Project South

Project South operated the following programs in 2023:Youth ProgramsProject South Youth Programs develop youth leadership through popular political education, create alternative youth-run media programs, facilitate afterschool programming, and organize for education justice. The Septima Clark Community Power Institute is a month-long summer leadership development institute for 25-30 high-school-aged youth as participants and 5-6 college-aged young people as Action Team Leaders. Youth Speak Truth Radio Program engages 20-30 people in the Atlanta community to create and produce 26 bi-monthly public affairs programs called Youth Speak Truth on a community-based radio station.The Mutual Aid Liberation CenterIn partnership with the Hunger Coalition of Atlanta, Project South launched the Mutual Aid Liberation Center in July 2017. The two-story building and 5.1 acres of land are located in one of the most historic neighborhoods for African American history in the City of Atlanta. The shared project builds a base of Black residents, youth, and community members in South Atlanta through neighborhood organizing efforts to protect the land, provide education, address and prevent violence, provide emergency relief in the wake of crises, and engage grassroots political power. The Umoja Garden is a working farm that engages community members in agricultural learning opportunities and produces fresh vegetables for communities without access to adequate healthy food options. The 44 acres of land purchased in Spalding County also serves as an education and retreat space for the mutual aid liberation projects.Regional Organizing Programs Project Souths regional organizing programs and leadership development initiatives increase the number of skilled leaders and organizers with the capacity to implement cross-issue organizing efforts, develop root cause political analysis, and create long-term movement building strategies. Project South organizes to advance the Southern Peoples Initiative, a joint vision of the Southern Movement Assembly to grow new social economy projects, practice a peoples democracy through civic engagement and governance, and protect and defend our communities from violence. Project South coordinates the Black Radio Project, a network of Black and community-owned radio stations across 10 states in the U.S. rural and urban South to develop high quality content and support communications infrastructure across the region.Southern Movement AssemblyThe Southern Movement Assembly is a collaborative project that is part of our Regional Organizing. The SMA is a multiracial, multi-issue, multigenerational movement constellation of grassroots organizations across the U.S. South that practices democratic governance, coordinates shared actions, and convenes peoples movement assemblies (PMAs) of frontline communities to grow bottom-up power and build infrastructure for long-term liberation. A governance council of anchor organizations meets weekly; monthly calls inform and connect hundreds of members across the region, and regular people's movement assemblies develop shared platforms and action plans. Annual action plans advance regional efforts to dismantle systems of exploitation and build movement infrastructure.Legal & AdvocacyProject Souths legal and advocacy work provides direct consultation, representation, training, and legal field development to support communities facing discrimination, legislative marginalization, and repression including immigrants and migrants without documentation, refugees, Muslim communities, and Black young people. The Legal & Advocacy arm of Project South connects legal and advocacy work and movement lawyers with grassroots organizations focused on immigrants rights and defending Muslim communities. Through meaningful partnerships with universities, law schools, law firms, and organizations with legal strategies, Project South grows the legal infrastructure for social justice in the South.Movement SupportProject Souths movement support work provides capacity-building programs to Black and low-income organizations based in the U.S. South or with a focus on the South. Project Souths movement support work also includes the production of publications, reports, and materials for political education; and developing training sessions for leadership development to support organizers, activists, and educators. Project South provides short and long-term support to partner groups across the U.S. South through fiscal sponsorships, technical assistance, and leadership development. Project South also works with global partners to organize forums, institutes, and conferences that include analysis, history, and popular education workshop activities to support movement building.GroundworksAs part of our Movement Support work, the Groundworks program offers wrap-around strategic supports, fiscal sponsorships, fellowships, workshops, and facilitation consults with predominantly Black-led and frontline organizations in the U.S. South and beyond. Project South provides fiscal sponsorship and fiscal agency for groups doing extraordinary work to advance social, economic, gender, and ecological justice. In addition, Project South, Inc with three other social justice organizations in the South, created a collaborative project, Southern Power Fund, to raise and distribute funds via grants to Black, Indigenous, and frontline organizations in the U.S. South and Puerto Rico. The steering committee aims to move resources to respond to the needs of movement organizations often left out of traditional funding practices so that Project South, Inc. can continue to build a strong and resourced infrastructure in the South.