Join Us on Common Ground

Common Ground: Conversations on Race, Communities in Action

If Monday’s radio interview with He Who Shall Not Be Named, in which No Name was again, racially divisive and stereotypical of blacks and dismissive of whites, didn’t convince you of anything, it should convince you of this: We need more Memphians who will speak louder and act more boldly on issues of race.

We do not need radio hosts who throw around the n-word. This is not productive. (An exercise in free speech, yes; productive, no.)

We don’t need formerly elected officials who seem to equate living in South Memphis with a pugnacious attitude that might necessitate a beat down. This is not productive.

We need to DEMAND more from those who would claim to want to be public servants.

Well, there is a FREE answer, a start to finding solutions. Note, I did not claim to have the solution, just a place where people who want things to be better can go to figure out what might work.

I’d like to invite you to Common Ground, a local race relations initiative. Go to commongroundmemphis.org and see if there’s a session going on this fall that fits your schedule.

We would love to have you, and we have room for as many people across the Mid-South who want to come, who want better our community.

In small groups, you’ll work through a curriculum with a trained facilitator to have the tough conversations about race that we don’t often have. At the end, you’ll come up with a plan you and your group can execute to make a tangible, measurable difference in your community.

So sign up and bring someone who doesn’t look like you. You’ll be glad you did.