News

Did you know that in all of Memphis, there are only about 25 beds available to unsheltered women without children? October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and H.O.P.E. Women’s Caucus is well aware of the effects of DV: it is the leading cause of homelessness among women. Even worse, the threat of homelessness after leaving an abusive household is so frightening that some women end up staying in violent relationships. The fear is well-founded – over 90 percent of unsheltered women are survivors of severe physical or sexual violence and women traveling alone are at a particularly high risk for sexual assault.

Help us reach out to our sisters on the streets with some small creature comforts and welcome them into our group which gathers to heal the past and fight for the future through yoga, dance, advocacy, and self-defense.

The H.O.P.E. Women’s Caucus is assembling care packages to include anything that might serve to empower women struggling without shelter, including, but not limited to:

• BUS PASSES
• SOCKS
• WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
• Sleep Bags
• Large Cloth Grocery-Style Bags
• Warm Shoes
• Small Flashlights
• Soap and Waterproof Soap Containers
• Toothbrushes and Trial-Size Toothpaste
• Deodorant
• Compact Mirrors
• Reusable Water Bottles
• Hair Ties and Hair Clips
• Gloves, Knit Caps, and Scarves
• Baby Wipes
• Gallon-size Plastic Bags
• Lip Balm
• Tissue Packs
• Bandages
• Scented Lotions or Body Sprays
• Nail Kits (Including File, Clippers, and Polish)
• Journals and Pens
• Chewing Gum
• Chocolate or Granola Bars
• Feminine Hygiene Products
• Gift Cards or Movie Passes
• Job Opportunities

Items can be dropped off at the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center at 3573 Southern Avenue anytime Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Call (901) 725-4990 to make special arrangements outside of those hours. If outreach is successful, we hope to expand our self-defense course and allies who identify as women are encouraged to attend classes on a sliding-scale basis. Stay tuned for updates!

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The H.O.P.E. Women’s Caucus is a safe space for H.O.P.E. members who identify as women to work together on the issues that affect them disproportionately, including reproductive health and violence.

Following the Gandhi King Youth Conference, the MSPJC and Memphis United will host The People’s Conference on Equal Justice, in partnership with LeMoyne-Owen College. The People’s Conference will be a day of learning about the criminal justice system and training in grassroots community organizing skills, featuring a variety of workshops that will help provide participants with tools to push for real reform of our local adult and juvenile criminal justice systems and police accountability.

The People’s Conference on Equal Justice will be unlike any other conference you have attended because YOU – the participants – will have a hand in directly shaping the tone and content of the conference. While there will be some pre-determined workshops on issues like privatized prisons,knowing your rights, and alternatives to incarceration and the death penalty, there will also be scheduled spaces left open for attendees who want to facilitate a discussion, make their own presentation, or host a dialogue circle around additional justice issues.

Following morning sessions, lunch will feature local food trucks offering a variety of tasty and affordable meals.

After lunch, participants will move into a structured series of skill-based workshops focusing on the basic skills of community organizing including planning a campaign, anti-oppression awareness,canvassing and outreach, and nonviolent direct action. 

Participants will leave with the tools needed to engage and collectively act with their communities, towards REAL changes in our justice system. We ask you to attend not to follow but to lead, as we as a community prepare to work for positive change.

The conference is free to current MSPJC members. You can renew your membership online or sign up the day of the conference.
We use a sliding scale for membership dues, and NO ON WILL BE TURNED AWAY FROM THE CONFERENCE FOR FINANCIAL REASONS.
On-site childcare will be available.

What: People’s Conference on Equal Justice

Where: LeMoyne-Owen College, 807 Walker Ave*

When: Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014
Registration and Check-In:  7:30am – 9:00am
Conference and Workshops: 9:00am – 5:30pm
(Lunch Break: 11:45am – 1:15pm)

* The conference will take place in and around the LeMoyne-Owen Student Center. While some of you may be familiar with the LMO campus, a Google Map highlighting the Student Center is available by clicking here. Conference parking will be available in the lot just west of the Student Center.

This week Memphis United will help kick off the International Day of Peace by supporting the Campaign Nonviolence “Enough is Enough” march and rally against all violence on September 19th.  This march was called by Barry Blackstone organizer with Universal Center Corp. to call attention to the neighborhood plight for peace after the neighborhood pastor’s home was riddled with bullets. Although the community tried to report the crime to local law enforcement, authorities never came out to take a report or investigate. Mr. Blackstone reached out to partner with Memphis United because he believes in police accountability and wants more community policing in Smokey City.  Memphis United volunteers will continue efforts to increase police accountability by canvassing with Mr. Blackstone on Oct.1 to educate community members about how to utilize the newly reinstated Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board.

Join Us:
Friday, Sept. 19th at 5pm
768 Pearce St.
Memphis, TN 38107

For more information about Memphis United, contact Organizing Coordinator Marquita Bradshaw at marquita@midsouthpeace.org.

THIS THURSDAY:  Founding & Funding your Grassroots Group
Sept. 11, 6pm – 8pm – Please, be on time.
Click here to register!

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

Learn the process, skills and actions you can use to establish and financially sustain your grassroots organization.

A workshop led by Jacob Flowers

This session starts with an in-depth look at the mission, vision and values that you are organizing from and ends with concrete actions that you can take to fund your work sustainably over the long term.
Limited to the first 25 people who register.
Cost: $20-$45 Sliding scale.

Registration online or by phone is required to attend.

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Privilege and Oppression Awareness Workshop
Thursday, Sept. 18, 6pm – 8:30pm
Click here to register!
Location: 450 Mulberry St Memphis TN 38103  Links Education Center, National Civil Rights Museum. Wheelchair accessible

In this workshop participants will have the opportunity for recognizing privilege and oppression in themselves, in a safe space, as a first step to combat them.   *Limited to the first 8 people who register.

Cost: $20-$45 Sliding scale.

Registration online or by phone is required to attend.

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Labor Liberation Workshop
Tuesday, Sept. 30, 6pm – 8pm, Please be on time!
Click here to register!
Location: 450 Mulberry St Memphis TN 38103  Links Education Center, National Civil Rights Museum. Wheelchair accessible

In this workshop we’ll explore the complexities of the labor movement in intersection with people’s diverse identities as workers and how they identify their personal histories and lives with the history of labor movement.

Who can attend this workshop? Workers, students, union members, and anyone who wants to learn about the labor movement! It’s for Everyone who would like to learn about their identity as a worker and how they can identify as a part of the labor movement.
*Minimum 12, maximum 20 participants who register.

Cost: $20-$45 Sliding scale.

For all of our workshops, registration online or by phone is required to attend.
Some scholarships may be available. Please request a scholarship application by email or phone.
Donations for workshop scholarships gratefully accepted!

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G.O.T. Power started September collaborating with the local movement of fast food workers,Memph15. We had the honor to provide training for the participants of the local strike on Sept. 4th.
We supported the Memph15 with two trainings: Third Party Nonviolent Intervention for a group of 12 people committed to keep the peace of the action, and a Nonviolent Direct Action training for the brave group of fast food workers doing civil disobedience.
It is our hope to continue collaborating with the local and state movements that are working and taking action for change.

For more information on anything happening with G.O.T. Power, MSPJC Training Department, please contact Training Director Gio López at gio@midsouthpeace.org or call the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center at 725-4990.

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

Memphis Bus Riders Union (MBRU) members and other MATA riders are seeing some practical improvements at MATA’s Hudson Transit Center, but there are still concerns about excessive force from private security companies.

When MBRU met with MATA board members for a tour of the terminal, riders had a laundry list of ideas for the 20 year old transit hub. MATA has since installed a charging station for electronic devices, ADA compliant soap and paper towel dispensers, and a large full system map.

We still have a long way to go, but these new features are already in heavy use.

Meanwhile, rider complaints against the newly contracted security company Ambassador Worldwide Protection Agency are on the rise. A few weeks ago, a woman transferring between buses with her 11yr old and 3yr old children was sprayed with mace by one of the guards, after a verbal argument over jaywalking. The rider’s children were exposed to the mace. Several witnesses say the children appeared to be in a great deal of pain. MBRU members have continued to observe a pattern of bad judgment and reckless use of force by the security guards. Last week a guard was attempting to remove a rider from the terminal for selling soap. According to witnesses the rider threw his bag at her and ran off the property. The guard drew her gun and chased the man 6 blocks, leaving her post, and eventually macing the man after he had already been apprehended. The guard has since been fired, but Ambassador remains.

MBRU organizers believe incidents like this will continue unless there are real measures in place that improve the quality of security services and create accountability to the public.  Evaluative data and reporting on any use of force by private security, more security cameras, and sensitivity training for guards is needed, and the MATA Board will be addressing these needs through policy at an upcoming meeting.  Oversight of these reports is needed to observe patterns of violence, and compare them with customer complaints against guards.

As Shelia Williams stated in an interview with Fox13 “We want security to protect and serve the riders… that are commuting back and forth and not come at us like we are some criminals. Let’s build the trust factor and start on a new path,”

For more information, or to give your input on improvements to the Hudson Transit Center, join us at one of our monthly meetings, held on the second Saturday of each month, 12pm to 2pm, at the Memphis Center for Independent Living (1633 Madison Ave).

To contact MBRU, call or text 901-205-9737 or email MemphisBRU@gmail.com.

Support this work and Become an MSPJC Member today!

Bornatty Hairstyles by Kingdom Kreations Salon with Gil Carter Present a special event to help raise awareness and funds for organizations working to end homelessness with a wine tasting hosted by Flava of Da Caribbean, a fashion show, and musical guest, Brandon Cortez.  It’s all happening at DejaVu, home of Memphis’ finest Creole soul & vegetarian cuisine!

September 21, 2014
7pm – 11pm
DeJaVu, 51 S Main Street, Memphis, TN 38103

VIP Tickets: $25
Advance Tickets:  $15
General Admission: $15

For More Information, Call: Martone Evans (919) 271-0497 or Gil Carter (901) 830-1622

Purchase your tickets here!

H.O.P.E. is once again teaming up with Community Alliance for the Homeless for Project Homeless Connect 5, and we need YOU to volunteer!

Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014
8am-4pm
Cook Convention Center (255 N Main Street)

To volunteer please sign up, here!
or call 901-527-1302, Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm
*must be 18 or older to volunteer

 

Support efforts to end homelessness by volunteering for the fifth installment of this massive outreach and service event to break down barriers that make it difficult to leave homelessness. 1,000 people needing help are expected to attend; we need just as many volunteers!

Services Anticipated:
Medical and Vision (limited), Housing counseling and placement, Employment services, Benefits (Food Stamps, Medicaid, etc.), Social Security, Substance Abuse and Mental Health, Veterans Benefits and services, Food, HIV/AIDS testing, counseling and support, IDs, Barber Shop, Legal assistance, Donated Goods

Memphis United is a coalition of organizations working on criminal justice reform and police accountability. The murder of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO has catalyzed solidarity demonstrations all over the world.

Locally, Memphis United has been advocating for police accountability for months, with the recent victory of reinstating the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB) in Memphis. We have continued this work in the wake of Michael Brown’s murder with our own solidarity actions and a renewed effort to make Memphis a safer, more peaceful community.  In the coming months, Memphis United will advocate for:

• A more effective CLERB
• Resolution for the rape kit backlogs
• Sensitivity training for MPD officers and the adoption of a community policing model
• Body cameras for MPD officers and dashboard cameras for MPD vehicles
• Ending police and private security harassment and demilitarizing private security and public law enforcement

To see some of the recent media coverage we’ve received, check out the links below: 

Video: Memphis United Calls for Police Accountability

Video & Slideshow: 230 Rally for Peace, Police Accountability

Article: Memphis Organization to Host Meeting on Police Accountability

Video: Rally for Ferguson Lines Major Memphis Street

Article: Cohen & Memphis Activists Turn Attention to Ferguson

Video: Local Groups Prep for Ferguson Protest Today

Video: Memphis Residents Plan Action after Michael Brown Shooting

Video: Advocates Call for More Cameras on MPD Officers and Cars

Video: Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board Reinstated

Video: Memphis Joins 100 Cities in Peaceful Demonstration

Article: Organization Looks to Improve Police Review Board

Video: Does the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board Exist? 

Video: Activists Want to Improve MPD’s Accountability

Video: Group Calls for Civilian Oversight of Memphis Law Enforcement

Video: Effort Underway to Revive Enforcement Review Board

To get involved with Memphis United, check out our Facebook page, or contact Memphis United Organizing Coordinator Marquita Bradshaw at marquita@midsouthpeace.org or 901-725-4990.

Making National Connections

On August 7^th, MBRU Co-Chair and MATA Board Member, Shelia Williams, was featured along with other transit justice leaders from around the nation on a national audio conference at 2pm CST to discuss strategies for connecting people to work through expanding public transit. Be on the lookout for our follow up report on the conference.

To read more about Shelia’s journey to the MATA Board, check out this Commercial Appeal article.

MATA Bus Riders Transit Plan

In July, MBRU began the process of gathering input for a Bus Riders Transit Plan. MATA will be presenting service changes, cuts and potentially, fare hikes this fall. MBRU will simultaneously provide a riders plan, with recommendations for new routes in underserved neighborhoods, shelters and other transit infrastructure. Through August we’ll be hitting the road, surveying riders’ needs and talking with neighborhood groups to gather the input needed for a rider-focused transit plan. We want to be sure that as plans for service changes develop, MATA is informed by the knowledge and experience of riders.

A Tragic Loss

Following a tragic incident that resulted in the death of bus rider, Semaj, aka James Gray, MATA’s private security at the Hudson Transit Center (formerly the North End Terminal) has been transitioned to a new company.  (R.I.P. Semaj, photo credit Pete Gathje)

MBRU has kept a watchful eye on the new company, Ambassador Worldwide Protection Agency.  We are pleased that there are now female guards on duty. But to prevent the violence that occurred at the hands of the last security company, MBRU is working with the MATA Board to develop new policies of oversight and accountability that will bring issues with security to the Board for review.  See some of the media coverage on our work here.