Faith and Democracy: For People of Faith and Goodwill

Sunday, March 23rd, Evergreen Presbyterian Church hosted Faith and Democracy: For People of Faith and Goodwill. Targeted for individuals interested in getting involved in creating change in Memphis, specifically around the Memphis (Un)safe Task Force, Faith and Democracy gave individuals an overview of the current landscape in Memphis and gave people concrete ways to get involved. 

Theological Foundation

Micah 6:8: 

He has showed you, O man, what is good;

    and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

    and to walk humbly with your God?

Leviticus 19:33-34:

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

It is clear from scripture that we should all be welcome and loving to newcomers and our purpose is to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly. What does this look like in a city like Memphis, where we are currently occupied by the “Safe” Taskforce and where our MPD is working with ICE agents, who are terrorizing our immigrant neighbors? 

Current Memphis Statistics

As of March 20th, out of the 9,119 arrests made, over 850 of those were immigration-related administrative arrests. Additionally, the task force has made over 96,000 traffic stops and given almost 88,000 traffic citations. Traffic citations are often referred to as “crimes of poverty,” because they are often for small infractions such as broken headlights or expired tags, which disproportionately affect those facing poverty who may struggle to make such repairs. This further pushes into the cycle of poverty, as after they are given a traffic citation, they often must appear before a court, which often requires taking time off from work meaning less pay, and pay fees and related court costs.

Four Roles of Social Change

Helper - directly providing services, assistance, and education to people in their community

Advocate - works with the legal system to oppose discriminatory and oppressive laws through actions such as lobbying and lawsuits

Rebel - engages with systemic oppression through direct actions, protests, and civil disobedience 

Organizer - believes in the power of the people and works to mobilize the community

All four roles of social change are important and necessary for real change to happen, and most importantly, members of each role should work in tandem with one another to produce the best outcomes for your community. 

To learn more about the roles and for guided questions to help you determine your role of social change, visit here: https://commonslibrary.org/understand-your-role-in-social-change/

Breakout Groups - Boycott/Buycott

After the educational presentation, teams were given different breakout group options, with one group focusing on how to get involved with V901, one group focusing on the upcoming No Kings protest, and the last group focusing on the Free the 901 Boycott/Buycott list. The Boycott/Buycott list was created by the campaign Free the 901 with the intention of highlighting businesses that oppose the national guard and other federal agents deployment in Memphis and publicly calling out businesses that have been supporting the occupation of Memphis through offering discounts to officers. The living Boycott/Buycott list can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/6/d/e/2PACX-1vTm-4iKNUzj7t_IC3PpjgdhH_FBVhNj0ytvSKqkGQ7EweNXf_HI9Q3L0GO1e3XiEN-FhCn62UvEwdAO/pubhtml The document contains links to the form to report or highlight businesses in the Memphis community. 

Beyond the living document itself, we primarily discussed canvassing and how individuals can go up to businesses themselves and engage in conversations around the buycott/boycott list. The more businesses involved in the boycott/buycott list, the more powerful the list can become, especially when we are able to identify alternatives from the boycott list to add to the buycott list.