Save Millwood
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
We are not temporary.
For over three decades, the space between downtown and Antioch heading south has been a center for African immigrants. Restaurants, stores, music, bakeries have been monuments of this space off Mill Creek.
But, with the burgeoning migrations to downtown Nashville and the boom of white developers coming to Nashville, immigrants, who have built this city, are being displaced.
Interact with this map of Millwood. The yellow shading is “Greater Millwood,” while the purple shading is Millwood proper, where we did our canvassing from November 2020 to May 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Millwood is located along Murfreesboro Pike heading south from downtown. It is known as the “African Corridor” for the Egyptian/Somali/Ethiopian residents and businesses. Millwood is not just a residential area, but also a cultural testimony.
A remembrance
In February 2022, through our partnership with the Resist Foundation, we teamed up with WeStory to create a memory of Millwood as we lose it to developers, government, and employers.
Though we have lost this home, we are creating more in Antioch, Smyrna, and Murfreesboro, and we want this video to be a reminder of what is to lose, so that we don’t become numb to forced migrations.
Learn about Millwood.
Follow Elmahaba Center on Instagram.
Read about the cultural importance of Millwood: Why is Millwood Important to Egyptian Histories? (June 2021); The Demographics of Millwood (June 2021); The (Mis)Management of Millwood (June 2021)
Follow the Workers’ Dignity campaign at the Mosaic Apartments after 89 families—over one hundred individuals—were pressured towards eviction without notice. Read The Tennessean article on the conditions of the Mosaics Apartments.
Attend our Insta Live Sessions (Tuesdays in June at 7 pm CST) or one of our listening sessions (June 23rd at 8:30 am or June 26th at 2 pm via Zoom).
What’s Happening?
Ashley Barrientos, Elmahaba Center’s journalist intern covering the housing crisis in Millwood, is writing detailed, micro-level articles about what’s going on interweaving community voices into her pieces. Follow us on Medium for updates.
“The Demographics of Millwood”
June 14, 2021 by Ashley Barrientos
“As the invasion of white residents with no cultural investment in Millwood rapidly grows, immigrants in the area continue to report how their narratives have become undervalued and their mobilization efforts for better housing conditions continue to be stifled.”
“The (Mis)Management of Millwood”
June 20, 2021 by Ashley Barrientos
“Trash is oftentimes overflowing at dumpsters on the premises, and residents are often frustrated that they have to continue to dismantle the narrative of working-class uncleanliness, especially when they live in a community whose majority is composed of immigrants and people of color.”
“This work is about our people’s struggle, the historical Black struggle.”
— Cedric Robinson
Call to Action: Examples of Renters’ Bill of Rights
It’s not enough to call a councilmember. This continuously is happening in Nashville, and the same eviction lawyers are being used and practicing the same illegal, inhumane actions every time. It’s time for an organized, empowering, lasting change.
New York City
New York City, New York developed a tenants’ bill of rights that include guaranteed disclosures in leases, application fee limits, warning/notice requirements.
St. Louis
Homes for All, an organization dedicated to housing rights and liberation in Missouri, held several listening parties with community members on their Facebook and also spoke to Missouri Public Radio about tenants’ rights and resistance, especially during COVID-19.
Kansas City
In Missouri also, Kansas City residents passed their bill of rights in October 2019 through determined, consistent organizing. Included in the bill is a set up of a tenants’ rights office of advocacy.
Follow our campaign.
