are seeking individuals with training or experience who believe in our mission to assist us on our Advisory Board. Advisory Board members will be a subcommittee of Mid-South Peace and Justice Center volunteers who will meet quarterly and might assist the current project coordinator with the following:

*Continuous marketing efforts
*Pricing and finalizing orders
*Scheduling and overseeing trainings
*Ordering materials
*Scheduling program participants
*Overseeing production
*Reviewing product quality
*Maintaining production manuals
*Evaluting operations
*Setting a path forward with yearly goals
*Facilitating or finding volunteers for several free trainings per year (including topics such as accounting, marketing, pricing, scheduling, time management, communication, and organizational structure)
*Develop partnerships with other non-profits and organizations
*Maintain and review quarterly financial reports
*Transfer and maintain Streetwise Ink’s website
*Begin tracking referral analytics on said site
*Brainstorm seasonal campaign themes for new business and create corresponding language for newsletter blurbs, Facebook posts, etc.
*Create an email signature (specifically encouraging additional donations) for the Streetwise Ink business account
*Brainstorm a list of leads based on personal connections
*Explore partnerships with local shops that feature Memphis-made items
*Write language for two very simple, quick polls: one asking clients about their experience after an order’s been completed and another asking non-converted clients what Streetwise could have done better to earn their business
*Pitch the Streetwise Ink’s story to local media

If you are interested in serving in this way, please send inquiries to streetwise@midsouthpeace.org.

Join MSPJC & Memphis United, Thursday, October 12, 3:30PM, Civic Center Plaza, 125 N Main, as we hold a press conference in support of a man who has exhausted every process available to him in his fight for justice and peace. On October 31st, 2014, Reginald Johnson’s son, Samuel Johnson, was tragically killed. Mr. Johnson cooperated with the investigation, providing video footage from security cameras on his house, but this cooperation wasn’t reciprocated when Mr. Johnson sought answers from MPD. His frustrations led him to speak to the media about MPD’s lack of action on his son’s case.

On February 8, 2016, Mr. Johnson called police when a neighbor showed up on his front door, bleeding, having been shot. Reginald called police, but when they arrived, they ignored the bleeding man, entered his home, assaulted, pepper sprayed, and arrested him. Charges were dropped, a complaint with internal affairs was filed but not sustained, even though footage from security cameras around Reginald’s home corroborated his claims and contradicted officers’ accounts. He appealed to the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board, who last November, sustained his complaint, sending recommendations for review to Director Michael Rallings. Recommendations that were ignored.

Reginald Johnson has experienced regular retaliation from MPD since filing his complaint with CLERB, which was sustained in November of 2016. We have learned that one of the officers named in Mr. Johnson’s complaint accused Mr. Johnson of threatening his life. This baseless accusation has led to Mr. Johnson’s home being placed on a “hazard list” which he has tried in vain to be removed from for months, despite numerous conversations with Deputy Director Mike Shearin, Deputy Director Mike Ryall, Director Rallings, and Mayor Jim Strickland. We believe in due process, the right to face your accuser, and that this “hazard list” is a form of extrajudicial retaliation for trying to hold police accountable.

“Mr. Johnson is not a threat or a hazard. He is a positive, contributing member of our community, a man that hosts annual anti-violence rallies in honor of his slain son.  He’s been blacklisted based purely on an unfounded accusation of one officer who didn’t want to be held accountable. If Reginald Johnson, who has exhausted all available paths of recourse available to him (going as far as to meet with the mayor and police director). If he has no hope for justice, or at least some peace….none of us do, and that’s a shame,” said Paul Garner, Organizing Director for Mid-South Peace & Justice Center.

Mid-South Peace & Justice Center is calling on MPD to do the right thing and immediately release an official written memo stating that Reginald Johnson’s name and home address be removed from any “hazard list.”

In addition, if there is a policy outlining the process and criteria for MPD’s so-called hazard list, it should be made available to the public so that those accused be made aware as to the process for removal from such a list. We demand the release of any and all such policies immediately.

For more info, contact Organizing Director, Paul Garner, paul@midsouthpeace.org or (901)725.4990.
Check out the facebook event page here.

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It’s a blue-ribbon-county-fair-grandma’s-best pie contest—all for the love of Peace and Justice! Peace & Pie will be happening October 14th from 6-9PM at Evergreen Presbyterian (1567 Overton Park Ave, Memphis, Tennessee 38112).

Come enjoy sweet and savory pies homemade by your fellow Memphians! Celebrity Judges will make the call on the 1st Place Blue Ribbon Beauty and rank the rest but we all get to vote for the “Power to the People’s Choice Award” with our dollars and change. The pie that raises the most $$$ for Mid-South Peace and Justice Center wins that coveted award.

Entry to Pie Tastings Galore: Suggested Donation of $5
Celebrity Judges will be announced and there will be several gems from last year’s Peace & Pie Contest!

Would you like to submit a pie? Splendid! Please do! There are prizes, plus bragging rights. Please email meredithpace@gmail.com for further instructions. 

Can’t make it? You can still give to MSPJC in honor of your favorite baker here: https://midsouthpeace.org/get-involved/mymspjc-sustainer

RSVP via Facebook here.

It’s that time of year again! Project Homeless Connect 2017 will be on Thursday, September 21st from 8:00a.m.-3:00p.m.  ProjectHomeless Connect is a day long service provider fair for the homeless men and women of Memphis. At Project Homeless Connect, there will be housing services, haircut/beauty services, ID’s, dental services, eye exam, clothing, assessment for disability, plus lunch for every participant. If you would like to volunteer along side H.O.P.E members,  please go to the Community Alliance for the Homeless website under volunteer opportunities, www.cafth.org. So go and do something worthwhile for our community and volunteer with Project HomelessConnect!

Join us Thursday, September 21st, for the Whole Child Community Council Meeting at 5:30PM. Come share your voice and expertise as community member in the Klondike Smokey City area. To confirm your attendance simply call at 901-435-0404 or email wholechildstrategies@gmail.com prior to September 19th. 

Here is an easy ( and verified) way to donate to Houston community members impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Simply click on the link (http://www.shape.org/shape-donations) to donate through S.H.A.P.E. today!

“As one of the most visible and involved community centers in Houston’s African-American community and the Houston community as a whole, S.H.A.P.E. has led the way toward justice, equal opportunity, and institution building in the city, state, nation and world. Because of its deep commitment to the community, S.H.A.P.E. has actively sought ways to oppose injustice and to better the community for all people. Earmark funds with “Hurricane Harvey” ”