1. Coalition for Organizational Protection of People and Equal Rights
February—April 2015, Third Edition, Memphis, Tennessee
Ferguson-Style Policing, Shut It Down
Community Oriented Policing Services
By Erica Gagne
While we have seen many instances of police misconduct and a deepening systemic distrust of the local police force
in many cities and counties throughout the US over the past 50 years, there are also cities that have acknowledged
these issues up-front, and designed Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and policies to reduce and/or pre-
vent problems that would eventually simmer over to a boiling point – as we recently witnessed in Ferguson, New
York, and many other cities across the country. According to a Department of Justice report, some cities have imple-
mented a community-based policing system (COPS) in an attempt to improve relationships between the police force
and the citizens within their communities.
In cities like Greenville, South Carolina and Reno, Nevada, police/community partnerships, funded by the city, have been established. Greenville’s police force collabo-
rates with Within Reach, an organization that coordinates neighborhood service providers; together they connect the community to vital services and address the mul-
titude of factors that often put communities at risk, foster hopelessness, and create a climate ripe for crime. While in Reno, the police participate in independently
functioning, but city funded, neighborhood advisory boards to help maintain and improve neighborhoods and tackle community based issues.
Although not always funded by the city, the partnerships create a space where mutual understanding and respect can be cultivated. Oftentimes this means that the
police join the community conversation. As in Knoxville, Tennessee, where police officers and public housing staff meet monthly with a public housing tenant council to
tackle problems of common concern; or in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Naperville, Illinois where Crime Free Multi-Housing programs and ongoing working relation-
ships with apartment complex managers and residents takes place.
At other times, the community/police partnerships involve the police soliciting the support of the community for ongoing internal improvements. As in Colorado
Springs, where the Police Department sought public input on its new service standards; a crime analyst conducted 10 focus groups whereby community members com-
mented on the draft standards before they were adopted by the local police force. And in Portland, Oregon, where resident members of more than 90 neighborhood
associations advise and are utilized by police officers. Or in Knoxville, Tennessee, where the department holds an annual crime-control planning event, involving more
than 200 citizens tasked with helping set annual priorities for the police department for the coming year and where citizen oversight mechanisms have been imple-
mented, giving the public powers in matters formerly exclusively handled by internal police units. Each of these actions demonstrates the capacity for police/
community relationships to be based on mutual trust and benefit versus skepticism and harm.
In addition, there are examples where local police departments initiate the conversation. In Lowell, Massachusetts, police have formed a race relations council to build
relationships and understanding with the city’s ethnic communities. Similarly, Portland’s agency is working with advisory groups representing the city’s African-
American, Latino, and Asian communities. And in Lowell, Mass., the force has even partnered with groups of individuals who have been contributing to local problems.
To be clear, most of these collaborations are continuing works in-progress. However, it is also true that these and many other cooperative practices and models exist
for our review and further development. Consequently, the occurrences in Ferguson do not have the final word on where we go from here. Rather, it is apparent that
in order to establish strategies that more effectively address the policing component of widespread community problems, the input of the community at-large (i.e., in-
dividuals, businesses, service providers and others) is required to reduce fear and suspicion, and simultaneously make room for trust, familiarity, and an increase in the
options police have for problem solving. These partnerships between the local police force and the citizen community are a means to a goal, rather than an end in it-
self. As such, it must be a continual, collaborative, and vigilant team effort between all parties who acknowledge their stake in developing peace and harmony within
our communities across the country.
Sources: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/RIC/Publications/e080925236-ImpCP-Lessons.pdf . U.S. Department of Justice. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Implementing
Community Policing: Lessons From 12 Agencies. Edward Maguire and William Wells. July 2009.
Law enforcement responding to civil unrest, August 17, 2014

2. Know Your Rights
To learn more about your rights on the
Job visit WIN at First Congregational
Church, 1000 S. Cooper, Suite 227,
Memphis, TN 38104 or call Jeshua
Schuster at 901-332-3570.
From the Fair Housing Act to Ferguson: Where
You Live Impacts How You're Policed
January 20, 2015
By Larry Schwartztol
Staff Attorney, ACLU Racial Justice Program
Copyright 2015 American Civil Liberties Union. Origi-
nally published at https://www.aclu.org/blog/lgbt-
rights-racial-justice-womens-rights-criminal-law-
reform/fair-housing-act-ferguson-where-yo.
In less than 24 hours, the Supreme Court will hear a
case that will define the future of decades-old legal
protections against discrimination by landlords and
banks against renters and homebuyers. The deci-
sion could have far-reaching consequences for the
battle against housing policies that discriminate on
the basis of race, sex, religion, disability, and other
protected characteristics. And that, in turn, would
have profound implications for efforts to ensure fair
and unbiased policing in places like Ferguson and
New York City and throughout the country.
Passed in 1968, the Fair Housing Act is one of the
major legislative victories of the civil rights move-
ment. It has helped rid our country of the most
overt forms of housing discrimination, such as build-
ing single-race housing developments and using
lending maps that demarcated black neighborhoods
as mortgage-free zones.
But discrimination hasn't gone away – instead, it
has subtly morphed, preventing us from creating
truly diverse communities.
The most harmful contemporary instances of dis-
crimination can take several forms. Sometimes poli-
cies that are neutral on their face interact with en-
trenched segregation – typically the vestiges of pri-
or intentional discrimination – to reinforce exclu-
sionary policies. For example, zoning regulations
that prevent the construction of mixed-income
housing in overwhelmingly white areas often have
the effect of excluding non-white families. In other
instances, policies create conditions where individu-
al landlords or mortgage brokers apply ingrained
stereotypes or implicit biases to treat individuals
differently based on race, even if that was not the
intent of the underlying policies. And, of course,
discriminatory policies are sometimes the product
of outright racial bias that a perpetrator knows
better than to broadcast explicitly so that the inten-
tion to discriminate remains disguised.
The FHA's most effective provision for addressing
these contemporary forms of discrimination is a
legal rule that has held sway
for 40 years – the idea that
unlawful discrimination is not
limited to cases where a
plaintiff can prove that a de-
fendant acted with conscious
intent to discriminate. In-
stead, the FHA recognizes the
idea of "disparate impact."
Under the disparate impact
approach, a practice consti-
tutes discrimination if it dis-
proportionately harms a pro-
tected class – like racial mi-
norities – and the defendant
– typically a landlord or bank or municipality – did-
n't need to use that practice, or could have done
something different that would have avoided the
discriminatory effect.
The disparate impact approach has been indispen-
sable in rooting out housing discrimination precisely
because it identifies and confronts discrimination
that results from hidden, unconscious biases and
practices that perpetuate the effects of past, inten-
tional discrimination. But in the case currently be-
fore the Supreme Court,Inclusive Community Part-
ners v. Texas Department of Housing and Communi-
ty Affairs, the state of Texas has asked the justices
to rule that disparate impact claims are not availa-
ble under the FHA. The case involves a challenge to
Dallas' system for allocating low-income-housing
vouchers in a way that reinforced patterns of resi-
dential segregation.
As many advocates and observers have argued in
anticipation of this case, the disparate impact
standard is crucially important to guaranteeing fair
housing opportunities and diverse communities.
One of the reasons that objective is so important is
that there is often a profound connection between
discrimination in housing and discrimination in oth-
er areas of American life. It's well-established that
where you live determines in large measure what
opportunities you'll have and how you'll be treated.
Policing is a prime example.
Recent activism across the country, propelled by
widespread outrage over repeated instances of po-
lice killing unarmed black men, has aimed at re-
forming racially biased policing. Events
in Ferguson actually underscore how housing segre-
gation can lead to racialized policing, in all its tragic
dimensions. The racial landscape of the St. Louis
region didn't occur naturally. Rather it was the
product of decades of efforts to impose residential
segregation, enforced through a brutal cocktail of
federal, state, and local policy as well as private acts
of discrimination.
Indeed, a recent report by the Economic Policy In-
stitute provides a nuanced history of those pro-
grams of discrimination. In depressing detail, it de-
scribes the many layers of governmental and pri-
vate actions that erected often impenetrable
boundaries separating communities based on race.
The tragic killing of Michael Brown has helped to
expose racialized policing in predominantly black
areas, including data showing that police in Fergu-
son were twice as likely to search blacks as whites
after initiating a stop, even though whites were far
more likely to be found with contraband.
The connection between racialized space and racial-
ized policing shouldn't be surprising. Intensive resi-
dential segregation very often leads to concentrat-
ed poverty, a lack of municipal services, and failing
schools – all of which contribute to an increase in
certain crimes while also breeding stereotypes
about disorder and criminality. These dynamics
contribute significantly to the biased policing in pre-
dominately black or Latino neighborhoods. At the
same time, the existence of identifiably black and
white spaces leads to unfair targeting of minority
individuals who happen to be in predominately
white neighborhoods, especially the nonwhite resi-
dents of neighborhoods.
None of this is unique to St. Louis. For example,
a recent ACLU study on Boston's stop-and-frisk poli-
cies found that "a neighborhood's concentration of
Black residents drives the rate of police-civilian en-
counters." In other words, even after statistically
controlling for crime-related factors – including
neighborhood crime rates – preliminary expert
analysis of the Boston Police Department's own
data found that the racial composition of a neigh-
borhood predicts how many police encounters will
take place there. A statistical analysis submitted to
the court as part of the challenge to New York City's
stop-and-frisk program found similar patterns.
And that brings us back to the future of the Fair
Housing Act. The FHA has for decades provided the
most powerful legal tools available for dismantling
residential segregation. It has done tremendously
important work, but that work is not done. When it
comes to addressing housing discrimination in its
current forms, the disparate impact standard is
an absolutely indispensable tool. It smokes out cov-
ert intentional discrimination. More profoundly, it
allows courts to carefully scrutinize policies that
perpetuate patterns of segregation to determine
whether they can be justified.
Removing this pillar of civil rights law would set
back equal housing opportunity in dramatic ways. It
would also set back the movement to reform bias-
based policing at exactly the wrong moment.

3. The Coalition for Organizational Protection of People and Equal Rights (C.O.P.P.E.R.) is a community-focused group of people and organizations from all across Mem-
phis. C.O.P.P.E.R. was initially created as a support to workers locked out by Kellogg. However, while addressing the lockout, it was revealed that many Memphians
are disenfranchised, lacking basic social and economic opportunities.
The coalition consists of a range of supporters including students working their way through college, unions representing employees working harder for less, organiza-
tions addressing poverty and providing for community revitalization, and faith providers offering spiritual nourishment and advocacy. C.O.P.P.E.R. is a gathering place
for new ideas and shared efforts towards positive change. The coalition specifically supports those whose voices have been ignored—amplifying their attempts to
make a positive change within their communities. C.O.P.P.E.R. is listening and working with the most vulnerable members of our community.
We want you to be a part of the discussion and a part of building the movement that amplifies the voices of marginalized communities across Memphis.
Commit to adding your voice, your ideas, your concerns, and your desires to the goal of making Memphis a better place for those whose daily plight is virtually invisible
within the mainstream community. The coalition meets at 2 pm CST, the third Saturday of every month at the BCTGM Local 252g office, 3035 Directors Row, Suite
1310, Memphis, TN 38131. To join the coalition, email your name, contact information, organizational affiliation, if applicable; to thecoppercoalition@gmail.com or
call (901) 396-1499.
We look forward to collaborating with you.
Sincerely,
Kevin Bradshaw
CHARTER MEMBERS  Kevin Bradshaw, BCTGM Local 252G  Barbara Cooper, State Rep. 86th District  Raumesh Akbari, State Rep. 91st District,  Greg Grant, National Action Network
 Bishop E. Lynn Brown, CME Church  Lorenzo Banks, AFSCME Local 1733  Casel Jones, Memphis City Labor Council  Irvin Calliste, International President of USW/ Memphis Central
Labor Council  Kermit Moore, A. Philip Randolph Institute  Dr. Freda Williams, Professor/ Former School Board Commissioner  Gail Tyree, Community Activist and Organizer  Dell
Gill, Shelby County Democratic Party  Dr. Jesse Barksdale, Author and Activist  Henry Perry, Former President of Teamsters  Trence Jackson, BCTGM Local 252G  Alphonso Lee,
Community Activist  Rev. Dwight Montgomery, SCLC President  D’Army Bailey, Former Judge  Hazel Hall, Aurthor  Virgie Banks, President, Democratic Women of Shelby County 
Rev. Leonard Dawson, Cane Creek M.B. Church  Dr. Coby Smith, Community Activist & Educator  Coleman Thompson, Community Activist & Exec. Dir., Alcohol Abuse Program 
Sheena Foster, Exec. Dir. Workers Interfaith Network  Yvonne Acey, Associate Dir., Africa in April Cultural Awareness Inc. & Educator
For Additional Information: www.coppercoalition.org thecoppercoalition@gmail.com (901) 396-1499
On September 9, 1915, Dr.
Woodson founded a prem-
ier research organization-
The Study of Negro Life and
History. This organization’s
name was changed to ASALH (The Association for
the Study of African American Life and History) to
commemorate the accomplishments, achieve-
ments, and contribution’s of African Americans.
This organizations primary focus is dedicated to the
research of Africans life, history, and culture from a
global perspective. The ASALH national office is lo-
cated at Howard University, in The Howard Center,
225 Georgia Avenue, N. W. Suite 331, Washington,
D.C. 20059. ASALH’s mission is committed to pro-
mote, research, preserve, and disseminate infor-
mation about Black culture in the world, via their
99th Annual ASALH Convention September 2014,
“Civil Rights in America and the 2015 National
Black History theme- “A Century of Black Life, His-
tory, and Culture.”
Dr. Daryl Michael Scott, ASALH National President,
stated that our organization continues to engage
the community in a better way to make our histo-
ry increasingly relevant, memorable, respected,
unforgettable, and appreciated.
In conclusion, Dr. Carter G. Woodson's impact
and significance in American History and African
American History are accepted universally for his
exceptional scholarly works, research, publica-
tions and books. One of his most noted and fa-
mous quotes are included in the book, The Mis-
Education of the Negro: “If you control a man’s
thinking you don’t have to worry about his action.
When you determine what a man shall think, you
do not have to concern your self about what he
will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior,
you do not have to compel to accept an inferior
status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a
man think he is an outcast you do not have to
order him to the back door. He will go without
being told, and if there is no back door, his very
nature will demand one.”
A Portrait of Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson
By Clifford Black and Yvonne B. Acey
Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, founder of Black His-
tory Month in 1915, was born on December 19,
1875 at New Canton in Buckingham County, Virgin-
ia. He was the son of a large poor slave family,
James and Eliza (Riddle) Woodson. Woodson’s em-
ployment in the coal fields enabled him to further
his education. Therefore, he and his brother, Rob-
ert Henry, moved to Huntington, West Virginia.
Later Dr. Woodson entered Douglass High School
and graduated in two years with excellent grades.
After graduation, he enrolled in Berea College
(Kentucky), the University of Chicago (Illinois),
where he received B.A. /M.A. Degrees (1908) and a
PhD Degree (1912) from Howard University.
Coalition for Organizational Protection of People and Equal Rights

4. Coalition for Organizational Protection of People and Equal Rights
The Fight for a Living Wage
By Jessica Buttermore
United Campus Workers—University of Mem-
phis Campus Representative
As part of the Mid-South Organizing Committee's
“Show Me $15” campaign, Memphis joined
the nationwide Fight for a living wage of $15/ hour
and Union representation on August 29, 2013,
when a group of fast food workers walked off the
job to lead a rally supported by local labor, stu-
dents, and community organizations.
Founded in November of 2012, by workers in Chi-
cago, IL and New York, NY, the fast food work-
ers’ campaign for $15/hr. and a union soon ex-
panded to cities nationwide.
Beginning in May of 2013, workers in St. Louis, MO
joined the campaign and the movement took hold
in the Mid-South. Three months later, Memphis
joined 60 cities across the US in the first national
fast food workers strike on August 29, 2013.
“We are more than just fast food workers. We are
people.” Dunetra Merritt, Kentucky Fried Chicken
employee said. “We’re fighting to survive and
thrive and for the generations behind us!”
By December 2013, the number of cities on strike
nationally grew to more than 100 and included
New Orleans, LA, which joined St. Louis and Mem-
phis in organizing the Mid-South. “Show Me 15”
has been energetic and has broken from tradition-
al concepts of organizing. It’s a model that has
seen significant success in an industry largely con-
sidered difficult to organize. Vowing to do what-
ever it takes, workers themselves are optimistic,
“Winning justice didn’t come easy for Martin Lu-
ther King, Rosa Parks or Cesar Chavez and it won’t
come easy for us, but I know that we are going to
win.” said Laquita Jackson, McDonald’s employee.
Some of the campaign’s success has been reflect-
ed in a growing number of states passing, through
methods such as ballot initiatives, new minimum
wage laws. Eleven states passed minimum wage
laws in 2014 that took effect on January 1st
, 2015
and included more conservative states such as
South Dakota and Tennessee’s neighbor, Arkansas.
These wins signal growing national support of and
a need for a higher wage floor.
Additionally, a growing number of cities are begin-
ning to examine the costs and benefits of imple-
menting citywide minimum wage laws and in 2014
cities such as Seattle and San Francisco led the
charge by passing legislation that will gradually
increase the minimum wage to $15/hour within a
few years. This is success. The campaign is win-
ning.
A key to the success of the campaign has been the
establishment of partnerships with non-majority
organizations and unions that have created a
space to collectively plan for future action. In the
case of Memphis, this space has taken the shape
of the Put the People First campaign also backed
by United Campus Workers Local 3865 (UCW) and
Workers’ Interfaith Network, among others.
The local collaboration between Memph15 and
UCW, a statewide organization, on the Put the
People First campaign has garnered momentum
for Show Me 15 in the state of Tennessee. In No-
vember 2013, fast food workers in Knoxville joined
on to the campaign followed in December 2014
by workers in Nashville.
The importance of the statewide nature of the
Show Me 15 in Tennessee couldn’t be more crucial
or timely. The state of Tennessee leads the nation
in its proportion of minimum wage employees and
is currently one of only five states without its
own minimum wage law. These statistics are by
design.
In January of 2013, bills were introduced to pro-
hibit local governments, both cities and counties,
from passing or enforcing local laws that required
businesses with which they contract to pay wages
that exceed federal or state minimum wages.
In April of 2013, these bills were signed into law
and effectively nullified living and prevailing wage
ordinances that had been passed in the cities of
Memphis and Nashville, and their respective
counties, Davidson and Shelby.
This legislation
also reversed
the state’s over-
all prevailing
wage act that
protected those
working on gov-
ernment build-
ing projects
since it was
passed in 1975.
With the pre-
vailing wage act,
if contractors
worked on con-
struction projects that received government fund-
ing they were required to pay workers at "a rate
determined to be the norm in a particular geo-
graphic area for a given class of labor and type of
project." (It was a way to prevent non-union un-
skilled labor from coming in and undercutting
skilled (often unionized) laborers. Currently this
prevailing wage act only applies to highway con-
struction projects.
In July of 2014, fast food workers from across the
nation came together and vowed to do whatever
it takes to win $15/hour and the right to form a
union without retaliation. That September, they
recruited the support of unions and other labor
organizations, students and civil rights groups, and
their communities in escalating the call for $15
and a union. In the tradition of civil rights leaders
in the past, the workers opted to risk took arrest in
acts of civil disobedience. They campaign and are
growing the movement exponentially - from store
to store, city to city and state to state.
Just as the movement expands geographically, it is
spreading into other low-wage industry sectors.
The most recent action on December 4, 2014 in-
cluded workers from home health care and con-
venience and dollar stores who joined the cam-
paign for $15/hour and a union. Along with their
community partners, the workers believe that they
will win and given the success they have achieved
in the two years since the campaign started, they
can’t stop. And they won’t.
“I’m a single mom with two small children and my
family can’t survive on $7.25. So however long it
takes to get $15, I’m going to keep fighting!” said
Angelic Cathey, McDonald’s employee.
“Winning justice
didn’t come easy for
Martin Luther King,
Rosa Parks or Cesar
Chavez and it won’t
come easy for us, but
I know that we are
going to win.”
In loving memory of our friend Casel Jones, gone but never forgotten. Casel served as labor
liaison for United Way. His work offered unions and their members an outlet for improving
our community through charitable giving and projects focused on education, financial stabil-
ity, and health. He will be missed.

5. Kellogg’s - An Example of Corporate Greed
By Kevin Bradshaw
President BCTGM 252G/COPPER
On December 4, 2014, Kellogg’s Corporation and
the International BCTGM Union participated in a
federal mediation process to negotiate amend-
ments to the union’s Master contract. The meeting
excluded local BCTGM presidents, a move incon-
sistent with over 50 years of past practice. Once the
confidential negotiations were concluded, the
amended agreement was presented to the four lo-
cal cereal plants for a vote.
In an attempt to persuade employees to accept the
negotiated concessions, Kellogg’s threatened to
close one to two of the current U.S. facilities sug-
gesting that they were experiencing overcapacity in
production.
On the heels of an illegal 10 month lockout, Mem-
phis plant employees are currently working seven
days per week and 28 days straight with little or no
time off and no complaints. The work schedule con-
tradicts Kellogg’s claim of overproduction, calling
into question the validity of the claim. If Kellogg’s is
losing money, due to overproduction, why not re-
duce work hours, as opposed to proposing plant
closures?
As the lowest cost producer of Frosted Flakes in the
world, generating 65% of all product, it would stand
to reason that closing the Memphis plant would not
be a financially sound decision. However, in spite of
the impending closures, ninety-eight percent of the
1300 workers voting still chose not to amend the
Master Contract. Among the proposed contract
concessions were:
 The elimination of retirement benefits six
months after retiring,,
 A decrease in the company’s portion of
payment for health benefits immediately
upon retirement,
 A reduction in starting pay for new em-
ployees as compared to current employ-
ees
 The discontinuation of cost of living allow-
ances
It is the employees’ perception that Kellogg’s insist-
ence on amending the Master contract is really an
attempt to take a larger piece of the profits, specifi-
cally by reducing employees pay and benefits.
Organize! Organize! Organize! My brothers and sis-
ters at Electrolux, Roxul, Fed Ex, Hershey, Panera
Bread, Nike, Walmart, Fast Food Workers, Restau-
rant Workers, cashiers, cooks, bakers, temps and
workers all over the Memphis area join or organize
a union in your workplace. Don't wait until corpo-
rate greed is knocking on your door or has already
knocked it down. Your union is your voice in the
workplace - no matter what kind of work you do!

6. Coalition for the
Organizational Protection
of People and Equal
Rights
Publisher
**************
C.O.P.P.E.R.
Board of Directors
Kevin Bradshaw - President
Virgie Banks—Vice President
Trence Jackson - Treasurer
***************
Editors
Erica Thomas
Yvonne B. Acey
Advertising
Members of COPPER
Staff Writers
Gail Tyree
Erica Gagne
Jessica Buttermore
Barbara Cooper
Kevin Bradshaw
Graphic Artist
William
Distributors
Kevin Bradshaw
Trence Jackson
David Page
Earl Earley
Coalition for the
Organizational Protection
of People and Equal
Rights
(C.O.P.P.E.R.)
3035 Directors Row, Bldg.
A, Suite 1330,
Memphis, TN 38131
(901) 396-1499
thecoppercoalition@gmail.com
www.coppercoalition.org
Why Clean Energy Matters—
It’s Money in Your Pocket
By Sandra Upchurch
Energy Organizer, Southern Alliance for Clean
Energy
As an environmental advocate, educator and scien-
tist, I have often been asked why clean energy, like
wind, solar power and energy efficiency, is im-
portant. As President Obama unveiled his Climate
Action Plan shortly after being re-elected to his
second term, this question came up more and
more. As families struggle to pay high electricity
bills, many are cautious about embracing renewa-
ble energy due to the erroneous belief that clean
energy options are more expensive than traditional
fuels like coal and natural gas. Currently, 26% of
Memphians live below the poverty line and many
more families live paycheck to paycheck. Any addi-
tional increase in electricity bills means tightening
an already over-extended budget.
Many older homes and apartments are poorly
weatherized and are equipped with old, inefficient
appliances, resulting in significant energy waste
and high electricity costs. Capital investments to
improve housing and upgrade appliances would
help address these energy losses, but many don’t
have the necessary funds to improve their homes
and their way of life – leaving them between a rock
and a hard place. Families can reduce some of
their energy use at a cost of little to nothing by
making behavioral changes – like turning off lights
in rooms that are not in use and unplugging appli-
ances when you aren’t using them. Other free op-
portunities for big energy savings include turning
down the thermostat by a few degrees, and lower-
ing the temperature on water heaters. In addition,
some inexpensive weather strips and caulking can
make a big difference in your utility bills by mini-
mizing the amount of air leaking around doors and
windows .
Utilities in Tennessee are developing programs
that will help low-income families reduce their en-
ergy use and lower their electric bills while devel-
oping clean energy resources. These programs
show how, regardless of color or economic status,
anyone can benefit from the growth of clean ener-
gy resources across the Southeast.
Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) currently
offers a voluntary program called Share the Pen-
nies that rounds up customers’ monthly bills to
even dollar amounts and uses that money to pro-
vide free energy efficiency upgrades to low-income
customers. Knoxville’s Utilities Board recently an-
nounced the launch of a similar program, but with
one key difference: all customers are automatically
signed up to participate, but are given an oppor-
tunity to opt-out. Having an opt-out provision, ra-
ther than an opt-in requirement, could help to
drive significantly higher participation in MLGW’s
program.
MLGW also has educational re-
sources with energy-saving tips and
tools on its website and there are
also programs that provide custom-
er advice and some financial incentives for energy
efficiency upgrades. Tools like, Energy Doctor and
the newly announced eScore program, in partnership
with the Tennessee Valley Authority, can help you
assess your home’s energy efficiency and identify
upgrades to help reduce your energy cost. Energy
Doctor is free, while eScore has a $75 non-refundable
fee, which includes opportunities for instant rebates
on qualifying energy efficiency improvements. Par-
ticipants in eScore can also help find out if they are
eligible for low-interest financing, with monthly pay-
ments included on your utility bill.
A great side effect of reducing your energy use and
your electric bill is a reduced reliance on dirty fossil
fuels, like coal and natural gas, to meet overall elec-
tricity demand. Fossil fuel plants, like the soon-to-be
-retired Allen coal plant in South Memphis, are a pri-
mary source of hazardous air pollutants as well as
carbon pollution that contributes to climate change
and extreme weather events. These extreme weath-
er events will continue to bring more days of extreme
temperatures and extreme weather that threaten
the health of our communities.
Specifically, extreme heat increases the concentra-
tion of dangerous air pollutants, like smog, that can
cause respiratory illness and childhood asthma.
Memphis continuously struggles with poor air quality
brought on by concentrations of dangerous pollu-
tants. In 2014, Memphis was named the 2nd
“most
challenging place to live with asthma” by the Asthma
and Allergy Foundation of America. Additionally,
poor air quality prevents new industry and new jobs
from moving into the area. Companies required to
secure air permits to do business find it difficult to
secure air permits in areas with too much pollution.
We must work together to educate community mem-
bers and decision makers about the interplay of en-
ergy use, pollution, industry growth, and the unnec-
essary financial burdens that result from a reliance
on dirty fossil fuels; especially, burdens to low-
income communities unable to transition to less ex-
pensive, energy efficient green technologies. By
adopting a low-income energy efficiency program
that would help families get access to funds to transi-
tion utilities, we can help raise families out of pov-
erty, and simultaneously address hindrances to in-
dustry and job growth, and improve health out-
comes. We can help grow solar resources in Mem-
phis, given our abundance of sunshine, and create
local, good paying jobs. Together, we can help Mem-
phis become a clean energy leader and give back to
the communities that need it the most.
By increasing the amount of clean energy resources,
we can help build a more distributed energy grid that
will help our power supply become more resilient, a
victory for industry, environment, health, and family
budgets.
For more information regarding the work of SACE,
email Sandra@cleanenergy.org or call 901-826-1658.

7. Insure Tennessee – Haslam’s Watered-down
Version of Obama Care
By Rep. Barbara Cooper
Tennessee District 86
On Tuesday, January 13, 2015 legislators returned
to Nashville for the start of the 109th General As-
sembly. The week was marked by movement on
the Governor’s Medicaid expansion plan known as
Insure Tennessee. Details about this program are
still emerging, but the plan could extend coverage
to over 200,000 working Tennesseans through
two programs.
The first program is the Volunteer Plan. This
would allow those below 138 percent of the pov-
erty line (i.e., approx. $33,000 a year for a family
of four) to receive a subsidy to help them buy in-
surance through their employer. The second plan
is known as Healthy Incentives Tennessee (HIT).
This program would allow people between 100
and 138 percent of the poverty line to access
Medicaid-type benefits, but with monthly premi-
ums and pharmacy co-pays. Participants in the HIT
plan would also have the option of a health sav-
ings account where members can earn money to
use for medical services by engaging in healthy
Governor Bill Haslam
1st Floor, State Capitol
Nashville, TN 37243
Primary (615) 741-2001
bill.haslam@tn.gov
Shelby County TN Delegation:
SENATORS
Lee Harris—
sen.lee.harris@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-1767
Brian Kelsey—
sen.brian.kelsey@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-3036
Sara Kyle—
sen.sara.kyle@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-4167
Mark Norris—
sen.mark.norris@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-1967
Reginald Tate—
sen.reginald.tate@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-2509
HOUSE
Raumesh Akbari—
rep.raumesh.akbari@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-3830
living practices.
Governor Haslam has scheduled a Special Session
for the General Assembly to consider passage of his
Insure Tennessee plan. We must send our legisla-
tors a strong message, that Tennessee families
need Medicaid expansion. Contact Governor Has-
lam and your legislators and urge them to vote for
Tennessee families—to support Insure Tennessee.
Our families’ futures depend on it.
Karen D. Camper—
rep.karen.camper@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-1898
Jim Coley—
rep.jim.coley@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-8201
Barbara Ward Cooper—
rep.barbara.cooper@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-
4295
John J. DeBerry Jr.—
rep.john.deberry@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-2239
G. A. Hardaway—
rep.ga.hardaway@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-5625
Ron Lollar—
rep.ron.lollar@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-7084
Steve McManus—
rep.steve.mcmanus@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-1920
Larry J. Miller—
rep.larry.miller@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-4453
Antonio Parkinson—
rep.antonio.parkinson@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-4575
Curry Todd—
rep.curry.todd@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-1866
Joe Towns, Jr.—
rep.joe.towns@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-2189
Johnnie Turner—
rep.johnnie.turner@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-6954
Mark White—
rep.mark.white@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-4415

8. Coalition for Organizational Protection of People and Equal Rights
All Lives Matter
By Michael “Mike” Williams
President, Memphis Police Association
These are critical
times in Memphis and
all over the United
States when it comes
to Community and
Police relations. Many
in the African Ameri-
can Community feel
that there is an attack by police officers on African
American citizens, specifically the African Ameri-
can male. This feeling is driving citizens to protest
under the banner of “Black Lives Matter” and
“Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” all over the country. For-
tunately, we have not had citizens being killed by
Memphis police officers where the amount of
force used was not warranted. Recent incidents in
other cities have highlighted situations involving
African American males and their encounters with
police officers where lives have been lost, and one
case in particular involved Michael Brown. He was
an 18 year old male black who was fatally wound-
ed by Officer Darren Wilson, a male white. The
incident occurred in Ferguson, MO, on August 9,
2014. The Grand Jury in St. Louis County did not
find sufficient evidence to prosecute Officer Wil-
son. In many of the other cases where male blacks
have died, the respective grand juries have not
found sufficient evidence to prosecute which has
angered the citizens in those communities. They
felt that justice had not been served.
There are two sides to this coin. In most of these
incidents, the individuals who have been involved
with the police have been involved in suspicious or
criminal activities. Most would not comply with
becoming more defiant and aggressive.
Homicides and violent crimes for 2014 have in-
creased. Gang violence and drive by shootings are
happening on a recurring basis.
We have to educate the citizens and the children on
what to do when encountered by the police, so that
a “Ferguson” will not occur in the city of Memphis.
Specifically, citizens need to comply with the direc-
tives presented by the officer and understand that
if they feel that the officer has violated their civil
rights or handled them in a manner that violates
policy and procedure, there is a vehicle to voice
grievances. That vehicle cannot be noncompliance
and defiance on the streets. Rather, it is contacting
the officer’s supervisor or lodging a formal com-
plaint with the Internal Affairs Bureau.
Without law there is chaos and for every action
there is a reaction. We must find a happy medium
by reestablishing community/police relations.
There are more commonalities with police and citi-
zens than are realized. Many citizens, several of
which are African American, have had encounters
with law enforcement and made the right choices.
Police officers are husbands and wives, mothers
and fathers, our neighbors and friends who perform
a very necessary, yet difficult job and face some of
the worst situations that society has to offer on a
daily basis. Compliance by citizens to officers’ direc-
tives, as well as officers’ compliance with constitu-
tional laws, and organizational policies and proce-
dures will go a long way in keeping our communi-
ties safe and enhance community/police relation-
ships. I want to ask citizens to take a long look at all
incidents in their totality and not jump to prema-
ture conclusions. The facts, if evaluated correctly,
will always stand on their own.
the commands given by the police officers. Non-
compliance with an officer’s commands only esca-
lates the situation. Many citizens have contact
with law enforcement on a daily basis without inci-
dent. Even those involved in criminal activity, if
they simply comply with an officer’s commands,
the situation would more than likely come to an
ending without a critical incident. Officers are al-
lowed to use the minimal amount of force neces-
sary to affect an arrest. The minimal amount of
force is usually established by the citizen’s re-
sistance. Once an officer issues a request for com-
pliance (e.g., If an officer tells you to stop then
stop. If he tells you to put your hands up, put your
hands up), complying initiates the process of
deescalating the situation. Most officers them-
selves are just as afraid in these situations as the
citizen whom they encounter, and noncompliance
simply heightens the anxiety. When faced with the
unknown, it is imperative that the officer immedi-
ately assess and take control of the situation for
the safety of the citizen, the officer, and the com-
munity.
Sometimes, officers overreact or do not operate in
compliance with policies and procedures estab-
lished by the law or their departments. We should
never defend an officer in his or her wrongdoing,
and they should be held accountable for failure to
follow these standards. At the same time, we as
law-abiding citizens should expect individuals who
break the law to be held accountable for their ac-
tions.
Citizens expect officers to restore order and keep
the peace. This requires split second decisions that
can be the difference between life and death. We
have, in the city of Memphis, an increase in juve-
niles involved in incidents where they are
Lessons Learned From
Meeting With Memphis
Police
By Paul Garner
Organizing Coordinator
Mid-South Peace & Justice
Center
In 2012, The Mid-south Peace & Justice Center
broke new ground in Memphis, hosting a project
called Community Police Relations (CPR), which
brought together facilitated circles of community
members and Memphis police officers. The goal
was to create a safe space for dialogue about bar-
riers to relationships between the community and
law enforcement, and to eventually build more
safe and secure communities utilizing tactics de-
termined essential by the communities most
affected by these issues. Of course there was ten-
sion in these meetings, and disagreements to be
sure, but through struggling with these issues,
some very deep and enlightening conversations
took place. The CPR project has come to an end,
but Memphis United, a coalition of grassroots or-
ganizations, community groups, and passionate
individuals have picked up working where CPR left
off.
Over the past year, Memphis United has been
working to develop a Community Action Plan to
address criminal justice reform comprehensively,
with a number of objectives aimed at changing the
culture of law enforcement and improving commu-
nity police relations. Many of the goals included in
this plan originated during conversations facilitat-
ed through the CPR project. Specifically, accounta-
bility and transparency within the Memphis Police
Department’s (MPD) complaince process were
identified as major barriers by community mem-
bers. In many other cities, Civilian Law Enforce-
ment Review Boards (CLERB) have been effective
in restoring public confidence in the process of
filing a complaint against an officer, and believing it
will be investigated fully and fairly. Last summer,
Memphis United successfully pushed for the rein-
statement of members to the Memphis CLERB.
Currently, Memphis United is developing an
amendment to the City of Memphis Code of Ordi-
nances to grant new powers to the CLERB; includ-
ing subpoena, disciplinary, and greater investigative
powers.
However, accountability isn’t the only solution to
improving relations between the community and
police. Support was another issue frequently raised
by officers in the CPR circles. Officers spoke about
responding to call after call, going from such ex-
tremes as responding to a gruesome murder scene,
and then interacting with a kid on a truancy viola-
tion. The amount of psychological trauma faced by
officers can eventually take a toll on even the
(Continued on page 9)

9. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
WHEN ENCOUNTERING LAW ENFORCEMENT
Q: What if law enforcement officers stop me on the street?
A: You do not have to answer any questions. You can say, “I do not want
to talk to you” and walk away calmly. Or, if you do not feel comfortable
doing that, you can ask if you are free to go. If the answer is yes, you can
consider just walking away. Do not run from the officer. If the officer
says you are not under arrest, but you are not free to go, then you are
being detained. Being detained is not the same as being arrested,
though an arrest could follow. The police can pat down the outside of
your clothing only if they have “reasonable suspicion” (i.e., an objective
reason to suspect) that you might be armed and dangerous. If they
search any more than this, say clearly, “I do not consent to a search.” If
they keep searching anyway, do not physically resist them. You do not
need to answer any questions if you are detained or arrested, except
that the police may ask for your name once you have been detained, and
you can be arrested in some states for refusing to provide it. (Non-
citizens should see Section IV for more information on this topic.)
Q: What if law enforcement officers stop me in my car?
A: Keep your hands where the police can see them. You must show your
drivers license, registration and proof of insurance if you are asked for these
documents. Officers can also ask you to step outside of the car, and they
may separate passengers and drivers from each other to question them and
compare their answers, but no one has to answer any questions. The police
cannot search your car unless you give them your consent, which you do
not have to give, or unless they have “probable cause” to believe (i.e.,
knowledge of facts sufficient to support a reasonable belief) that criminal
activity is likely taking place, that you have been involved in a crime, or that
you have evidence of a crime in your car. If you do not want your car
searched, clearly state that you do not consent. The officer cannot use your
refusal to give consent as a basis for doing a search.
Q: What should I do if law enforcement officers arrest me?
A: The officer must advise you of your constitutional rights to remain
silent, to an attorney, and to have an attorney appointed if you cannot
afford one. You should exercise all these rights, even if the officers don’t
tell you about them. Do not tell the police anything except your name.
Anything else you say can and will be used against you. Ask to see a law-
yer immediately. Within a reasonable amount of time after your arrest
or booking you have the right to a phone call. Law enforcement officers
may not listen to a call you make to your lawyer, but they can listen to
calls you make to other people. You must be taken before a judge as
soon as possible—generally within 48 hours of your arrest at the latest.
(See Section IV for information about arrests for noncriminal immigra-
tion violations.)
Q: Do I have to answer questions if I have been arrested?
A: No. If you are arrested, you do not have to answer any questions or vol-
unteer any information. Ask for a lawyer right away. Repeat this request to
every officer who tries to talk to or question you. You should always talk to
a lawyer before you decide to answer any questions.
Q: What if I am treated badly by law enforcement officers?
A: Write down the officer’s badge number, name or other identifying infor-
mation. You have a right to ask the officer for this information. Try to find
witnesses and their names and phone numbers. If you are injured, seek
medical attention and take pictures of the injuries as soon as you can. Call a
lawyer or contact your local ACLU office. You should also make a complaint
to the law enforcement office responsible for the treatment.
For More Information: https://www.aclu.org/national-security/know-your-rights-when-encountering-law-enforcement
Filing a Police Report— with the Memphis Police Department (MPD)
The local policy can be found at:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/964020-memphis-police-
public-recordings-policy.html
Most of MPD's current policies are not available online . Most have to be
obtained through a request form submitted in person to the Office of Pub-
lic Records, located at the City Attorney’s Office, 125 N. Main St., Rm 336,
Memphis, TN 38103. The request form can be obtained online at:
http://www.memphistn.gov/Portals/0/pdf_forms/
New_Record_Request_Form.pdf
To File a permit for a march, rally, etc.
Contact the Permit Office , at 2714 Union Avenue Ext., Suite 100 ,
Memphis, TN 38112 or call (901) 636-6711.
http://www.memphistn.gov/Government/CityAttorney/PermitsOffice.aspx
(Continued… Lessons Learned from Meeting with Police)
soundest of minds. Officers expressed a lack of support, but also an aversion
to seeking help, describing a culture where seeking counseling or treatment
for mental health means being stigmatized and labeled as unstable or un-
trustworthy. Based on this input, Memphis United developed another goal;
comprehensive, individualized and confidential counseling and emotional
health programs for all Law Enforcement officers, specifically related to de-
pression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, domestic violence and
suicide prevention.
Criminal justice reform affects all communities. Therefore, Memphis United
seeks to change the culture of Law Enforcement and the way the public and
police interact. To do this, we must have a dynamic plan of action that con-
siders all aspects of the reforms we need to improve community police rela-
tions. If you want to be a part of this work, join Memphis United, every first
and third Wednesday of the month at the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center,
3573 Southern Ave.
For more info, contact Paul Garner paul@midsouthpeace.org (901) 725-4990

10. Memphis Lives Matter

11. State of the Dream 2015:
Underbanked and Over-
charged is United for a
Fair Economy's twelfth an-
nual look at race, wealth,
and inequality. Foreword
by Van Jones.
This report finds that over
one in five households
(mostly Black, Latino, or
Native American) are un-
derserved by the banking
industry, costing these households an average of $3,029
per year in fees and interest just to access their own
money. This "wage theft" takes a total of $103 billion
per year out of the communities that need it most.
This report makes several recommendations that could
expand access to accessible, affordable banking ser-
vices, including expanding the role of the US Postal Ser-
vice. By expanding postal banking services in 31,000
locations across the nation, we can increase access to
important wealth-building tools in those communities
that are currently underserved.
For more information go to:
http://faireconomy.org/dream15
Get Involved
Criminal Justice Reform Requires
Comprehensive Solutions
Paul Garner
Organizing Coordinator
Mid-South Peace & Justice Center
Memphis United is a coalition of
grassroots organizations, commu-
nity groups, and Memphis resi-
dents formed to confront struc-
tural and institutional racism. We
are called by the needs of our community to address the ra-
cial, economic and systemic issues of police harassment and a
revolution in our adult and juvenile criminal justice systems.
For our city to survive we must heal the breach between our
community and those tasked with it’s protection. However,
genuine healing can only take place after reforms are made
which stop the violence that the community is facing, the vio-
lence of harassment, death and the structural violence that
keeps many trapped in the for-profit criminal justice system
for the rest of their lives.
We, as one community, in one unified voice, will work to build
a movement across Memphis and Shelby County to make our
community a model of innovation, progressivism, equality,
humanity, sensibility, justice and restoration.
Improve relationships between the community and local law enforcement, via accountabil-
ity and community oversight. This includes body cameras on all officers, which provide an
unimpeachable record of law enforcement’s interaction with the public and has improved
community police relations in places like Rialto, California where in the first year of cameras
being implemented, use of force by officers declined 60%. However, video evidence is not
always enough to ensure that justice is served. As was the case in Staten Island New York
where video revealed Eric Garner was killed by an officer employing a banned choke hold, and
yet a grand jury failed to indict the officer. Other measures of accountability are needed. We
seek to amend the City of Memphis Code of Ordinances to grant new powers to the Civilian
Law Enforcement Review Board, including subpoena, disciplinary and greater investigative
powers and to create and establish a Civilian Review Board on the county level to provide
community oversight to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
Ensure a system of equal justice in Memphis and Shelby County, moving away from punitive
criminal justice models and towards restorative justice alternatives. We seek increased fund-
ing for programs like Drug Court and Jericho which have a higher success rate than incarcera-
tion, and cost taxpayers significantly less. We view the current prison system as a tool for gen-
erating revenue for privately owned corporations, not reform or rehabilitation. We seek the
expansion of treatment based alternatives to incarceration. We seek an end to privatized pro-
bation services in Shelby County and those duties resumed by public workers. We seek full
restoration of legal rights after a person has completed their sentence and made all required
restitution. We want nothing short of total public divestment of the for-profit prison system in
the adult and juvenile system. In addition, we seek a commitment from Shelby County Sher-
iff’s Office to follow the precedent set by over 250 counties by refusing to honor detainer re-
quests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Ensure a system of equal justice in Memphis and Shelby County, moving away from punitive
criminal justice models and towards restorative justice alternatives. We seek increased fund-
ing for programs like Drug Court and Jericho which have a higher success rate than incarcera-
tion, and cost taxpayers significantly less. We view the current prison system as a tool for gen-
erating revenue for privately owned corporations, not reform or rehabilitation. We seek the
expansion of treatment based alternatives to incarceration. We seek an end to privatized pro-
bation services in Shelby County and those duties resumed by public workers. We seek full
restoration of legal rights after a person has completed their sentence and made all required
restitution. We want nothing short of total public divestment of the for-profit prison system in
the adult and juvenile system. In addition, we seek a commitment from Shelby County Sher-
iff’s Office to follow the precedent set by over 250 counties by refusing to honor detainer re-
quests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Remove barriers to reproductive freedom and justice within our criminal justice system. We
support full public funding for the testing and investigations as a result of the Rape Kit back-
log. We also seek new legislation and policy forbidding shackling of pregnant individuals dur-
ing the labor process within all prisons and detention centers across Tennessee regardless of
citizenship status. We also demand a repeal of the criminalization of pregnancy law and non-
cooperation through prosecution under said law by the Shelby County district Attorney’s
office. We seek a new screening process for candidates for law enforcement that prevents
those with a conviction of domestic violence and all sexual assault related charges from gain-
ing employment as a law enforcement officers in Memphis and Shelby County.
Change the culture of Law Enforcement and end the militarization of Law Enforcement. We
seek comprehensive, individualized and confidential counseling and emotional health pro-
grams for all Law Enforcement officers, specifically relating to depression, post-traumatic
stress disorder, addiction, domestic violence and suicide prevention. We seek mandated cul-
tural sensitivity training for all local law enforcement personnel, specifically in interactions
with people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness and racial, gender and LGBT.
comprehensive sensitivity training. We seek a new anti-racial profiling policy by MPD and the
SCSO. We seek a review and reform of the Civil Assets Forfeiture process. Banning the seizure
of property or funds if the individuals was neither charged nor convicted. We seek a repeal of
1033 and the return of military equipment from local law enforcement back to military
sources.
These are just some of the solutions that Memphis United will continue to push for as we
march forward into 2015 toward our ultimate goal of revolutionary change within our criminal
justice system! Join us as we convene to put our plans into action, every first and third
Wednesday of the month, from 6-7:30PM at the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center (3573
Southern Ave). Paul Garner 901.725.4990

12. Coalition for Organizational Protection of People and Equal Rights
Opinion Editorial
Roe v. Wade 42 years
later: What you need to
know
By Gail Tyree
Director of Community
Partnerships, Planned
Parenthood Greater Mem-
phis Region
As we mark the 42nd
anni-
versary of Roe v. Wade,
the U.S. Supreme Court decision that found a
woman’s right to privacy includes her right to an
abortion, the political attacks waged on women’s
health in statehouses across the country have
gotten out of hand. Many of the laws being intro-
duced are purported to protect women, but they
do the opposite. As lawmakers consider policy on
women’s health, they must listen to women’s
health care providers, who know that abortion is
safe—and will only stay safe if we make sure it is
accessible and legal.
Studies show that three in ten women in the U.S.
have had an abortion and that abortion is one of
the safest medical procedures performed in the
U.S.. Data, including from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), indicate that abor-
tion has over a 99 percent safety record.
Nationally, the abortion rate is at its’ lowest rate
since 1973. In 2013, 14,216 women had abortions
in Tennessee compared to 17,479 in 2000, a 19
percent decrease. The decline is likely due to
growing use of reliable long-acting contraceptives,
like the IUD, which are available to women free of
charge at Planned Parenthood here in Memphis.
Our Free Condoms Memphis program, which gave
away 295,815 condoms in 2014, is also a proactive
vehicle to reduce unintended pregnancies.
Planned Parenthood has a national set of stand-
ards and guidelines based on the expert recom-
mendations of the CDC and the American College
of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. As a high-
quality provider of medical care to women across
America, ensuring the health and safety of all pa-
tients is fundamental.
In order to ensure abortion remains safe and legal
for future generations, we must replace misinfor-
mation with the facts and start having honest con-
versations about abortion in America today. Ulti-
mately, decisions about whether to choose adop-
tion, end a pregnancy, or raise a child must be left
to a woman with the counsel of her health care
provider, her family, and her faith.
To learn more visit www.ppgmr.org or
www.FreeCondomsMemphis.org.
2015 Outstanding Church Awards
Honoring
Dr. Coopwood
Dr. Phillip Bowdon
Linda Nettles Harris, Esq
Mayor AC Wharton
National Civil Rights Museum
450 Mulberry St
Sunday, February 15, 2015
5:30 pm
The Tenth Annual
Gerard A. Vanderhaar Symposium
Presents
Sr. Simone Campbell, sss
Christian Brothers University
University Theater
650 E. Parkway So.
Memphis, TN
Thursday, April 16, 2015
7:00 pm

13. Open
Enrollment
November 15, 2014—February 15, 2015
Find More Information at:
http://GetCoveredAmerica.org
The Professional Voice For Educators
By Rosemary Winters, Chairperson, Political
Action Committee for Education (PACE) and
Yvonne B. Acey
The Memphis/Shelby County
Teachers Association is an
organization representing
education professionals with
a collective voice for its members promoting, ad-
vising, and protecting the rights and interest of
children. Additionally, the association collaborates
with stakeholders, legislators, community leaders,
politicians, and citizens to develop program poli-
cies and initiatives to improve the quality of edu-
cation. Other association objectives include scho-
lastic achievement and encouraging fairness and
due process dedicated to satisfactory working
conditions for all professionals.
In 2014, there were several major challenges, vic-
tories, and proposals of importance to Memphis/
Shelby County Education Association (M-SCEA)
which included the following;
 Defeating the Tennessee Tenure Law that cor-
relates and connects teachers’ licensure with
the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment Sys-
tem (TVASS) and classroom observation scores.
This system measures the impact schools and
teachers have on students’ academic progress;
specifically, measuring student growth versus
proficiency on state assessment;
 Modifying Tennessee legislation regarding poli-
cies and procedures related to teacher evalua-
tions; and
 Reviewing the selection, rules, regulations, and
assessments regarding the number of Achieve-
ment School Districts (ASD) locally and state-
wide. ASD refers to a special district estab-
lished by the State of Tennessee to help turn
around the state’s proficiency in order to en-
sure quality education for all students.
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam weighed in on the
importance of the State’s teacher evaluation pro-
cess. He introduced a bill asking the legislature to
temporarily reduce the emphasis placed on stu-
dent test scores in the annual evaluation of public
school teachers. State Representative Raumesh
Akbari (District 91) introduced legislation (House
Bill 108 similar to Senate Bill 119), limiting ASD
powers to improving on existing grade levels in
school take overs versus continued expansion. She
stated that limiting ASD powers in this way would
provide continuity, consistency and structure for
students – both strengthening and protecting the
ASD mission ensuring that no child is denied the
opportunity to succeed.
The Memphis/Shelby County Association will con-
tinue to monitor and provide information on im-
portant legislation, amendments and educational
priorities. If you need additional information con-
cerning ASD schools and teacher evaluations, go to
www.gomea.com or the Tennessee Education As-
sociation website: www.teateachers.org

14. ALL AROUND TOWN
Community Announcements
C.O.P.P.E.R.
Coalition for Organizational Protection of People and Equal Rights
Community Announcements
Contact : www.coppercoalition.org
The coppercoalition@gmail.com
901-396-1499
Democratic Party Meeting
Announcements
Democratic Women of Shelby County (DWSC) Events
What: Monthly meeting open to the public (men are welome!)
When: Every 2nd Saturday of the month at 12 noon
Where: Caritas Village, 2059 Harvard Ave., Memphis, TN 38112
Shelby County Democratic Party (SCDP) Executive Meeting
What: Monthly meeting open to the public (all are welcome!)
When: Every 1st Thursday of the month at 7:00pm
Where: IBEW Local 474, 1870 Madison Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104
SCDP Biennial Convention March 14th @ 9 am (Nominations) & March
28th @ 10 am (Elections)— First Baptist 2835 Broad Ave, 38112.
Shelby County Young Democrats
What: Monthly Meeting ( open to all young people)
When: Every 1st Thursday of the Month at 6;00pm
Where: 915 McLemore Suite 201, Memphis, TN 38106
Germantown Democratic Club (GDC)
What: Monthly meeting open to the public (all are welcome!)
When: Every 4th Wednesday of the month at 6:00pm:
Where: Coletta's Restaurant, 2850 Appling Road, Memphis,
TN 38133
Tennessee National Federation of Democratic Women
What: TFDW TATE CONVENTION (open to the public)
When: May 22-23rd, 2015
Where: Hilton Hotel Memphis, 939 Ridge Lake Boulevard, Memphis, TN 38120
Theme: "Democratic Women Building Bridges to the Future"
Brooks & The Memphis Urban League
Young Professional
Presents
The Black Films
SCHEDULE
Sat Feb 14 - This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil
Rights Movement / open to the public
Thurs Feb 26, 7 pm – Talk: Exhibition curator/activist photographer
Matt Herron.
Thurs Mar 5, 7 pm — Film: Black Power Mixtape
Thurs Mar 12, 7 pm — Talk:: Masta Ace
Thurs Mar 19, 7 pm — Film: Little White Lie
Sat Mar 21, 11 am-2 pm — This Light of Ours Chalkfest and Block
Party
Thurs Mar 26, 7 pm — Film: Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A
Tribe Called Quest
Sat Mar 28, 2 pm — Exhibition tour with Barbara Andrews, Curator of
NCRM
Thurs Apr 2, 7 pm — Film: King: A Filmed Record
Thurs, Apr 16, 5-9 pm — All Access: This Light of Ours
Thurs Apr 20, 7 pm — Film: The Trials of Muhammad Ali
Thurs May 7, 7 pm — Film: Pharaohs of Memphis
Sun, May 10 — Last day to view exhibition
For more info: http://mulyp.org
Neighborhood Money
How ethnic spending builds communities.
Presented By:
The Memphis Urban League Young
Professional (MULYP)
February 19, 2015 at 6:30PM
Memphis Urban League
413 N. Cleveland
Memphis, TN
Planned
Parenthood
Lobby Day
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
10:00 am-3:00pm
Please join Amendment 1 oppo-
nents from across Tennessee as
we lobby our legislators on re-
productive rights issues im-
portant to Tennessee women.
For more information, visit us
on facebook #Paintthehillpink:
Planned Parenthood Lobby Day
2015
SCLC Black Tie Affair
Banquet
February 6, 2015
1098 South Wellington St.
Memphis TN
$50.00 Ticket
$500.00 Table
Contact:
Rev. Walter Womack
(901) 644-9647
Kevin Bradshaw
(901) 603-3296
Tennessee PTA Students
Storm the Hill
March 4, 2015 ~ 10:00 am - 3:00pm
The focus of this session will be on providing an opportunity
for middle and high school students as well as PTA mem-
bers across the state to meet with legislators. Educational
sessions will be provided especially for youth participants.
All Tennessee PTA units are encouraged to attend.
For more information go to www.tnpta.org or email Jesus
Fuentes at jfuentes@tnpta.org or call 615-383-9740.
APRI Screening of
10,000 Men Named
George
TBA
Contact: Kermit Moore
kermit.moorejr@gmail.com
10,000 Black Men Named George is a 2002
Showtime TV movie about A. Philip Randolph.
The title refers to the custom of the time
when Pullman porters, all of whom were
black, were addressed as "George."
MemphisAPRI@facebook.com

15. March 8, 2015