70 years of Foote Homes

The federal HOPE VI program, an attempt to correct the mistakes made by large-tract public housing during Urban Renewal of the late 20^th century, has equally had its fair share of successes and failures.  Rhodes College is fortunate enough to be the third party evaluator for the HOPE VI renovation of the former Cleaborn Homes public housing site in Memphis, TN, now called Claeborn Point.  The Rhodes evaluation is funded and sponsored by the U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Dr. Heather Jamerson is the principal investigator in the evaluation.  Last spring, I was part of that evaluation team and undertook a thorough examination of the conversion and its effect on residents—most specifically, the effects on employment prospects for former residents. 

The purpose of my team’s evaluation was to examine employment-related services to former residents of Cleaborn Homes by the organization Memphis Hope, a division of Urban Strategies. Memphis Hope is the official case-management provider for Memphis’ several HOPE VI projects. The study compares residents in Sample 1, who received employment-related services, and residents in Sample 2, who expressed interest in receiving but did not receive employment-related services.  We found that all former Cleaborn Homes residents are experiencing very similar needs with maintenance and rent/utility payments, which can lead to household instability.  Residents in both samples are also experiencing very similar barriers to employment regardless of having received services from Memphis Hope.  Notably, residents with housing choice vouchers are more dissatisfied with their new neighborhood, than residents who relocated from Cleaborn Homes to the nearby public housing unit Foote Homes (McDougal, Tait, and Kearney). 

I found it fascinating to hear Gloria Wade-Gayles speak about Foote Homes in Pushed Back to Strength.  She talked warmly about what a housing project was in the 1940s as just a “stopping off place until you were able to buy a real home” (17).  She describes the flowers people planted, and the pies that were shared, and the stories that were told.  It sounded almost as if Foote Homes resemble a small, rural town in its values for community and trust.  People were well-kempt and “only by your address could [her] teacher know we were residents of the projects” (11).  Yet, later on in Chapter 1, she talks about how much things have changed.  This book was written in 1993 and I think she would be even more awestruck 21 years later.  I got the chance to talk to lots of people living there as part of the research study and some, the one’s that had lived there for 50 or 60 years were fond of Foote Homes.  However, the few that managed to get displaced from nearby Cleaborn Homes were thankful to be conveniently located but frustrated with the lack of upkeep at the Homes.  I agree with Wade-Gayles when she says that “the children are lost because the adults are lost.”  I am left wondering, in what ways are all children lost in our age, not just those confined to the last remaining tract of public housing in the city?  How did we, students of Rhodes, grow up lost?  Are our parents lost?  What are we going to do about it?

Jason Collins & Civil Rights

On Sunday Kobe Bryant spoke about Jason Collins in an interview with Yahoo Sports,

            “His impact (Sunday night) is greater than what people think. You look at it from             

             the context of having the first openly gay player. But they missed the domino          

             effect that is had way beyond sports”. 

Now Bryant may not have been the first person to notice the effect that sports have on the general populace and their opinions but he could not be more correct.  Jason Collins signing with the Brooklyn Nets, even though it is only a 10 day contract, will undoubtedly have a great impact on the American view of homosexuals not only in athletics but also in every day life. The irony surrounding Collins signing with the Nets is that this is not the first time that an organization in Brooklyn has made a culture-shifting move like this.

            In 1946 General Manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to a minor league contract with the Montreal Royals. In doing this Robinson became the first Black baseball player to play organized professional baseball in the modern era. When Robinson first stepped onto Ebbets field a year later to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers, he broke the color line that divided baseball for nearly a century. In doing this he led the way for other Black athletes and Black Americans to do the same. Robinson’s affect on public opinion of race and color is undeniable and Collins will have a similar effect on cultural acceptance of homosexuals.

            In Robinson’s time, America was defined by baseball and although that is not the case with basketball today it is still a step in the right direction. Collins being the first openly gay athlete to be signed by a professional sports team is defiantly a sign of good things to come for homosexuals in American professional sports.  One athlete that should be very excited by Collins contract is NFL prospect and recent SEC defensive player of the year Michael Sam. Two weeks before Collins signed, the former Missouri Defensive End publicly admitted to being gay as he enters the upcoming NFL draft.  The precedent set by Brooklyn in signing Collins will have a tremendous effect on Sam’s ability to be drafted this spring.

            Just like Jackie Robinson impacted the surge for Civil Rights in the mid 20^th century Jason Collins and Michael Sam could have a similar effect on the American Gay Rights. Robinson has been credited with inspiring leaders such as Martin Luther King therefore it is possible that Collins may be inspiring the next generation of civil rights activists in the struggle for equality among all Americans.

- Alexander Browning

A Second Look

In my first semester here at Rhodes I took Dr. Huebner’s Southern History course. As one of the assignments, we had to write a paper about a museum or monument in Memphis of our choosing. I chose the Stax Museum on McLemore Avenue, and reading Dr. Hughes’ dissertation, I went back to my reflection to draw comparisons between the museum and the history as Dr. Hughes presents it.

One of the primary aspects that seems to stand out refers to the “roots” of Memphis Sound. Dr. Hughes frequently mentions country as a dominant informant to the Memphis Sound. However, the Stax Museum thoroughly recounts how blues, gospel and country united to form “soul” as we know it now. Given soul’s marketing for a black audience, and that its lead performers were predominantly black, it makes sense to emphasize the blues and gospel roots, especially in a city portraying a proud black heritage. That being said Hughes makes a compelling argument in the duel for musical supremacy between Memphis and Nashville. Even still today, Memphis as a city is considered edgier, rougher, and more laid back than the cleaner, more polished and professionalized city 200 miles east.

In light of Dr. Hughes’ perspective, it seems as though the Stax Museum really wants to highlight both soul music’s “blackness” and its interracial labor force. Written on one of the panels in the Museum, Stax founder Jim Stewart promotes his “interracial company that felt like family.” Multiple panels, photos, and backstage videos emphasize the well-intentioned, civil rights fighting, integration of music. Using the manta of music brings everyone together regardless of race, the Stax Museum perpetuates the Memphis Master Narrative as a core city in Dr. King’s nonviolent movement towards civil rights and integration. Nonetheless, Dr. Hughes adds an additional rationale to the integrationist motif. In the 1960’s “Memphis was primarily a pop market” and the Stax management sought out the most talented musicians to make such “commercial music” (Hughes 9). Similar to decisions made by business leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, integration was an economic necessity. Although there some Stax groups were predominantly white, like the touring Mar-Keys, the image and the branding of Stax has become essentiallized in proverbial, radical, and harmonious (pun intended) integration.

Do you think that the Stax Museum is appropriate in sugar-coating the interracial history of the company?

Are there cities in the modern day with a “Sound”?


Check out this image of Stax. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/08/01/arts/recordingspan.jpg

And also this image of the Bar-Kays who are the “face” of integrationist soul.

http://localvie.ws/stax/images/popups/The-Bar-Kays.jpg

How Bobby Rush Teaches us to Cope with our own History

Having Bobby Rush speak with us two weeks ago was sort of surreal. A true musical legend joined us at Rhodes to take us back in time when Memphis was different in two major ways: it was the music destination of America, and it was segregated.

During my past three and a half years at Rhodes, I have been made well aware of the impact that both the Civil Rights Era and music have had on Memphis throughout history, but hearing about the two clash from a man who has known Memphis both then and now was extraordinarily powerful and helped me see the connection instead of understanding them as two separate phenomena.  


While African Americans were the inventors of blues, tying in soul and rock n’ roll into a personal story-telling musical experience, they were unable to get their music exposed to the rest of the country without white people performing it. I really liked the way Rush communicated to us that he didn’t mind white people “taking the blues” from the originators. To Rush, his priority was the music gaining the popularity and attention it deserved. Whether that was from who really started it or not was irrelevant at the end of the day.  

Rush exuded a sense of naivety and charm. At one point, Rush expressed his gratitude for us wanting to listen to him speak for the afternoon. I remember thinking; doesn’t he realize this is a treat for us? His disbelief that we were so interested in him really reflected his humility- a  trait that comes from who Rush simply is to the core possibly, but also his upbringing as an artist in Memphis who at the time, couldn’t even get into clubs without the help of white musicians like Elvis Presley, as he mentioned in the presentation. Rush learned to be happy with what he got- because that’s all Memphis had to offer in his time.  

Admittedly, I felt pretty emotional at the end of Rush’s talk. It just wasn’t fair for Rush- this charming, talented musician to give so much to Memphis should not have had to experience segregation. However, Rush has this distinctive character, these incredible life stories, and this drive and passion just to wake up and be alive every day because he experienced the real life issues that Memphis still deals with today- racism, civil rights, the painful controversies between race and music. Still, it is so easy at moments like these, to want to disassociate with the history here.

Memphis is distinct in its struggle to disconnect or get in touch with itself regarding some of the ugliness involved with riots and violence and racism included in the past. While I can't change the past and the injustices that Bobby Rush had to overcome, I can at least learn from them, because I live in Memphis. I can investigate and probe and delve into what Memphis was, and study the past to see how it continues to affect our present and future. Actively searching for ways to be more aware and educated on the past of Memphis instead of denying the hard parts of it- I think we owe at least that to him.