Alongside Young, Gifted, and Green and Color Of Change, organizations collectively disavow this effort to dilute the voices of Black voters in Memphis and Shelby County
NASHVILLE, TN – On the third day of a special session in the Tennessee State Legislature, the House, Senate and Governor moved to redistrict the majority-Black Memphis and Shelby County into 3 congressional districts TN-05, TN-08, and TN-09) when the city and county were previously only TN-09. Notably, TN-09. Congressional district TN-09 was the last blue district in the state now resulting in an all red congressional map. This legislative action took place a little over a week after the Supreme Court gutted the landmark Voting Rights Act that outlawed discriminatory voting practices.
As AI data center development rapidly expands across the country, communities in Memphis have become a major flashpoint in the growing debate over the environmental, economic, and democratic impacts these projects can have on Black neighborhoods. Local residents and advocacy organizations have raised concerns about pollution, energy and water strain, land use, and the lack of meaningful community input surrounding large-scale data center expansion. Against that backdrop, the rushed effort to redraw district lines in the middle of an election cycle has intensified concerns that Black political power is being weakened at the very moment communities are demanding greater accountability and a stronger voice in decisions directly affecting their health, resources, and future.
“We know that communities from all walks of life are mobilizing and pushing back against data centers on a local level throughout the US which is eroding at GOP strongholds. I can’t help but to question if the powerful opposition of the Memphis community to data centers posed a threat if their voices were brought to the halls of Congress,” said Candice Fortin, US Campaign Manager at 350 Action. “This vote will also more broadly have a significant impact on frontline advocates having a voice on the congressional level to lift up demands of a majority Black community who have long experienced the health and financial impacts of environmental racism”
“This map strings together urban neighborhoods, rural farm communities, and suburban subdivisions into districts so disconnected they share nothing in common except a congressman who won’t have an answer to any of them. When you dilute an urban core across rural and suburban districts, nobody is strong enough to demand anything. This is yet another attack against our democracy that’s even bigger than the bigotry that fuels it,” said LaTricea Adams, CEO & President of Young, Gifted and Green.
“People across Tennessee fought this racist gerrymander every step of the way. Communities organized, spoke out, packed hearings, and made it unmistakably clear that they did not want these maps,” said Nadine Smith, president and CEO of Color Of Change. “Lawmakers pushed them through anyway. That’s what cheating looks like when those in power are afraid of accountability. This is part of a broader coordinated attack on Black political power happening across the country. But organizations like 350.org and Young Gifted and Green on the ground are fighting back, communities are refusing to be silenced, and we are not sleepwalking into a future where our voices can simply be erased. We have seen this play before. And we are prepared to fight it again.”
Media Contact:
Candice Fortin, [email protected], (917) 244.7206