S.O.N.G.

Listen to an insightful and inspiring conversation about liberation between SONG’s co-directors, Paulina Hernandez and Caitlin Breedlove, created for the StoryCorps Project of National Public Radio. It’s 40 minutes well invested!

Click Here To Listen to the Interview

2009 ~ THE SOUTHERN RIGHT TO HOMECOMING, HOMESTAYING , AND TRANSFORMING THE SOUTH:

AN END OF THE YEAR LOVE LETTER FROM SONG KIN

“I haven’t come this far to want to assimilate. I want to live a full life as a Transgender person, as myself, with dignity. That is why I love SONG.”
-De Sube, SONG Virginia member

SONG firmly believes in the right to return of all people of the Gulf Coast, as well as the right to return, to stay, and to live in dignity and liberation for every LGTBQ Southern person. We vision a world where our LGBTQ Southern Kin can live the lives we dream of: with communities healed and nourished in body, land, work, and spirit. We believe in creating a South where we do not have to suffer and die in isolation, silence, oppression, poverty, and despair. We believe in a liberated South for ALL oppressed people…and we have a plan.

This year the needs of our communities to build autonomous spaces for ourselves, as well as reclaiming our right to public spaces and resources is more crucial than ever. All over the world, we see a renewed interest in building local and regional communities—and the promise of creating true and liberated sustainability in these communities. This is clearly the moment for SONG. For too long, we have been told that LGBTQ people cannot be truly and deeply organized to win concrete gains for our communities. We KNOW this is not true, and this year our members have showed how ready we are to take back control of our lives and self-determination—on behalf of our selves, our ancestors, and our children. We believe this year has been greatly successful in moving us deeper into that plan.

Here’s how:
Build General Leadership and Membership throughout the South through accessible events, gatherings, sharing food, campouts and retreats to gather LGBTQ folks and our kindred to (This is how we have moved our membership from 150 to 700 in 2.5 years!) Build Deeper Circles of Leaders through…

• the Amantes (Project Leader) program which creates a space for SONG to support a set of independent projects of members outside the general work..like the Mobile HomeComing Project, where member Alexis Pauline Gumbs is collecting stories with African-American LGBTQ Elders..
• Bull City SONG (Durham SONG affiliate) the first SONG Affiliate..local members creating their own community events, cultural events, listening work, and new projects to build in Durham, NC and surrounding areas!
• Atlanta Organizing Mentorship Circle, a circle of folks in our base engaged in a 6 month process to raise political consciousness and grow as organizers and think together about building in Atlanta
• and the Traveling Organizing School which concentrates on building political consciousness, organizing skills, and resiliency/sustainability skills for LGBTQ organizers in Southern small towns and rural communities (we have trained over 130 SONG members in this program since its inception!)

Local Leaders Create Campaigns and Projects Which Transform the South It will not be a few people, but rather many local leaders that come out of leader circles that create the spaces, projects and campaigns that will change the way we connect, relate, eat, work, and live in the South. This is how we KNOW we can transform the region—through the steady, concrete, and passionate work of local SONG members in local Southern communities!

This year marks our transition into a new strategic planning that we are incredibly excited about: it will be officially released in 2010, but we want to say that will involve even deeper work in local communities through affiliates and autonomous spaces. Since even the greatest global organizing started somewhere local, we think it might as well be the South! We are incredibly excited to have SONG rise even further to meet the passion and needs of our 700 person membership…who continues to get even more involved in our work. Here are some concrete examples of what our members, staff and board have made happen in 2009:

• First Southern, LGBTQ Multi-lingual (Spanish-English), majority small town and rural, Organizing School in VA
• First Organizing School in connection with Affiliate in Durham, NC for folks from all over NC
• Atlanta Derby (Queer Field Day!)
• Georgia Campout
• Kick-off of Amantes Program (more to come in 2009) with first Amantes project
• Joining of the ‘San Antonio 12’—a national coalition of majority LGBTQ People of Color and Working Class-led groups..in order to transform National LGBTQ work!
• Training with other coalition groups at Creating Change Conference on Challenging White Supremacy, Organizing LGBTQ people of color, and First Nations/Sovereignty issues
• Kickoff of 6 month Organizing Mentorship Circle program in Atlanta, GA
• Supporting of the first, SONG Affiliate—Bull City SONG—in Durham, NC

The next level of SONG’s plan, to support local affiliates to create projects and campaigns to transform the South, is so badly needed in OUR South. SONG needs you to co-create the next level of the dream that our Elders had when they started SONG.

Our liberation organizations are like people: we are told we can do it by ourselves, but we do not stand alone—we need each other to make it.

We decide which organizations we need and want to survive.

We vision a South where SONG is vibrant, growing, building, and living; we know you do too. Please decide that you don’t want to imagine a South or a Nation without SONG today. SONG cannot give to, and connect people, without resources. We are a little organization with a deep impact: if the people need us, then the people must keep us going. Please give our communities the gift of SONG in 2010 by giving today thru mail or online at

In Love and Solidarity, SONG Leadership

Join SONG members of Bull City SONG in Durham, NC & surrounding areas as we pave the way with multiple fabulous events & gatherings for community building, fun, reflection, dialogue & growth… don’t miss it!

*Oct 7 & Every Wednesday evening!! from 6:30-8:30PM — Queer Youth Drop-in Night at Ashe’s hideaway (this event happens weekly at the same time/place, contact ashe.harris@gmail.com for address and details)

*Fri, Oct 9 from 7:30-10PM — Queers on Wheels Costume Rollerskating at Wheels, 715 N Hoover Rd, Durham ($7 for admission and skate rental)

*Sun, Oct 11 from 1-2PM — Intergenerational Work Group at Ashe’s hideaway (contact ashe.harris@gmail.com for address and details)

*Sun, Oct 11 from 2-3PM — Events Work Group at Ashe’s hideaway (contact tm@clearingtheway.org for address and details)

And there are more good things coming up, like…

*Fri, Oct 30 from 8-10PM — Drag 101 Workshop at Unique’s place, West Village, Durham (contact tm@clearingtheway.org for address and details)

*Tue, Nov 2 at 6PM — Pauli Murray and Gendered Imp/ossibility (co-sponsored by Eternal Summer of the Black Feminist Mind and SONG, contact alexispauline@gmail.com for address and details)

*Fri, Nov 20 at 9:30PM — Open Queer Performance Night at Pinhook, 117 W Main St, Durham

The SONG Mentorship Circle is presented by Southerners On New Ground (SONG), in collaboration with local LGBTQ activists all around the Metro Atlanta Area

A 6-Month long Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer-led & centered Co-Mentorship training for people committed or interested in social justice work that is cross-issue, anti-oppression, and meets at the crossroads of race, class, culture, gender and sexuality, towards encouraging the local capacity, unity and interconnection of people in the state of GA.

This program will meet twice (2) per month (every other week or so) for a period of 6 months to:

People of color, people with disabilities, and immigrant folks are specially welcome…

Please complete this application by Friday, October 16st, 2009 and return to BT@southernersonnewground.org
0r send to us at: 250 Georgia Ave., Ste. 201, Atlanta, GA, 30312

Mentorship Circle application[1]

Please click here for more information or scroll below…

it’s that time again…..!!!

YOU ARE INVITED TO COME OUT AND PLAY . . .

Dick, Dyke & Drag Derby: A Southern LGBTQQI/A Field Day

SUNDAY – SEPTEMBER 27th, 2009
12pm-4pm

@ McKoy Park
534 McKoy St. / Decatur, GA 30030
Marta Bus #18 from Edgewood Candler Park Station

It’s a SONG party . . . It’s a Fundraiser . . . It’s a Membership Drive . . . It’s a political romp in the park

STOP. You’re ALL right. Yes, we’re alright. And we’re coming together for a good time.
Picture this:

LGBT folks and friends gather from all corners of Atlanta . . .
There are burgers frying on grills, ga(y)torade chillin in coolers, and some hot hunk with a whistle standing in the middle. Teams huddle up, split up to play games to win and then the top teams play their little homo hearts in the final KICKBALL for LOVE…

We’ll cheer, we’ll jeer, we’ll queer up the park with games and races and

* Trans Tag (Yes, real live trans folks will be there!)
* F(l)ag Football
* Fairy Footsteps
* Desperately Seeking Sperm (it’s an egg/spoon relay race for the 21st Century)

Every bodies welcome! Limited mobility won’t limit your chances to WIN! You can’t have a LGBT field day without a few mind games…
All picnic areas & bathroom are fully accessible, and there is also additional space for your cute & gay lawn chairs, coolers, etc!!

HOW DO WE DO IT? (they always wonder that . . .)

* TEAMS / ORGANIZATIONS ~ Teams that register beforehand (4-5 people) can register at a sliding SCALE for $60 – $100
* INDIVIDUALS ~ you can register too! We’ll help you find a team or you can hug the sidelines with the Queerleaders – at a sliding SCALE for $15 – $25.

Drinks & snacks are included with registered teams and individuals.

[All of it is sliding scale, of course. But we encourage folks to get sponsors – like walk-a-thons of ages past.]

BYOGrub…
We will be grilling together, so if you’re a grill-butch, picnic queen-bee, trans-tabulous cook or just hungry, there will be picnic tables, grills & someone to hold your spatula, so bring whatever you want to throw on the grill…

REGISTER TODAY:

[your registration fee ALSO makes you a SONG member!!]

1. By mail ~ print out ATTACHED registration form & mail your money order / check for your INDIVIDUAL / GROUP registration to SONG / Att: DERBY REGISTRATION / 250 Georgia Ave., Suite 201/ Atlanta, GA 30312
2. Online ~ you can email us your ATTACHED registration form (It’s a PDF document, but you can copy / paste the info into a WORD doc) to kindred@southernersonnewground.org & pay your INDIVIDUAL / GROUP registration online HERE:

The m$$ney is going to the work of SONG – a Southern-based, multi-racial queer organization fighting the good fight for economic, racial, and gender liberation.

SONG DERBY 09 registration PDF

SONG Fall CampOut 2009!!

And for those of you who want to celebrate the change of seasons / pour libations to the ancestors in the Georgia Mountains / do some quiet healing work / share your political visions / make new friends / build a fire in style / etc….

The time has come!!

SONG Fall CampOut 2009!!

WHEN:
Friday, October 2nd – Sunday, October 4th, 2009.

WHERE:
Etowah River Campground
437 Rider Mill Road / Dahlonega, GA 30533
[more/less 6 hours from Durham, NC / 3 & half hours from Knoxville, TN / 1 & half hour from Atlanta, GA]

WHAT:
SONG Fall CampOut 2009… brought to you by the wonderful membership of SONG, always holding it down

HOW TO REGISTER:
There is a $25 Registration fee, please Contact SONG member Asha to register at femmetron@gmail.com [you can pay ahead of time thru our website OR pay on-site / please note PRE-registration is key in order to secure all the camp-site necessary].

DETAILS:
You will receive a logistics packet with everything you need to know / directions / more details / what to bring / etc. after you register, but please contact SONG or Asha for more information. We can also connect you with other folks coming from around the south so you all can coordinate carpooling.

The cost of your registration goes to cover the cost of the camp-out site….

SONG, in collaboration with fabulous activists from across the state of VA, will be putting on A 4-day training and political space (led by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans folks!) for people committed to social justice work that is cross-issue, anti-oppression, and meets at the crossroads of race, class, culture, gender and sexuality, towards building the local work, unity and interconnection of people in Virginia. APP DEADLINE: AUG 1, 2009. ANY ?’s–CONTACT CAITLIN at caitlin@southernersonnewground.org

This visions statement comes from the SONG affiliate group in Durham, NC. It has been compiled by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. I am not sure how to introduce it, maybe it speaks for itself.

This is the bad gay, queer dangerous capital of the universe. Where our joyful resistance teaches us to stand here, embrace each other and be the change the bravery of our ancestors demands

This is a chosen family, supportive and open, loving and wild. We are youth, we are elders, we are connected across generations through questioning and faith.

We are queer and gender queer, which means we are always exploring and holding new ground. Love is our primary resource with which we sustain our communities and transform our world. We are rebellious and intentional with our love, pushing daily into new meanings of love until it becomes overwhelmingly obvious that LOVE MEANS EVERYTHING.

This is a place of lustful awareness, where erotic difference and sex positivity teach us what it means to be free and fabulous.

This is where we share our skills and resources, enjoy each other, laugh, make music out of madness and grow our yeses into work and purpose.

This is a space of accountability and shared values. We aspire for clarity, honesty and open-ness and we strive to be clear about our boundaries.

This is a place free of stigma around physical/mental illness or disability, where we love our bodies and listen to the brilliance that comes into the world shaped by our uniqueness.

This is a member-led movement where we walk our talk, speak up even when it’s hard, encourage each other’s growing voices, hold each other through the contours of life, take risks and stay together.

This is a space that centers the needs and the insight of those most affected by the deadly injustices that our vision has outgrown.

This is a space rooted in spirit and land, where our histories are lovingly present as we envision and reach new ground. This is a space built by our living and sustained by our desire to be embodied together.

This is a place where we build culture by reading together, eating together, remembering and sharing our sacred stories.

We meet here regularly to remember who we said we were and to fall in love all over again.

From here, we show the world what love looks like when you live it, eat it, breathe it, bathe in it, sleep in it and wake up singing in it too. From here, we are building an interconnected movement that will shift the world into loving alignment in our lifetimes.

Welcome home.

Here it is in Spanish as well: SONG Durham Vision StatementSP

SONG members & staff are working on a Georgia Camp Out for October 2-4, so mark it in your calendars! And email Erika, the SONG intern at erika@southernersonnewground.org if you are interested in helping or want more information

We are still working on location and logistical details… so stay tuned!!