Wading into the Muck

Over the weekend, multiple fights in downtown Memphis were documented by amateur videographers with mobile phones, who then posted their recordings to social media. While videos like these rarely tell the entire story, they provide varying angles and perspectives that allow law enforcement and us to piece together the events.

These altercations precipitated foot chases by police and members of the National Guard, who have been essentially camped out in downtown Memphis since October of last year as a part of the Memphis Safe Task Force. In one tragic incident on Sunday morning, a 20-year-old man allegedly pointed a weapon at pursuing guardsmen, who then opened fire and killed the suspect. The shooting is being investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at the request of District Attorney General Steve Mulroy, which is protocol in an officer-involved shooting.

While crime in Memphis is down over 40% compared to the same point last year, volatile and violent events are still commonplace. This latest incident compelled a teacher on Facebook to conclude, after watching numerous videos of the fights, that these occurrences are rooted in trauma. After fifteen years of serving women in Orange Mound, our experience leads us to believe this teacher may be correct.

We have talked about the trauma virtually every woman we have served has experienced in her life. The traumas are not all the same types of incidents, and not everyone responds to traumas in the same. However, anger and violence, like we regularly see in Memphis, are not uncommon responses for people impacted by traumatic events. It is essential to say that trauma is not an excuse, but it is a reason.

Studies show that Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is more common among residents of high-crime neighborhoods than among veterans of the twenty-year Afghanistan War. While most crime victims do not become perpetrators themselves, most perpetrators have been victims of crime.

What is also true is that, according to The University of Memphis, “Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet,” the percentage of children under the age of 18 living in poverty is 32.7%. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count Data Center shows that there is a high concentration of children living in poverty who are also living in high-crime neighborhoods.

Science tells us that 90-95 percent of a child’s brain development happens between the ages of birth and 5 years old. A study conducted in Shelby County more than a decade ago through phone interviews with adults from all walks of life concluded that more than half had experienced an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) as defined by the Centers for Disease Control. More than 1 out of every 5 had experienced 3 or more.

In short, generation after generation of Memphians is growing up impacted by severe trauma and lacking the resources to cope and heal.

Scripture and prayer are keys to helping the ladies at My Cup of Tea heal from their traumas, but so are counseling and exercises like the Kintsugi activity about which we have posted and written. Equally important, we’ve learned, are grace, patience, and time.

Trauma can happen in an instant with a single event or be compounded by exposure after exposure, but healing is never quick, no matter how sudden the trauma may have been. Many of the foundations and organizations from which we seek financial support ask for a timeline for the completion of our “project” and for measurable outcomes. Most require reports or updates of some kind at six-month or one-year intervals. Accountability is important, especially when these organizations are striving to be good stewards of the funds allocated for charitable work, but healing cannot be rushed and is often built on second and third chances, exasperation, and despair.

Addressing individual trauma in either a direct or ancillary manner was never on our “Bingo card” when we began this work in Orange Mound. We wanted to provide a job, a steady income, and an opportunity to build cross-cultural relationships. Perhaps we were naïve to think that wading into another’s “muck” would not be a part of this ministry. Wading into the “muck” is critical because it affects a person’s ability to care for themselves and others, hold on to a job, and aspire to something better than what she has always known.

Honestly, not one of us is “muck-less,” and yet Scripture tells us God is gracious (Romans 3: 23-24), merciful (Lamentations 3:22), and patient (2 Peter 3:9). So, as God provides, and through your support, we will continue to do our small part to heal our community’s trauma.