MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Residents in Orange Mound will host a rally for peace Wednesday night at a popular Corner Market where police have responded to violence over the years.
It’s no coincidence a peace rally will take place outside of the A-1 Speedy Corner Market. The store has been the center of several investigations by the Memphis Police Department.
It was forced to shut its doors in 2017 after it was deemed a public nuisance, but it soon reopened.
Now organizers of the peace rally say Orange Mound, as a whole, deserves a chance to reinvent itself.
Reverend Reginald Tucker is one of the rally’s organizers who knows the area well. He’s called Orange Mound home for 56 years and says the rally is personal.
“We don’t have to come straight with violence. We can come with peace and try to come with understanding,” he said.
City officials, police and other community leaders are expected to be on hand. Organizers are taking things back to the basics. They say the rally will not only promote peace, but it will spark some much needed conversation also.
“We are trying to really take our city back from all of the violence, and we have to re-educate our kids with the way they think,” Tucker said.
The rally will start at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The event is free and will include food, fellowship and dancing.