Ecumenical leaders rally for black farmers

Bishop David Allen Hall Sr., pastor of Temple Church of God in Christ and chairman of the Memphis Ecumenical Action Committee, gives a rousing keynote on the black farmers’ plight and serves notice to President Obama that “we’re going to take back our rights.” Standing with him in the pulpit are Dr. LaSimba Gray Jr., pastor of New Sardis Baptist Church; Bishop Edward H. Stephens Jr., pastor of Golden Gate Cathedral; Dr. Dwight Montgomery, president of the local Southern Christian Leadership Conference and pastor of Annesdale Cherokee Baptist Church; and Bishop E. Lynn Brown, retired prelate of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and vice chairman of the ecumenical group. (Photo by Wiley Henry)

The sentiments were pretty much the same: Each speaker at a Jan. 2 rally at Temple Church of God in Christ in Memphis did not shrink from explaining what they believe to be an injustice heaped upon black farmers who were discriminated against by the United States government.

After years of litigation, a judge issued a Consent Decree in 1999 that settled a class action lawsuit that held the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for its role in discriminating against black farmers, and provided for them a $1.25 billion compensation package. However, not all black farmers have benefited, some speakers pointed out.

Dr. Reginald L. Porter Sr., pastor of Metropolitan Baptist Church, described the black farmers’ plight as a fight for freedom. “This is not a farmer’s fight. This is a fight for freedom,” said Porter, referring to a Bible story about Joshua’s call to the tribes to take land that was promised to them. “If we are going to have freedom, we must take the Promised Land.”

Porter is part of the group of clergymen that banded together to support the Memphis-based Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association (BFAA), an advocacy organization, in its efforts to apprise black farmers of their rights after the landmark case, Timothy Pigford vs. Dan Glickman, United States Department of Agriculture, was settled and then reapportioned by the Obama administration in 2011. 

No less than 400 people attended the rally and listened intently to a few of the members comprising the recently formed Memphis Ecumenical Action Committee decry the government’s decision to move black farmers out of Pigford I into Pigford II and included women and other minorities claiming discrimination as part of the judgment.

Dr. LaSimba Gray Jr., pastor of New Sardis Baptist Church, offered the audience a brief history lesson about his family. He traced his lineage back four generations, noting that his forebears were farmers and that he’s a descendent of slaves.

“You’re never broke if you got some land,” he said. “We should have gotten our ’40 acres and a mule.’ Though you deny me, yet I will get my justice.”

Although Dr. Dwight Montgomery, president of the local Southern Christian Leadership Conference and pastor of Annesdale Cherokee Baptist Church, admitted not being up to snuff on the details of Pigford I and Pigford II, he said otherwise, “The black farmers deserve what God set forth for them to have.”

He opined that the government was “robbing the ‘hood” – much like the fictitious character Robin Hood who stole from the rich to give to the poor -- and forbade black farmers not to sign any documents that would deny them of their rights.

The group is urging farmers not to sign the Pigford II compensation package -- which was created for new or late claimants who failed to apply for relief under Pigford I – because, they argue, black farmers “may be forever barred from any compensatory cash compensation and forever barred against up to $2.5 million of injunctive relief.”

Bishop David Allen Hall Sr., pastor of Temple COGIC and chairman of the ecumenical group, made his point clear as the keynote speaker when he said, “We will stay the course. We will not be denied. There will be a reckoning for America and a reckoning for us.”

He said the one billion dollar payoff has only been partially honored and likewise urged black farmers not to sign away their rights. “Your forebears didn’t sharecrop the land to see you sign it away,” he said forthrightly.

He also put the President on notice, saying, “Barack, you messed up on this, but we’re going to take back our rights.”

To the black farmers, he added, "We're going to guarantee that you get due process. The powers-that-be need to know that we're very much on the case."

For more information on the black farmers, visit www.mybfaa.org.

Ecumenical leaders fight for black farmers

A group of clergymen comprising The Memphis Ecumenical Action Committee announced their support for the black farmers and their plight for a reasonable settlement from the U.S. government during a press conference on Dec. 30, 2011. Some of the members are, from left, Eric Lincoln, a supporter; Thomas Burrell, president of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, Reverend Herbert Lester, pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church; Bishop David Allen Hall Sr., pastor of Temple Church of God in Christ and chairman of the ecumenical group; Bishop E. Lynn Brown, retired prelate of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and vice chairman of the ecumenical group; Joseph Trotter, a supporter; and Jesse Barksdale, a farmer and newspaper publisher. (Photo by Wiley Henry)

It was 12 years ago when the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a Consent Decree to settle a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for willfully discriminating against black farmers.

After Timothy Pigford vs. Dan Glickman, United States Department of Agriculture, was settled for $1.25 billion during the Clinton administration, black farmers were certain that long, overdue compensation had finally arrived as redress for some of the innumerable past inequities and injustices that some government agencies and institutions had allegedly conceded to.

However, a group of clergymen, comprising “The Memphis Ecumenical Action Committee,” are appalled that all the hard work that went into securing compensation and justice for black farmers is now being threatened by an executive order that President Obama issued in 2011.

That order, known as Pigford II, “truly nullifies and contravenes the original settlement that was Pigford I,” said Bishop David Allen Hall Sr., who expressed displeasure over the government’s “discrimination” of black farmers at a press conference on December 30, 2011. Bishop Hall is the pastor of Temple Church of God in Christ and the committee’s chairperson.

The President, Bishop Hall pointed out, moved black farmers out of Pigford I into Pigford II and included women and other minorities claiming discrimination as part of the judgment. The latter settlement was capped, he said, “which prevents black farmers from receiving their fair share of the judgment.”

In past decades, African-American clergymen were counted on to support campaigns that were waged against wanton injustices in the African American community. The ecumenical leaders, in this case, have banded together to support Thomas Burrell, president of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association (BFAA), in his 30-year effort to undergird black farmers.

“We are gathered here today to bring attention to what we consider to be a continued act of racism against an aggrieved group of citizens,” said Burrell, who founded the BFAA in 2000 as an advocacy organization representing 10,000 of 65,000 black farmers, or claimants, across the country. The organization has offices in Memphis.

Dr. Herbert Lester, pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church, said, “When any segment of our community is denied its capacity to function as it should, then all of us are victimized by that.”

Bishop E. Lynn Brown, retired prelate of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and vice chairman of the ecumenical group, urged the African-American church and its members to support Burrell and the BFAA.

“We can stop this gross injustice that’s been the case,” said Bishop Brown, his voice resonating around the room.

Although he’d indicated his appreciation for President Obama, he bellowed, “We hope this will happen… and if it won’t, we will work diligently… and we will bury the opposition so deep it will take a billion pounds of baking powder to raise it from the dead.” 

Bishop Hall concluded, “We are going to push this effort forward until we do get satisfaction. It’s essential and it’s only fair.”

The group is urging the Obama administration to return black farmers to Pigford I, which is closed to new or late Black farmers claimants, and vowed to take the fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if their request is denied.

“Pigford I is sufficient to enforce our rights as Congress intended under Section 741,” the group argues.

Blackfoot's death ends record deal with Hughes

J. Blackfoot signed a two-year recording contract with Roy Hughes' Uptown Records on May 6, 2009, but Blackfoot never got a chance to deliver that soulful sound that Hughes was looking for. (Courtesy photo)

           The soulful sound that J. Blackfoot could easily summon from within set him apart from his contemporaries. He’d distinguished himself with The Bar-Kays, The Soul Children and as a solo artist on such chart-toppers as “Taxi,” a 1984 smash hit.

            Roy Hughes, who owns Uptown Records at 1217 Thomas St., was expecting Blackfoot to create that same sound when he signed the singer to a two-year, two-album contract on May 6, 2009. But Blackfoot, whose real name was John Colbert, died Nov. 30 before Hughes could get him into the recording studio.

            “I never got a chance to record him,” said Hughes, who paid Blackfoot a five-figure retainer. “He started getting sick and didn’t get a chance to add his part to three songs.”

Blackfoot performed in November for the last time in West Memphis, but he’d been busy prior to that retooling and recording the music that had catapulted him to the top in the genre of soul music.

Hughes, meanwhile, is left with an unfulfilled contract that was explicit, but now null and void. The contract called for Blackfoot to produce two albums – one album and the master for the first year, and another album and the master for the second year.

The contract was renewable if Blackfoot had met his obligations and the master recordings delivered, Hughes said.

Blackfoot signed with Hughes in May 2009, but Hughes collaborated with The Bar-Kays to produce an 11-track Blackfoot album for the group’s JEA/Right Now Records/IODA label more than three months later. “Woof Woof Meow” was released Aug. 18, 2009.

After wrapping up their joint session, Blackfoot would have been bound exclusively to the contractual agreement that he signed with Hughes’ Uptown Records.

“This was his home record company,” said Hughes, who was prepared to executive produce Blackfoot’s next two albums. The three tracks now in the hopper at Uptown Records are missing that one ingredient: Blackfoot’s soulful voice.

Though Hughes won’t be able to record Blackfoot, he has nothing but admiration for the soul crooner. “He was one of the music industry’s original legends and known around the world from his days at Stax Records. He tried to continue his recording career at Uptown,” said Hughes.

Hughes said some of Blackfoot’s label mates at Stax have also conducted business with him and Uptown Records. Blackfoot, he added, was one of the last legends in Memphis and a vocalist who was unmatched until the time of his death.

“My condolence goes out to Blackfoot and his family,” said Hughes. “He means more to me and his legions of fans around the world than my interest in recording him. There will never be another J. Blackfoot.” 

Smiley: Poverty tour not an anti-Obama rally

Tavis Smiley delivers startling statistics about the nation's poorest Americans. (Photos by Wiley Henry)

    Seeing poverty upclose and personal was the impetus that talk show host Tavis Smiley and Princeton University professor Cornel West needed to sound an alert that the nation's middle-class is finding it difficult to hold on to the American Dream: a job, home, automobile, and savings.
    On the last leg of "The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience," a nine-state, 18-city bus tour that began on the Lac Courte Oreilles Indian reservation in Wisconsin and ended at St. Andrews AME Church in Memphis (Aug. 12), Smiley and West painted what they believe to be realistic and futuristic pictures of the dire circumstances gripping the nation's "newest poor": the middle class, the majority of them African Americans.
    "This is a life-altering experience to see poverty upclose and personal," said Smiley, who, along with West, spent the night before with a poor white family in Mississippi on public assistance with "nine kids, a dog, and two kittens." The two had embedded themselves in the muck of poverty in homes or on the streets before each town hall.
    The poor comes in all colors, said Smiley, who echoed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s sentiments about the nation's poor and downtrodden and the Memphis sanitation workers, for which King had championed before an assassin's bullet fell the revered civil rights icon.
    "We closed in Memphis because Dr. King gave his life fighting for the rights of poor and working people," said Smiley before asking the audience of more than one thousand packed in the church's sanctuary, "Are we gonna side with the weak or the strong?" The strong, he referred to, would be the policy wonks in Washington -- whether they're Republican or Democrat -- who make career and life-altering decisions that impact the majority of Americans.
    Smiley began in earnest the conversation with an explanation for the tour and cited some grim statistics that caused many in the audience to cringe and shake their heads in utter disbelief, or nod their approval, as Smiley delivered a message laden with inescapable consequences if America doesn't redress its problems.

Princeton professor Cornel West points to the problem with America.

    "We're here to put a spotlight on poverty in America," he explained to the predominantly African American audience. The few whites sprinkled throughout grabbed hold of the message as well and internalized its impact on America's future.
    Afterward, the talk show host cited some statistics to buttress his compelling argument: "Forty-two percent of young black men are unemployed in New York; one percent of people in America control more wealth than 90 percent of other Americans; the top 400 riches Americans own and control more wealth than 150 million Americans."
    As Smiley expounded on poverty levels and disseminated information like a college professor, West, the controversial go-to college professor himself, waited quietly for the second half of the two-hour town hall to wow the audience with more straight-laced, in-your-face, no-holds-barred commentary and criticism that elevated the statue of both men over the years.
    West is an author, critic, philosopher, actor and civil rights activist who teaches African American Studies and religion at Princeton. He also is a prominent member of the Democratic Socialist of America, an organization seeking "a more free, democratic and humane society."
    Aside from his talk show duties, Smiley is an author, liberal political commentator, philanthropist, entrepreneur and advocate. He said the poverty tour, his brainchild, was mapped out at West's mother's house in California where he and West brainstormed to bring poverty to the forefront of America's conscience.
    "During three presidential debates, poverty and poor didn't come up at any time during the 90-minute debates," said Smiley, aiming his criticism at President Barack Obama. "This is not an anti-Obama rally. If he's going to be a great president, not a garden variety, you got to push him."
    The duo's push apparently prompted comedian Steve Harvey on his syndicated morning show in weeks past to cast Smiley and West as "Uncle Toms" for vehemently criticizing President Obama's handling of the sputtering economy and his alleged inattentiveness to African Americans.
    The feud between Smiley, West and Harvey, host of the television game show "The Family Feud," has reverberated across the Internet, pitting the popular comedian against two reputed activists with a penchant for critical thinking and asking tough questions.
    Besides Harvey, radio personality Tom Joyner and the Rev. Al Sharpton have taken potshots at Smiley and West.
    "Barack Obama ain't Jesus. He doesn't walk on water. He is a public servant," said Smiley, looking straight-face and unflinchingly into the audience and making it a point to quell the rumor mill that he has an ax to grind with President Obama.
    "I've never called the President a name or demonized him," he said. In fact, "I have nothing but 'Respect' for the President. I will 'Protect' him, but then I will 'Correct' him if he's wrong. Right now he's off course. We got to get him back on course."
    West recently called the President a "black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs" and again on Friday evening as he paced in front of the pulpit pointing and gesturing to make his point, this time with Smiley sitting quietly and approvingly in the background.
    West admitted unabashedly that he's an angry black man. "When they put me in the grave," he began, "I'm gonna have the same righteous indignation that brothers Martin and Malcolm and Medgar Evers had, because too many folks are suffering, not just black people, but white people and red people and yellow people and brown people."
    However, West said too many black people love everybody but other black people. He encouraged white people in the audience and any other ethnic group to love themselves as well. "I love my black momma, because that's where I came from. You better love your momma," he said.
    He talked about the outsourcing of jobs overseas and Washington spending an exorbitant amount of money on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq rather than on education. "You find money for jails," he said. "You find money for prisons... where are the jobs?"
    Poverty, he said matter-of-factly, has been downplayed in the last 30 years.
    Consider more startling statistics for the poor posted on The Poverty Tour web site: www.povertytour.smileyandwest.com:
    • There were 43.6 million poor people in 2009 compared to 39.8 million in 2008.
    • The nation's official poverty rate in 2009 was 14.3 percent, up from 13.2 percent in 2008.
    • The poverty rate in 2009 was the highest since 1994, but 8.1 percentage points lower than the poverty rate in 1959, the first year for which poverty rates were available.
    • 19 million Americans (6.3 percent) live in extreme poverty, meaning their family's cash income is less than half of the poverty line, or less than about $11,000 a year for a family of four.
    • The poverty rate for blacks increased from 24.7 percent to 25.8 percent between 2008 and 2009.
    "You talk about the power of poor people, you are confronting the most powerful force ... but they'll crush you like insects if they can get away with it," said West, railing against the powerful in Washington and elsewhere.
    "We're at a critical junction at our nation's history," said Smiley. "Either we eradicate poverty or poverty will eradicate us. This is our last best chance to get it right."
    Although Smiley and West drew inspiration from Dr. King for the poverty tour, "a lot of folks don't want to see poverty," said Smiley, telling the story that a white woman in one city where the tour bus made a stop refused to acknowledge that poverty is just as rampant in that city.      

Thinking outside the box keeps the Raleigh Springs Mall open despite the loss of its anchors

Despite the look of emptiness that pervades the mall, the owner, tenants and community activists all agree that the Raleigh Springs Mall is worth saving. (Photos by Wiley Henry)

        When the Raleigh Springs Mall first opened in 1971 on the north side of Memphis on Austin Peay Hwy., Macy’s, J.C. Penney, Woolworth’s, Dillard’s, and Sears anchored it. Countless shoppers throughout Memphis and the surrounding area started filing through the doors of the bustling mall until newer and glitzier shopping malls sprang up later and lured throngs. Sears, the last anchor standing, closed April 3, 2011.

      Despite the loss of its anchors and the influx of shoppers, the mall, a fragment of its glory days, still boasts a diverse group of tenants -- many of them locally-owned specialty shops -- such as Nailz By Kelley & The Nail Goddesses, Urban Expressions Bookstore, and others.

      The anchors are a fading memory, but a trickling of shoppers still find their way to the mall, which contains 46 stores throughout the 918,217 square feet of retail space. “I brought in 10 stores in one year,” says Tina Priestas, who manages the mall for New York businessman and owner Mike Kohan since taking over as general manager a year ago.

      With a little ingenuity and marketing prowess, Priestas is determined to fill the remaining eight vacant slots. “I’m already talking to Overstock.com, Family Dollar store, and Incredible Pizza,” she says. “But we’re never going to be the Wolfchase (Galleria) since we lost Dillard’s and Sears.”

      “The Raleigh Springs Mall means a lot to me,” says Kelley Alsobrook, owner of Nailz By Kelley. “Some of the nicest people I’ve met are in the Raleigh area. That’s why I moved my business here; there is a lot of potential here. As long as I’m in Memphis, this is where I’m gonna be.”

Jae Henderson signs her book for K. Shives at Urban Expressions Bookstore.

      Ken and Jacky Northfork opened Urban Expressions Bookstore in January. They first looked at Southland Mall and Hickory Ridge Mall, and made the choice to set up their bookstore at the Raleigh mall. They stock hundreds of titles by African American authors, including the book “Someday” by first-time author Jae Henderson, a freelance writer and marketing and media professional.

      The Northforks hosted a book signing for Henderson in early July, one of several they have hosted for local and regional authors. Jacky Northfork, a ghostwriter for 10 years, is expecting to publish her first book in September.

      The bookstore is just one of their businesses. They also co-own a real estate investment company, and Ken Northfork is the proprietor of his own graphic design company. But the bookstore is a love they hope to share with the Raleigh community.

      “Being from Chicago, I’ve seen communities rebuild,” says Jacky Northfork. “So the mall is going through a transition, and I want to be a part of something positive to bring the community back.” Raleigh, she added, has gotten a bad rap.

      Ken Northfork sees the mall as the catalyst for a new kind of mall, where businesses like his can still flourish without the anchors. He’s prepared to fight to save the mall and looking for more recruits. “We’re trying to get more people involved in the fight to keep it alive,” he says. “We want our children to cherish the memories that we have.”

Anchoring the Raleigh/Frayser community…

      After the Wolfchase opened in 1997 in northeast Memphis, malls such as the Mall of Memphis (built in 1981 and demolished in 2004), Southland Mall (the first enclosed mall in the Mid-South), and Hickory Ridge Mall (which underwent major renovation in 1997 to compete with Wolfchase and then was hit by a tornado in 2008) started declining.

      Priestas, however, is not dismayed because the Raleigh mall doesn’t bring in enough foot traffic. Thinking outside the box, she says, has helped to bring in more stores, community events for children, and much needed foot traffic.

      “My goal is to get the mall sold out and get some type of facelift,” says Priestas, who has sold real estate for more than a decade. Losing Sears “hurt us a little bit. Sears didn’t have anything to do with the mall, but it was the perception (of losing the last anchor) that hurt us.”

      The mall, an anchor of its own, is nestled in the Raleigh community in close proximity to I-40. The community itself encompasses 24 square miles with about 44,000 residents, many of them homeowners. Of the 15 largest neighborhoods in Memphis, Raleigh is the fourth income generator, according to reports.

      So why is there less foot traffic at the mall? Although the number of shoppers has dwindled over the years, Priestas believes the community still produces enough residual income and traffic up and down Austin Peay to lure shoppers back to the mall.

Fighting for Raleigh…

      State Rep. Antonio “2 Shay” Parkinson, a firefighter and ardent community activist, has dedicated his time and resources to help shore up the Raleigh/Frayser community and, most importantly, the Raleigh mall. There are several initiatives on the table that he hopes to implement.

      One of them is a task force to look into revitalizing the Raleigh mall and the Austin Peay corridor. The others include renting mall space for wedding receptions, devising a marketing strategy for the mall, securing space for an arts theatre, luring smaller events to the mall that the Memphis Cook Convention Center doesn’t handle, tying the mall in with the Motor Sports Park, and dealing with the abandoned Gwatney Chevrolet site at 3099 Austin Peay.

      The Tennessee Department of Transportation purchased the site in the 1990s with purported plans to store salt bins, says Parkinson, founder of ABetterMemphis.com, a venue for citizens to voice their opinions, likes and dislikes.

      Parkinson, however, is still looking into TDOT’s plan for the site, but for now, he’s focused on growing and supporting businesses. Like Priestas, he sees the mall as an integral part of the community -- which is why he’s planning to launch ABetterMemphis.com Media and Business Solution Center to offer small business owners legal consultation, bookkeeping, and marketing ideas.

      “We’re open to ideas that will be outside the box,” he says. “The mall model of the ‘80s is pretty much dead. The best solution is to think what it can be used for along with retail.”

      Parkinson has stomped for the Raleigh/Frayser community since the 1990s. Since then he’s created, formed or founded such organizations as The Voice of Raleigh and Frayser Community Action Network, The Raleigh Fire Victims Fund & Donation Center, Toys in the Garden, The Fresh Starts Community Baby Shower, the Harvest Ball, and The Block Party for Peace, which is held annually and draws hundreds to the mall.

The Raleigh Springs Mall is worth saving…

      Preistas is gung ho about the mall’s future -- so is Kohan, the owner. The overall goal, he says, is to bring in more tenants, or merchants, and place a tenant in the old J.C. Penney box. He’s hoping the plan will attract more shoppers. He did not specify how soon his plan would be activated.

      “Every day we’re taking the extra measure to manage the flow of traffic at the bookstore,” says Jacky Northfork, who lives more than 10 miles from the mall. She and her husband are doing their part to undergird the mall.

      Although foot traffic may not move as fast as they’d like, the owner, tenants, and community activists all agree that the Raleigh Springs Mall is worth saving.

  

Business leader Gayle S. Rose carries son’s legacy into the inner city at Lester Community Center

Memphis civic and business leader Gayle S. Rose is on a mission to fulfill her son's legacy of community service. She was at Lester Community Center on Monday to talk to the summer campers about "Team Max," a "vigilante philanthropy she helped to start after the death of her son, William "Max" Rose, in 2009. (Top and bottom photo by Wiley Henry)

               The Lester Community Center summer camp is teeming with the spirit and sprightliness of children. On Monday (June 20), nearly 100 of them sat quietly around the gym floor wearing white T-shirts with the picture of a 19-year-old young man who lost his life in a tragic automobile accident on Jan. 3, 2009. Above his head are the words “Team Max,” and below is his name, Max Rose, followed by R.I.P., the acronym for “rest in peace.”

Max, whose birth name was William Rose, was the son of Memphis civic and business leaders Michael and Gayle S. Rose, president and CEO of Electronic Vaulting Services Corp. After his death, Max’s family and friends were compelled to form Team Max, a “vigilante philanthropy” with a mission to feed the homeless, help disaster victims, work with hospitalized children, and clean up the city.

“We are united by an understanding that helping our neighbors and our communities is not someone else’s job – it’s our responsibility,” said Rose, a Harvard-educated businesswoman who was part of the pursuit team to bring the Vancouver Grizzlies to Memphis.

William "Max" Rose

Max had committed his life to serving the community, she said, particularly the inner-city youth at Street Ministries on Vance Ave., and in Hickory Hill, where he’d tutored children. The children at Lester waited to hear from Rose, who spoke to them about community service and teaming up with Team Max.

Max had left behind poems and poignant words that clearly expressed his unwavering commitment to community service: “I want to give everything. I want to give it all. I want to find someplace where I can serve... I want to serve.” Rose asked a teenage girl to recite it to her fellow campers.

The children got to know who Max was and Rose’s commitment to fulfill his legacy. They also met Max’s girlfriend, Theresa Dougherty, and played a game of basketball with University of Memphis head basketball coach Josh Pastner -- but not before he encouraged them to stay in school, resist the lure of drugs and crime, and take pride in their neighborhood.   

The neighborhood around Lester Community Center, which comprises the Binghamton community, was once inundated with drugs and crime, even though the Memphis Police Department’s Tillman Station Precinct is located down the street from the community center. Low-income homes still dot the landscape where poverty is in full bloom.

During the game, however, Pastner ran up and down the floor with some of the campers. Then he, Rose and Dougherty joined them and the others outside for a few minutes to de-litter the grounds of the center. They wore gloves while tossing bits of paper and other debris in garbage bags.

Though Team Max was formed to honor Max Rose and his commitment to community service, it also seeks to enhance youth leadership, social skills, and give back to the community, Rose said.

“Team Max is a movement that Mrs. Rose started to give back to the community. It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white, rich or poor,” added Patricia A. Rogers, who handled public relations for the group.

More than 1,200 people have joined Team Max on Facebook.

University of Memphis basketball coach Josh Pastner plays a game with the campers.

Picturing Max Rose…

The day was hot and humid, but the staff at Lester Community Center wanted nothing more than for the children to be happy campers. In the cool comfort of the gym, however, they listened intently to Rose and Pastner and seemed to understand the message that was being conveyed.

            The message was clear: Max Rose wanted to serve people. It was his calling.

            The picture of him on the T-shirt is indicative of Max’s zest for life. He’s pictured smiling and flashing a thumbs-up sign, an indication that everything was all right. On the back of the shirt are the aforementioned words expressing his desire to serve his community and a Japanese symbol for the word “God.”  

Rose knew him best when she described him as a “gentle giant” and “the sweetest angel on earth” in a newspaper story about his death. He was a student at the University of Denver.

            Max’s picture, however, does not – and cannot – show his 6-7 frame. His height could be measured, but the passion he felt for people and service to the community was immeasurable, Rose conveyed to the children.

            He loved music too, she said. 

Privatizing trash pickup dishonors sanitation workers

    Honor had been 43 years past due, but President Barack Obama made it a point on April 29 to show eight surviving members of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike what they meant to the nation and to him personally.
    After their White House visit and induction into the U.S. Department of Labor Hall of Fame, the University of Memphis followed Washington's lead and hosted a local induction ceremony on June 4 in the Michael D. Rose Theatre for the city's original 1,300 sanitation workers, both living and deceased.
    Three days earlier, Memphis City Council member Kemp Conrad, a Republican representing Super District 9, Position 1, took the sanitation workers back to 1968 when he introduced a lame proposal in council chambers to privatize the city's trash pickup.
     Conrad said he is trying to save the city $20 million to help close a budget gap of $60 million. But the idea didn't bode well for sanitation workers, nor members of AFSCME, Local 1733, the union that fought "tooth and nail" for better wages and better working conditions for sanitation workers.
    The bitter struggle, they recalled, brought Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis, where he'd seen "the Promised Land." His death ushered an end to the strike and forced the city to meet the sanitation workers' demands.
    Now the city is looking for savings to balance the budget. New revenue sources should be sought to pare down the deficit, but Conrad's proposal would, in large part, dishonor the sanitation workers and ignite a powder keg similar to the 1968 strike.
    
Kemp Conrad's proposal...

    While Conrad seeks to prop up a limping government on one end of the spectrum, his plan, while laborious in research, could cause the other end of the spectrum to fall in terms of collateral damage: jobs would be loss.
    A private contractor would make 950 stops a day versus 450 for Memphis, the councilman figured. There are approximately 500 permanent employees in solid waste, but if a private contractor gets the job to dispose of the city's waste, 300 sanitation workers would be tossed aside and laden with economic instability.
   The councilman's plan also includes a $7-8 million fund to buy-out 107 employees with 35 or more years of service. Nine have been with the department since the 1968 strike. Those employees would be paid to retire if they choose not to work for the new contractor.
    Conrad hopes to implement his plan in an effort to curtail spending. Revenue streams may be drying up in some cases, but the councilman's bold initiative, though clearly thought out, is thoughtless to those who could be whacked by the budget ax.
   "We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem," Conrad wrote in a June 2 email addressed to a "fellow Memphian." Bold leadership and a durable plan is needed, he wrote, "not one more year of kick the can."
    While I agree with Conrad that bold leadership is needed and that a durable plan should be implemented, I cringe at the thought that the employees who would be affected by the councilman's plan would be essentially kicked to the curb after forcing the city to meet their demands in 1968.