They want our rhythm but not our blues.”
I’ve been thinking about that saying since last week, when Memphis was divided by three and Memphians’ voting power was diluted. If you’re not familiar, the phrase points to the embrace of Black cultural contributions, while at the same time rejecting the pain and inequality of Black lives that have often led to the creation of the music, the fashion and the language.
Conservative politicians in the legislature literally want Memphis’ blues — the music — to market for tourists worldwide. They want to protect Beale Street. They praise the barbecue, quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and misuse his words to hide their racism. They’ll point folks to the National Civil Rights Museum despite their disregard for everything it documents. For them, Memphis is an economy to be controlled and exploited.
We know Memphis is fully a place. It’s a vibrant home to hundreds of thousands. Everyone in the city isn’t Black. But since the majority is, these politicians feel comfortable routinely smothering the city with a nasty paternalism — “You Memphians are too dumb to know what you need. We’ll handle things.” Indeed, white supremacy is so strong that they don’t care that non-Black residents have had their voices stolen, too. Their actions suggest a shrug, translated as, “That’s the cost for being comfortable with Black agency.”
This means they’ve picked a fight with every Memphian, and it’s going to take every Memphian to finish it. If you’ve been angry but still, that is no longer an option. Resisting will not be easy or quick. It will certainly ask more than you’ve ever considered giving. You’ll need to dig deep, take a breath and dig deeper. When you start to get tired or sad or both, think about what happened. In four days, in broad daylight, representatives from your state who crave power shamelessly robbed you. And now, they want to gaslight you and say you still have a voice. That should make you mad all over again.
The South has always been the testing ground for democracy’s validity. And I’d argue that is because of the Blackness in the region. Blackness can’t be separated from this issue. The rhythm and the blues can’t be divorced from this land.
The Republican-led Tennessee General Assembly redrew lines for congressional districts this week, splitting Memphis into three districts and leaving residents unaware of which district they now live in. The changes will take effect for the 2026 August primary. The legislature also changed a law that had mandated that new congressional district boundaries could only be drawn after each federal census. How can Memphians find out what district they now live in? Cardell Orrin, executive director of Stand for Children, created an interactive map for any Tennessean to look up their district by address. The Defend TN 9 website was created on Wednesday to allow Tennesseans to “join the fight before the legislature locks it in.” Now that the redistricting has passed, Orrin said he hopes it will allow Memphians to connect with people filing legal challenges and to become aware of who their potential representatives are.
Adrienne Johnson Martin is co-executive director of MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Contact her at adrienne.martin@mlk50.com
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