Is Shelby County Young Democrats President Alvin Crook the Memphis political landscape’s best kept secret?
Andre Johnson 
MEMPHIS — Shortly after 7 o’clock Monday morning, Alvin Crook thought it necessary to take to his Facebook page and jump start his workweek with a rather intriguing, forthright message.
Having staged to his timeline an image of a tiger — a rather ferocious, rambunctious looking tiger — the message is one in which a number of his followers found quite captivating.
The message read: I’M COMING FOR EVERYTHING THEY SAY I COULDN’T HAVE!
While such a dazzling social media post had given way to a slew likes, favorable comments and a few shares, it is one that, in assessing the overall landscape of Crook’s life, has served a motivational force for a man whom, like many of his peers, had to work diligently in surviving and conquering the sometimes brutally chaotic streets of Memphis.
“I thank God for all of my success and my mom for raising me up,” Crook told Making Headline News during a recent interview.
To grasp a thorough understanding of why Crook, the newly-elected 9th Congressional Representative for the State of Tennessee Young Democrats, wasted little time paying homage to his mother, Lisa Ann Washington, look no further than how he had gone about defying arguably the greatest of odds, particularly during his mostly challenging upbringing in inner city Memphis.
Having been raised in the South Memphis — or to be technical, the historic Whitehaven district of Memphis — Washington, in what was a seemingly familiar trend in the inner city, was left to run a single-parent home that was comprised of Crook and his two younger sisters.
While Washington persevered through an array of intense challenges and obstacles, Crook, meanwhile, sensed he needed to do the essential things that would greatly enable him to become a successful young black lad in a city that for years has been crippled by a poor economic landscape.
To his masterful, immeasurable credit, he had done just that, had executed what was an effective, strategic plan that would ultimately give way to his becoming a respectable public figure in his native establishment that is the Bluff City.
Widely known as a former Shelby County Commissioner candidate for District 12, as well as the former president of the Shelby County Young Democrats from 2015-2017, the 30-year-old Crook is a graduate of Memphis Fairley High and is married to Andrea Crook. They are the proud parents of four-year-old Alvin Crook IV.
Upon finishing high school, Crook’s passion for the law enforcement industry was everything but unnoticed, considering he assumed a position as a court officer through the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office from June 2008 through July 2016. In addition, he enjoyed a stint with the Holly Springs (Mississippi) Police Department before earning a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Phoenix.
Aside from having a valiant political presence, Crook is still very much active in law enforcement, considering his resume includes working with the homeless population in Memphis, as well as serving as President of his Neighborhood Watch Organization.
His community service accolades include having become a Prince Hall Free Mason, and he is a member of the Urban League Young Professionals, Shelby County Young Democrats, Tennessee Young Democrats, Millenniums of Memphis, NAACP Memphis Chapter, Greater Memphis Democratic Club, American Criminal Justice Association and he presently sits on as a Commissioner on the Downtown Parking Authority in Memphis Tennessee.
Talk about a masterful, immeasurable resume for a young pillar of the Memphis metropolitan area.
“Growing up in a single-parent home, it was so special to see how determine my mom was she always told me never let someone tell you what you can’t do,” Crook explained. “Today, she always says she loves the man that I became.”
So does a few of his notable constituents, colleagues, and mentors.
“I also want to credit and thank my mentors, State Representative Antonio Parkinson, and community leaders Greg Grant and Alonzo Grant,” Crook said.
As for his plans in this ever-so-competitive political arena in the foreseeable future, Crook doesn’t shy away from the notion that Memphians will likely see his name come up — early and often.
“I have every intention on running for office in the near future,” Crook said. “I have a quote that I live by and it is, ‘Go hard or go home.’ If you’re not going to put your all in what you want out of life, you might as well go home.”
For Crook, his track record, by all accounts, speaks volumes, as evidence by the thought-provoking message he installed to his Facebook page early Monday morning.
That is, this youngster is coming for everything they said he couldn’t have.
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Andre Johnson is Founder and Publisher for Making Headline News. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism and a former staff reporter the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper, Johnson covers the NBA Southwest Division from Dallas, Texas. To reach Johnson, send an email to [email protected]. Also, follow him on Twitter @AJ_Journalist.
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