Author: Brianna McCullough

Wal-Mart has left its footprints all across the country, and some would argue that the big, blue sign and friendly greeters have worn out their welcome.

Last October, attorney Brian Stephens represented “Citizens for Sustainable Growth” and helped stop Wal-Mart from opening a third location in Cordova.

Now Stephens has teamed with political activist Liz Rincon to form the Mid-South Community Association, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance “neighborhood and community issues through public policy, education, networking, and professionalism.”

“We must address how we can work together with county and city resources to address problems throughout the community,” Rincon says. “We want things to be fixed immediately, but we must learn to be patient so we can come together and work on dire issues, such as crime and poverty.”

Stephens says the group will focus on grassroots issues and community leadership.

“We’ve got to get out of the ’60s mentality with protests and things like that. … We want to have our lawmakers want to work with us. They’re not the enemy. They want to do the right thing, but they have to hear our message so they can understand our message.”

Other cities, such as Dallas and Nashville, have organizations similar to the Mid-South Community Association. But Stephens and Rincon have taken an approach specifically designed for Memphis, because the area has two governments, a high percentage of poverty, a large population of school-age children, and a significantly larger minority population than those cities.

“Typically, the other organizations that have done this in other cities have a very different nonprofit dynamic,” Stephens says. “In Memphis, we have a large group of working community development corporations.”

Community development corporations, or CDCs, generally try to improve neighborhoods by renovating or constructing low- or middle-income housing. Stephens also mentions Memphis organizations such as Leadership Memphis and the Leadership Academy.

“We hope to leverage, and not duplicate, the great work they are already performing,” Stephens says.

The group will hold its first meeting April 14th at 6 p.m. at the Memphis Library Highland Street Branch. The main objectives will be to recruit new members and plan upcoming events.

“We want to get everyone on the same page so we can create an organization with a staff to pool all our resources,” Stephens says. “Lawyers have the American Bar Association to help them, and real estate agents have their association. But neighborhoods don’t have a group, and they need a group to fight for their interests.”

At Memphis City Schools, the student becomes the teacher.

As part of the district’s new Memphis Literacy Corps, MCS has recruited 1,000 college students to tutor elementary students in reading. Under the program, designed to bring overage students up to grade level for the TCAP test, college students will visit elementary schools three days a week for 10 weeks. During each visit, the tutor will work with two students.

“We’re finding the elementary students are loving having a college student interested in them,” says district literacy specialist Brenda Harris. “The motivation is reciprocal, because the college students feel like they’re actually giving something back to the community.”

Tutor Stephanie Wilkinson, an English major at Rhodes College, says she volunteered for the program because she wanted to make an impact.

“The educational system in our country is completely lacking, and something needs to change,” she says. “One of my students is so incredible. She has already moved from a kindergarten reading level to a first-grade reading level. She just needed some help sounding out the words.”

Both Wilkinson and Sammy Knefati, another tutor from Rhodes, think the program has had a profound effect on the elementary student’s confidence.

Knefati says the program encourages the tutors to explain to students how each session will improve their reading skills and, ultimately, help them achieve a college education.

“This has helped quite a bit in having the students trust and respect their tutors and, most importantly, want to be there,” he says.

Under the program, students not proficient in reading will be tutored until April 17th. After that, they will be enrolled in a summer reading clinic administered by certified teachers.

Last Saturday, with tension continuing between the African-American and immigrant communities in North Memphis, about 10 people picketed the Northside Food Market.

“Hey, they killed my brother, man. Don’t give them any business,” one protester yelled at a potential customer.

The Northside Market is located at Watkins and Jackson, less than a mile from the Watkins Market where 26-year-old Darramis Stevenson was killed New Year’s Day. The first homicide of the year, Stevenson got into an argument with the market’s store clerk, Yahya Murshed.

After Stevenson left and then returned to the store, Murshed shot him twice. The Yemeni native was charged with second-degree murder and later released on bail.

Since then, Murshed’s truck has been set on fire, and the market has been set on fire three times. Murshed’s attorney, Leslie Ballin, says his client is concerned for his safety.

Other North Memphis residents have formed the Darramis Stevenson Justice Committee, the group that organized Saturday’s protest. It was their second protest in as many weeks.

In addition to the protest, the Darramis Stevenson Justice Committee has organized a boycott, posting fliers around North Memphis that ask people to “withdraw support” of “Arab-owned businesses” in the community:

“We say ‘Thumbs Up’ to keeping our business out of these stores … Spend your money where you are not a suspect when you enter the store. Spend your money where your life means more than some change. … Without your support, they cannot exist.”

Members of the group have refused to meet with store representatives, saying they’ve been verbally threatened by the owners.

However, local activist Norman Redwing took issue with the protests, saying they don’t address the more urgent issue of black-on-black crime.

“We have black men killing black men every day in North Memphis, and we’re not singing ‘We Shall Overcome’ about those incidents,” he said. “We need to be more concerned about all the killings in North Memphis.”

But the justice committee thinks their approach is working.

“If you look behind us, there are no cars here,” said Tanika Jennings, Stevenson’s fiancée. “The store is pretty much empty.”