CHA Communiversity: Spring 2017

Southern Movement Blueprint Semester

The Communiversity will continue this Spring with a semester of educating, agitating, and organizing around the Southern Movement Blueprint (SouthToSouth.org), which represents a plan of action in a time of crisis.

“The Southern Movement Blueprint represents:

  • The collective thinking & actions of the growing movement in the U.S. South
  • A plan of action to protect and defend our folks from attacks while we build liberated systems & institutions
  • A shared political project that guides self-determined work on different frontlines in multiple communities”

“Our community should be the source of our power. We are an assembly of social movements, grassroots movements, an assembly of assemblies that can become a source of taking and holding power. We can create a culture of liberation by incorporating more voices and paying attention to our imagination about what liberation looks like.” -Ruben Solis, University Sin Fronteras

“Since 2012, hundreds of community leaders in the South have gathered at six Southern Movement Assemblies in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Tennessee. At each assembly, people discuss the pressing issues of our time, develop bold visions for change, and commit to action steps to build power. Over a thousand participants from 140 different organizations have participated in the Southern Movement Assembly and many organize issue-­‐based and community assemblies in their cities and towns to prepare for the regional assembly.”

The most recent convergence of the SMA was in Chattanooga in October 2016. Community members and organizers from across the South and around the world gathered in our city to continue developing our collective consciousness, vision, and strategies toward liberating our people. We were able to continue connecting folks in Chattanooga with regional, national, and international movement- while also showing folks from around the world the reality of struggle in the so-called  “Best Town Ever.” We are excited to invite everyone to join us for this Spring 2017 Communiversity semester, so that we can continue building and implementing strategies that build the movements we need to transform our city, the South, and the world.