Memphis City Councilwoman Michayln Easter-Thomas announced today that a portion of Poplar Street will be renamed Black Lives Matter Avenue. The Memphis Criminal Justice Center and jail are located on the stretch of Poplar Avenue under consideration for renaming. Ms. Easter-Thomas acknowledged the street renaming “is symbolic.”
The councilwoman sponsored the resolution. She went on to say that renaming the street Black Lives Matter “is in no way representing the organization.” The street renaming, she said, “is a cry out for Memphis to see us, fight for us, protect us, and to let us live.”
Some of the seven other Memphis City Council co-sponsors stepped up to the microphone. They voiced their support for the resolution. Renaming the street, however, will have absolutely no effect on how city policing is handled. Again, it’s only “symbolic.”
Watch the entire 20-minute press conference.
The Memphis City Council will vote on the renaming resolution on Tuesday. The council has other matters at hand.
Also at the Tuesday meeting, the Council will consider a resolution eliminating the police residency requirement for Memphis police officers. Last December the Council approved a referendum to let voters decide whether to change the police residency requirements.
But in January, the City Council had a change of heart. They want to remove it from the ballot.
The controversial referendum would loosen requirements that police and fire fighter recruits live within a 50-mile radius of Memphis. The referendum would expand the limit to a 2-hour drive outside the county. The City Council
The Memphis City Council will take up these, and other issues, at their meeting on Tuesday.
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