The 9:01: Revelations shouldn't mean dismissal of Memphis 3.0 concerns

Good morning from Memphis, which yesterday commemorated the 51st anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But first...

For generations, residents in the New Chicago neighborhood, just north of Downtown Memphis, have waited for something — anything — to reverse the area's decline.

The old Firestone factory, as cold as a tombstone now, is a constant reminder of how far the once-thriving area has fallen. Last year, Carnita Atwater, who heads the New Chicago Community Development Corp., called the neighborhood a "forgotten part of the city." More recently, Atwater has become the face of the movement against adopting the city's Memphis 3.0 growth plan, which she argues would gentrify the neighborhood.

Atwater is raising important questions, as I've written here and here, and earlier this week pushed the Memphis City Council to delay a vote on Memphis 3.0. But a Local 24 investigation is calling into question whether she should be leading that movement at all — and giving council members ammunition to shoot down her criticisms of the plan.

Temporarily setting aside the question of how the Local 24 story should affect the Memphis 3.0 debate, there are three big issues raised in the report:

1. Atwater lives in Germantown. The Memphis City Council has in recent years looking unfavorably on former Memphis residents trying to tell Memphis how it should operate. The council even put a new rule in place requiring people who publicly address the council to list their home address, making it easier to dismiss them.

From Local 24's Jeni Diprizio:

Atwater may be all over the news strongly opposing Memphis 3.0, but what she often leaves out of her comments when likening the plan to genocide is that she lives in Germantown. Atwater lives in a $ 400,000 home on Mulkins Lane.

"I live in Germantown and my home where I grew up at is 1098 Firestone," said Atwater.

So, even though she doesn't live there now, Atwater has deep personal roots in that neighborhood — and let's not forget that she also works there. But even if she has a vested interest in New Chicago, should she be speaking for the neighborhood? That's a question only the neighborhood can answer, but it certainly undercuts her credibility.

2. Atwater's opposition to Memphis 3.0 may be motivated by personal interest. The Local 24 story also calls into question Atwater's motivations for opposing Memphis 3.0, which does not include her proposal for the city to donate or sell 22 acres to her and help finance a large-scale redevelopment:

The plan not only includes housing for seniors and veterans but a five-star resort that will offer a variety of African-made soaps, and llama and alpaca rides. She also wants to build the New Chicago Adventure Park with thrill rides and live shows.

There will be an African village that include replicas of mud huts, the swan lake boating adventure park, zip lining, and an RV park.

Atwater went to all the Memphis 3.0 community meetings and is upset her plan isn't included.

If Atwater is genuinely concerned about gentrification, that's one thing; but if she's "upset" that her own development plans weren't included in Memphis 3.0, that's another.

Also, let's talk about Atwater's deeply flawed plan for reviving the neighborhood for a second. Her plan is to have "llama and alpaca rides"? And a "five-star resort" with an adventure park? Whatever you want to say, hand this to her: she dreams big — which may also explain why she thinks a "$10 billion" lawsuit against the city is feasible.

3. A judge ordered Atwater to repay $2 million. The Local 24 story closes with three concerning sentences that could have used some fleshing out:

The Local I-Team also learned there's a $2 million judgement against Atwater in probate court. Turns out, she worked as a caregiver for a woman who has since passed away, and wrote checks to herself from the woman's estate. A judge ordered the money be paid back.

So, considering all three of those issues, should Atwater be leading the movement against Memphis 3.0? Probably not. There are many other people who are just as passionate — and who actually live in Memphis — that could pick up that torch.

But that doesn't mean the concerns she and others have expressed about Memphis' approach to growth are no longer worth discussing. Wherever she lives, whatever her motivations, whatever her past — she may not be the right voice for the movement, but that doesn't mean the movement should have no voice.

The trickier question is how all of this will impact Memphis 3.0. Atwater has helped bring into the public square the important issue of how to grow historically under-served neighborhoods. But her attacks on Memphis 3.0 often overstated her case, and she seemed to want more from the plan than it was ever meant to give. By their nature and design, these kinds of growth plans are usually more conceptual than prescriptive.

Especially after these revelations, right or wrong, the City Council is more likely than ever to approve Memphis 3.0. But even then, the plan only gives the city a framework for investing in neighborhoods. What the city does next is still very much up for debate.

Memphis commemorates King's legacy

Memphis yesterday commemorated the 51st anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., at the National Civil Rights Museum, our Jamie Munks reports.

The ceremonies included a number of speakers, including the keynote speaker, Dr. Omid Safi, director of The Islamic Studies Center at Duke University; the Rev. Jesse Jackson; and Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, among others. In his remarks, Safi took several not-so-veiled shots at President Donald Trump and his administration:

“We cannot defeat the hateful with hate. We cannot out-tweet them, outshout them and we’re not going to win by being more bombastic," Safi said. "We’ve got the one weapon that is divine. And that weapon is love.”

More specific to Memphis, Nabil Bayakly, associate biology professor at Lemoyne-Owen college, said the city still struggles with many of the same issues it saw in the '60s:

"We are still segregated. We still have North, South and East Memphis ... North Memphis is suffering, South Memphis is suffering," he said. 

"We have to come together and fight against the injustices going on." 

Speaking of the civil rights era: Leslie Dean Jones, the white Memphis police officer who killed black teenager Larry Payne during the 1968 sanitation strike, died last month, our Micaela Watts reports.

A closer look at the struggles of black farmers

Did a reputable seed company give bad seeds to black farmers? Our Sarah Macaraeg digs into that question, which is at the heart ofan ongoing lawsuit filed by farmers affiliated with the Memphis-based Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association.

For the story, Sarah spoke at length to black farmers about their daily lives and backgrounds, as well as the historic and ongoing struggles of growing crops while black. And from her story, it looks like they have a solid case against Stine Seed Co.:

In their complaint, the farmers highlight the results of a germination test performed by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture on seeds they submitted, which, at zero percent germination, did not match the germination rate of the certified seeds ordered. They also argued that the reluctance of a Stine agronomist to take samples from their fields for testing, while visiting the farm and remarking on their “yield problem,” was suspect.

Those points remain unaddressed by lawyers for Stine and another defendant company, B&B Inc., in court records because they were granted a motion extending the amount of time in which they were required to file an answer — until after the judge’s ruling on the motion to dismiss the case altogether.

What to know and read in the 901

• Bruce Elementary School Principal Archie Moss has become semi-famous for reading bedtime stories to students via Facebook Live, our Jennifer Pignolet reports. Speaking of education, Tennessee will temporarily return to paper-based TNReady testing in the 2019-20 year, the USA TODAY Network-Tennessee reports.
• As FedEx prepares to roll out its SameDay Bot, our Tonyaa Weathersbee looks at how the workplace could change — and what schools need to do to get ready.
• The stakes are high for the Grizzlies heading into the team's last four games of the regular season, our David Cobb reports.

The Fadeout

Memphis punk-pop veteran Alicja Trout will play the River Series at the Harbor Town Amphitheatre on April 28, our Bob Mehr and John Beifuss report. Alicja has played a wide variety of music for a variety of great bands, but here's "Tunnel Around With Me" from her solo project, Alicja-Pop:

Columnist Ryan Poe writes The 9:01, a weekday morning blend of Memphis news and commentary. Reach him at poe@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter @ryanpoe.

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