Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Shannon Street Documentary: A Memphis Tragedy

Memphis police killed seven people in this home at 2239 Shannon St. in 1983,
including the homeowner, Lindberg Sanders, after hostage Robert S. Hester was
beaten to death. (Courtesy photo)
If you witnessed the 30-hour siege unfold on Shannon Street on January 11, 1983, or watched the tragedy in real time on TV, it would be difficult to forget the aftermath.
That fateful day a tactical squad from the Memphis Police Department stormed the home of Lindberg Sanders and killed seven black men, including Sanders, after their hostage, officer Robert S. Hester, was beaten and heard pleading for his life.
Hester and his partner, officer Ray O. Schwill, were dispatched to the home at 2239 Shannon St. to investigate an alleged purse snatching. Schwill was shot but escaped being collared.
Author James R. Howell, a former police officer, traced the siege from its beginning to the horrific outcome in the book “Echoes of Shannon Street.”
Inspired by Howell’s work, which was based on the case file, Marie Pizano, an author, producer and director, felt compelled to produce a 90-minute documentary aptly titled “Shannon Street: Echoes Under a Blood Red Moon, a Memphis Tragedy.”
Marie Pizano
“It was my gut feeling that told me I had to do this,” said Pizano, CEO/founder of MVP3 Entertainment Group, LLC, which produced the documentary. A Chicago native, she moved to Memphis in 1999.
Accompanied by cinematographer and editor Keith Cadwallader, Pizano spent two years researching and interviewing police, stakeholders in the community, and the Sanders family.
No one from Hester’s family was available for an interview, said Pizano, adding that Schwill did not want to be a part of the documentary. She said he was blamed for losing his partner.
“I had to let them all have a voice,” said Pizano, trying to strike a balance in the story. But then, she added, “Everybody was afraid to talk about it. Police were afraid to talk to me.”
Pizano was afraid at first to reach out to Sanders’ wife, Dorothy Sanders. She didn’t know how to approach her; she was devastated. Her children, too, were angry at one time, she said.
“When I called her and told her who I was, what I wanted to do, she was welcoming. She was a godly woman. [And] that fascinated me more,” said Pizano, who would break bread with the family.
She’d come to realize the Sanders family had built up resentment for the police and expressed by a daughter of Dorothy Sanders. “She was mad for a long time. [But] she was honest.”
After completing the research and interviews, Pizano crafted a narrative that looked at the tragedy from two perspectives: how it impacted the families of both the suspects and the police.
“It’s important for the documentary to share the truth from the voices of those involved,” she said.
The truth of the matter is Lindberg Sanders suffered from mental illness, said Pizano, arriving at this conclusion after speaking with the family and combing through police reports.
“The family will tell you that he did take medication,” she said. “But they will come back and tell you that he didn’t have a mental illness.”
Pizano believes it was a foregone conclusion within the MPD that mental illness sparked the chain of events, which would come to be called the “Shannon Street Massacre.”
The MPD now has a specially trained Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) in place that handles individuals with mental illness. Manned by volunteer officers, the MPD responds to serious crises.
The massacre, however, still echoes today and conjures up ill feelings – particularly if there is a police-involved shooting and the victim is African American. Such incidents are frequently captured by cell phones and posted on social media platforms.
“We don’t know what started the fight on Shannon Street,” said Pizano. “[However], nobody wants to see this happen again.”
The filmmaker is hoping the documentary will heal festering wounds and bridge the oft-perceived rift between the police and the African-American community.
A movie version of “Shannon Street” is also being developed. “The take away is, yes, you’re going to be mad, and you’re going to be sad,” she said.
Proceeds will benefit the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in memory of Officer Robert S. Hester and the National Alliance of Mental Illness.


Friday, December 22, 2017

Juneteenth showers Williams family with gifts this holiday season

Holiday bliss: From left: Renell Williams, Xavier Williams, Prince Williams, Imani
Jefferson, Dr. Sharli Kay Adair (Juneteenth Urban Music Festival's director of operations),
Telisa Franklin (Juneteenth's CEO and executive producer), Kevin Williams, Malik Williams,
and Shirley Marlow, the children's maternal grandmother. (Photos by Wiley Henry)

This holiday season has been a little merrier for a single mother struggling to care for her five children.
“I’m very overwhelmed. I didn’t have the funds to do what I wanted to do for my children,” said Renell Williams, 31, the mother of Prince Williams, 17; Kevin Williams, 15; Xavier Williams, 7; Malik Williams, 5; and Imani Jefferson, 3.
Last year, parents spent an average of $422 per child during the holidays, with 34 percent of them spending $500 per child, according to data compiled by T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., an asset management company.
Williams isn’t one of the fortunate parents with that kind of money to spend. The money just isn’t there. Hardships often preclude families like Williams’ from buying gifts for the children.
Renell Williams and her children show their appreciation
for the gifts that the Juneteenth Urban Music Festival
provided this holiday season.
But there are people and organizations like the Juneteenth Urban Music Festival that make it their business to help families with limited means. On Dec. 17, board members showered Williams and her children with at least six gifts apiece. Shirlan Marlow, Williams’ mother, also received a gift.
Juneteenth is celebrated annually in June to mark the end of slavery for African Americans. And each year during the holiday season a family is selected to receive an outpouring of gifts. There are no set criteria to receive gifts. 
“This Christmas will be very memorable – one that my kids won’t forget. This is a real blessing,” said Williams, who gets by on two of her children’s disability checks.
Dr. Sharli Kay Adair sums it up this way: “If you’re a blessing for someone, you’ll be blessed.”
Adair is Juneteenth’s director of operations. She has an affinity for children. Along with Telisa Franklin, Juneteenth’s CEO and executive producer, they wanted to make sure the Williams family receive an abundance of gifts and food baskets.
“As a single parent, you’re not always able to do that,” said Adair, noting that Williams has been an “amazing mother” in spite of her circumstances. “She has overcome the odds.”
“We really needed this for the family,” said Kevin, an eighth-grade student at Colonial Middle School. He enjoys playing basketball and aspires to be an engineer.
Franklin reflected on her own experiences as a child when the family could barely make ends meet and when life, most times, was topsy-turvy. Faith would sustain the family, she said, and prayer would keep them lifted up.
“Growing up as a child, we relied on others to make the Christmas season bright,” said Franklin, who grew up in the home of her grandparents. “They were limited trying to raise their children, as well as their grandchildren.”
The family survived on the generosity of others. “There were a lot of others making contributions to the family,” said Franklin, whose own generosity provided the impetus for gift-giving this holiday season.
Prince framed the experience with a radiant smile and expressed his heartfelt appreciation. “I’m glad they blessed us,” said Prince, not ashamed to show humility. “I’m grateful to get what I got.”
Prince is an 11th-grade student at Pathways and Education. He likes drama and the cultural aspects of theatre. In 10th grade, he landed a major role in “Big Fish,” a musical. His mind, however, is set on a career in education.
Franklin choked with emotions when the children started tearing into a couple of their gifts. “It means so much to see the children’s eyes light up and a smile warming their faces,” she said.
Franklin and Adair plan to keep in touch with the Williams family throughout the New Year.