The Crime of Excellence: The Legacy of The People’s Grocery Store in Memphis

The Crime of Excellence: The Legacy of The People’s Grocery Store in Memphis

June 11, 2026 · 13 min · Episode 394

About this episode

Karen honors the legacy of Memphis' People’s Grocery Store and its impact on the anti-lynching movement.

Karen honors the legacy of Memphis' People’s Grocery Store, a thriving Black-owned cooperative founded in 1889, while exploring how its profound economic success tragically provoked a violent, jealous backlash that resulted in the lynching of its founders and fueled Ida B. Wells’s historic anti-lynching crusade.

People in this episode

Host: Karen Hunter

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: People’s Grocery Store

Places: Memphis

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