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A CLOSER LOOK AT: Jim Strickland: ‘More Memphians have hope now than four years ago’

NEW TRI-STATE DEFENDER — Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is optimistic. With the October 3 election less than a month away, the incumbent, who is completing his first term as mayor, believes the city’s voters will choose “results over rhetoric” to re-elect him.

Published

5 years ago

September 20, 2019

Oakland Post

“I guarantee more Memphians have hope now than four years ago.” – Jim Strickland, incumbent. (Photo: Karanja A. Ajanaku)

By Erica R. Williams

Updated: Profiles of all three of the leading candidates for Memphis Mayor are now live online. Excellent reporting and writing by Erica R. Williams. Click to access the candidate of your choice:

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is optimistic. With the October 3 election less than a month away, the incumbent, who is completing his first term as mayor, believes the city’s voters will choose “results over rhetoric” to re-elect him.

“We have more progress to make, but the city has come a long way and we have seen results,” he said. “We’re now moving in the right direction.”

Adamant that the city has moved forward since he took office, Strickland isn’t taking all the credit, attributing the growth to combined efforts from city, county and state government.

Assessing his accomplishments and those of his administration, Strickland touted growth in economic development, universal Pre-K funding, police recruitment, and an increase in revenue for minority and women-owned businesses.

“The challenges that Memphis has had for decades are not solvable in three-and-a-half years,” he said. “I’d like another four years to tackle those issues.”

A stark proponent of growing minority and women-owned businesses, Strickland credits former city councilman and businessman Fred L. Davis for exposing him to some sobering statistics before he became mayor.

“I’ll never forget when he told me, ‘If I added up all the business transactions in the city of Memphis, one percent is spent with African Americans,” Strickland recalled. “That’s wrong on so many levels in a city that is predominately African American. If you want to grow the city, you have to grow black wealth.”

As mayor, Strickland and his team began focusing on growing minority and women-owned businesses. Since then, Black Enterprise magazine has named Memphis the #1 city for black-owned businesses. Leaders in other cities, said Strickland, have inquired about using Memphis’ model to grow their minority-owned businesses efforts.

The city’s Office of Diversity and Compliance has increased its contracts with minority-owned and women businesses to 20 percent. It was at 12 percent before Strickland took office.

Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer, who is also running for mayor, has asked for the number to be re-calculated after Strickland and his team admitted that there was an error in the reporting earlier this year. In January during his State of the City address, Strickland said that spending was up to 24 percent, but it was later found to be 18 percent at the time. Strickland and his team said they’re confident that the current number is accurate.

Last year, the city launched The 800 Initiative, with a goal of growing the revenue of 800 minority-owned businesses by $50 million by 2023. And recently, city leaders declared that $50 million-plus is being spent with minority-owned businesses in the Cook Convention Center renovation project.

“This campaign needs to be about results and not rhetoric,” Strickland said. “My opponents talk about this, but they don’t have the record to support their rhetoric. (Former Mayor Dr. Willie W.) Herenton only increased it by 8 or 9 percent when he was in office. He says he has unfinished business; well, you need to be able get it done in 18 years.”

Strickland also referenced Sawyer and what he noted as her lack of success with minority-owned businesses.

“Commissioner Sawyer and the county’s MWBE (minority and women-owned business enterprises) business is only at 3 percent,” he said.

With Sawyer calling it “morally wrong” that the city does not allot any funding to Shelby County Schools, Strickland pushed back.

“Unless you are going to cut back on police services and fire services or raise taxes, it’s not going to be done,” Strickland said. “But we are giving back to education in other ways.”

Through a city and county partnership, Strickland was able to invest in universal Pre-K with no new taxes. The plan’s goal is to ensure that Pre-K is accessible to all eligible by the year 2020.

Fielding Herenton’s criticism that Strickland is weak on crime, the incumbent shot back that Memphis was listed as the leading U.S. city for crime in 2006, which fell during Herenton’s mayoral watch.

Earlier his year, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released a report that cited “significant drops” in crime in Memphis, including decreases in robberies, property crimes, burglaries and domestic violence. However, homicide rates spiked to 14.5 percent.

“The data says that we are making progress and I believe that we would have made more progress if we would have had more police,” Strickland said.

His public safety plan consists of building the police force, increasing penalties for violent crimes, investing in youth through mentorship, jobs and programing, and expanding workforce re-entry programs.

The police department has hired close to 500 new officers since Strickland took office. He emphasizes that his approach to combating crime differs from his opponents.

“One says we don’t need police officers, which most residents will disagree with,” Strickland said of Sawyer.

“When my other opponent (Herenton) was mayor we had the highest crime rate in the country. And he’s also been quoted saying that there is nothing any mayor can do about crime. And I disagree with that.”

While he supports criminal justice reform as it relates to nonviolent offenders, Strickland said, “But we have to be tough on those who commit violent crimes.”

Overall, the city has momentum and is headed in the right direction, said Strickland, pointing to more than 24,000 Memphians who have gotten jobs since he became mayor.

“I am personally inserting myself in economic development,” he said. “I’ve been recognized for keeping ServiceMaster in Memphis, the St. Jude expansion that resulted in an additional 1600 jobs and the recent printing company Mimeo relocating its headquarters to Memphis.”

He’s expecting more opportunities to come to the city, putting more Memphians to work at livable wages.

“I raised the minimum wage that we incentivize to $13 an hour, which is a livable wage in Memphis,” he said. “But many of the jobs pay $16 an hour.”

The livable wage calculator issued by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded that in Shelby County, $11 is a livable wage for an adult with no children. That number increases to $22, if there is a child in the household.

Strickland said that despite the challenges still evident, he’s optimistic about the future, if he’s re-elected.

“I guarantee more Memphians have hope now than four years ago,” he declared confidently. “We are ready to roll up our sleeves and tackle these challenges, but we also have to celebrate the good things.”

This article originally appeared in the New Tri-State Defender

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IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, activist Ramona Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.
The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

1 month ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Once upon a time, Black Americans were simply known as colored people, or Negroes. That is until Ramona Edelin came along. The activist, renowned for her pivotal roles in advancing civil rights, education reform, and community empowerment, died at her D.C. residence last month at the age of 78. Her death, finally confirmed this week by Barnaby Towns, a communications strategist who collaborated with Dr. Edelin, was attributed to cancer.

Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.

Edelin’s contributions to academia and activism were manifold. She was pivotal in popularizing the term “African American” alongside Rev. Jesse L. Jackson in the late 1980s.

Jackson had announced the preference for “African American,” speaking for summit organizers that included Dr. Edelin. “Just as we were called Colored, but were not that, and then Negro, but not that, to be called Black is just as baseless,” he said, adding that “African American” “has cultural integrity” and “puts us in our proper historical context.”

Later, Edelin told Ebony magazine, “Calling ourselves African Americans is the first step in the cultural offensive,” while linking the name change to a “cultural renaissance” in which Black Americans reconnected with their history and heritage.

“Who are we if we don’t acknowledge our motherland?” she asked later. “When a child in a ghetto calls himself African American, immediately he’s international. You’ve taken him from the ghetto and put him on the globe.”

The HistoryMakers bio noted that Edelin’s academic pursuits led her to found and chair the Department of African American Studies at Northeastern University, where she established herself as a leading voice.

Transitioning from academia to advocacy, Edelin joined the National Urban Coalition in 1977, eventually ascending to president and CEO. During her tenure, she spearheaded initiatives such as the “Say Yes to a Youngster’s Future” program, which provided crucial support in math, science, and technology to youth and teachers of color in urban areas. Her biography noted that Edelin’s efforts extended nationwide through partnerships with organizations like the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Education.

President Bill Clinton recognized Edelin’s expertise by appointing her to the Presidential Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 1998. She also co-founded and served as treasurer of the Black Leadership Forum, solidifying her standing as a respected leader in African American communities.

Beyond her professional achievements, Edelin dedicated herself to numerous boards and committees, including chairing the District of Columbia Educational Goals 2000 Panel and contributing to the Federal Advisory Committee for the Black Community Crusade for Children.

Throughout her life, Edelin received widespread recognition for her contributions. Ebony magazine honored her as one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans, and she received prestigious awards such as the Southern Christian Leadership Award for Progressive Leadership and the IBM Community Executive Program Award.

The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Stacy M. Brown

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Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.
The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

1 month ago

April 3, 2024

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Tennessee State University (TSU), the state’s only public historically Black college and university (HBCU), faces a tumultuous future as Gov. Bill Lee dissolved its board, a move supported by racist conservatives and MAGA Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly, who follow the lead of the twice-impeached, four-times indicted, alleged sexual predator former President Donald Trump. Educators and others have denounced the move as an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and a grave setback for higher education.

Critics argue that TSU’s purported financial mismanagement is a manufactured crisis rooted in decades of underinvestment by the state government. They’ve noted that it continues a trend by conservatives and the racist MAGA movement to eliminate opportunities for Blacks in education, corporate America, and the public sector.

Gevin Reynolds, a former speechwriter for Vice President Kamala Harris, emphasizes in an op-ed that TSU’s financial difficulties are not the result of university leadership because a recent audit found no evidence of fraud or malfeasance.

Reynolds noted that the disbanding of TSU’s board is not an isolated incident but part of a broader assault on DE&I initiatives nationwide. Ten states, including Tennessee, have enacted laws banning DE&I policies on college campuses, while governors appointing MAGA loyalists to university trustee positions further undermine efforts to promote inclusivity and equality.

Moreover, recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.

The actions echo historical efforts to suppress Black progress, reminiscent of the violent backlash against gains made during the Reconstruction era. President Joe Biden warned during an appearance in New York last month that Trump desires to bring the nation back to the 18th and 19th centuries – in other words, to see, among other things, African Americans back in the chains of slavery, women subservient to men without any say over their bodies, and all voting rights restricted to white men.

The parallels are stark, with white supremacist ideologies used to justify attacks on Black institutions and disenfranchise marginalized communities, Reynolds argued.

In response to these challenges, advocates stress the urgency of collective action to defend democracy and combat systemic racism. Understanding that attacks on institutions like TSU are symptomatic of broader threats to democratic norms, they call for increased civic engagement and voting at all levels of government.

The actions of people dedicated to upholding the principles of inclusivity, equity, and justice for all will determine the outcome of the ongoing fight for democracy, Reynolds noted. “We are in a war for our democracy, one whose outcome will be determined by every line on every ballot at every precinct,” he stated.

The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Stacy M. Brown

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Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy

May 24, 2023 – Walker West Music Academy gets an early start on expansion. Join us for a Wednesday episode of The …
The post Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy first appeared on BlackPressUSA.