Looking to fix citywide problems, organizer Keedran Franklin has taken the initiative to organize around one specific “marginalized and apathetic” group — that of street organizations.
He explained that what most people refer to as “gangs” members call “street organizations.” Franklin added people often count them out, but in reality they are “innovative, smart, and strong.” He hopes he is able to create different programs and systems for these communities, as he saw their input had been absent in decision-making.
“Last year I had a few talks with a couple of billionaires,” Franklin said. “What they stated was they’re afraid to deal directly with the community. Their fear is that people only want to be gang members and cause destruction.”
However, he said, this rationale doesn’t consider that, as a result of being left out and ostracized for so long, members of street organizations are inclined to lean into public perception, as opposed to working to change people’s mind about them. Everyone has issues they deal with, he said, and if they dealt with the issues at hand, the crime issues in the city could “work themselves out.”
This led Franklin to try to change this crime-motivated perception of this demographic not only for the public, but also for those members. He knew if you actually speak and engage with some of them, you’ll find out how they can show up, with good ideas, too.
“There’s respect across the board,” Franklin said. “There are people who are like-minded across different fences. They want to do things differently also. That’s what I’ve been doing — this show of public support of getting guys on the street in the open, and let them not be afraid to organize and show themselves in a positive light.”
At the end of July, Franklin hosted a “Community Unity Barbeque” where he invited community members to “bring an open mind and a hungry belly.” Franklin’s goal in hosting this event was to have a “meeting of the minds while breaking bread.”
While community events with the purpose of providing unity are not new to the city, Franklin’s intention with his iteration was to engage members of different street organizations to “show up with love” for a “day of relaxation” that would also encourage these groups to transform the way they look at decision-making in “[their] respective spaces.”
“It was all smiles — not one frown that day, not one argument,” Franklin said. “We had different organizations there. These are guys that you would think are in opposition or at war with each other, so that was to show that’s not true — trying to change the narrative.”
The barbecue gave these organizations the opportunity to “break bread” in one place, Franklin also wanted to encourage them to create change in their own backyards. This led to him and others planning the “MemUnity Street Sweep Clean-Up” on Sunday, August 11th, from 10 a.m. to noon.
“Instead of us all showing up and congregating all in one place, we’re taking these ideas and we’re doing them in our area, our homes, and streets we grew up in or frequent,” Franklin said.
The support for the cleanup is rapidly growing with multiple neighborhoods participating, from people in North Memphis, Frayser, and more.
“For the community to see this effort take place all over the city, and for the people involved to see the goals we set become a reality, it’ll spiral into the next event, which is a street conference at the end of August,” Franklin said.