Michalyn C.S. Easter
michalyneaster@yahoo.com
LinkedIn profile name: Michalyn Easter
January 12, 2014
To Whom It May Concern:
A little over 655,000 persons live in the lovely city of Memphis. To everyone’s
advantage, about 72% of those persons identify as Black, Latino, or other minorities. This adds
to Memphis’ deep history and vibrant culture that the city is recognized for. With the focus on
the population of over 17,000 that reside in the zip code 38107, the heart of North Memphis, I
write to inform you of the “sudden” attention this area is receiving by the city, the Crosstown
Development Project, and those implementing urban renewal.
On December 19, 2013, the Memphis Flyer magazine featured an article titled “Northern
Exposure” that revealed the plans of gentrification aimed towards the neighborhoods of Klondike
and Smokey City. This plan is detailed on the last page of this letter. The article claims that these
neighborhoods are gaining city attention because of the planned Crosstown project, but does that
mean that for years these neighborhoods have been ignored? Robert Lipscomb, City Housing and
Community Development director, has hired an urban design consultant to plan the future of the
38107 area, from Jackson Avenue and Manassas Street to North Watkins Street. He calls it the
North Memphis Neighborhoods of Choice Plan. The city’s plan is to claim the current vacant
lots, vacant homes, inhabited houses, small businesses, churches, beauty salons, nail salons,
barber shops, barber schools, mini markets, small grocery stores, gas stations, tire shops,
playgrounds, restaurants, memories, pride, and hope in these communities. The city’s plan is to
turn it ALL into a “food urban magnet.” The new area will boast an urban farm, farmers market,
and festival square among one new and expensive apartment complex and one senior housing
option. However, the apartment plan will not meet the housing needs of 17,000 residents and the
proposed senior housing is not large enough to house over 5,000 residents aged 60 and above.
There is no record of Lipscomb consulting the impacted residents, any business owners,
and church members, or any schools in the area. Quincey Morris, president of the KlondikeSmokey City Community Development Corporation, says that during her childhood in North
Memphis, “We had everything you needed in a neighborhood.” There is no reason that those
days have to remain memories. Morris is also planning to assist the neighborhood in workforce
training and literacy programs. This approach is tailored to getting people “Job Ready,” and this
is very commendable. However, what types of jobs are the residents preparing for? Jobs to build
apartments they cannot afford? Jobs to build senior housing that their mothers and fathers will
not qualify for? Jobs to relocate them out of the neighborhood? Jobs to allow them to work hard
on an “Urban Farm”?
This should be of concern to you because this is a step backwards for a community in a
city only 150 years removed from slavery, 74 years removed from sharecropping, and 49 years
removed from segregation. This is a concern to the homeowners who will be pushed out. This is
a concern to the businesses that will be closed for good. This is a concern to the churches that
will have their ministries perish. This is overt gentrification, racism, and oppression directly
aimed towards the area of 38107.
Instead of wiping out an entire community to implement modern day sharecropping, we
should make investments in the area’s most important assets which are the PEOPLE. We should
invest in education. There should be more than the current 2,800 persons in 38107 that hold
some type of degree. We should encourage current residents to acquire the unused land that
surrounds them. There are currently 1,900 uninhabited areas in 38107. We should urge banks to
move into the area. This will develop financial stability and encouragement. We should simply
ask the residents, business owners, and church members what they need to move forward in a
city that has already left them in the past.
There is nothing worse than making plans for a people without consulting them first.
That is not democracy. That is implementing gentrification. That is intensifying oppression.
That is paving the way for racism and paternalism. That is not moving Memphis forward. Do
not think that this is not YOUR problem. If you have love for the city of Memphis, every
problem should be your problem. This problem is approaching fast. This problem is trying to
displace a people. This problem is using the Crosstown project plan as an excuse to wipe out the
heart of North Memphis. Do not stand by and watch people meet their demise. Contact your
neighbors to inform them. Give your opinions and demands to the City government. There can
be no community development without the voice of the community. Stand up for our city. Stand
up for our people. Stand up for yourself.
With Respect and Concern,
Michalyn C. S. Easter
Citizen of North Memphis, Tennessee
Above are the preliminary plans for Jackson Avenue stretching from Bellevue Blvd. to North
Watkins Street.
Areas on Jackson Avenue between Breedlove Street and Manassas Street have planned to be
demolished to develop health offices and a few homes that will be too expensive for the majority
of North Memphians to afford. Pictures for the second area mentioned were not provided.
Statistics and Information retrieved from:
Memphis Flyer Magazine, 1295th Issue, 12-19-2013
United States Census Bureau