(Nashville, TN) - You'd never know it from her bright smile and infectious laugh, but Ms. Clemmie Greenlee has been through more than most people go through in a lifetime. She has turned her hardships into hope and as a result, has impacted many lives for the good.
Rather hear her testimony?
Nashville resident Clemmie Greenlee became the founder and CEO of Nashville Peacemakers in 2003 after losing her only son, Rodriguez, in a gang-related shooting. Ms. Clemmie knew the lifestyle well. God had just rescued her from a life of drugs, violence, prostitution and hopelessness.
"I grew up pretty hard. I let everybody know I had three strikes--first strike, I was born to two alcoholic parents, second strike, I was born Black, and third strike, I was born a woman," Ms. Clemmie shares. "My parents loved me unconditionally, there were five of us, and they both did the best they could with the little bit that they knew how. They loved me, but they didn't know how to protect me."
Ms. Clemmie was exposed to the wrong things at an early age.
"I got introduced to the streets at an early age, smoking at 8, drinking beer at 10. Being snatched into trafficking at 12. Pregnant at 14. In and out of juvenile hall and jail once I turned 18. These streets was raising me like these kids are today. That's why I give everything in my power and God's hands to help me get out in these streets and help them."
After hitting bottom and asking for help, Ms. Clemmie got free from drugs and the destructive lifestyle she was living. It was a that point that she set out to find her son. He had fallen into drug addiction as well and though she was able to help him get into rehab once, he relapsed. When he was finally ready to check back in, violence ended his life before he could get the help he needed.
It was at his packed funeral that Ms. Clemmie realized that she had to forgive her son's murderer. Just a few years ago, Ms. Clemmie and that man (now behind bars for a separate crime) connected on the phone. She was able to forgive him and the two have formed a bond.
"I think that's when I found my Jesus was at my son's funeral. For two reasons--that baby (her son's former girlfriend brought his baby to the funeral) was his, that means God gave me a second chance to help raise him because I didn't know how to raise his father. And the second thing was when I turned around to go do my speech, and saw all the people in there, I was like, 'all y'all came here for my son?' I mean, it was packed. People outside, down in the basement, some people couldn't get in. I said, I can't be angry. My son touched all of these spirits...all these souls! If he had all these people laughing and crying...my son loved everybody ."
Ms. Clemmie has taken that pivotal moment at her son's funeral and has turned her sorrow into success for families in Nashville.
Nashville Peacemakers is a non-profit with a focus on stopping violence in the community, especially among young Black men. Over the years, they've also included a community center where kids can have fun, make music, learn basic life skills and receive tutoring in reading and science.
Today, there are three pillars of Nashville Peacemakers: Back to Basics (for girls) and Straight Talk (for boys) giving youth in distressed neighborhoods basic life skills and self-worth, and the M.O.M. (Mothers Over Murder) support group for mothers recovering from the violent deaths of their children. Nashville Peacemakers also comes alongside children who are struggling in school and work. The volunteers help when often a parent isn't available to guide them, celebrating birthdays, graduations and movie nights together. Nashville Peacemakers volunteers provide respite, hope, food and referrals. They go into neighborhoods often forgotten bringing food, personal hygiene supplies for the unhoused and gang-alternative programs.
In 2017 Warner Brothers Television, on behalf of Swedish Public Television, sent a film crew to Nashville to capture Ms. Clemmie Greenlee in action. Lonnell Matthews of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhoods and Community Engagement recognized this, and started building recording studios for Nashville Peacemakers in neighborhoods across Nashville to replace the false allure of the street with real possibilities in the music business.
And now a new partnership is being forged with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the Davidson County Sheriff's Office to bring Nashville Peacemaker's “Straight Talk” program into area prisons, to lower the recidivism rate among young men who need help transitioning from incarceration to peaceful and productive life choices.
From a shaky start to a spectacular life, Ms. Clemmie Greenlee proves that there's hope when we reach out to Jesus.