The idea for this program was the brainchild of Clemmie Greenlee, Nashvillian of the Year, 2007. As a survivor of a thirty-year sex trafficking night terror, Greenlee was finally able to escape out of that life into recovery by going through the Magdalene House. Within two years, she learned how to become whole again and vowed to get other women out of that lifestyle as well. With the help of her brother Lonnie, they helped others in the community recover from drug addiction, gang affiliation, and overall poor choices.
However, there was a major, major twist. Just months after she completed for intensive recovery, her son--her only son--was gunned down for refusing to rat out his friend. At the service, she was asked to say something. Because of the nature of her son's murder, she inherited respect from that community. Would she rally them up to take revenge on the family that murdered her son, or would she live better.
She was at a major crossroads in her life, a life taken down the wrong road since the age of twelve(!). She had been abused at just half of that age (6), and lack of basic necessities could be a daily reality. Yet, the question was what would she do? Sure, it might be easy to say, "Turn the other cheek," or to that violence never really solved anything. But she had just gotten out of recovery. She had just gotten back on the right track. Even the best of us, though it may seem easy, would sure have struggled, not with the demons without, but the demons within.
Greenlee, when it was said that she had contributed to the leading up to her son's murder, acknowledged the criticism, stating that she taught him this, that and the other. In other words, she herself had internalized her environment as livable, as manageable, as something in which to revel.
However, make no mistake about it: she had been completely victimized. She had literally been forced into that life, injected, against her will, with substances that hooked her into that life for decades. She had become a teenage mother. And now, right after she had gotten clean and was sober in mind, body, and spirit, this spirit of evil in the world had one more act and one more lure before such a grip loosened to the point of not only surviving, but also thriving.
Not only was her son taken away unlawfully, but also, she now faced a choice. Was she actually going to live a better life, or was she going to turn back to such evil. She chose to walk away. She did not want anyone else to suffer because of this occurrence. She refused to allow herself to authorize the situation of a grieving mother, even if it was for revenge. She chose to oppose all forms of killing, even the death penalty.
Clemmie Greenlee, a true victor over victim-hood, chose to oppose all forms of death and destruction. She wanted a program to prevent such violence, such destruction, such decay. Through Nashville Peacemakers, she was able to guide others in similar situations to a better life, and part of that was to have something she knows she needed growing up. She knows that "had someone been there for [her,]" she would not have languished in the streets. Had there been mentors people in the community who loved her family and would do everything in their power to make sure the children grew up to be fully healthy and prosperous, she would not have had to bury her son at such a young age.
These mentors, she knows, could help guide the younger folk to a better life. Her support group for mothers who have lost children, primarily to gun violence, does not only support grieving mothers. It not only helps them in the aftermath and ordeal of the tragic events. But also, they determine in their hearts what Clemmie Greenlee has done in her own: to find ways to prevent the youth from getting into such circumstances that will make it easier to be gunned down, to be trampled upon, to be pushed down to the point of despair.
"Ms. Clemmie," as many call her, decided that a man was very necessary for mentoring young men. She came up with a very fitting title: Dads against Destruction. Not every man has made a baby, but a true man can always be a father-figure. Perhaps, the truest sense of the word "dad" is the fact that he spends time with the child individually and loves the child(ren). He nurtures and guides to the point that even when he is not there, the child still remembers the words and the values he taught and demonstrated many times over.
More that marching, these are the ones who nurture. More that teaching or preaching, these are the ones who demonstrate and model. More than demand, these are the ones who serve.
They serve by protecting,
Serve by directing.
They model and demonstrate;
Very seldom,
Do they become
Very irate.
So late us hold fast
To the future,
For which we cast.
Let us lead the way forward,
So that others may see
Destruction is not the way to be.
No, destruction is not the way to be.
However, there was a major, major twist. Just months after she completed for intensive recovery, her son--her only son--was gunned down for refusing to rat out his friend. At the service, she was asked to say something. Because of the nature of her son's murder, she inherited respect from that community. Would she rally them up to take revenge on the family that murdered her son, or would she live better.
She was at a major crossroads in her life, a life taken down the wrong road since the age of twelve(!). She had been abused at just half of that age (6), and lack of basic necessities could be a daily reality. Yet, the question was what would she do? Sure, it might be easy to say, "Turn the other cheek," or to that violence never really solved anything. But she had just gotten out of recovery. She had just gotten back on the right track. Even the best of us, though it may seem easy, would sure have struggled, not with the demons without, but the demons within.
Greenlee, when it was said that she had contributed to the leading up to her son's murder, acknowledged the criticism, stating that she taught him this, that and the other. In other words, she herself had internalized her environment as livable, as manageable, as something in which to revel.
However, make no mistake about it: she had been completely victimized. She had literally been forced into that life, injected, against her will, with substances that hooked her into that life for decades. She had become a teenage mother. And now, right after she had gotten clean and was sober in mind, body, and spirit, this spirit of evil in the world had one more act and one more lure before such a grip loosened to the point of not only surviving, but also thriving.
Not only was her son taken away unlawfully, but also, she now faced a choice. Was she actually going to live a better life, or was she going to turn back to such evil. She chose to walk away. She did not want anyone else to suffer because of this occurrence. She refused to allow herself to authorize the situation of a grieving mother, even if it was for revenge. She chose to oppose all forms of killing, even the death penalty.
Clemmie Greenlee, a true victor over victim-hood, chose to oppose all forms of death and destruction. She wanted a program to prevent such violence, such destruction, such decay. Through Nashville Peacemakers, she was able to guide others in similar situations to a better life, and part of that was to have something she knows she needed growing up. She knows that "had someone been there for [her,]" she would not have languished in the streets. Had there been mentors people in the community who loved her family and would do everything in their power to make sure the children grew up to be fully healthy and prosperous, she would not have had to bury her son at such a young age.
These mentors, she knows, could help guide the younger folk to a better life. Her support group for mothers who have lost children, primarily to gun violence, does not only support grieving mothers. It not only helps them in the aftermath and ordeal of the tragic events. But also, they determine in their hearts what Clemmie Greenlee has done in her own: to find ways to prevent the youth from getting into such circumstances that will make it easier to be gunned down, to be trampled upon, to be pushed down to the point of despair.
"Ms. Clemmie," as many call her, decided that a man was very necessary for mentoring young men. She came up with a very fitting title: Dads against Destruction. Not every man has made a baby, but a true man can always be a father-figure. Perhaps, the truest sense of the word "dad" is the fact that he spends time with the child individually and loves the child(ren). He nurtures and guides to the point that even when he is not there, the child still remembers the words and the values he taught and demonstrated many times over.
More that marching, these are the ones who nurture. More that teaching or preaching, these are the ones who demonstrate and model. More than demand, these are the ones who serve.
They serve by protecting,
Serve by directing.
They model and demonstrate;
Very seldom,
Do they become
Very irate.
So late us hold fast
To the future,
For which we cast.
Let us lead the way forward,
So that others may see
Destruction is not the way to be.
No, destruction is not the way to be.
D-A-D: Dads Against Destruction
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