Special Edition
8 th Annual Walk A Mile In Her Shoes
Photos by Haley Graham
Friends strut together in matching blue shoes.
Dean Justin Lawhead
selects the perfect shoe.
Check out those pumps!

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes Draws 260

A boisterous line of 237 students and community leaders bearing signs and chanting drew honks and cheers of support last week as they marched along Central, Highland and Poplar in the 8 th Memphis Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.

Many men wore women’s shoes – high ones, low ones, red, gold, aqua or black.

Fathers brought sons. Mothers brought daughters. Professors, lawyers, police officers, business owners, social workers, college and high school students marched in the demonstration against rape, sexual assault and gender violence.

The 2018 march stepped off from the Ramesses II statue at the University of Memphis after a rally attend by about 260. It was organized by the Memphis Area Women’s Council, Memphis Says NO MORE, the Memphis Sexual Assault Kit Task Force and Splash Creative in partnership with the UofM Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Coalition, Student Government Association and Title IX Prevention Center.

Women’s Council executive director Deborah Clubb welcomed and thanked the throng. Nikkino Wesson and Courtney Paige Harrough from SAPAC described the importance of supporting survivors of gender violence and the work underway on campus.

Kenneth Anderson, UofM director of institutional equity, Antonio Scott from SGA, City Councilmember Worth Morgan and Bridges teen leaders Mohamed Abdo and Devin Dearborn rallied the walkers before leading the way west on Central.
Memphis Police Deputy Chief Don Crowe
brought his sons to Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.

Memphis Says NO MORE
at 2018 Mempho Music Festival

For the first time, Memphis concert-goers will have access to sexual assault advocates and counselors on-site when Memphis Says NO MORE offers the Mempho Safe Zone this weekend at Shelby Farms Park.

Organizers of the Mempho festival reached out in April to MSNM coordinator Deborah Clubb about providing training for staff and security on sexual harassment and organizing counselors and a safe space to be used by any festival attendees who might need assistance.

The Safe Zone tent will sit beside the medical tent to the right of the festival gate. It will be staffed with advocates and counselors from the Shelby County Crime Victims Center & Rape Crisis Center. Other volunteers in MSNM shirts will circulate in the crowd ready to offer help or guidance to the tent.

Special signs will remind concert-goers that Memphis Says NO MORE:

  • “She didn’t say no.”
  • “Well, she was drunk.”
  • “He said she wanted it.”

Diego Winegardner, CEO/Founder of the Mempho Music Festival, said, “The Mempho Music Festival is honored and privileged to have Memphis Says NO MORE helping us provide a safe and enjoyable festival experience for all genders. As the father of a concert-attending daughter, nothing is more important to me than making our festival an inclusive, welcoming event for everyone and I personally thank the MSNM organization for agreeing to assist us. We are blessed to have their expertise and support."