Why should we care?
SCS’s ability to provide a quality, equitable education is being undercut by high teacher turnover and year-long teaching vacancies, as well as significant maintenance deficiencies within the schools, all of which leads to higher financial, educational, and health costs. A lack of access to wraparound services provided by qualified social workers, psychologists, and nurses inhibits the successful treatment of trauma or Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE). Abuse, neglect, and trauma significantly increase the likelihood of suspensions, juvenile criminal behavior, and incarceration. With a median age four years below the national average, Memphis’s population can support economic development, but only if we provide children in our community access to opportunities and support.
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Equipping people of faith and goodwill to organize communities for systemic change through collective action.
Transformational Justice Task Force
Our Work
Transformative Justice (TJ) is a framework that seeks to address systemic harms in the criminal legal system by transforming the conditions that allow injustice to persist. As opposed to a reformist approach that modify existing structures, TJ challenges the fundamental reliance on policing, incarceration, and surveillance, advocating instead for community-led accountability and alternative responses to harm.
In Memphis, policing and incarceration disproportionately harm Black and low-income communities, with the Memphis Police Department (MPD) operating under a model of racialized policing and excessive force.
The Shelby County Jail (201 Poplar) is notoriously overcrowded and dangerous, often failing to provide adequate medical and mental health care. Many individuals remain detained solely because they cannot afford bail, and community resources that could provide true safety—housing, mental health care, and employment opportunities—remain underfunded.
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While police accountability is our primary focus, other systemic injustices (such as pretrial detention, mass supervision, and jail conditions) also require urgent action. ​
How We Can Take Action!
We aim to transform Memphis’s approach to policing, incarceration, and public safety by shifting resources from punitive systems to community-led solutions. Our task force is strategizing around direct action to challenge MPD misconduct, cash bail, inhumane jail conditions, and other deeply rooted problems in the criminal legal system. To advance transformative justice, we will partner with various organizations and stakeholders to engage policymakers, city officials, and legal advocates to push for legislative and litigation solutions.
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Join our Transformational Justice Task Force to mobilize public pressure through direct action, media advocacy, and coalition building.