Memphis Branch of the NAACP

Congratulations to Kermit Moore who is the new President of the Memphis NAACP Branch.

President Moore was formerly the 1st Vice President of the Memphis Branch.

Deidre Malone has moved up to the 1st Vice President and Gale Jones Carson moves to the 2nd VP position.

Malone also serves as the Tennessee State Conference Chair for Public Relations and Carson is the Fund Development Chair.

Set your calendar and join us Wednesday, Jan. 18. See registration details below.

It's Giving Tuesday. Give today in support of the Memphis Branch of the NAACP http://www.naacpmemphis.org/.

Let's get to the polls!

Please join us Wednesday, October 5th.
Click here to register: https://www.mobilize.us/dashboard/votes4all/event/515355/?created=true

MEMBERSHIP ALERT

Our guest speaker for tomorrow's General Membership meeting will be Jessica Van D**e, Executive Director/Lead Counsel of The Tennessee Innocence Project. The organization works to free wrongfully convicted individuals from incarceration.

The meeting will be Thursday, July 28 at 5:30 p.m. at Mt. Olive Cathedral CME Church.

Strong leaders support strong neighborhoods!

BLDG Memphis along with our partners MICAH Memphis, LISC Memphis, Frayser CDC, The Memphis Branch of the NAACP and Memphis Urban League Young Professionals will host a nonpartisan candidate forum in the lead up to the Shelby County Municipal election in August on Tuesday, July 19 from 5:30p.m.-7:30p.m. at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. The questions posed to the candidates during the forum will focus on issues of neighborhood investment.

The forum will include candidates running for Mayor, County Commission, County Assessor, County Trustee & Environmental Court Judge.

We encourage you to register in advance to attend and submit your own questions for the candidate forum by clicking below.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bldg-memphis-community-development-candidate-forum-tickets-373365545397

Purchase your tickets today! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2022-naacp-memphis-branch-freedom-fund-luncheon-tickets-378548277087

Tickets are on sale now! We are back in person for our Annual Freedom Fund Luncheon.

2022 NAACP Memphis Branch Freedom Fund Luncheon The NAACP Memphis Branch celebrates 100+ years of fighting for the advancement of people of color.

We are pleased to announce that we have settled the lawsuit between the Town of Mason and the Office of the Comptroller.

For more information on the settlement agreement, please join us tomorrow, May 5, 2022 at 1:00pm cst here: RSVP Link: https://naacpheadquarters.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aDKtXmFxQIuB2ImK-xW23Q

BREAKING NEWS: Ketanji Brown Jackson is confirmed to the Supreme Court as the first Black female justice after historic Senate vote.

NAACP files lawsuit against Tennessee comptroller, claims threat to take over majority-Black town is discriminatory.
CNN
—
The NAACP is representing a majority-Black town in Tennessee and helped it file a lawsuit on Friday alleging that the state comptroller exceeded his authority and racially discriminated against the town in its financial dealings.

Mason Mayor Emmit Gooden, the Board of Aldermen and the town are accusing Jason Mumpower, Tennessee’s Comptroller of the Treasury, of violating the Equal Protection Clause and going beyond his authority under state and federal law as comptroller through his “unlawful efforts” to take over the town’s finances.

The comptroller’s office declined to comment on the lawsuit but has previously denied bias in the decision to oversee the town’s finances.

This lawsuit follows an ongoing battle over financial supervision between town officials and the comptroller’s office as the area is welcoming a $5.8 billion Ford Motor Company plant in 2025 called BlueOval City. A couple of weeks ago, Mumpower sent a letter to Mason residents calling on them to push for the town to relinquish its charter. After the town decided to keep its charter, the comptroller said it must fix the town’s financial troubles or Tipton County will officially take over the city’s finances.

The takeover is now ongoing as town officials are being “stripped of all financial autonomy and can spend no more than $100 without the prior approval” of the comptroller’s office, according to the lawsuit.

Mumpower denies bias and previously told CNN he does not want Mason to be left out of the financial benefits of the Ford plant. Yet town officials are still skeptical about what the comptroller will do next.

The leaders of the town, with a population of less than 1,500, 72% of whom are Black, believe the state is only now getting involved because the Ford plant is coming to the area — about 10 miles away from Mason. Town officials believe Tipton County wants to take advantage of the incoming economic opportunities.

“We think that this majority African American town should be able to realize the economic opportunity that Ford Motor Company is bringing,” Van Turner, one of the attorneys on the lawsuit, told CNN.

The NAACP helped the town file the suit to assist the city in protecting the citizens of Mason.

“Here are individuals who have been in this town for generations, and they have operated in a way in which they had to survive without real tangible support in recent years from the state,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson told CNN.

Black-majority towns are regularly disenfranchised, expert says
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund sent a letter to Mumpower earlier this week regarding its concerns that the comptroller’s office decision to take over financial control for an indefinite period is discriminatory.

Mumpower, who has authority over incoming and outgoing funds for the state, says he is also allowed to provide enhanced supervision over local government’s finances. The suit alleges he is exceeding that power.

Although the Tennessee Code allows the comptroller to review town budgets and to require municipalities to reduce expenditures or levy additional taxes, it does not appear to allow day-to-day supervision over a town’s financial transactions, according to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Counts alleged against the comptroller’s office include violation of state law and violation of the Equal Protection Clause and the Tennessee Constitution. The town of Mason is also seeking declaratory judgment.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund said it believes the timing of the comptroller’s involvement is irrational and that the state’s actions are motivated by racial discrimination, according to the letter to Mumpower.

The comptroller’s office has only stepped in and taken control over a town’s finances in three other instances — Van Buren County in 2020, the Town of Jellico between 2013 and 2018 and Polk County in the 1900’s, according to the legal defense fund. Town officials said that even with much worse financial situations than Mason, the comptroller’s office never pushed them to give up their charter. Both Van Buren County and Jellico have a population with about 95% White people, while Mason has about 23% White people.
Johnson told CNN the results of the investigation showed there was no evidence of equal treatment among jurisdictions.

“The fact that the attempted takeover is being perpetrated only now – rather than years ago, when Mason’s White leadership actually caused the financial issues complained of – demonstrates that Defendant’s timing and alleged justification are neither rational nor plausible,” the lawsuit says.

Black-majority towns are regularly disenfranchised, according to Andre Perry, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

“Small Black-majority municipalities often are up against White state and county leaders who simply don’t give their fellow citizens the same privileges because of the color of their skin,” Perry told CNN. “It appears Mumpower values the assets and infrastructure of Mason more than the people.”

CONFIRM KETANJI BROWN JACKSON WATCH PARTY

Join the NAACP at 9:45 AM CT as we mark the historic nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.

Tune in here: https://naacp.org/events/confirm-ketanji-brown-jackson-watch-party?emci=7a7f9a17-05a6-ec11-a22a-281878b85110&emdi=9c83db32-1fa9-ec11-a22a-281878b85110&ceid=3187360

Today marks the final day of Black History Month. But, we will continue honoring our ancestors and celebrating change makers EVERY DAY!

In case you didn’t get the memo…

Click the link to support this appointment.

https://naacp.org/campaigns/black-women-are-supreme

Gift Card Giveaway ⚠️⚠️⚠️

Friday, February 25, 2022
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m

The NAACP Memphis Branch on Friday, February 25, 2022, from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., at 588 Vance Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee 38126, will be giving out free gift cards in amounts of $150 to those families affected by the rodent infestation at the Family Dollar Stores. Families seeking support will NEED to show one of the following:

(1.) A Family Dollar Store receipt showing purchases
(2.) The actual items purchased that need to be discarded and
(3.) The name and location of the Family Dollar Store patronized, in order to receive a gift card.

We are limiting the gift cards to one card per family while supplies last. These cards will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. While this small gesture will not cure the entire problem for everyone impacted, we are hopeful that we will be able to bring some relief to some of the families who are dealing with this horrible issue that could have and should have been prevented.

-FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THIS NOTICE PLEASE CALL-
VICKIE TERRY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MEMPHIS BRANCH NAACP
901-521-1343


NAACP Memphis Branch | Ph 901.521.1343 | [email protected]

Rest in power.

to activist, actor, philanthropist and NAACP Image Awards Hall of Famer Sidney Poitier.

Support today at http://www.naacpmemphis.org/.

It’s the busiest shopping weekend of the year, and although many chain retailers are offering holiday deals, consider shopping with small Black businesses.

We wish you all the best this Thanksgiving.

For all they have done and for all they continue to do in our communities, we owe our veterans a profound debt of gratitude. So this Veterans Day, let us all pledge to support our veterans by honoring their sacrifice.

Today, a coalition of civil rights organizations, led by the NAACP, released its first ever Senate scorecard, which grades every U.S. Senator on their performance defending voting rights in Congress.

Our voting rights must be safeguarded. Our Senators Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Senator Bill Hagerty received a F for their inaction on voting rights. Hold Congress accountable to ensure voting rights for all. www.civilrightsscorecard.org

From today's The Commercial Appeal

Black leaders raise diversity questions of new University of Memphis president, selection process

Within an hour of the University of Memphis board officially choosing its next president Tuesday, Black elected leaders sought diversity commitments from the board and the incoming president, Bill Hardgrave.

When the board recommended Hardgrave to be its next president, the two Black trustees on the university board mentioned Hardgrave made personal diversity commitments to each of them. Each trustee noted the commitment as one reason for recommending the white male candidate, now outgoing provost at Auburn University in Alabama, over a white female dean and an Asian-American male interim president.

During a press conference after the Tuesday vote, Hardgrave described U of M's diverse student body as a strength, but said he did not yet have specific plans beyond maintaining the diversity and accessibility.

"...I don't know what that looks like other than knowing that we have that, that many other universities would love to have," Hardgrave said of the diversity of the student body and of what his commitment was to the two Black trustees. "And we have that already as far as the diverse student body, as a diverse community.

"Now we need to make sure it is accessible to everyone, we need to make sure that this is an environment that is inclusive, that everybody feels safe and welcome here," Hardgrave continued. "I don't know enough about the university community yet to assess that, but that's definitely the things that I'll be looking at and working on and if there are pockets of issues that we need to address, then I'm going to work with our community leaders in particular to address those things."

The letter from the members of the Shelby County Commission Black Caucus and the Memphis Branch of the NAACP seeks answers in 10 business days to specific questions about diversity commitments. It is signed by Commissioners Tami Sawyer, Mickell Lowery and Van Turner as well as the Memphis NAACP executive board and membership.

Their questions are:
What does this commitment look like for Dr. Hardgrave?
How will the success of these commitments be measured in terms of impact?
What initiatives will Dr. Hardgrave undertake as now president of a University that is over 40% Black?
What training or experiences will Dr. Hardgrave commit to to broaden his awareness considering he is leaving an institution that is 3% Black?
Asked in general about the letter, Hardgrave reiterated that he'd need more time to assess, but considered U of M's diversity a strength.

"...Honestly I can't answer how we then harness that at this point, but that's part of me coming in, understanding the situation we have here, working with the faculty, our staff, our students, the business community, to understand, 'How do we take advantage of that?" he said.

"Because we really do have a situation here that a lot of universities would love to have," Hardgrave continued. "I can't assess for anyone at this point whether it's good, bad, middle of the pack. I just don't know at this point. But we will use that opportunity that many other universities would love to have, to have that diversity, to be in a diverse environment, to our advantage."

Shelby County Commissioner Turner, who is also president of the Memphis Branch of the NAACP said he and the others behind the letter understood that the decision on a new president has been made and little could be done going forward other than to articulate their concerns and hope they would be considered.

Speaking after the board vote ended Tuesday, board chair Doug Edwards pointed to the diversity of the finalist pool and acknowledged criticism of the lack of Black candidates.

The board reviews "a diverse group of three finalists," he said. "It did not include all of the diversity that we might like, but we had a diverse group.

"Also, I can tell you that the process, the run-up to the selection of the three finalists," Edwards continued, "there were a number of candidates that were considered, and were elevated, but the final three, the selection of the committee, did not reflect perhaps some of the diversity that some would have liked."

First and foremost, he said, the group had to "find the right individual to help us get the resources we need to fulfill our mission. I think we all believe that Dr. Hardgrave can do just that.”

Turner said in part, the letter is a reminder to the incoming president, who is set to officially begin in the spring, that the community and NAACP would be watching as he built the team around him.

It was not immediately clear Tuesday how many hires Hardgrave would make.

“Diversity has to be something that’s addressed and addressed appropriately, so as Dr. Hardgrave moves into this new seat we wish him well, but we also want to let him know that we want to be partners with him in making sure that diversity in this city and this county is at the top of his issues to address,” Turner said.

The group would like to meet with Hardgrave once he settles into his new role, Turner said.

Goals for the university should be, at a minimum, leadership reflecting the city and the county, Turner said. While there’s been great progress, the university should strive to make it “even greater,” he said.

I think no one can rest on the past,” Turner said. “Each day you get up you’ve got to fight to make things better. While he says it’s something that’s enviable, I don’t disagree with him, I think there have been efforts made obviously, but I don’t think it’s the end all be all, that’s not something we should look towards as being the end. We should always strive for progress.”

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/education/2021/11/09/new-university-memphis-president-board-questioned-diversity-commitments/6358010001/

Black leaders raise diversity questions of new University of Memphis president, selection process U of M's diverse student body is an asset, the incoming president said, adding that he'll need more time to assess what diversity plans will be.

Join the Memphis Branch of the NAACP and the Shelby County Voter Alliance - SCVA Wednesday at noon for our quarterly Lunch and Learn.

Click here to register for this virtual event: https://www.mobilize.us/civictn/event/425098/

This is an opportunity for Shelby Countians to begin learning about the responsibilities of the offices that will be on the ballot in 2022. This is the first of the voter education series to ensure everyone will be prepared for 2022!

Tuesday, September 28 is National Voter Registration Day.

Visit https://www.electionsshelbytn.gov/ to check your status!

Are you a rising senior and woman of color? Lancôme and the NAACP want to support you in writing your future. Sign up to be notified when applications are open.

https://www.lancome-usa.com/write-her-future/scholarship-sign-up.html

Lancôme will offer a minimum of 30 college scholarships of $10K each to high school seniors currently applying to a college or university starting with the 2022/2023 academic year.

Step into fall with official NAACP merchandise.
Shop NAACPSTORE.ORG and use the code Fall15 for 15% off.

JB Smiley Jr.
September 8th

Help the NAACP, Memphis Branch celebrate two of our Executive Committee Members today.

Happy Birthday Gale Jones Carson, First Vice President and Treasurer J.B. Smiley, Jr.