Author: Christen Hill

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Uptown’s Malone Park Move-In Ready Next Month

Malone Park Commons (MPC) units will be move-in ready next month, and local leaders say they bring a needed housing product to Downtown and the Medical District.

MPC housing development is currently accepting applications. The development will include 35 units with a mix of building types that were common prior to World War II.

Phase one of the project has 11 small cottages that share a courtyard. The cottages will range from 330 to 1,100 square feet and will have luxury amenities like red oak hardwood floors and large front porches.

“Many architects and builders today focus on materials and methods to promote sustainability. We believe beauty is just as, if not more important, as sustainability,” says developer Andre Jones of Jones Urban Development. “Simple, beautiful, flexible buildings that encourage human activity and interaction will be loved and repurposed for years to come. This was our vision for Malone Park Commons.” Jones Urban Development bought the land in Uptown from the Community Redevelopment Agency. 

“2021 marks the 99th anniversary of zoning in Memphis, and for most of that time the zoning code promoted low-density suburban development while discouraging the kinds of places that make cities special. That changed with the adoption of the Unified Development Code (UDC) in 2010,” says Josh Whitehead, zoning administrator for Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development. “Malone Park Commons is one of the clearest manifestations of one of the UDC’s primary goals: to promote innovate urban infill that blends in with the existing built environment.”

Financial incentives for this project were made possible by the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC). Financial Federal Bank has been a strong advocate for emerging developers and traditional, walkable neighborhood development. The Jones Urban plan is part of a larger revitalization in the area, with recent and planned investments in Uptown, St. Jude, The Pinch, and the Renasant Convention Center.

“Malone Park Commons is the type of project the DMC loves to support, one built with inclusivity and equity at the core,” says Brett Roler, vice president of planning and development for the Downtown Memphis Commission. “The project is being built in a key Downtown neighborhood by an emerging developer, who is building a new housing capacity in the same neighborhood where he lives.”

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News News Blog

TN Voices Honors Black Mental Health Leaders for Black History Month

TN Voices, a mental health support services nonprofit, is working to increase access to mental health for Black Tennesseans by honoring Black mental health leaders on social media during Black History Month.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports that racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. are less likely to have access to mental health services, less likely to use community mental health services, more likely to use emergency departments, and more likely to receive lower quality care.

During the month of February, TN Voices is working to educate Tennesseans about the importance of improving access to mental health care and treatment. They seek to help dispel negative perceptions about mental illness.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Mental Health:

● Black Americans living below the poverty level, as compared to those over twice the poverty level, are twice as likely to report psychological distress.

● Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Black Americans ages 15-24.

● The death rate from suicide for Black men is more than four times greater than Black women.

● Black females, grades 9-12, are 70 percent more likely to attempt suicide, as compared to non-Hispanic white females of the same age.

“There’s a great stigma not only in mental health but especially the Black community,” says TN Voices chief operating officer Will Voss. “We don’t seek treatment or we don’t think these things are affecting us in a negative way, but they are, so we have to be aware of the signs and symptoms that we’re seeing and that we’re feeling.”

“By seeing the contributions that Black people have made to the mental health community, it gently chips away at the stigma associated with mental illness and seeking help in our own community,” says TN Voices chief development officer Michelle Thomas. “We are working to normalize mental illness in the Black community and beyond.”

Tennesseans who are unemployed or without insurance and in need of mental health services can call the TN Voices Hope Fund hotline for help at 615-269-7751.

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News News Blog

Council Committee Approves Capitol Investigation

CREDIT: Tyler Merbler | Wikimedia | Creative Commons

Tyler Merbler | Wikimedia | Creative Commons

United States Capitol, 2021


A Memphis City Council committee passed a resolution Tuesday requesting an investigation of any public safety employees involved in the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021.

The resolution asks Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s administration to “develop and present a plan to the council” revealing those employees and creating a “process to ensure former city of Memphis public safety employees re-hiring status reflects participation in [the] U.S. Capitol riots.”

The council’s public safety committee gave a near-anonymous approval of the resolution with only council member Worth Morgan voting against it. The resolution is sponsored by council members Michalyn Easter-Thomas, Martavius Jones, J B Smiley, and Dr. Jeff Warren.

The resolution comes as “several sworn police officers from departments across the nation now face federal criminal charges as a result of their participation in the insurrection,” it reads. That becomes important, it says, to further “address concerns about the need for increased oversight and accountability within public-safety-based departments, especially in light of 2020’s international call for reform within the criminal justice system.”

“I think we need to amend the resolution in the first recital to say the Memphis City Council hereby requests the director of Police Services to investigate whether any city of Memphis employees, based upon evidence provided by FBI of such participation in the U.S. Capitol riot,” said council member Chase Carlisle. “We don’t need to get sued.”

Jones suggested including the Secret Service and other federal agencies to the groups providing evidence. Council members expanded the resolution to legitimate evidence from citizens who may have captured the event.

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News News Blog

Memphis Native Kendra Lee Named Policy Manager for The Equity Alliance

CREDIT: Kendra Lee, The Equity Alliance
Kendra Lee, The Equity Alliance

Memphis native Kendra Lee has been named the organization policy manager for The Equity Alliance, a Nashville-based grassroots nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to increasing voter turnout and civic engagement, especially in Black and other communities of color.

Before joining The Equity Alliance, Lee served the A. Philip Randolph Institute as political director. She graduated from Spelman College and went to law school at the University of Dayton School of Law. She was a staffer for Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign and is active in local politics.

The Equity Alliance was founded by six Black women in November 2016 and seeks to equip citizens with the tools to engage in the civic process.

“Though we entered a new era of politics in America this week, we must be mindful that the systematic challenges and hurdles to equity and justice still exist at every level of government,” says Charlane Oliver, co-executive director for The Equity Alliance.

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“Kendra is an experienced player that understands the need for vigilance and proactive action when seeking societal change,” Oliver says, adding: “Kendra’s background in law, campaigns, and redistricting will allow her to have an immediate impact on The Equity Alliance’s effort to shape public policy in Tennessee.”

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News News Blog

Experts: Racial Income Gap Still Wide

CREDIT: U of M

Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet 2020

The ‘racialization’ of Memphis poverty, according to the latest Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet.


Experts say we must equalize the wealth gap in Memphis but we’re not doing it now.

According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, the median household income in the metropolitan area is $54,000; Blacks earn about $40,000, whites $75,000, and Latinos $39,000.

Black people in Memphis are 64 percent of the population. Whites make up 29 percent of the local population.

So, while the median white income is nearly double that of most Black incomes, Black people outnumber whites here nearly three to one.

The majority of the city’s poor (according to Bureau definitions) in Memphis are Black. Nearly 23 percent of the 25 percent of people living in poverty are Black, census figures show. According to the Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet 2020, Memphis has the second worst poverty numbers of a major metropolitan area, only behind New Orleans.

Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet Graph

According to the fact sheet, the poverty rates for Memphis and Shelby County decreased in 2019 in comparison to 2018. Nonetheless, population sizes for most groups except Blacks in the city of Memphis have increased.

In the Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet, it states that how this community will be affected by COVID-19 remains to be seen, but it is to be expected that poverty will increase in the next few years; even after the pandemic has subsided.

According to the Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet, as a result of the closures and desertion of businesses — particularly tourism, entertainment, and restaurant/bars — consumer spending declined in March 2020 compared to January 2020 in the U.S. by 32.9 percent; in Tennessee by 26.9 percent; in Shelby County by 32.4 percent; and the Memphis Metro Statistical Area by 32.4 percent.

U of M

Delavega

“There are a number of things that contribute to the wealth gap — the way that wealth is inherited for instance, people that come from poverty have a much harder way to make any wealth at all,” said Elena Delavega, Memphis poverty expert with the University of Memphis School of Social Work. “If somebody receives a car on their 16th birthday, there is a ton of privilege in that. Even if they do not receive money directly.”

Delavega says that we must work actively to equalize the system, and at this moment we don’t. The poor and working classes do not have social access to wealth as much, therefore, they don’t have the ability to face economic shocks.

When asked what we can do about this, Delavega says that the onus should reside with those in positions of power.

“We are blaming the victims. If you have no wealth, you can work really hard and still you are going to be behind,” she said. “There is no way they can catch up. In Memphis, for example, public transportation is very underfunded, we’re not funding it as a society.”

“The lack of public transportation hurts those who are poor the most. It is a racist economic apartheid. You have Collierville for example — their taxes are lower but they refuse to fund public transportation properly,” said Delavega.

However, some say that not all Black people in Memphis are poor or working class.

“I definitely think Black wealth exists in Memphis,” said Cynthia Daniels, of Cynthia Daniels and Co. “There are pockets of it.”

Her company focuses on offering events to African-American audiences. Daniels said she generated over $2 million in sales for Black businesses in Memphis and across the country during the pandemic. She devised the Juneteenth Shop Black Virtual Experience that garnered $1 million in sales.

“A lot of the restaurants had to close their doors,” she said. “I wanted to create a virtual space for Memphis vendors.”

Daniels was a volunteer for the Memphis Urban League Young Professionals for four years. There, she learned that Memphis had a demand for events geared toward the Black middle-class and wealthy.

Similar to the Memphis Flyer’s 20<30, Daniels throws an awards banquet called 40<40.

“When people are awarded, they get promotions, their companies grow, they get more visibility and representation,” she said.

When asked what we can do about closing the wealth gap, Delavega contends minorities should unify their votes.

“Minorities should know the power of their vote. One vote really does count,” she said. “It’s not so much the color of the person elected; it’s their policies. Racism is a tool of the powerful to divide. Minorities need to work together.”

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News News Blog

Pokémon Go Creator Grants Fund to CodeCrew

CREDIT: Courtesy of CodeCrew

Niantic, developer of the popular mobile game Pokémon Go, donated $300,000 to CodeCrew, a Memphis based non-profit organization.

CodeCrew helps children and adults become tech innovators. Niantic’s gift is the largest donation ever been made to the organization. The contribution will help CodeCrew expand their K-12 and adult programs.

Courtesy of CodeCrew

Students practice computer coding with CodeCrew.


“We are so grateful for Niantic’s donation, and for the company’s understanding and validation of how our work greatly impacts Black and brown communities, and reduces the digital divide,” said Meka Egwuekwe, CodeCrew’s executive director. “The gift will help fund our mission to support and train underrepresented communities in computer science, as well as make positive change and impact lives in Memphis.”

Now, five years after opening their doors, CodeCrew has given back to the Memphis community through hosting web and app development programs. They serve 500 children virtually every week. The outcomes for this program allow minority children better access to computer science education in grade school as well as college.

“We’re honored to help support the impactful and crucial work that CodeCrew does for so many in Memphis,” said Yennie Solheim, Niantic’s director of social impact. “Not only are they working to ensure that local youth and adults stay up to speed on technological education, but their programs are actively lifting up Black and Latinx youth, an important step in addressing the racial disparities in education and tech.”

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Memphis Gaydar News

OUTMemphis Celebrates Pandemic Wins

CREDIT: OUTMemphis

OUTMemphis celebrates its service to the community in 2020 with nearly 5,500 people served. Some of the services rendered include 1,400 food and hygienic kits provided, 275 people tested for HIV, 250 people who were a part of monthly virtual support groups, 60 young adults who were housed, and 240 adults who received direct aid for living expenses and resources.

OUTMemphis

Donors to the Metamorphosis Project provided funds to double the number of youth in OUTMemphis housing. Hundreds of people donated food and hygiene products to the center. Many folks took out time to write notes of encouragement to staff who work to support the community there.

The Metamorphosis Project is the OUTMemphis response to LGBTQ youth homelessness in Memphis. This project has been evolving for years, and has multiple pieces that work simultaneously to address the various needs of young LGBTQ people without stable housing and resources.

The focus of the project will be our new Youth Emergency Center. The facility will host Memphis’ only youth drop-in center, as well as the city’s only LGBTQ youth-specific emergency shelter.

OUTMemphis is continuing to take donations for their effort to supply the LGBTQ community in Memphis.
OUTMemphis

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News News Blog

Council Renaming Commission Discusses Requirements

A Memphis City Council commission met on Thursday to continue a discussion on how locales are named in the city. The previous meeting was not concluded because they couldn’t decide whether a street, etc., could be named after a prestigious person who is still living.

The topic yesterday was more cut and dry. The Renaming Commission made a distinct decision to name things after deceased members of the community who have made a lasting impact in the city, state, or country.

Thelma Crivens, commission member, led the talk about what criteria is required. “The first principle is streets and parks should promote important citywide community values such as respect, unity, and diversity,” she said.

Streets, parks, and buildings can be named after living people if they are making a philanthropic donation in honor of that place.

If a person would like to nominate a location name, they must first submit an application to the city council. If an individual is recommended, the application must include a biography of the individual and his or her significant contributions to the city, state, or nation. In addition, there must be proof of community support for the recommendation.

The city’s Renaming Commission works with the research team to determine the validity of a request. They scour the nominees’ history and work with local universities to determine the context of the naming. The Council has the final say on whether a street name change gets approved.

The Council agreed that there are locations in the city that are still currently in need of renaming. “We can research them and see what the story is behind the street name, and who this guy was because I think we all know there’s major ones that need to go,” said Councilman Josh Whitehead, speaking in reference to street names that could be discriminatory. 


Ms. Crivens chimed in on the historical complication that could be involved, “For example, because, Virginia was both the home of the Confederacy, and the home of some of our founding fathers, there are different kinds of issues involving each group. We can just look at articles in different papers, or different magazines, and then we will report to the commission, what our findings were based on our review, and how different cities and states are handling the issue,” she said.

Atlanta has stipulations on whether to name a locale after a living person, but that person must be 75 years or older.

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Opinion The Last Word

Apples to Oranges

CREDIT: Dmcdesign | Dreamstime.com

I’ve heard a lot of folks compare the heinous acts that took place in the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday to the demonstrations of the Black Lives Matter movement. Scrolling through my social media feeds and speaking to my friends and family, the number one thing I’ve heard is, “If they’d have been Black storming the Capitol … ” The consensus is that if those who stormed the U.S. Capitol in the name of a “revolution” were Black, or any other color than white, for that matter, the breach would not have been successful — and the situation would have ended very differently.

This assertion didn’t sit well with me at all. And that’s simply because social activism and acts of terrorism are not the same, period. Black people wouldn’t have stormed the Capitol building — and trashed it — because the fight of the BLM movement is centered around justice, not spite or pettiness. (And our mommas taught us better than that.)

Dmcdesign | Dreamstime.com

Black Lives Matter protest

Before coming to the Memphis Flyer in December, I spent 10 years calling Washington, D.C., my home. I watched as my precious city was torn apart after the murder of George Floyd. I’ve seen the city’s culture be gentrified into a shadow of itself. It was devastating to walk around Farragut Park or 14th Street and see businesses boarded up for months. But what happened Wednesday in Washington, I could have never fathomed. 

What you must understand is that D.C. is a city that’s accustomed to spirited, even angry, protests. But the comparison of BLM to the display of white supremacy last week — Nazi and Confederate flags everywhere — is just disrespectful. The fight for justice is a long, arduous journey that involves tact and patience and courage. None of that was on display last week.

If you want to compare storming the Capitol to anything, compare it to when white Americans beat and brutalized Black people for registering to vote. Or when they bombed buses and churches for the sole purpose of maintaining Jim Crow. You can even compare it to when Southern states seceded from the Union to preserve whites’ right to own slaves.

President Trump has cultivated and encouraged a breeding ground for white supremacy for years, and to compare this recent chaotic and pointless invasion of the Capitol to protests against a man getting murdered by cops on tape is ridiculous. We watched George Floyd call out for his mother as he lost his life. The price he paid, along with so many others, is worth protesting. Parading Confederate flags and Nazi paraphernalia into the nation’s Capitol to support a president trying to overturn the will of the people is not comparable.

I acknowledge, as my friends say, that Black people wouldn’t have made it up the Capitol steps without guns being drawn on them, at the least. But this is different. Our history has taught African Americans not to test the bounds of the police unless we are ready to die.

Having been born and raised in Memphis, I’ve witnessed the inherent distrust of whites by my elders. I’ve seen people afraid to look white people in the eye. I know the stories of how Black men can feel like they are an endangered species. This is not what our forefathers envisioned for our nation. Democrats were very disappointed when Trump took office in 2016. They wept and cried out in rage, yet they accepted the election results, participated in an orderly transition of power, and then responded politically.

Now we are watching our democracy unravel. The only way to mitigate this is to do something about it, immediately. Yes, we want the government to prosecute the rioters to the fullest extent of the law, but the power is with the people. It always has been. It’s time for us to take back our country. (I’m talking to you Midtowners with BLM signs in your front yard.) Enough of well-meaning intentions. It’s time to speak up when you hear the disgraceful things that we Black people know are being said behind our backs — no matter where you hear it. If you care at all, start small. Advocate for the people who are marginalized time and time again in your presence.

Because none of this is simply a matter of party loyalty or politics as usual. Trump supporters trying to overthrow a free and fair election by trashing the Capitol is not the same as protesting injustice against Black people. One of these things is traitorous. One is not.

Christen Hill is a Flyer staff writer.

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Amid Shortage, Bill Filed to Allow Tennessee Police and Firefighters to Live Outside of Area of Employment

Tennessee first responders would no longer have to live in the city in which they work, if bill SB-29 passes. Presented by State Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown), this bill would allow Tennessee to recruit talent from a much larger pool. Tennessee has already faced a police officer deficit, and Kelsey hopes that this will give a much-needed reprieve.

“This is a public safety bill. It will enable us to hire more police officers, which will help us fight our rising crime rates,” said Kelsey. “This bill will support our police and fire officers who keep us safe by allowing them to live where they choose.”

In Memphis, major violent crime rates are up 9 percent, and the city suffered from a record of over 300 homicides in 2020. In addition, a recent analysis by Drs. Richard Janikowski and Phyllis Betts of Strategic City Solutions revealed that the Memphis Police Department is understaffed by several hundred officers. In December, the Memphis City Council adopted a resolution acknowledging that the city is over 400 officers short of its hiring goal. “This bill addresses the needs of our local law enforcement and emergency services agencies, ensuring they have one of the most valuable resources — sufficient personnel — to protect our citizens and keep our communities safe,” said Representative Jerome Moon (R-Maryville), who is sponsoring the bill in the House of Representatives. “Removing residency requirements will greatly expand the pool of highly qualified applicants.”

The measure has received broad support from legislators and community leaders throughout Shelby County.

“I strongly lend my support to this common-sense legislation,” said Senator Paul Rose (R-Covington). “Law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency personnel across our state are on the front lines protecting us every day. They need the support of all citizens and legislators, and I believe when this legislation is passed, the leadership of these departments will be enabled to hire the staff they desperately need.”

Lawmakers also hope that they will see a significant decrease in violent crime across the city.

“Reducing violent crime, public safety and safe streets are the No. 1 priority of the residents of Memphis,” said Representative Mark White (R-Memphis). “This legislation enables Memphis to have a fully staffed law enforcement agency to give us those safer streets.”

“Now more than ever, Memphis is in need of police officers to protect our community,” said Representative Tom Leatherwood (R-Arlington). This piece of legislation will give more qualified men and women the opportunity to serve their neighbors and keep Memphis safe.”

In addition to increasing public safety, this measure will also save taxpayer dollars. Last fiscal year, the City of Memphis spent over $25 million on overtime pay for officers.