By Tony Jones
The Memphis City Council swiftly voted Tuesday, January 23 to table the decision to reappoint Memphis Police Department Chief Cerelyn“C.J.” Davis until a later date. The unanimous decision now makes Davis the department’s interim director.
Mayor Paul Young and Memphis City Council Chairman J. B. Smiley, Jr. met to discuss the pivot before Young introduced it. “We are in a crisis. Not just the reality of crime, but the perception of crime,” he said. “My goal is to resolve the chaos. My support of Chief Davis is not wavered. We’re going to use this time to show and prove.” Super District (9-3) Councilman Dr. Jeff Warren asked the mayor a procedural question of whether he would like to move the issue five months ahead or bring it back before the council. Young said he would like to avoid the “artificial timeline,” and continue the dialogue to a final decision. Chairman Smiley then urged the council’s support and the vote was cast.
This second vote was in contrast to the Tuesday, January 9 committee meeting that ultimately rejected Davis by a 7-6 vote. A tense 90-minute interrogation resulted in complaints that the council’s overall tone, led by Smiley, Jr., was so dismissive of Davis that it was an insult to professional Black women, and indeed, Black women everywhere.
Decked out in red, a large group of women came to the second meeting to voice their distaste of the proceedings and enforce their support for Davis.
“The ladies in red” were actually members of Delta Sigma Theta, one of Black America’s strongest sororities. Davis is a member, and was honored with a passionate statement of support at their 111th Founders Day celebration convened Saturday, January 13, 2024 at the Canon Center for the Performing Arts. It cannot be said that their public show of support influenced the council’s decision, but their collective presence had to make an impression. After the tabling of Davis’s appointment, Smiley complimented four of them that stayed to the end of the meeting.
A post on their Facebook page posted after the first meeting encapsulates it all very well. It shows the emotional vow of support pledged to Davis at the celebration, and a glimpse of one of the key moments driving the ire, a barbed back and forth between District 2 City Councilwoman Jerri Green and Davis. As noted in the original report, Smiley properly quelled it. It can be seen at the 1:49:00 mark of Part Two of the council’s You Tube posting of the council committee’s Jan. 9 meeting.
Tony Jones is an independent writer and publicist with extensive experience focusing on Black issues and politics. He also serves as a contractor to award winning firm Trust Marketing.
