Reports & Publications

Your ongoing support and solidarity have helped our community speak nonviolent truth to power. Thank you for your support of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center.

You can view our 2013 Annual Report which details the amazing work and significant victories you have worked with our community to achieve in the past year including:

• Training 524 leaders in grassroots organizing.
• Preventing $250,000 in homeless service cuts.
• Partnering in 8 community police relations forums for 335 residents.
• Stopping “Play to Stay” abuse in a local shelter.
• Celebrating 10 years of movement building at the Gandhi-King Conference.
• Expanding to provide Community Organizer Training in Spanish.
• Preventing $1.2 million in cuts to MATA funding.
• Coordinating People’s Day on the Hill bringing together grassroots leaders from across the state.
• Collaborating to host city-wide People’s Conference on Race and Equality in response to KKK rally.

Take a moment to look through the 2013 Annual Report and celebrate our victories. They would not have happened without you.

We hope that you will continue your support by making a membership contribution today. We ask that you consider making a gift in one of two ways:

• Donate now or make an annual membership contribution
• Join our Sustainers Circle, our convenient monthly giving program.

Your generous gift makes our important work in the community possible. Please take a moment and join securely online now!

When we stand together change happens. Thank you for standing with our community. Thank you for continuing your support of the work of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. And thank you for all that you do.

At the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center our members have a shared vision. A vision for Memphis, the Mid-South, Tennessee and our country. A vision where homelessness and poverty is not a crime; where we funnel people into places of help and support not jail cells; where slumlords and big banks are held responsible to the communities they are destroying through predatory lending and foreclosure; where tax dollars are used to lift all of our communities up, prioritizing those that are suffering; where no human being is illegal. A place where the the dignity of the human person is held above the motives of profit and greed.

We know that the only way we will achieve this social change is by building movements comprised of those that are most affected by social problems in our society. While politicians argue with each other and focus their attention on everything but the needs of low-income communities, we are training and organizing grassroots leaders to lead campaigns of social, economic, and racial justice. We are working to build a movement of those that suffer the most, yet have the least input in decisions that directly affect their lives. That’s why movement building is a permanent effort: in both good times and bad, we always need to build the next push for change­leader by leader, community by community.

Our work together continues forward as we work to build a movement to challenge injustice and put power back into the hands of our community. Last year was a banner year for our community. So we are proud to present to you our 2012 Annual Report.

But there was so much to share we had to create an online presentation for you to view it easily. It’s called a Prezi, we hope you enjoy. Click here to view the 2012 Annual Report.

We know that when our community stands together and speaks with a clear unified voice change happens.

Make a difference and transform our community – join the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center!

• Donate now or make an annual membership contribution
• Join our Sustainers Circle, our convenient monthly giving program.

As you have seen the positive effect that your contributions have in our community. For over 30 years we have been engaging and training grassroots community leaders to lead campaigns of racial, economic, environmental and social justice.

We just finished mailing Member Cards to over a hundred members that have already given and joined this year and I would love to send one to you as well.

Will you become a member and join our work building a movement for positive social change in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee and across this nation?

Join now, securely online, by clicking here.

Peace in the struggle for justice!

Most parents are unaware that unless they opt-out of it, their high school age child’s personal information will be shared with military recruiters. This little known requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act can violate the privacy of your child without your knowing.

At the beginning of the school year, high schools are required by law to distribute information and forms on how you can opt-out of having your personal info given to the military. But in the rush of the start of school this may not happen correctly, or it may be missed in the pile of paperwork given to parents.

Download this form and return to your school or district administrator to ensure that you or your child are protected.

Military Recruiter Information Sharing Opt-Out Form

This report was prepared by the MSPJC led Coalition Against Private Prisons in 2005 takes an initial look at the costs of privatization of services in the criminal justice system in Shelby County and looks at opportunities to be fiscally responsible by stopping future privatization and returning currently privatized services to public control.

Comprehensive Retribution and Rehabilitation Program Report

Positive Alternatives to Privatization and Incarceration in Shelby County

This 2006 report was issued by the MSPJC led Coalition Against Private Prisons and Grassroots Leadership in response to an effort to privatize all correctional facilities in Shelby County. This would have resulted in the largest private prison in the country. Due to an outpuring of community opposition these efforts were ultimately defeated. The recommendation put forth in this report have been accomplished and are ongoing through MSPJC organizing efforts in criminal justice reform.

Shelby Report Final 01 03 2006

2010 Program report for the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. A full overview of activities and accomplishments in grassroots organizing, community training, and urban gardening. Please take a minute to review and celebrate the work we have done together as a community.

MSPJC 2010 Program Report

In 2010, an effort led by downtown business interests and the Center City Commission (now Downtown Memphis Commission) resulted in the creation of a “no-panhandling zone” in downtown Memphis and the alteration of panhandling laws for the entire city.

The “no panhandling zone” also infamously included “charity mats” placed under Operation Blue Crush camera towers that are 2-foot by 2-foot mats that any person panhandling must stand on and be watched.

The MSPJC spearheaded community efforts to oppose these laws on the grounds that they were a violation of civil rights and also impractical. The following file is a copy of an Alternative Solution presented to downtown stakeholders and the Memphis City Council.

MSPJC Alternative Solution to Anti-Panhandling Efforts Report

A Guide to Services for People Experiencing Homelessness

The Survival Guide is compiled annually by the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. Until this guide was created, there was no single resource for people experiencing homelessness to reference so that they can access the services they need independently.

The Agency Listing and Reference sections of this Guide provide information about public and private agencies and organization offering services to homeless people.
Please note the following:

1. All the information in this Guide was collected from the agencies themselves and every effort possible was made to ensure accuracy. If there has been an error, please contact The Mid- South Peace and Justice Center and we will update them on our next list.
2. Inclusion of a particular program or service in this directory does not constitute endorsement, nor omission disapproval of a program or service.
3. Please be aware that many of the agencies and organizations listed in this Guide have limited resources. The fact that they are included does not guarantee that they are able to help everyone who is referred to them.

Homeless Survival Guide 2011 – Web

The page layout of this document is set especially so you can print and distribute your own copies of the survival guide. There are even places for you to insert your logo or ads so that it can be customized. Please print and distribute widely.

If you are looking for an online database of area shelters and services, please visit: memphishomelessoptions.org.

Information for Memphis City Schools students on the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Test.) This is a recruitment tool disguised as a career aptitude test that is administered by the U.S. military in public schools across the country. What is not told to our youth is that they are not required to take it. Many are also unaware that taking the test puts your child’s personal information in the hands of military recruiters.

Created by the Alternatives to the Military Project.

ASVAB Military Test Leaflet

The Alternatives to the Military Project is a youth-led counter-recruitment effort started out of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center. Since 2005 AMP has been leafletting high-schools, tabling at careers fairs, and stocking guidance offices with information on alternatives careers to joining the military.

This booklet is a great resource for any youth in the Memphis area looking for their next steps after high school. This resource shows them that there is an alternative way to “get out” and into college besides joining up.

Alternatives to the Military Booklet