Memphis Bicentennial Fund

So there is another GoFundMe set-up that I’m encouraging everyone to donate to in lieu of this one. Please click on this link and donate: https://t.co/KZfWdBo9IX

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After discussions with GoFundMe and Brittney Block, the operator of the other GoFundMe page, it was decided that the easiest approach to combining funds will be to withdrawal the funds from this page and to re-donate them to the other page.
As soon as GoFundMe allows the withdrawal I will complete the donation and document via screenshot to ensure complete transparency.

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Update (5/7): I have received the funds from GoFundMe and have made the corresponding donation to the other page.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Republican-dominated House in Tennessee voted Tuesday to punish the city of Memphis for removing Confederate monuments by taking $250,000 away from the city that would have been used for a bicentennial celebration next year.

The retaliation came in the form of passage of a last-minute amendment attached to the House appropriations bill that triggered heated debate on the House floor and stinging rebukes from lawmakers from Memphis.

Last year the city of Memphis, which is majority black, was able to find a legal loophole to get rid of two Confederate statues and a bust by selling city parks to a nonprofit, which swiftly removed the monuments. Taken away under cover of darkness were statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was a general in the confederacy, a slave owner and a leader in the Ku Klux Klan. A bust of a Confederate soldier was also removed.

Full article here 

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The great city of Memphis took an unprecedented and creative step to remove racist monuments from public lands and now the Republican members of the House have decided to vote to strip $250,000 from the state budget that was earmarked for the Memphis Bicentennial celebration set to occur in 2019. 

Let’s show that Memphians can support the brave leaders of our city that rejected these antiquated symbols of bigotry and hatred. 

All funds raised will be delivered to the City of Memphis and it’s Mayor, Jim Strickland. 

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For more information on the cities Bicentennial plans click here.