Modern Activism … Southern Movement Assembly, Lowndes County, Alabama
On Friday, September 21, I traveled to Lowndes County, Alabama as part of Project South’s documentation team for the Southern Movement Assembly 2012. Project South is self-described as:
… a 25 year-old membership-based social justice organization rooted in the US South. We work at the local, regional, and national levels to dismantle systems of poverty, racism, and violence while also building community power.
The Southern Movement Assembly is a space for all people to speak their truth, regardless of eligibility or willingness to vote in the general election. Join Southern movement forces in Lowndes County, Alabama to revive historic Tent City, share proposals to build a Southern plan for the People’s First 100 Days after the November elections.
While at SMA, I realized a number of things:
- I have a place that I can claim of my own in the South.
- I believe in the work being done in spaces such as SMA.
- The liberation struggle taking place around the globe is an area of the world I most definitely want to focus my artistic lens on.
Taking SMA back to the birthplace of the Black Panthers was truly a masterstroke. That decision by organizers was accentuated on the evening of the first night when two veterans of the Civil Rights Movements, original members of what would eventually become the Black Panthers, graced us with their presence. While, I cannot say I agree with all of their political views, I can say that sitting in that space and listening to their words allowed me a deeper understanding of the environment that spawned them, and my debt of freedom owed to them and others who fought similar battles around the nation.
I hope you enjoy this Audio Introduction to SMA’12 and stay tuned for some upcoming video pieces showcasing the words of wisdom shared by the elders present at SMA’12
“Threatened by the potential four-to-one advantage of the black vote, whites retaliated by ousting black families from white-owned lands. The African American families who lived here paid dearly to ear their right to vote. Crowded into canvas tents with no running water, indoor plumbing, or electricity, families lived out a harsh day-to-day existence for nearly two and on-half years.
Drive by shootings by shootings into Tent City were commonplace, according to SNCC staffer C.J. Jones, “Tent City was like a shooting gallery…They used to come by three or four times a week and shoot into Tent City.” For protection residents took turns guarding the camp and often hid in the bushes at night.”
The texts to the left of the picture reads
“There were some people who had no option but to live in Tent City and we provided for those people-as best we can…the community was always supportive to bring them food, clothing and anything else. I recall one….hepatitis outbreak there, and there was a lady who had a baby in the dead of winter and we thought we would lose her and the baby”
-Bob Mants, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) staffer who assisted Tent City residents 1965-1967