News

Last Friday, February 17th 2017, it was brought to the attention of the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center that the City of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department had a secret surveillance list, which has been popularly referred to as the Memphis Black List. The list is made up of 84 people, some of which are social justice advocates and activists, community organizers, former city employees, and Mary Stewart -the mother of 19 year old Darrius Stewart who was killed by Officer Connor Schilling in the summer of 2015. How and why this list was formed is still a mystery to all -apart from our City Mayor, Jim Strickland, and Memphis Police Director, Michael Rallings.

Though Mayor Strickland has pretty consistently claimed to not have knowledge of the list, and that it was carried over from the former administration (which can be read here), he also admits to signing part of the list. You can see the list in full for yourself below. Despite the story breaking only last week, many have already spoken out about whether or not the Strickland Administration, and Memphis Police Department, are legally able to create such lists for surveillance of citizens. Among those to speak out was Attorney Bruce Kramer, who stated: “…the list may violate a federal court order issued in 1978 in response to a lawsuit he litigated on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union. The consent decree banned political surveillance following revelations the department spied on civil rights activists, war protesters and other “radicals” for years.” (Read more here.)

If you are interested in aiding the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center in its efforts to explore the legality of the “Black List” with legal representatives, please donate here.

We would also strongly encourage you to reach out to Mayor Strickland on behalf of your 84 community neighbors under surveillance, let him know what you think of his secret surveillance list, and demand a logical answer about its creation. All of his contact information is listed below.

Mayor Jim Strickland
City Hall
125 N. Main St. Room 700
Memphis, TN 38103
(901) 636-6000
mayor@memphistn.gov
twitter: @MayorMemphis

To follow more on the Memphis Black List here are a list of links to news coverage:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/local/2017/02/22/city-officials-decline-release-reason-blacklist/98260186/
http://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/government/city/2017/02/21/mpds-michael-rallings-defends-city-hall-blacklist/98191200/
https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2017/feb/21/city-hall-list-controversy-deepens-with-questions-about-police-surveillance/
http://www.fox13memphis.com/top-stories/fox13-investigates-secret-surveillance-of-black-lives-matter-protesters/495898435
https://www.youtube.com/embed/eZhjwfpKXmk
http://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/columnists/david-waters/2017/02/20/waters-gangsta-grammie-makes-city-hall-escort-list/98147540/​​​​​​​
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/17/1635130/-Memphis-Mayor-Police-Publish-Political-Black-List-Even-Mother-of-a-Child-Killed-by-Police​​​​​​​
http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/clip/13113325/mpd-releases-list-of-those-on-memphis-city-halls-blacklist?autostart=true

This week, Mid-South Peace & Justice Center organizer, Paul Garner was a guest on WREG Ch 3’s Live @ 9 to discuss Memphis United’s Juvenile Justice Project.  In partnership with Shelby County Juvenile Court, Mid-South Peace & Justice Center is working to build networks of churches and organizations to address our high number of youth offenders and the lack of opportunities for court ordered community service, specifically in the areas of Hickory Hill & Bartlett.

If your organization would like to partner with Juvenile Court to provide opportunities for our young people, please take a minute to fill out this form, by clicking here: https://tinyurl.com/juvenilejusticeproject

For more information, contact Paul Garner: paul@midsouthpeace.org or (901)725-4990

December 15, 2016

To the Honorable Mayor,  

Due to collaboration between local and federal law enforcement, President Obama’s administration deported a record 2.5 million immigrants. This has happened while southern states have approved xenophobic laws in the last few years. Persecution of immigrant communities is facilitated by racial profiling and prejudice that remains to be acknowledged, and the resulting anti­-immigrant climate promotes wage theft and labor violations. As a result, the Memphis multi-­cultural and multi-­ethnic immigrant community feels particularly targeted.

Anti-­immigrant sentiment has increased during the Obama administration and shows signs of worsening with the incoming administration. Our worry grows due to the statements that

President-­elect Donald Trump has made during his electoral campaign actively targeting Muslims, women, LGBTQIA+ people, migrants, and people of color. As the highest executive of our county, we ask that you defend our city as a place that values and protects all of its members, regardless of race, nationality, religion, or immigration status. Additionally, we are sending a similar letter to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and hope that this be a collaborative effort of both city and county.

In fact, at the November 10th meeting at El Mercadito, Mayor Strickland assured us that the

Memphis Police Department (MPD) does not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, and that currently MPD officers do not ask anyone questions about residence status. Are these policies also reflected within Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO)? If not, we ask that they be adjusted by instructing SCSO deputies to not cooperate with ICE and not to ask residence status questions. We also ask you to reject indiscriminate deportations, which often result in family and community separations. Specifically, we ask that you take the following concrete steps to ensure that the SCSO does not become another arm of the President’s deportation force:

1. Adopt and implement formal policies to require the SCSO to cease collaboration with ICE and disallow any collateral arrests for immigration enforcement purposes;
2. Re­affirm publicly that SCSO shall not detain anyone for civil immigration violations, shall refuse to collaborate with ICE in any capacity, and shall require ICE officers to produce a criminal warrant against a specific person prior to entering SCSO facilities, including the County Jail.  
3. Direct the SCSO to adopt written policies regarding item 2 above;
4. Issue a formal request to the current and future federal administrations that fingerprints taken by the SCSO during booking be used only for criminal background checks, and for no other purposes, including civil immigration enforcement;
5. Re­affirm Shelby County’s commitment to assist in the prosecution of wage theft, labor violations and other crimes committed against immigrants, regardless of immigration status;
6. Commit that no local authority shall request information about or otherwise investigate the immigration status of any person; and
7. Oppose any registry based on religious identity or national origin.
8. Commit that the SCSO will not apply for any federal grant that requires cooperation with ICE.
9. Finally, we request an in­person meeting to explain and discuss our concerns in more detail. Please respond to Comunidades Unidas en Una Voz, c/o Mid­South Peace and

Justice Center, 3573 Southern Ave, Memphis, TN 38111 , or by e­mail to cuuv.memphis@gmail.com  by Monday, January 9th, 2017.  

We look forward to, and thank you, for working together to ensure that Shelby County joins the numerous communities around the nation that have acted to stand by and support those most targeted by the current hostile environment1 . If we are to preserve Shelby County as a diverse, welcoming community in which the civil and human rights of all residents are respected, we must act now.  

Sincerely,  

Comunidades Unidas en Una Voz (CUUV)  

and other organizations:

Coalition for Concerned Citizens  

Detention Watch Network

Indigenous and Hispanic Student Association  

Manna House

Memphis A. Phillip Randolph Institute

Mid­South Immigration Advocates

Mid­South Latino Chamber of Commerce  

Mid­South Peace and Justice Center

Youth and Police Relations cohort at BRIDGES Inc. CHANGE

Workers Interfaith Network

Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region

Muslims in Memphis

Pax Christi Memphis

Tennesee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC)

1  Since the presidential election, city elected officials and community advocates have responded by creating or strengthening welcoming cities policies.  
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle­news/politics/seattle­will­remain­sanctuary­city­for­immigrants­despite­trumppresidency­mayor­says/
http://www.sfexaminer.com/mayor­lee­sf­will­remain­sanctuary­city­despite­trump­presidency/ http://fortune.com/2016/11/11/new­york­los­angeles­sanctuary­cities­donald­trump/ http://fusion.net/story/370130/los­angeles­second­week­student­walkouts/
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us­news/sanctuary­cities­vow­protect­immigrants­trump­plan­n684551

It’s been a really exciting month for Streetwise Ink! After much research and deliberation, Streetwise has finally decided on the business model that will work best for our vision and goals. We are also moving forward with the creation of all the manuals, training, and legal paperwork involved in the process toward incorporating! In addition to the news of our progression, we are super ecstatic to have gotten in some much needed training and practice making the Mid-south Peace & Justice Center’s limited edition “Necessary Troublemaker” t-shirts! More updates to come as Streetwise Ink continues to venture into the screen printing business while creating jobs our awesome friends in HOPE (Homeless Organizing of Power & Equality). 

Good Afternoon members of the Memphis City Council, We come today to speak on behalf of HOPE, that’s Homeless Organizing for Power and Equality, a grassroots organization made up exclusively of men and women who are formerly or currently experiencing homelessness.

We are greatly disappointed by the council’s actions here today to pass an ordinance that will only further the criminalization of homelessness and poverty, in a city where there are so many much more pressing issues. To make matters worse is that the law before you today will ultimately accomplish nothing.

The maker of the motion seeks to extend the times where panhandling is prohibited from 5pm at night to 10am in the daytime and extend the boundaries around crosswalks and intersections. The error here is that it is assumed that somehow nothing is already being done, or cannot be done during those hours to address panhandling.

Here is the reality of what is already going on. During the day and in the evening people who are panhandling at intersections or by on or off ramps are charged with OBSTRUCTION OF A HIGHWAY OR PASSAGEWAY. Which is already a Class C misdemeanor and carries the exact same penalty of a $50 fine and no more than 30 days in jail that this panhandling ordinance invokes. http://law.justia.com/codes/tenness…

In other words, all that is being changed here today is the charge being given. Those who panhandle for whatever reason will see no difference between yesterday, today or tomorrow.

The only difference is the charge being given by the officer in question. Further, it cost Shelby County $87-$112 per person per day to hold them at 201 Poplar, which means that by the time that person is done being processed and booked the county has already lost money on a charge with a $50 fine. Keep in mind that even now 201 is already wrestling with an overcrowding issue due to the difficulty of processing people being held to their court dates. This is leading to massive and needless waste of tax payer dollars for no actual gain.https://www.memphisdailynews.com/ne…

We don’t care how you vote today because this legislation is ultimately meaningless and counterproductive to anyone wanting to actually address the core issues of poverty and addiction at the root of the problem.

It grieves us that clearly the maker of the motion did not speak with MPD officers on the beat, homelessness outreach workers or the staff at 201 Poplar before this reckless action was taken. The Memphis City Council has now wasted 6 weeks debating and presenting a meaningless law that will only serve to hamper the operations of the jail.

We urge you to use the next six weeks to promote something that will actually make a real and positive difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters on the streets. Memphis has no free shelter, we have few beds for single women, no beds for LGBT community and slum like living conditions at places like Serenity Towers, Corning Village, Bend Tree apartments and many others. For every 55 units of low-income housing we have 100 qualified applicants. Further we have less than 40 code officers and an MLGW process that keeps people out of housing due to unreasonable payment plan process.

If you had six weeks for this nonsense, we hope you’ll find 6 weeks for the least among us.

~H.O.P.E

Almost 3 years ago, we told you about an incident that occurred at the Manna House, a place of hospitality and sanctuary for men and women experiencing homelessness, when officers arrested a staff person, then HOPE Organizing Coordinator, Paul Garner as they attempted to film police who were entering the Manna House property without a warrant. Two years, 11 months and 20 days (ALMOST THREE YEARS) after we initially filed a complaint with Internal affairs, Garner’s case was finally heard before the newly reformed and empowered Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB).

Garner addresses CLERB (Photo: Jessica Gertler)

Garner pointed out during the hearing, that the MPD policy which outlines civilian’s right to film officers was released in December 2013, almost two months after he was arrested on October 21st, 2013. The CLERB then approved a motion to obtain the policy in place at the time of the arrest and continued Garner’s hearing until next month so that they could request not only the public recording policy, but also relevant film footage from the incident that has not yet been made available to CLERB by Internal Affairs & MPD.

This is exactly what we hoped for. Why, you may ask….. At the time of the incident, then MPD Director Toney Armstrong, flip flopped on whether or not there was a policy on filming in place; first saying there wasn’t, then saying there was an old one that was being revised, andfinally releasing the NEW policy in December, but only after a mass protest on City Hall forced them to do so. We do not believe there was a policy at the time. So it will be interesting how MPD responds to CLERB’s request. They have only a few options: release the policy (if it ever existed), admit that there was NEVER an old policy, or simply refuse to cooperate with the request, in which case CLERB would be able to utilize their new subpoena process.

We will continue to seek justice on this and other cases through CLERB, as a way to ensure there is an a process in place to hold officers accountable that is accessible to ALL PEOPLE, not just those with the time, resources, institutional knowledge, and privilege to follow up and navigate the process. CLERB’s next meeting is Thursday, November 10th, at 4PM :: City Hall :: 125 N Main