Family Reunion - Project South

as the south goes . . .
Periodical from Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty & Genocide
Volume 17, Issue 1, Spring 2009
Juneteenth
Family Reunion
June 19, 2009 Join Us!
In this Issue:
Feature article on race,
colonialism, and liberation in
the twenty-first century
Updates:
- Youth Community Action
Program
- Our Membership programs
- The next US Social Forum
As the South Goes . . .
is a biannual publication of
Project South.
Editor & Layout: Stephanie Guilloud
9 Gammon Avenue
Atlanta GA 303015
404.622.0602
table of contents
Feature Article
Remembering Colonial Legacies . . 3
www.projectsouth.org
staff
Christi Ketchum Bowman
Executive Leadership Team
Stephanie Guilloud
Executive Leadership Team
Emery Wright
Executive Leadership Team
Fredando Jackson
Communications & Outreach
Coordinator
Taliba Obuya
Development Associate &
Membership Coordinator
board
Youth Community Action
Border Movement Assembly . . .
Youth Speak Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Reportbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Midnite Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Juneteenth Gathering . . . . . . . . . .
5
6
7
Membership Program
8
9
US Social Forum
Report & Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11
Organizational Updates
Celebrating our Board . . . . . . . . . . .
12
Celebrating Alice Lovelace . . . . . . . 13
Welcoming Taliba Obuya . . . . . . . . . 14
Shields Scott - Co-Chair
Atlanta, GA
Membership Form on page 15
Join Project South in 2009!
Angela Winfrey - Co-Chair
People’s Institute, GA
Trap Bonner
Moving Forward Gulf Coast, LA
Evan Milligan
Equal Justice Initiative, AL
editor’s note
Brenda Hyde
Southern Echo, MS
In February, we held an Open House for our local members and supporters in order to share our strategic directions in this critical moment. We are excited to share
our work and vision with all of our friends and family
through this biannual newsletter. This issue includes updates about our programs and organizational shifts as
well as an in-depth article discussing the roots of racism
and active solidarity in the twenty-first century. This
feature article continues an ongoing conversation on our
histories and liberation struggles. Enjoy!
- Stephanie Guilloud
Genaro Lopez Rendon
Southwest Workers Union, TX
Suzanne Pharr
Knoxville, TN
Sandra Robertson
Georgia Citizens’ Coalition on Hunger
Free Puerto Rico
Free ourselves
Remembering Colonial Legacies in the 21st Century
tionally. The Puerto Rican independence movement is a
great place to start.
This article is the first in a series of feature articles addressing how From Palin’s Alaska to Pinochet’s Chile, this entire hemicolonialism affects our liberation struggles in the US. Additional sphere is rooted in a post-colonial occupation of indigarticles will examine relationships between the colonial legacy of enous land. Over the last 100 years, much of the coloMexico and the immigrant struggles in the US today as well as nized world (Africa, Latin America & Asia) have fought
an extensive examination of the internal colonial legacy of Black for liberation and emancipation through anti-colonial
America in the South as it relates to the 2010 US Social Forum struggles in terms of national independence. However,
in Detroit.
the “revolutionary” war that won independence from
“So when did Racism come?” I had been asked this ques- Great Britain and established the USA was neither revotion before. The same honest, frustrated, and earnest ex- lutionary nor anti-colonial. Colonial settlers broke from
pression on the young person’s face begged for an answer
their colonial parent to establish a
that made sense. “They came and got
sovereign nation-state led by the setus from Africa, we were brought here We often overlook the roots tlers. In fact, the newly independent
and enslaved, the civil rights moveof European colonialism USA would go on to establish its
ment happened, but where in there
in the Americas and the own colonies throughout the western
did Racism come?” The question dif- way these roots manifest hemisphere including on the island
fers slightly based on who’s asking.
of Puerto Rico. The imperial project
politically today.
This time a high school youth memto colonize Native land, through land
ber at Project South was asking. In order to answer her theft and attempted genocide, leaves significant questions
question, we have to remember the long history of the for social movements located in the US unresolved.
United States and its colonial legacy.
In this same vein, the Black experience in this hemiRacism is a commonly used, catchall term that connects sphere descends from the largest and most brutal forced
enslavement, generational poverty and exploitation in a labor project in modern World history. The imperialsimple word to talk about the complex issues we face in ist project to create and maintain an internal colony of
our daily existence as part of the Black experience within Black labor pre-dates July 4, 1776. The United States sothe United States. Generally, we remember that slavery lidified the British, French, and Spanish colonial process
happened in the US, but we only vaguely remember the in the Americas, taking more Native land and continuing
imperialist project to colonize North and South America. enslavement for another century. Forced labor and social
Within our nation’s collective consciousness, and even control moved from the plantation to the prison system,
within our social movements, we often overlook the generational poverty, and exploitation of Black people.
roots of European colonialism in the Americas and the The internal colonial project against Black Americans
way these roots manifest politically today. The absence of persists today.
remembering this “big picture” history leaves our society The Independence Movement for Puerto Rico is a curwithout clear answers to basic questions about ourselves rent example of a contemporary colony fighting for naand our communities.
tional liberation in the context of a larger global moveFrom conversations in prisons to college campuses peo- ment for social and economic justice. Social movements
ple ask: ‘Why is it that we are in such bad shape? Why in the US can learn strategic lessons from acting in solido Black people living in the United States stay at the darity with this movement.
bottom of employment and education and at the top of The US colonization of the newly independent island
incarceration rates and impoverished neighborhoods?’ nation of Puerto Rico began in 1898. Spain, which reThe foundation of all Black liberation struggles in what leased Puerto Rico from being its colony two years earis now the United States from the 1600s to the present lier, ignored international law by “giving” the sovereign
have asked and attempted to answer these questions. So- nation of Puerto Rico to the US as spoils from war. The
cial movements have a responsibility in this historic mo- independence movement for self-determination in Puerment to understand how colonization and decolonization to Rico has been a fire burning inside and outside Puerhas everything to do with our liberation struggles to free to Rico ever since. Over the course of 2008 and 2009
ourselves. To engage in this struggle domestically, we
must build solidarity with anti-colonial struggles internacontinued on page 4
By Emery Wright
• The United Nations has a standing committee on coProject South staff and members had the opportunity to lonial status and should be given responsibility to use its
meet with representatives of the Hostosian National In- protocol to advance the decolonization process in Puerto
dependence Movement (MINH) working for the libera- Rico.
tion of Puerto Rico. In Atlanta, as part of a national tour, Community-Based Education
Emely Alemany and Doris Pizarro spoke at two community meetings about their movement and introduced the • The process of colonialism and colonial status has a
audience to a deeper understanding of this national lib- dramatic effect on the consciousness of the colonized.
eration question in the context of broader class struggle. Puerto Rican people should lead a process of popular
education at the grassroots to examine and discuss the
Building relationships of solidarity between communities, process of imperialism and how it impacts Puerto Rican
organizations, and movements in the US and in Puerto people. A widespread and deep understanding of the hisRico will enhance our struggles and social movement in tory of colonialism itself among the Puerto Rican people
this country. As US residents, we are directly affected by will be required for true sovereignty and self-determinathe US colonial project in Puerto
tion to last.
Rico, and we are accountable to
In thinking about how these
the oppressive actions of our
elements and the concept of
government. A significant point
a decolonization process remade by MINH in their prelate to social movements in
sentations included highlighting
the United States, we have to
the financial costs of maintainremember how colonialism
ing a colony. Colonialism always
developed over the course of
has been an expensive endeavor.
this nation’s history. MINH
Similar to foreign wars, the fedargues that if Puerto Rico
eral government spends US resiwere to become a 51st State
dents’ tax money on federal poin the United States, it would
licing, investigations, and policies
be the culmination of the coof domination and social control
lonial process. What does the
in Puerto Rico. As US residents
culmination of the colonial
we have a responsibility to stand
with Puerto Rican people to Delegation from Puerto Rico Emely Alemany & Doris projects in the domestic US
defend their right to self-deter- Pizarro speak on a panel with Ajamu Baraka of US of Native and Black peoples
look like? What would be
mination in whatever form that Human Rights Network and Akinyele Umoja from
the culmination of the proMalcolm X Grassroots.
may take.
cess that sought to remove all
In Puerto Rico, as in all anti-coloCherokee in the Trail of Tears from their land in modnial struggles, there is an advanced understanding about ern day Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina? What
the wide-ranging impacts of colonialism on the colo- would be the culmination of an internal process to colonized. Rooted in this understanding, the MINH is calling nize Black life for labor? It could be answered that these
for international support of a Puerto Rican-led decoloniza- battles were fought and lost. The battle to resist genocide
tion process. The MINH in Puerto Rico express three im- and colonialism, however, still lives on within Native and
portant elements of a decolonization process. As we in Black communities. It follows that one path to liberation
the US face our domestic colonial legacy, we find helpful includes a decolonization process within our movements.
instruction from the strategies of Puerto Rican IndepenPart of the answer to the question asked by a Project
dence movements in the 21st Century:
South youth member lies in remembering our colonial
Transfer of Power
legacies and finding effective strategies to break from the
• The colonial process has meant the absence of power colonial bonds that still hold our communities and social
to lead any collective or representational decision making movements from achieving social and economic justice.
Some people might answer the young person’s question
on behalf of the Puerto Rican people.
• The first step of decolonization must begin with a by saying that it doesn’t matter how you got knocked
transfer of power from the colonizer, United States, to down. They would stress that the question is: How are
you going to rise? Understanding the root cause, howevthe colonized, the Puerto Rican people.
er, of how we got knocked down is the only way we get
International Oversight
up and stay up. As we continue the daily work to build
• In a decolonization process, the colonizer cannot be in long-term movements from the grassroots of our comleadership of that transfer. There must be international munities, we have an opportunity to face our colonial
oversight to ensure accountability and justice within the legacy and integrate strategies of decolonization within
our efforts.
decolonization process.
continued from page 3
bridging the gap
through solidarity
Border Movement Assembly - March 2009
of the Kelly Air Force Base.
By Lyntoria Newton
Innocent residents have died
Lyntoria attended the Border Movefrom living in the neighborment Assembly with a Project South
hood surrounding the base
delegation incluing Brandon Andercalled the “toxic triangle.”
son, Corina McCarthy-Fadel, and
This area has been deemed
Emery Wright. The Assembly was
safe by the federal governfacilitated by partner organization
ment. I had the opportunity
Southwest Workers Union in San
to meet people like SWU
Antonio Texas. Lyntoria will gradumember Robert Alvarez who
ate from the New Schools at Carver
lives with health issues bethis year and is a member of Youth
cause of the chemicals that
Speak Truth.
were being released from the
Just last month I was honored
base into their backyards.
to attend the Border People’s
At the end of each day after
Movement Assembly in San Antalking about some pretty
tonio, Texas. When our flight
heavy issues and serious
first landed I was pleasantly
situations we all reflected by
surprised that the weather was
giving our opinion of what
so warm . . . in March! Shortly
went well that day. This part
after getting through the termiof the day was especially
nal, we were warmly welcomed
important to me because I
to the city of San Antonio by
had the opportunity to hear
the Southwest Workers Union
I
was
shocked
at
how
about the issues that were
Border Assembly Coordinator,
Ruben Solis. On the first day
willingly the adults worked on top of everyone’s list
why everyone was there
of the assembly I was excited
with young people to form and
in the first place.
to hear and learn more about
a collective voice.
the issues regarding immigraThe entire time I was there I
tion and environmental juswas immersed in Latino cultice in San Antonio and at the
ture. I stayed with Yvonne
Mexican border. As I entered
Hernandez, a member of SWU’s youth chapter called
the meeting room, I was graced by various dialects of the Youth Leadership Organization (YLO), and her hosthe Spanish language. At first I was lost in translation, pitable family. I ate delicious Mexican food for breakbut soon I was guided to what Ruben called the English fast, lunch, dinner, and even dessert! Plus, on one of the
table. During the assembly, the primary language spoken nights we went dancing at a Mexican Club.
was Spanish. Because of this I was very happy that there
During the Border People’s Movement Assembly, we also
was always someone there to translate so that I never felt
built a relationship with the youth of SWU and started
out of the loop.
the planning process of the South by Southwest Youth
Of the sixty people that attended the event there were Summit which will take place this August. Our visit to
over ten states and five countries represented. Attending San Antonio included a true balance of activist organizas a youth representative of Youth Speak Truth Radio ing and chill, laidback fun. I can honestly say that I felt
I was shocked at how willingly the adults worked with like everyone left this event with a precise assurance of
young people to form a collective voice. Allowing every- change.
one’s voice to be heard was defiantly prioritized as a must
during this assembly.
The next Border Movement Assembly is
scheduled
for September 18-20, 2009 in El
During a tour led by Southwest Workers Union (SWU)
Paso!
Contact
Ruben at [email protected]
Director and Project South Board Member, Genaro Lopez-Rendon, I learned about the environmental impact
youth speak truth
radio program
Niqua Douglas In the WRFG studio
Friday
night
in the
studio
Youth Speak Truth
Maggie Etuk interviews
participants at a rally in
Selma, Alabama in March
a bimonthly current affairs
radio program on WRFG 89.3
Fridays 7:30-8pm
2009 shows have included:
* Yes we can, but what about
Palestine? Interviews with
Atlanta Palestinian organizers
* South by Southwest:
Interviews with organizers
from Texas, Louisiana, &
Alabama
*Youth Leadership &
Community Organizing:
Interview with the Boston
Youth Organizing Project
* Discussion on Violence in the
Community & in our Schools
Upcoming shows:
May 15, May 29, June 12, June 26
Santrechee’l
Julian prepares
before the show
Atlanta Youth
Community
Action Program
Parents, adult allies, & youth leaders
Recently, Youth Speak Truth (YST) youth attended an
Environmental Summit in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
On the tour of the city, we learned about the issues
Chattanooga is facing with the contamination from
historical WWII factory sites, some of which are still
up and running today. We visited the Bunge Edible
Oil factory, which contains plenty of hazardous materials. We learned about the presence of Polycyclic
Aromatic Hydrocarbons. We went to the Chattanooga
River and learned about the coal-tar build up in the
river. We saw different sites that were contaminated
and became Superfund sites, places that are being
worked on by the Environmental Protection Agency
to become decontaminated.
Project South led a workshop, and we explored the
depth of environmental injustice beyond pollution
and contamination issues. The environment includes
your home life, family, school, and even the food you
choose to consume. It was a productive trip.
~ Eshe Shukura
Keanu Velez at work
Fenell Wilkins in action
The SCCPI is a youth leadership development and
community organizing skills building experience
for young people living in the Greater Atlanta area.
We will use local & regional history to learn about
community organizing and to develop our skills to
make positive community change.
The SCCPI will take place from June 1 to June 30th
and this summer SCCPI participants will be working to plan a Youth Summit to be held in August
2009. If you have questions or would like to apply
for the SCCPI please contact us. All participants
will be awarded a $400 stipend at the end of the
program.
Contact Emery Wright or Fredando Jackson at
404.622.0602 or [email protected]
Team building in Tennessee
Septima Clark
Community Power
Institute - June 2009
Midnite school
monthly membership meetings
In March 2009, Project South launched a
monthly political education program to
engage local membership and community
folks. Named for the historical phenomenon of enslaved Africans gathering in the
middle of the night to teach each other to
read and write, the Midnite School’s name
refers to the need to continually prepare
ourselves for liberation through collective
learning.
March 31: “Who’s controlling our minds,
bodies, and spirits? Mab Segrest, prominent Southern queer writer, pictured at
right with Christi, led a discussion about
her research on the Milledgeville insane
asylum and the connections between
mental health, disability, race, gender, and
sexuality.
April 22: “What’s the difference between
being Black and being American? We explored the history of Black radical traditions including the Haitian revolution, Nat
Turner’s revolt, and the civil rights movement in the US South. We discussed the
questions facing Black liberation struggles
in the 21st century in relation to all people’s struggles for freedom.
To join the Midnite School Planning Team
contact
Christi
Ketchum
Bowman
at
[email protected]
or
call
404.622.0602
Upcoming Midnite
School Sessions
May 21: Peace of Mind - An
evening of cultural & artistic
expression for youth &
adults 6-10pm at Vino Libro
June: Juneteenth Gathering
(see next page)
July: Environmental Justice
August:
Forced Migration - Disaster &
Displacement
September:
Transforming Community
Unlock the Setup
Saturday Assembly
HOOPS 4 PEACE
3 on 3 Basketball
Tournament
PIC Toolkit Remix
Collaboration to update our
popular education curriculum
on social control, prisons, &
organizing
Beyond Borders
Juneteenth is a traditional celebration of the ending of
2020 Vision & Strategy Session
slavery, belatedly announced on the shores of Galvesto
build alternatives to violence
ton TX in 1865. The powers of industry and politics in
the South were still in competition with the North and
betrayed the vision of freedom through enacting Black
Codes that led to Jim Crow laws that led to the mass incarceration of Black people that continues
into the 21st century.
Despite this enduring legacy of systemAll-Member People’s Assembly
ic oppression, the Black liberation strugHow do we confront violence and social
gle planted deep roots of resiliency in the
control in our communities and across
South. Sharecroppers Unions challenged stifling economic policies in the late 1800s and
the South ? We’ll come together in the
early 1900s. Septima Clark & Ella Baker eduafternoon to share our visions and
cated and organized mass numbers in the
strategies for change.
1940s, 50s, and 60s. The Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organized
regional leadership and confronted segregation with direct action in the 60s. Mothers and families organized to confront police neglect in the missing and murdered children cases in Atlanta in
the late 70s. Up & Out of Poverty Coalitions raised the minimum wage and challenged unjust welfare laws in the 80s and 90s. Black solidarity with immigrant and migrant workers emerged in the
90s and has grown. We celebrate the paths our ancestors have laid, and we commit to building
movements over the next two decades to achieve even broader visions. In 2009, Project South will
host a Membership Gathering & Assembly to build strategies for community-based alternatives
to prisons and all forms of violence in our communities.
UNLOCK the SETUP: Let’s build our movements from the grassroots! Your participation in the
Juneteenth Membership Gathering will evolve our
multidimensional understanding of the Southern
political landscape in this new moment.
REGISTER NOW!
Your voice is essential
join us in june!
To register & attend, please
contact Taliba at 404.622.0602
or [email protected]
ALL ARE WELCOME!
Project South releases:
Report on
the first US
Social Forum
An excerpt follows:
In any effort so large, there are multiple perspectives
and an infinite number of activities, processes, and
dynamics that should be discussed to understand the
implications for moving forward. Project South offers
our experience, analysis, and recommendations for
the social forum process in the US from our unique
perspective as the anchor organization and as participants on many levels of the work, planning, and vision for the Forum. We offer recommendations so
that we as converging movements, so necessary in this
time, can learn from mistakes and adjust our practices
so that we move forward together and more powerfully than any of us have imagined.
The process of organizing the US Social Forum in
this historical moment evolves three major practices
toward movement building in the twenty-first century
in the United States. First, the process shows that we
must build our movements with integrity and intention at every level simultaneously - locally, regionally,
and nationally. In order to build movements in the
US that can actually respond to regional crises of the
magnitude of the Gulf Coast Crisis, resolve the economic and climate crises, and respond effectively to
the ongoing imperialist corporatist occupation internationally, we must take leadership from people experiencing the effects locally, build cross-regional alliances to lift up the similarities and distinctions within
experience, analysis, and practice, and create spaces to
intervene on national levels. The USSF is unique as a
process because for it to succeed it must also function
and build at all three levels.
Secondly, new organizing models must be designed
and tested. In an era of massive displacement, our
communities must have new ways of finding each
other, building analysis, and connecting to movement.
The design and implementation of innovative spaces
to mobilize towards and participate in the first US Social Forum matches people’s current momentum and
provides lessons about space, purpose, and method in
our work.
10
Thirdly,
we
must practice
building flexible infrastructures that will
sustain our communities beyond the empty promises
of the state or private sectors. The local organizing
and coordination necessary to host the Forum offers
unprecedented opportunities to practice constructing
that infrastructure on local levels. The local site also
offers opportunities to lift up regional realities to a national scale and to evolve the Forum model based on
the specific political location it inhabits.
We examine those three practices from the unique perspective of the anchor organization in order to better
understand the possibility of the USSF as a movement
building practice in this country. We discuss the purpose and methodologies of the Forum in the US to
ensure that the next US Social Forum maintains transformative processes linked to a broader vision. Southern participation not only mobilized major attendance
but also created many key structures and practices. Describing the work of the Southeast as the anchor region is essential so that the Forum in the US can grow
and change as our movements and conditions shift.
The US Social Forum in Atlanta in 2007 is not an end,
but one of many steps in the long, rigorous process to
build powerful massive movements tied by true relationships and sophisticated, cross-region, intersectional
strategy.
When asked what came out of the Forum, as planners
and visionaries of that space we answer: the practice
of building authentic and sustainable movements to
scale; the development of innovative organizing methods that increase participation by responding to both
urgency and desire; and the experience of building
something together that favors visionary practice over
reactive response.
Download the full report from our
website: www.projectsouth.org
D
The Road to Detroit & the US Social Forum II
from the A to the
Project South is thrilled to announce that the second
US Social Forum will be held in Detroit, Michigan
in June 2009. Fierce organizers and community members who have struggled on the frontlines of systemic
economic collapse in Detroit for decades have joined the
social forum process in this country. The National Planning Committee, of which Project South and the Detroit
anchor organizations are a part, explored several options
for the site of the forum, and Detroit emerged as a powerful and relevant location.
Launched in 2005 through the efforts of the Grassroots
Global Justice alliance, the social forum organizing represents a process to converge our movements,
advance our effectiveness, and connect to
global
movements
around the world. We
are excited to build on
the momentum of the
first US Social Forum
held in Atlanta in 2007.
The Southeast showed up in force, and it is critical that
the Southeast show our movements’ strength in Detroit.
The South is tied to the Detroit experience through family legacies, worker migration, and the current realities of
displacement and power struggles facing many of our
communities. Project South’s founder Jerome Scott hails
from Detroit, and we look forward to articles exploring
these connections.
Detroit is more than a symbol of our failing economy.
Detroit is a movement hub of organizing rooted in com-
munity alternatives. Detroit’s history is also rooted in a
wide spectrum of worker justice, low-income organizing, immigrant and migrant work, youth organizing and
expression, and many other community-based efforts
to survive and thrive amidst some of the most devastating conditions. Detroit’s history includes the urban rebellions of 1967 and
the founding of the
Dodge
Revolutionary Union Movement
(DRUM) of Black
auto workers. Detroit
includes powerful indigenous organizing
across international
borders. The history
of Mexican immigrant experiences in the auto plants includes a corporate effort in the 1930s to de-patriate entire
families to Mexico, but many families returned to build
strong communities in Southwest Detroit. Dearborn, a
city inside Detroit, holds one of the largest Arab and Palestinian populations in the US. Communities across the
city are cultivating urban gardens, educational centers,
and organizational institutions to provide basic needs
and confront poverty at its core.
We look forward to building active solidarity with
the people & struggles of Detroit. See you in the D!
June 22-26, 2010
Save the date for the next
US Social Forum
Project South is proud to participate in organizing efforts that will
lead up to the second US Social Forum including:
- Attending & supporting the Kentucky Social Forum to be held in Berea, KY
on July 31-August 1 - www.kentuckysocialforum.org
- Co-leading the People’s Movement Assembly process with Southwest
Workers Union by designing a clear and accessible process for community
participation throughout the next year and beyond
- Planning a South by Southwest Youth Summit in August 2009
- Connecting organizations and communities to the open process
11
Our legacy
is our path
forward
Celebrating the Project South
Board members
By Christi Ketchum Bowman
LOVE & GRATITUDE
Dedicated to all our Board Members from
across the decades. Specfically, we want to
Where in the world can you
acknowledge
and recognize the contributions of
meet so many committed, supthe
Board
that
served over the years 2003-2008:
portive and hardworking people
working for justice? I have had
Eshanda Fennell, Rose Brewer, Abbie
the pleasure of working with
Illenberger, Shields Scott, Rita Valenti,
people who fit that description
for the last eight years. I’m talkTomas Encarnacion, Genaro Lopez
ing about the Board members
Rendon, John O’Neal, Andrea Mercado,
of Project South. The Board has
been a major part of our orgaNanyamka Shukura, Stella Williams,
nization since the beginning. In
Tameka Wynn Sesay, Lisa Albrecht, and
1986, we were working against
Walda Katz Fishman.
oppression and injustice in the
Blackbelt of Alabama, and we
Special love to our brother Clark McKnight.
officially received our 501(c)3
status in 1991. Being a Board
Member at Project South means
long hours, taking notes, facilitating evaluations, selling With assistance from Helen Kim in the beginning and
and writing curriculum, coordinating meetings, building much time, energy, and attention by everyone throughrelationships, giving a helping hand, and stretching your- out the process, we self-facilitated an unprecedented
self in many ways. When we get together as an organiza- transition that includes the transition of Founder Jerome
tion, it doesn’t feel like a board meeting but more like a Scott, Board Chair Walda Katz-Fishman, and lastly the
family reunion. We work, laugh, play, disagree, challenge transition of our 14-member board.
each other, and get the job done - all within the context Empowered by the full board, the Executive Leadership
of understanding our role in the movement and the im- Team and the Board Leadership Team, a smaller team of
portance of the 23-year legacy we have established lo- five board members, orchestrated and fulfilled our goal
cally, regionally, and nationally.
to complete the process of Project South’s transition. We
For the last two years Project South has undergone a ma- participated in many conversations and worked through
jor transition and transformation. This process started misunderstandings and agreements until we could move
in March 2007 in the midst of organizing and anchor- forward in this next chapter with a collective sense of
ing the first US Social Forum. The Executive Leadership clarity and understanding of the social, economic, and
Team worked hard to move forward with our founders political moment. In May, we will have our first board
and board members to make this transition a success. meeting with new members, representing the Southeast
Over the past year, Project South’s Board Leadership Team (Abbie Illenberger, Rita Valenti,
Shields Scott, Rose Brewer, and Eshanda Fennell) worked with the Executive Leadership Team
to craft and implement the final stage of the organization’s transition initiated in 2006. The
2009 Project South board was selected and invited by the full out-going board based on a
rigorous set of criteria and functions. Our full incoming board is listed on page 2.
12
region with the goals of collabothis transition, making Project
ration, representation, historical
South stronger, wiser and truly
continuity, and commitment to
original. As stakeholders and
strengthen the leadership of the
fighters for justice we have lots
South.
more to do, but knowing we
stand in the wake of the warThis is an exciting moment for
riors who came before us gives
Project South in so many ways.
us vigor and vision for the years
We enter this next phase with love,
ahead. I will miss seeing your
happiness, and best wishes to all
faces at our board meetings but
who have contributed to Projyour contributions are forever
ect South. We continue to move
carved into the landscape of
forward with the support of our
Genaro, Rita, Eshanda, & Andrea at the
Project
South. Project South’s
21st Anniversary in May 2008
founders, members, past and prestransition
signals not an end,
ent board members, donors, and orFull Board pictured at left in 2007
but
another
beginning to work
ganizational partners.
together in strategic and meanTo all our board members I personingful ways. We all have differally want to thank you all for being patient, supportive, ent roles, but the mission and purpose is the same.
helpful, and for sharing your knowledge and experiences.
We look forward to hearing, seeing, and
All of us have made sacrifices and contributed greatly to
talking to you soon!
In this world there are Movers and Shakers, you are both. In
this world, there are People of Action and People of Deeds,
and you are both. Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network &
National Planning Committee of the USSF
Project South celebrates Alice Lovelace, the National Lead Organizer for the first US Social Forum.
A long-time member of Project South, Alice’s work and contributions to the Atlanta and Southeast communities pre-dated her tenure with the Social Forum. Her work for and with the US Social Forum process
extended far beyond any official or single staff position. As the only staff for the process for the first year
and a half, Alice worked closely with all USSF planning bodies, in addition to establishing comprehensive
financial, logistical, and communication systems that would last the entirety of the process. Her careful and
precise work ensured that the process was financially sound and politically viable. Her outreach to key communities ensured the participation of leadership from a diverse cross-section of social justice movements
including but not limited to the Latino immigrant community in Atlanta and beyond, African-American
leadership, faith-based leadership, Arab communities, socially minded academics and university professors,
as well as cultural workers from across the country. Her exhaustive work throughout the process contributed
skills, connections, and expertise that were needed for the success of
such a massive event and process. Her work over the last year in creating thorough and detailed reports on each of the potential sites for
the second US Social Forum is impressive because of the specificity she drew from direct experience. These reports completed what,
for all intent and purposes, would be the first three to five months
work of any logistics coordinator in any of these sites. After a selection and organizing process to determine Detroit, MI as the next site,
Alice completed her work with the Forum and has transitioned to
an exciting new position as the Associate Director of the American
Friends Service Committee, Southeast Regional Office in Atlanta.
Alice served as a leader, a coordinator, an artist, and mentor to Atlanta, Southeast, and national leaders in the USSF process. We are
looking forward to working with Alice as she continues her important work in our movements.
13
Welcome
Taliba Obuya
Taliba Obuya joined the Project South staff in June 2008 as our newest addition to the
team. She acts as Project South’s Development Associate and Membership Coordinator. As
a skilled and dedicated community activist who also works with the Malcolm X Grassroots
Movement here in Atlanta, Taliba brings curiosity, excitement, and strong commitment
to movement building work in the South. From Houston originally, Taliba celebrates her
February birthday as only a true Texan can. Big.
Why are you with Project South?
I’m really more of a fan than a staff member of Project South. Because what we put out
there as our principles, I also experience inside of the organization. It is a community force
that does what it says. Project South is mindblowingly ahead of the game.
What are your proudest accomplishments over the last few
years (before coming to Project South)?
I am proud of starting the Daughters of the Diaspora, an Afrikan Sisterhood. It’s a
community space for women to express our responsibility to the community – to evolve
and get involved.
I am proud of my work with the US Human Rights Network to organize in the Gulf Coast. I
participated in the UN courts in Geneva to support young people testifying around housing
justice, and it was an amazing experience.
What are your goals over the next few years?
One of my goals is to build the grassroots fundraising up to 60% of our organizational
budget. Also, to ground our prison and social control work in the community, and make it
tangible and easy to access across the region.
If you could kick it with any three folks who would they be?
Malcolm X, Ms. Ella Baker, and a person from the Maroon communities who sought their
liberation and obtained it.
Where can we find you on the weekends?
Organizing in the Washington Park community or playing with my nieces and nephews.
What’s one vision you hold for a liberated world?
Global solidarity. And by that I mean, a time when we are personally invested in other
people’s struggles as part of our own struggles. And when we see the system as the
oppressor, not a person who looks different from us.
If you could give only one book to a young person who you
love, what would it be?
Assata Shukura – the Autobiography
14
Yes! I want to join Project South!
Your Support is Essential!
Contributing Members
Name ___________________________
Oct 08 thru Mar 09: Jessica Walker, Lorenzo
Herrera, Michael E. Eisencher, Ralph C. Gomes,
Marian Douglass, Zachariah Mampilly, Childrens
Biligual Theater Fund, Douglass E Wingeier Trust,
Paul Kivel, Joshua M Noblitt, Nick Danna, Daniel
Berger, Vasilikie Demos, Felicia R Mednick, Iimay
Ho, Lars R Bauerle, Alice Lovelace, Andrea Mercado,
Anjulie Knowles, Ariel Zaslav, B.R. Shooshani,
Becky Rafter, Betsy Corner and Randy Kehler,
Caitlin Breedlove, Catherine E. Rion, Clarietha
Allen, Darci Rodenhi, David George, David N
Smokler, Ellyo Peary, Erica Holloman, Georgia
Black United Fund., Glo Ross, Gray Panthers Of
Metropolitan Washington, Helen Kim, Holiday
Simmons, Janette Powell, Jean Marie Mauclet &
Gweylene Gallimard, Jozan Powell, Karen Denise
Adams, Kimberly L. Joseph - Mark A. Joseph, Laura
Moye, LeCrecia Williams, Martina Gillis-Massey,
Melissa Pittman, Michael Gast, Milton L Shapiro II,
Molly McClure, Penelope R Moore-Fennell, Regina
Easley, Roberto Tijerina, Sherwood Holloway,
Theodora Copley, Tim & Barbara D’Emilio, Tonya
Williams, Vicki Legion, Lisa D. Albrecht, Victoria
Cohen-Crumpton, Wisconsin Historical Society,
Yas Ahmed, Brenda Randolph, & Tonya Williams
Organization _____________________
Address _________________________
City ________ State _____ Zip ______
Phone __________ Fax _____________
Email ____________________________
MONTHLY GIVING
Monthly Giving Levels: $10, $20, $25, $50, $100 or more!
I pledge to give $____ each month
to Project South. Please charge my gift to:
__ Visa __ Master Card __ AmEx
on the 15th of every month.
Account # ________________________
Expiration Date ____________________
Name on card (please print) ____________
________________________________
Major Donors - $250 & up
Gabriel Sayegh, Paulina Hernandez, Nancy Dalwin,
Joshua Raisler Cohn, Jerome Scott, Anonymous,
Don Clelland & Wilma Dunaway, Melanie & Rod
Bush, Tufara Waller Muhammad, Rose Brewer,
Abbie Illenberger, Alberta Maged, John O’Neal,
Rita Valenti, Sara Kershnar, Susan Hopkins, Suzanne
Pharr, Winky Foundation, Theresa El Amin,
Trevor Baumgartner, Walda Katz Fishman, Wendi
O’Neal, Will Cordery, Anne Olson, Bert Skellie,
Caroline McAndrews, Nancy B. Guilloud, Eshanda
Fennell, Everette Thompson, Margaret Mermin,
Noah Winer, Amanda Lewis & Tyrone Forman,
Ann Mahoney & Fred Rossini, Gwen Patton,
Christine Sleeter, Frances Kunreuther, Gloria &
John Slaughter, Henry Kahn, Stella Williams, Jules
Dykes, Kenyon Farrow, Shields Scott, Tema Okun,
William Tanzman, Dan Leahy, Holmes Hummel,
Sam Hummel, David Marsh, Isa Williams, Isabell
Moore, Jeff Metzger, Avi Peterson, Lou Rohr,
Michael Prokosch, Miya Yoshitani-Danny Kennedy,
Ellen Gurzinsky, Barbara Hall, Renate Lunn, Kashka
Scott, Makani Themba-Nixon, & Sara Leedom
Please provide us with your contact/billing
address in the box above.
MEMBERS = Frontline Troublemakers
$100 / year = employed @ living wage
$25 / year = employed full-time
$10 / year = part-time or student
$1 / year = unemployed or incarcerated
MAJOR DONORS
$1000 / year = Agitator
$500 / year = Facilitator
$250 / year = Strategist
ALL financial contributions are tax-deductible!
Complete this form and send check
to ‘Project South’
9 Gammon Ave / Atlanta GA 30315 OR
JOIN ONLINE
www.projectsouth.org
We attempt to list all our contributors and
apologize for any omissions.
15
Project South
9 Gammon Avenue, SW
Atlanta GA 30315
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