'Who can I save?': NLE Choppa talks to Memphis kids about mental health, crime at town hall

People were laughing, dancing and singing as NLE Choppa walked into the Limit Breaker Church off Ross and Raines Saturday to begin a town hall meeting focused on mental health and crime with more than 100 Memphis locals.

Black Men Crowned's second "Speak Up" event featured mental health professionals, community leaders and NLE Choppa, but having the Memphis rapper speak was not what made the forum unique. It was the focus on taking questions and listening directly to Black boys and girls tell parents and panelists about some of their biggest struggles.

"We have structured programs that we do within our organization...and there's a certain crowd that comes to us on a consistent basis that will sit and listen to our meetings," said Memphis Police Department Deputy Chief Paul Wright, who was in the town hall's audience. "Of course, rappers and entertainers, they can bring in a certain group of individuals to be part of that conversation of healing the city and the community."

Over the course of the afternoon, more than 20 kids talked about things they see that can lead to depression and anxiety and what spurs youth crime. Social media was one of the most common things mentioned.

Event organizers encouraged teen speakers to to be open and give their names and ages, but they also wanted to create a "comforting environment," where the kids were safe to show "vulnerability," as NLE Choppa said. They said the kids didn't have to share their names if they weren't comfortable doing so.

"I feel like one of the problems with youth at ages 8, 9, 10 and 11 is on social media," an unnamed 16-year-old student said. "They can see a video of gang violence and want to imitate that, and it can lead them in the wrong direction."

Another speaker, 14, said seeing poor role models on social media handle their problems in a negative way can influence youth in Memphis to follow the same path.

NLE Choppa, born Bryson Potts, pointed out that who kids in Memphis are hanging out with can be part of the problem and touched on his own experiences with poor influences.

"Every time I was in trouble, I was with a group of people, and I was really the only one that went down every time," NLE Choppa said. "This is not one person who is going to jail behind the car. It's not one person killing someone. It's not one person who has robbed, either. I feel like a lot of problems we can deal with by getting ahead of the curve, by looking at who you hang around."

Paul Young, president and CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission and a candidate in the Memphis mayoral race, was a panelist at the event. Having young Memphians drive the conversations around mental health and crime is important, and often overlooked, he said.

"Today was about empowering them to amplify their voices so that they're the ones being heard," Young said. "They are the ones telling us what they need, what we should be doing to support them and address challenges."

NLE Choppa said he hopes the event can be expanded to happen monthly across Memphis instead of annually.

"This is what I love doing," he said. "Music is cool, doing shows is cute, the jewelry and stuff is cool, but who can I save? Who can I touch? Who can walk up 20 years from now and be like, 'Yo, that talk we had in that church that day changed my life.'"

Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Black Men Crowned tries to spur 'vulnerability' with kids at town hall