Author: Maya Smith

The Trolley Stop Market turned into a resistance classroom Saturday as Memphians learned how to properly take to the streets against President Donald Trump and the actions of his administration.

Locals here huddled around their smartphones and laptops to join 22,000 other Americans tuning into the introduction of People Power. The new platform from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) aims to harness resistance on a local level against perceived White House injustices.

“I’m here out of desperation,” said Bonnie Childest, who hosted a gathering in Memphis. “If they are going to take the time to train us, then I’m going to show up and make sure other people show up as well.”

A People Power event in Memphis

Childest and 25 others gathered at the Trolley Stop, and nearly 40 others watched from gatherings at Caritas Village. They took notes as ACLU officials broadcasted live from Miami’s town hall, informing viewers of various resistance tools when it comes to protesting, resisting authority, and the freedom of speech.

The broadcast also introduced the Freedom Cities campaign, which fights for civil liberties with grassroots activism on a local level by creating cities that resist unconstitutional federal directives.

The Freedom Cities campaign plans to tackle Trump’s immigration policies by organizing communities to ensure that local law enforcement officials defend — not threaten — vulnerable individuals.

The ACLU is already in the process of fighting the Trump administration’s attempt to compel local jurisdictions to directly support the new federal immigration mandates that put immigrants and refugees in danger.

The group outlined nine model state and local enforcement policies and rules. One example is the No Facilitation Rule, which keeps officials from arresting or detaining someone solely for immigration purposes without a judicial warrant.

If adopted, these policies would protect Muslims, immigrants, and refugees. The role of local activists is to help in the creation of Freedom Cities by participating in public demonstrations and meetings with local officials in order to convince them to adopt and enforce the nine policies of the Freedom Cities blueprint.

ACLU officials admit the campaign is ambitious with legally complex demands, but the group believes it can be done with local support. If successful, officials said the campaign should generate isolated, short-term wins, perhaps leading to long-term wins nationwide.

Over 170,000 people around the country have already signed up to be a part of the movement.

Amanda Killens, who attended the Memphis broadcast, said she was concerned about the Trump administration’s other actions.

“My husband is a paraplegic,” Killens said. “Of course, we’re worried about what’s going to happen with health care next.”

Killens previously worked for the ACLU and trusts in the union’s abilities to make structural change happen legally.

“We are all motivated to do something, but now we have some direction to do it,” Killens said.

There was no pomp, no circumstance. Instead the graduates two-stepped to Kirk Franklin’s “123 Victory” into a small auditorium scented with fresh flowers and decorated with balloons and streamers last week.

They had successfully completed the Salvation Army’s Renewal Place, a two-year residential recovery program for women in Memphis battling chemical addiction. From mothering skills to emotional support to basic life skills, the residents are provided with everything they need to live a productive, drug-free life after graduation.

The Salvation Army’s Renewal Place battles addiction in Memphis women.

At the Purdue Center of Hope on Jackson, the three women stood in front of friends and family to tell their stories of redemption from homelessness, incarceration, custody battles, and one common demon: drugs.

Tissues were passed, hands were raised, amens and hallelujahs resounded.

“You can’t come to graduation at the Salvation Army without going to church,” Capt. Zach Bell, the Army’s area commander, disclaimed early in the program after leading the room in prayer. “There are a lot of pasts in this room, but today, we are celebrating three resurrected souls God has brought from darkness to light.”

Since Renewal Place opened in 2001, 78 percent of graduates have maintained sobriety after the program. Those numbers are well above the national average of 10 to 50 percent, according to Salvation Army officials.

The program is the first long-term addiction recovery program in the country to allow children to stay with their mothers and heal alongside them.

Children of addicted mothers are more likely to have suffered from trauma, causing a slew of emotional disorders and learning disabilities. Program director Sharon Cash said it’s as important for the child to be treated as the mother.

“Seven people get their lives changed by mama getting sober,” said Cash, who introduced the approach.

Renewal Place is just one of four programs in the Salvation Army’s Heal Memphis initiative, which aims to reverse addiction, poverty, homelessness, and violence in Memphis. The Single Women’s Lodge and the emergency family shelter, under the same roof as Renewal Place, are where homeless women and their children can live for up to 90 days, while gaining emotional, financial, job, and housing stability. Together these three initiatives make up the largest provider of shelter and services for homeless women and children in the city, having helped over 12,000 women get back on their feet since 2001.

The common denominator for all of the Salvation Army’s programs is the goal of showing the city and the country that there is another way to deal with trauma, violence, and addiction.

But Heal Memphis needs needs local support, said Ellen Westbrook, the group’s director for community relations and development, because government funding was cut from the program last summer.

“The return on investment is huge,” Westbrook said. “We can’t just throw our hands up anymore saying ‘oh that’s just Memphis.’ The cycle can be broken. We’ve proven that.”