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Mayor Paul Young's State of the City Address
- vanielsimmons
- Feb 17
- 3 min read
“The People Will Rise” by Nelini Stamp
Why are we in this situation, in this situation, that brings us down?
Can’t you see we are losing patience, we are losing patience, with oppression now.
The people will rise. The people will rise. The people will rise. (x2)
We have come to raise our voices, to raise our voices, for the broken down.
You and me, we will stand together, we will stand together, on common ground.
The people will rise. The people will rise. The people will rise. (x2)
Protest Signs Outside of the State of the City Address
February 10th, 2026 Mayor Paul held his State of the City Address. In typical pep-rally fashion, the event was poised as a celebratory experience, opening with commercials from businesses in the area and a performance from the Young Actors Guild. The church it was held in was packed, so much so that the event was delayed 15 minutes to continue letting people in through security, yet there were still people denied entry. One audience member behind me commented “I never seen a state of the city packed like this… they got a militarized truck out in the parking lot!”
As the event opened with the City Council Chair and Vice Chair, murmurs began throughout the audience. Vice Chair Chase Carlisle stated “Progress that leaves people behind isn’t progress at all” while Chair Jana Swearengen-Washington said “We are the measure of our response, not the measure of our struggles.” The two council positions then highlighted points of accomplishment that they felt they had made over the past year, including repairing roads, upgrading street lighting, and ensuring ‘basic services’ reach every block of Memphis. As the Chair and Vice Chair continued their speeches, murmurs began throughout the crowd, of individuals questioning the validity of their statements. “Really?!” one member of the audience cried out. It was the beginning of a night of peaceful but firm protests.
While Mayor Paul Young spoke, saying how much he appreciated and valued the immigrant community, cries rang out questioning the presence of ICE and the Memphis [Un]Safe Task Force. The Mayor hushed protesters and urged the audience to hear him out, but as he continued speaking, he navigated around the questions that Memphians really had about the current state of the city. One protestor, who was not a part of MICAH’s actions, spoke out about pollution and X-AI, to which the Mayor responded that the individual was “putting on a show” and asked the audience to clap and give them “the attention [they] are seeking.” The individual was dragged out by police officers, who even ripped their dress on the way out. The Mayor attempted to lean on the fact that the State of the City Address was held in a church, urging the audience to respect the Lord’s house and not protest, a comment that seemed tone-deaf in a city with a deep and long history of church activism.
MICAH then began standing up, letting our voices be heard as we asked the difficult questions that the Mayor was avoiding. One by one, MICAH members were escorted out by church security guard members, and then all at once, MICAH members walked out of the church together, singing “The People Will Rise” by Nelini Stamp. As we were all escorted out, members of MICAH gathered around the doors of the church, continuing to sing, until the church security instructed us to disperse from the private property of the church.
In a debrief held by MICAH, members reflected on their experiences at the State of the City Address, echoing feelings of being unheard and over-looked. The Mayor never adequately addressed our concerns, instead forcing the event to be self-congradulatory which was in stark contrast to the feeling of the Memphians in attendance. It was also brought up how incredibly Christian-centric the event was made to be; beyond being held within a church and having an opening by a Christian pastor, the language within the Mayor’s speech was soaked in Christian rhetoric that felt unrepresentative of the multicultural and diverse population of Memphis.
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