Civil rights leaders hold historic photo shoot in downtown Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Historic leaders from eight states came together for a "Good Day in Memphis."

The event was a photo session designed to empower those to take a look at the past, learn from it and be inspired to make a difference.

"In the Harlem Renaissance, you had all those famous pictures on the steps," Dr. David Acey said. "To recreate that here in Memphis and the surrounding states with great people is absolutely magnificent."

One of the pictures the leaders took was in front of the historic Beale Street Baptist Church.

Familiar faces were in the crowd such as Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner.

One of the civil rights leaders in attendance was Joe Calhoun, the Operation Manager of the Withers Museum.

He told WREG that with the upcoming election, hearing from voices of the past before getting into the voting booth is crucial.

"It's important for those people to understand the history so they vote," Joe Calhoun said. "They vote with some kind of conscious about how we arrived where we are."

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Another civil rights leader in attendance was Dr. David Acey and his wife Yvonne. The pair started Memphis' Africa in April Festival.

"Culture to a people is what water is to a fish," Dr. Acey said. "If you take a fish out of water, the fish will die. If you take a people out of their culture, the people will die."

He told WREG that many lessons could be learned from generations like his.

"Send me wherever you want (me) to go and I am going to be there," Dr. Acey said. "So long story short, I was at the 1963 march and the last one here in Memphis."

Calhoun said he hopes Sunday's event will shine a different light on the Bluff City.

"We've allowed a few hundred people to define who we are," Calhoun said. "Those few hundred people have committed crimes but at the same time, each time something happens the positive things overshadow – or should overshadow the negative."