Candice Ludlow

WKNO continues its look at the gang problem in America.  According to the FBI’s 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment, gangs are responsible for 48 percent of all violent crime in the U.S.  So how can a community wrest itself from the grip of gang-involved youth?  Gang life is extremely dangerous, and many fear there are no exits, but it’s a myth that one cannot leave gang life behind.

Eric is 31 and the youngest of several children.  I’m not using his last name to protect his identity. 

The banjo is an American instrument with a storied history and roots in West Africa. The five-string instrument found its way into jug band music, bluegrass, country, as well as classical and jazz. Dom Flemons of the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops came to WC Handy Park on Beale Street in Memphis this summer to help with the PBS program “Give Me the Banjo.”

Flemons plays his banjo and sings, “It’s A Good Thing,” a Frank Stokes song from the 1920s, at the foot of WC Handy’s statue.  Flemons says the banjo came out of African-American culture.

Almost any night, you can turn on the TV news and hear about another shooting in Memphis.  Gangs stretch into every corner of Shelby County, not only in some of Memphis’ most gritty and impoverished neighborhoods.  The Shelby County Sheriff’s Department has identified approximately 8,400 gang members and 182 gangs and gang sets in the county.

Just a few miles from the Crossroads where legend has it that Robert Johnson made a deal with the Devil to play the blues is the Hopson Plantation, where blues enthusiasts and accomplished musicians will gather on Sunday to celebrate the Pinetop Perkins Homecoming. 

Memphis, TN – An unprecedented 25 contenders for Memphis mayor is making choosing one difficult for some voters. A recent Mason-Dixon poll showed four front-runners: 45 percent of those polled support Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton, followed by Carol Chumney with 11 percent, Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery with 10 percent, and Charles Carpenter with 5 percent. Candice Ludlow sat down with each of the candidates and asked them the same set of questions. Listen here to the interview of Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton.