The 901: Last stop in Poor People's Campaign tour includes Memphis march
Good morning, Memphis, where we begin the gloomy week with cloudy conditions all day today, but it won’t stop the Poor People’s Campaign march in the city this evening.
First, we start with that.
The Rev. Alvin O’Neal Jackson, a key Memphis figure for his role in the exponential growth of the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in the '80s, returned to the city as it becomes a fixture in the launch of the Poor People's Campaign's latest mobilization tour, its last stop before its march in Washington, D.C., this June, our Laura Testino reports.
As the national executive director of the campaign and march, called the Poor and Low-Wage Workers Mass Assembly and March on Washington and to the Polls, Jackson previewed the Memphis launch event scheduled for 4:30 p.m. today.
The event will include a march from Robert R. Church Park to the National Civil Rights Museum.
Gov. Bill Lee addresses Whitehaven High School graduates
At Whitehaven High School’s graduation Saturday, Gov. Bill Lee asked students to think of their lives like a book.
"And regardless of the chapters to date, the story that's being written about you has great promise and hope," Lee said. "The previous chapters were decided largely by someone else, but the next chapters in your life will be decided by you."
Of the districts 5,500 graduates across 30 high schools, Whitehaven boasted one of the largest classes, at 400 students, Laura reports.
What’s next for Memphis Medical District?
On June 1 Rory Thomas will mark one year of being president of the Memphis Medical District Collaborative.
The Commercial Appeal talked with Thomas one year ago as he started with MMDC and talked with him again this year to see what has changed over the past 12 months.
Read Corinne Kennedy’s latest Q and A for subscribers to hear the big takeaways from Thomas’ one year on the job and what’s planned for the next year or two.
(Not a subscriber? Check out our latest deals and get full access to all our stories, including the subscriber-only stories mentioned in today's 901).
Memphis Police Department forecasts a revenue drop
The Memphis Police Department went over the department's budget requests with the Memphis City Council, and the forecasted revenue declines in a few essential line items caught the City Council's attention, our Samuel Hardiman reports.
MPD Chief CJ Davis' responses signaled a shift in strategy and more emphasis on patrolling, and, perhaps, less on organized crime.
"Well, we are redirecting some of our attention not necessarily towards utilizing organized crime to impact crime reduction ...” Davis said. “We are reallocating some of our manpower and really putting an emphasis on patrolling as well. It's not that we are stopping altogether but we've had to take a really close look at where our staffing levels are and how we get more out of the folks that work."
Gonerfest returns to Memphis in September
Gonerfest, the annual Memphis concert extravaganza staged by Goner Records, will be back in 2022 as both a live and streamed event, our Bob Mehr reports.
The 19th edition of the fest will take place Sept. 22-25 at Midtown's Railgarten. The year’s confirmed headliners include Bay Area garage/soul combo Shannon & the Clams, international R&B rockers The King Khan & BBQ Show, and the pre-Oblivians/Reigning Sound Memphis group, Compulsive Gamblers.
Bob provides us with more details of what can be expected at this year's Gonerfest.
Key areas Memphis Grizzlies can improve upon before next season
The Memphis Grizzlies had the NBA's second best record in the regular season and one of the best seasons in franchise history, our Damichael Cole reports.
Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, his staff and the front office will spend the summer finding ways to improve the roster, and the Western Conference finals series between the Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks has showcased key areas Memphis can improve to reach its championship expectation.
Damichael highlights three improvable areas that stood out in the Western Conference finals.
The 901 is written by Ray Padilla, digital producer for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at raymond.padilla@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @Ray_Padilla_.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: The 901: Poor People's Campaign in Memphis; Gov. Bill Lee at graduation
