by Rev. Earle Fisher, Tennessee Lookout
June 30, 2025

They say all skinfolk ain’t kinfolk, but what happens when all the kinfolk act like adversaries, and nobody’s talking like family?

In a moment that demands clarity, collaboration and courage, too many of our most visible Black leaders are caught in performative conflicts that trade strategy for spectacle. From city government to the county commission, from the Capitol to the sanctuary, we’re witnessing a crisis not just of policy but of purpose. And Black people in Memphis are paying the price.

Black leaders in Memphis are clashing over what liberation looks like spiritually, economically, and environmentally. The deeper issue may not be the conflict itself but the way we’re engaging it. If we’re not intentional, our disagreements can distract from our collective purpose and diminish the trust our communities place in us.

Take the escalating tensions surrounding xAI’s controversial development in South Memphis. Billionaire Elon Musk’s tech company is constructing a massive supercomputer facility in one of the most disinvested, environmentally burdened Black communities in the city. While Mayor Paul Young has leaned into economic development messaging, Rep. Justin Pearson has sounded the alarm about public health risks and procedural failures, even as organizations like the NAACP prepare to sue.

Yes, there have been public meetings and forums held by advocates for xAI — Young and the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce — and by those concerned by it. I’ve attended some of them. I’ve spoken directly with both organizations. But symbolic appearances are not the same as substantive collaboration. The longer this divide festers in the public eye without coordination, the easier it becomes for corporate interests to exploit the cracks in our collective leadership.

The county budget fight shows a similar pattern. Earlier this week, the Shelby County Commission approved a nearly $2 billion budget with no increase in the property tax rate, a move praised as “fiscally responsible” by County Mayor Lee Harris. But critics like Commissioner Charlie Caswell and several community coalitions have rightfully questioned how so-called “austerity” politics serve the very people who are most harmed by underfunded services, neglected infrastructure, and stagnant wages. 

This isn’t just about spreadsheets. It’s about values. Flat taxes mean flat services. And in communities already flattened by disinvestment, that’s not neutral. That’s negligent.

Then there’s the spiritual arena, a realm that should model moral clarity but often mirrors the same divisiveness. Some of our most well-established Black denominational institutions — including the National Baptist Convention, USA, the National Missionary Baptist Convention of America and the Church of God in Christ — have aligned themselves with corporate partners like Target, accepting funding under the banner of progress, while simultaneously side-stepping grassroots protestors, organizers and younger clergy who have kept the moral fires of justice lit in the streets.

We cannot afford to be this divided, not now, not ever. And we especially cannot afford to confuse:

• Personal platform-building, which often centers ego over equity’
• Prophetic work, which risks popularity for the sake of truth’
• Public witness, which calls power to account with transparency’
• Political pragmatism, which should never become an excuse for moral compromise.

Let me be clear. I’m not critiquing from the sidelines. I’ve been in conversation with Young and Pearson. I’ve shared meals, attended meetings, and extended invitations to work through these tensions in ways that are principled and people-centered. The exception is Harris. I’m still working to set up a meeting with him.

What worries me most is how these feuds are beginning to calcify, not around ideas, but around identities. We’re slipping into factionalism. Into camps. Into cults of personality. And while we subtweet each other and swap shade in interviews, Black communities continue to suffer under systems that do not pause while we figure out how to play nice.

This isn’t just about unity for unity’s sake. This is about the utility of our power. It’s about whether we are capable of moving together with enough alignment and enough discipline to shift policy, redistribute resources, and dismantle systems of harm. That’s the work. That’s the call.

Family feuds are fine for entertainment. But for Black freedom? They’re a death sentence.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.

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Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

This content reflects a Center-Left perspective as it emphasizes social justice, community empowerment, and critiques economic development that disregards environmental and public health concerns, particularly affecting marginalized Black communities. It highlights tensions between corporate interests and grassroots activism, calls for substantive collaboration over symbolic actions, and stresses equity and redistribution of resources—all themes often aligned with progressive or Center-Left viewpoints. The tone is critical of austerity politics, moral complacency, and factionalism within Black leadership, advocating for unified, values-driven political action without veering into partisan rhetoric.