By Tony Jones
MEMPHIS, TN — The Southbrook Towne Center is sponsoring a community Christmas party and fundraiser for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) on Friday, Dec. 22nd, starting at 5 p.m. Donations are $25.
“It’s called Willie Harper Presents A Winter Wonderland Experience,” Project Manager Greg Grant explains. “It’s named for our Chairman of the Board. We’re going to be giving out presents to kids that may not have anything else they can look forward to for Christmas, and it’s also a dedicated fundraiser honoring the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), which will turn 80 years old April 25, 2024, and has raised over $5 billion and supported more than 500,000 students across this country.”
A blueprint and numbers guy with Wall Street experience, Grant’s usually even, direct tone rises as he elaborates, “We are really excited about the fact that we will be helping to provide scholarships—cash scholarships—to kids majoring in various endeavors at our own HBCU, Lemoyne Owen College.”
The enthusiasm is well earned. The dual-purpose event highlights Southbrook’s unique imprint not only in Memphis, but in the nation. Several Google searches did not result in a verifiable number for Black facilities of its type. There are many listed as dedicated to Black entrepreneurship, but enumerating Black-owned real estate, strip malls and similar facilities extended beyond press time.
After sitting dormant for more than a decade, the rare Black-owned property has been repurposed as a non-profit community-based service center and is nearing completion of the full build-out. Dedicated in 2018 with state funded grant support, it was literally a hellhole with rain dripping through the ceiling in many places causing and crashing ceiling panels when Harper and Grant started shaping the vision for what it has become. Many criticized it as an impossible dream, but the 2024 update sounds like something even Oprah could get excited about. The holiday celebration ties it all together.
Says Grant, “We’re about 85 percent complete. The goal is to have a full slate of government service centers available for the public and we have renovated the movie theaters and created the Whitehaven Performing Arts Center that will partner with community services, churches, community development corporations and arts organizations to provide youth services to give our children things to do they can get excited about. They should all be in full operation and online February 2024.”
The theaters perfectly underline Southbrook’s history. Part of the original anchor draw package; they made a big splash in the 1980s when purchased by a group of Black businessmen. Business cycles and income disparities eventually closed them and the mall, but the repurposing seems a good plan for a new long-term run.
Grant adds a bottom-line note encapsulating it all. “It could never have happened without the diligence, work, experience and knowledge of deceased State Rep. Barbara Cooper. She poured her heart and soul into guiding and assisting us to get the funding to open and proceed. We would not exist without her, and we plan to operate in a manner she would be proud of.”
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