About Linda Nettles Harris: Defender of Justice, Daughter of Holiday Heights
Attorney Linda Nettles Harris is a living archive of Memphis’s criminal justice system—having served as a police officer, prosecutor, federal litigator, civil rights attorney, and now a fearless community advocate. Her journey began in the historic Black neighborhood of **Holiday Heights**, just south of Alcy Road, once the dividing line between Memphis city limits and Shelby County.
In this tight-knit community, Linda attended **Norris Road Elementary**, **Corry Junior High**, and later **Hamilton High School** on Wilson Street—schools that shaped generations of Black youth during Memphis’s turbulent civil rights era.
Though she was a child when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Linda Harris grew up in the shadow of his legacy, absorbing the moral urgency of justice and equality. She became one of the **first group of women recruited into the Memphis Police Department**, breaking barriers in a male-dominated force. She recalls the pain and rigor of qualifying for the badge—not just physically, but spiritually—knowing she was entering a system that often policed her own people.
From Patrol to Prosecution to Protection
Linda Harris’s career spans every corner of the criminal justice system:
- As a **Memphis Police Officer**, she worked in patrol, jail operations, and criminal investigations.
As a **federal prosecutor** with the U.S. Department of Justice, she tried over **70 jury trials** and litigated hundreds of cases ranging from civil rights violations to public corruption, drug trafficking, and fraud.
As an **attorney and mediator**, she has defended the vulnerable, mediated civil rights disputes, and trained future legal minds.
Her credentials include:
- Assistant U.S. Attorney in both civil and criminal divisions
- Federal judicial law clerk to Judge Jerome Turner
- Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 Civil and Family Law Mediator
- Commissioner on the Tennessee Supreme Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission
Linda Nettles Harris is not just legally trained—she is spiritually armed and a strong Christian advocate. Her lived experience gives her unmatched insight into how Memphis’s justice system operates, and how it fails.
Gloves Off: The Jail Fight in New Chicago
When plans surfaced to build a **$1.26 billion Criminal Justice Center** in the heart of the historic **New Chicago community**, Linda Harris didn’t just raise her voice—she raised hell. Furious at the betrayal by both Black and white leaders, she called out the moral hypocrisy and economic absurdity of leasing land from a private developer while Shelby County owns land near the penal farm.
“Why would Shelby County lease land they don’t own to build a jail in a Black community—when they already own land elsewhere? This is not just racism. This is Black-on-Black profiteering. This is betrayal.”
Linda Harris exposed the strategy: let the current jail deteriorate, then justify a takeover of Black land in New Chicago—without consulting the residents. She called it what it is: **White Supremacy masked as development**, where decisions are made for Black communities without their consent. Such attorney Linda Nettles Harris calls: "A Plantation Mentality."
National Amplifier, Relentless Advocate
Flanking Dr. Carnita Atwater, Attorney Linda Nettles Harris is taking the fight to the national stage—creating a digital foot print; websites, YouTube videos, and media campaigns that not only explain the injustice but **expose the Black leaders who support it**. She refuses to let Memphis be bamboozled by commercial jail ventures disguised as progress.
Attorney Linda Nettles Harris comments; “They would never put a jail in a white neighborhood. So why is it acceptable in ours?”
Her advocacy is not just legal—it’s moral, spiritual, and ancestral. She invokes Dr. King’s legacy, demanding that Memphis live up to its promise of justice, not sell it out for profit.
Linda Nettles Harris is a daughter of Holiday Heights, a warrior of Memphis justice, and a truth-teller who refuses to be silenced. Her story is a cornerstone of the "Rubber to Racism" movement—a reminder that real justice requires courage, memory, and an unflinching commitment to truth.
It has been noted that since the push back and exposure some elected official propose to take the issue of building a jail in New Chicago off of the table. Attorney Linda Nettles Harris notes; "I do not trust the legislators to do the right thing."
Attorney Linda Nettles Harris quotes the words of the "Black Liberator" Fredrick Douglass who said; "Power concedes nothing without demand, never have and never will."
Attorney Linda Nettles Harris notes: if we take our eyes off of ball they will under cover throw a fastball and scheme and push through the money making scheme to put a Jail in New Chicago.
Attorney Harris via this website advocates to Dr. Carnita Atwater to arrange a giant "Rubber to Racism Rally" to send a message to the elected officials that we are watching and will not take our eyes off of the ball.
Linda Harris secured Memphis 1st Independent 35mm Theatrical filmmaker Anthony "Amp" Elmore to create a documentary regarding the story of "Rubber to Racism." Anthony "Amp" Elmore pointed out to Attorney Linda Harris that he was unable to find not one single solitary writing, evidence or documentary history of the "New Chicago Community."
Anthony "Amp" Elmore suggested to Attorney Linda Harris lets work with the residence and activist in New Chicago to create a "Digital Foot Print." This website is not just a protest this website is New Chicago's 1st Digital Foot Print.
