On the same day that a small crowd of white supremacists staged a widely promoted, but underwhelming, rally in Middle Tennessee, there was a gathering of a different sort in Memphis.
Following in the footsteps of former President Barack Obama, about 100 people from 31 groups were training to be community organizers for MICAH, the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope.
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| Mary Gonzales of the Gamaliel Foundation demonstrates how to do a one-on-one interview at a training day held by MICAH. |
“There were about six of us around a table” at St. James AME Church in Uptown, said Rev. Stacy Spencer, pastor of New Directions Church in Southeast Memphis. “We were looking for ways to hold our local elected officials accountable.”
Spencer, who later became president of MICAH, said the group came together out of concern over “the volatility of the political climate,” and incidents of intimidation and bullying that were occurring following the November election.
The early group, which included Rev. Walter Henry from St. James, grew to include representatives from about dozens of faith-based groups around Memphis. They have been holding regular meetings since early this year.
Rather than diving in and tackling issues as they come up, MICAH is following the Gamaliel
Foundation’s lead and building a structure for the organization to ensure it is a lasting entity.
“We have a long-term game plan,” Spencer said.
At the October training, the second held in Memphis by Greg Galluzzo and Mary Gonzales, of Gamaliel (Galluzzo mentored Barack Obama when he was an organizer in Chicago), participants were taught about giving communities the power to challenge systems that are not working in their self-interest.
The organizations that can bring together the most people and the most money are the most powerful, Gonzales said. A diverse group of people can be motivated if they know that they will get something out of the action. This is the meat-and-potatoes of organizing. Talking to people and finding out what they want, and then working to find a quid pro quo that will motivate them to do what you want. So far, MICAH has signed up 24 charter member groups, mostly congregations or faith-based groups in Memphis. Each charter member pledges an initial donation plus annual dues. MICAH is also applying for grants and fund-raising in Memphis.
Meggan Kiel of Temple Israel, a member of the recruitment committee, said partner organizations will be asked to provide a representative for the MICAH board of directors, and each organization is asked to build a core team that will reach out to its own members to identify what they want and need, through the use of one-on-one interviews.
This “listening campaign” will culminate in a convention next spring where MICAH will vote on three specific issues it wants to tackle. Each partner group will get one vote.
In the meantime, another committee is working on a constitution and bylaws and the creation of a youth council to involve Memphis area youth groups.
Each month, MICAH holds a public meeting that features a speaker on a topic of importance to the Memphis community. At the November meeting, Dr. Elena Delavega of the University of Memphis spoke about poverty in Memphis, which is the highest in the U.S. – 52.2% for black children. She noted that poverty affects everyone because of the increased burden it places on social programs and law enforcement. She called for an increase in the minimum wage, which has been stagnant since 2009, and also in the minimum wage for restaurant servers, which has been $2.13 an hour since the 1980s.
Each meeting includes an educational component, and other topics have included the National Civil Rights Museum and the upcoming 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; juvenile justice, the Trump administration’s immigration policies, and the ongoing effort to rid Memphis of Confederate statues.
Each meeting also draws more people. About 30 groups were represented at the Nov 14 meeting.
“We are not going to be a one-issue organization,” Kiel told the meeting. “We are not a knee jerk response to a political climate. We are a gut-wrenching response to the needs of our community.”
And MICAH is not alone, she noted, because in addition the support of Gamaliel, it will also be working with NOAH, and the groups forming in Chattanooga and Knoxville.
NOAH has chosen affordable housing, economic equity and criminal justice as its target issues.
It recently was instrumental in getting Nashville Mayor Megan Barry to reverse her views on establishing a citizen-led board to review police actions.
Barry had resisted establishing a board, but changed her mind after attending a forum, “Speak Loudly, Nashville,” hosted by NOAH on Oct. 29. More than 1,000 people attended the forum, during which Barry fielded questions about the lack of affordable housing in Nashville and the need for workforce training.
The ability to muster such a large number of people to demonstrate the community’s concerns about the issues is what MICAH is working toward.
“We will be strong when our voices come together,” Kiel said.