Solidarity With Memphis
We stand with Memphis against the military occupation of our cities by the National Guard, and any other militarized unit. The following notes are provided Memphis citizens. These are the facts laid bare to help us better understand how local cooperation and funding can improve communities and reduce crime in any city, any town, any region. Names have been excluded to protect the identity of anyone involved, due to the risk of doxxing and retaliation by the regime.
Memphis Crime and Organizing Talking points
Memphis’s crime has dropped to a historic 25 year low in all major crime areas. Less than 3% of Memphians commit crime, but 100% of us will be occupied by the National Guard troops. MPD’s crime data notes that robbery, larceny, and burglary have all reached record lows in the past 8 months.
The major investments that have worked are investments in youth programming and mental health. Last year, the official BLM Memphis chapter receiving funding to support youth with transportation to therapy, therapy services for up to 6 months, and group therapy. Over 300 students were served in the last year and that includes wraparound services to their families.
There was an $800k investment in youth economic development programs for opportunity youth to receive job training, job placements, and wraparound services like childcare stipends, transportation assistance, and 6 months of mentoring. There were nominal investments in parks and community programming this last budget cycle to expand parks programming at community centers, summer camps, and creating more green spaces.
Community organizations have been working in the Memphis community for 10 plus years on getting these investments, supporting community needs, providing folks with training rooted in conflict resolution, de-escalation, and mutual aid.
We don't need the National Guard to keep us in our houses and keep us away from the ballot boxes. This is a direct connection to suppressing Black voters in the 2026 midterms and the 2028 election. We need poverty eradication, NOT military occupation. Occupation puts Black and Brown communities at risk, while wasting millions of dollars that could otherwise be invested in mental health care, community violence intervention, and real community safety.
We need opportunity, NOT occupation. We don't need the military, we don't need the National Guard: We need investment in the City. We need a County Commission that's brave enough to vote for a tax increase to give more opportunities to us. We need a federal government that puts more money into affordable housing, we need childcare and childcare subsidies. We need actual and tangible investment into the real issues for poverty eradication. We do NOT need military occupation.
Condensed Version of RCN
No matter our race or zip code, every Memphian deserves the opportunity to live a dignified life: a good job with fair pay, a safe home, health care when we’re sick, protection during hard times, and strong schools for our kids. But instead of securing these rights, Bill Lee and the Trump regime are pushing fear and division.
They are threatening to send the National Guard to occupy our communities even as crime is at a 25-year low. Their divide-and-conquer strategy is meant to keep Black, Asian, Brown, and White communities arguing while wasting millions on military force.
Memphis has already proven what works: investments in youth, therapy, job training, childcare, parks, and community centers. Real safety comes from opportunity and dignity, not occupation. Memphians demand more investment in jobs, wages, homes, health care, social security, infrastructure, and education. Creating the opportunity for a dignified life through investment is real safety. Military occupation is not.
Values Based Messaging
No matter our race, zip code, or background, our kids and families deserve to live, work, and play in safety and Memphians deserve to make decisions for our community. But for decades, politicians like Governor Lee and President Trump have continuously tried to take power from our local officials, from our city council to our school board. They think they can seize power and take away our freedoms.
Now they are trying to enact the next step by President Trump and Governor Lee’s call to deploy the National Guard to patrol the streets of Memphis. They are trying to use fear to control and silence us so that he can seize more power and distract us from the fact that they have been denying Memphis the resources and tools we need to succeed.
Short Talking Points
Memphis residents never requested or consented to having National Guard troops patrol our streets, yet federal officials imposed this military presence without community input. Trump is breaking the law by deploying the National Guard, manufacturing fear and social media moments, hurting small businesses, and not making cities any safer. This deployment is another one of Trump’s dangerous attempts to expand his power and take control away from local communities who should have the freedom to govern themselves.
Local communities, not distant federal officials, know what keeps us safe. The president and his regime are taking money from our schools and healthcare in order to fund this violence and cruelty against our neighbors.
The National Guard deployment disproportionately impacts Black and brown families who already face daily harassment and intimidation.
Memphis belongs to the people who call it home, not to federal officials looking for excuses to take power from residents. When communities stand together, they have the collective power to reclaim control over their own lives and resist government overreach. True community safety comes from supporting residents' own efforts to build welcoming neighborhoods, not from imposing external military control.
