By Jeffrey T. Higgs, New Tri-State Defender

As crime and the perception of crime explodes around our city, I am drawn to facts and theories I have developed over the years regarding crime, its causes and how best to reduce it.

Contrary to what you hear, crime has been reduced in our city, especially in areas where urban community economic development (UCED) has occurred and is led by community-engaged leaders, CDCs, nonprofits and churches, all working together to ensure our communities are safe places to live, work and play.

One such community is SoulsvilleUSA.

When we started this journey in 1999, community leaders like Marlon Foster, Andy Cates, Reginald Milton, Robert Lipscomb, Deannie Parker and others collaborated with LeMoyne-Owen College and Metropolitan Baptist Church, to create a place where residents felt safe, families could thrive, children could learn, and all were welcomed.

What we knew then was we were working on “holy ground.”

Dedicated community organizations such as LeMoyne-Owen and its 160 years of educating young people; STAX Records and its historic creation of the “music of our lives” that represented an era of progress for Black people; Metropolitan Baptist Church, where Dr. King would meet and strategize; the intersection of Mississippi Boulevard and Walker Avenue, where Ida B. Wells and Peeples Grocery stood as a testament to Black business success, and the world-famous Four Way Grill were all founded on this historical ground.

In this community, Al Green and Hi Records produced some of the greatest music of our time and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his final speech at the historic Mason Temple.

How, then, does this history relate to crime reduction in our community?

Our collective belief is that the best way to reduce crime is to create equal economic development opportunities.

We know that a working person is less likely to commit a crime than a person who lives in poverty with no prospects of attaining sustainable income.

Moreover, a house that has a family living in it is not one that is blighted; clean streets create pride in the community.

Educated residents know how to call code enforcement and report crimes, and an informed community is a community that values itself and its neighbors.

Simply stated, the roots of crime are poverty, blight, neglect and lack of educational opportunities.

We do not have to live this way.

Crime and violence, then, are a result of our environment and how we train our children, how we treat our citizens and how we respect our neighbors.

The Bible speaks eloquently about loving thy neighbor as thyself. Violence, crime, and gun abuse are destroying our families and communities.

We must fight the elements of violence mentioned above. We do this simply by creating places that are livable and inviting.

It is our responsibility, as the adults, to create and show our youth the right pathways to success. No community wants violence and crime permeating the mindsets and behavior of its citizens.

We must fight these evils with aggressive policies and funding that assist communities in this work. Programs that are effective are needed to help in the fight for crime and violence reduction.

SoulsvilleUSA has taken steps to move in this direction. We recently collaborated with residents and created a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District for South Memphis/SoulsvilleUSA that was a result of hundreds of residents working together for a common goal.

We believe, as a community, we are headed in the right direction. We are incorporating lessons learned from other thriving communities that have achieved success and applying them in our own neighborhoods.

We will revitalize our community using all the tools available in the toolbox.

As we enact this revitalization, our communities, hopefully, will begin to turn on the “lights of hope.”

We then can educate, inform, engage and revitalize all areas of our community, creating jobs for residents, removing blight and replacing it with positivity and hope.

While we cannot promise a “chicken in every pot,” we can promise we will work to create healthy, open inviting spaces, where crime has no place to hide.

Our dedication to this impactful work will provide jobs to those willing to work, create innovative educational technology and workforce training opportunity for those desiring to learn new skills and bring their skillsets back to the community.

These opportunities will be for those who would rather work than rob, cheat, or steal from their neighbor.

We are our neighbors’ keeper, and we will work to revitalize our community, thus bringing everyone along with opportunities to become engaged in the process of this revitalization movement.

Please plan to walk with us at 10 a.m. April 9, starting and ending at the corner of Walker Ave. and Dr. Hollis F Price Boulevard (Metropolitan Baptist Church), as the Memphis Crime Commission, FFUN- Stop the Killing, Memphis Police Department, City of Memphis, community partners, students, residents and your neighbors walk through SoulsvilleUSA and College Park to bring awareness to gun violence in our community.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. Resource partners will be available to provide private services and assistance for residents, as well as answers and connections for the community’s needs.

(Jeffrey T. Higgs is an executive committee member of the Memphis and Shelby County Crime Commission, a founding member of the SoulsvilleUSA Neighborhoods Development District, and CEO of LeMoyne-Owen College CDC and has worked since 1999 on revitalizing communities and creating economic development opportunities for residents of Memphis.)

This article originally appeared in the New Tri-State Defender

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By Joy Doss, The New Tri-State Defender

Shelter-in-place mandates have — for now — made homeschooling part of the norm and some parents and guardians are having to dig deep.

Millions of parents have been drop-kicked into a homeschooling situation. Like me, some already work from home. Others had to make a quick-step. Distressingly, some are furloughed and not working at all.

TSD #Access901 columnist Joy Doss. (Photo: Demarcus Bowser)

Regardless, it makes for fraught times as we try to figure out their stuff and our stuff at the same time. That task is piled atop pushing through cabin fever, slogging through a swamp of uncertainty and conflicting information and managing the anxiety of living in what feels like a bizarre dystopian novel.

To remain semi-sane, I meditate, exercise regularly, pray like crazy and selectively tune out the news.

All that to say, ALEXA, HOMESCHOOL MY KIDS!

Cause we ain’t ready! And we don’t know nothin’ bout this new math of theirs!

🙏🏿 for kids being homeschooled by parents who graduated 37 yrs ago. Got the kid diagraming sentences, learning “tinetables” & doing research in encyclopedias from 1986 talmbout:

“U can’t figure out 7 takeaway 3???”

Calm down bruh.

That baby don’t know what no “takeaway” is

— michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) March 25, 2020

For me, it’s mostly a space invasion. My sixth-grader mostly is like a self-cleaning oven – very independent and wants no help. But she gone get this supervision. We review assignments daily. Her school was online within days, operating via Google Meet and Google Classroom,  which means her teachers are still doing the teaching and I am not responsible for creating a makeshift curriculum.

She has a designated space for her Google Meets (lighting is everything of course!) and still holes up in her dungeon/bedroom for homework. We are fortunate to have both a laptop for her and a tablet. Outside of Google Meets and assignment deadlines, she is on a loose schedule. My main rule is homework and classwork finished by 5 p.m.! I also keep her weekly tutor appointment, now via FaceTime.

I checked in with some mommy friends to see what’s up with them.

Cherhonda Mason-Ayers, a married mom with a fifth-grade student in Shelby County Schools, has been teaching for 17 years. She has a different approach:

“I actually moved our son’s desk from his room into my workspace to help him understand, WE ARE STILL LEARNING AND WORKING. Our new norm is that we do these things TOGETHER. I have a bell … and even made a hall pass for him to do things like go to the restroom or get a drink of water. According to him, I am doing way too much!”

She gauges good stopping points between their respective Zoom meetings, laughing at the thought of such.

Her son’s teachers provide assignments on Sunday evenings and use Zoom to have face-to-face meetings and answer questions about assignments.

Her advice for keeping it together? “PRAYER! Once we move beyond this pandemic, I hope people will realize how important human connection is!”

‘Psalms 91 is my bestie right about now’

The stay-at-home mandates have forced Ann Perry Wallace and her three children – ages 10, almost 16 and 17 – to slow their normally fast-paced family life down.

An actress, writer and program manager at Playback Memphis, Ann often works at home, so creating and converting separate corners for everyone was imperative. Coincidentally, they just moved into a larger home in midtown.

“I do make them get up, wash up, get on decent clothes and get their breakfast before starting so they can feel like they’re doing more than just playing around,” she said. “I have carved out a makeshift office in my bedroom. I get up, pray, meditate, shower, get dressed, get coffee and breakfast, make up the bed.”

The bed made signals the start of the workday.

Her husband, Darius, shares the kiddo responsibilities. The Wallace kids mostly manage without their parents, “attending” school through distance learning models. They prepare their own breakfast and lunch and have dinner as a family.

Periodically throughout the day, the Wallaces stop so Darius can lead the family in Tai Chi practice.

“This relaxes and energizes us,” Ann says.

Like Cherhonda, Ann relies on prayer. “I cannot control what happens so I have to pray. Psalms 91 is my bestie right about now.”

My friend Kelly Hodrick lives in Union, NJ, where she is mom to Carter, who is in pre-K, and third-grader Malcolm. At 8 a.m., she’s attempting to log into work, fix breakfast and open home school for the day.

She normally works from home once a week; having the kiddos adds a twist. The family is working to create a schedule close to what is normal for the kids, who take breaks throughout the day and must complete their assignments by 4:30 p.m.

“Third grade is fully up and running via Google Classroom. Assignments…posted daily…are a combination of both class ‘lessons,’ homework, as well as projects and quizzes. For Pre-K, the daycare has recently started daily 30-minute classes via Zoom for the kids to reconnect and share and also reinforce learning, including sight word development, reading, storytelling, show and tell, etc.”

Her older son’s school has provided helpful online resources that have been a part of the regular curriculum.

Her recommendations for sanity?

“Prayer, daily scriptures (Biblestudytools.com), DJ D-NICE Club Quarantine, Drizly liquor delivery, daily kee-keeing with my girls and my line sisters.”

Be encouraged all. And remember – We’re Memphis Strong!

(Resources: Free curriculum, www.alicefayeduncan.com; WKNO and Bounce for all ages school on TV; work exercises for all ages, www.IXL.com. If your child’s school doesn’t provide access, the monthly membership is about $20 per child ($4 for each additional child) for core classes.)

This article originally appeared in the New Tri-State Defender

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By Karanja A. Ajanaku, The New Tri-State Defender

Child’s Dream International’s 2nd annual “Easter Basket Giveaway” is going forward – far from initially planned – with the goal of giving away 100 Easter baskets to “less fortunate children in our community.”

The five-year old co-powering this deed is Carl Grandberry V. He and his partner-mother Shauna Jones-Grandberry have arranged to be on the old K-Mart parking lot on Austin Peay at noon Saturday morning (April 10) for a socially-distanced, drive-thru give away of Easter baskets.

Shauna Jones-Grandberry. (Screen capture)

Last year, the Child’s Dream nonprofit gave away 45 baskets on the campus of LeMoyne-Owen College. The 2020 growth plan targeted 100. The evening before distribution, baskets totaled 130 as donations still were being accepted. The growth plan hadn’t accounted for the level of generosity stirred during a pandemic.

Adjusting to mitigation measures in place to counter the spread of the coronavirus, Jones-Grandberry, Carl and Child’s Dream volunteers will dispense baskets and more via a drive-through operation. Some in need have called ahead. No reservations were required.

While the COVID-19 public health emergency has affected the giveaway in multiple ways, the idea’s roots are pre-pandemic and start with Carl, a Downtown Elementary School student.

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“Well, this is something that he came up with on his own at age four,” Jones-Grandberry said. “Where it came from, I don’t know. It’s just something that he just up and said one day when he was outside playing.”

The “this” and “it” amounts to collecting toys and such “not for himself, but for less fortunate children in Memphis.” It has involved dipping into his allowance, money from family and friends and, increasingly, donations. From it has come events such as Christmas toy drives and the template Easter basket giveaway.

Jones-Grandberry manages the supply line, posting event solicitations online and strategically using donations to support the online workforce “like the young lady who was selling baskets. I didn’t go to your local Walmart or Kmart. They already have money. So what we did was supported the people who were trying to make extra money.”

Still, there is the coronavirus.

“People’s not even thinking about Easter and we’re still focused on it,” said Jones Grandberry. “We’re so focused on trying to make these children smile, knowing that they’re going to get an Easter basket.”

With resolve, she added, “I’m going to make a way. It’s going to happen…because this is something my son wants to do. … There’s people out there that are less fortunate and you have to be nice to them. Like I said, my son don’t like to see other kids sad. He wants them to have everything he has….(He’s) just learning how to share and give.”

Does he know about the virus?

“Yeah, he knows. Well, we talk about that every day,” she said. “We got all this different medicines and I’ve been to the grocery store. He’s sanitizing his hands more and washing his hands more and taking precautions on different things. He asks…and then he looks at the news. He’s five years old, acting like he’s 50.”

It’s not all business for five-year-old Carl. Shelter-in-place restrictions mean home is school. “We do (school) work every day. …It’s OK, because not only do we do papers ourselves that the teacher had sent home with him, he gets on ABCMouse(.com, a subscription-based digital education program) and i-Ready or something. I have to ask him. He knows more about it than I do. We just set aside time every day”

The physical activity Carl used to do in the gym, he now does at home, push-ups included.

“The only thing he’s doing differently than he did in school, in school they don’t watch TV. He gets to watch TV,” Jones-Grandberry said.

And, with Easter approaching, he’s gotten to amplify on his story to news media, including a telephone exchange with TSDMemphis.com.

Carl Grandberry V (Courtesy photo)

TSD: Hey, Carl, how are you doing?

Carl: Good.

TSD: Do you know what a newspaper is?

Carl: Hello? I can’t hear you!

TSD: I said, do you know what a newspaper is?

Carl: Yes.

TSD: Well, I run a newspaper and I want to put your story in it. How about that?

Carl: OK.

 TSD: You’re OK with that?

Carl: Yes.

TSD: Now, I understand you’re going to be helping children again for Easter. Is that right?

Carl: Yes.

TSD: OK. Well, why are you doing it?

Carl: Because I want kids to be happy and excited.

TSD: Yeah! So now, are you washing your hands?

Carl: Yes.

TSD: Yes! A lot, right?

Carl: Yes.

Carl Grandberry V has a book set to come out later this month.

It’s called “The Smile Collector.”

For more information: visit https://bit.ly/3aThyXT, and A Child’s Dream International on Facebook. Click here to pre-order “The Smile Collector.”)

This article originally appeared in the New Tri-State Defender

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