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
Consider becoming a monthly donor online ($5 or $10 a month really helps!) today as this is the best way to sustain SONG.
In Love and Solidarity, SONG Leadership
It is a great time to talk about what it means to all of us to be in QLGBT community, and what we want community to be-what are strategies for surviving and thriving collectively? What do we need to have in our lives to be held in community and get all of our needs met?