The tradition of Southerners on New Ground is that we embrace hope over fear, and that we know ourselves to be beings of many longings and desires: specifically, the desire for each other, and to be in real community. We know our people are powerful, and we root ourselves in this truth.
If it’s true that our power comes from the people and that we belong to the people, then what has to be different for us to come together and make what we need for what is ahead?”
In response to these questions, we at Southerners on New Ground have produced an offering, a Strategic Almanac, a compass to guide us towards a north start of liberation and for engaging the contradictions that animate organizing at SONG and in these times.
This is a living document. It is a response to the planning process with membership.
Each of the pieces will continue to be developed by the staff and our members; it will have a life like that of a song. When you start off with a simple one-word song, like amen, by the time you finish it, it is a whole new song.
Find our SONG glossary here
This document lays out a possible seasonal timeline for planting, growing, and harvesting the work of this plan.
These tarot cards were chosen to represent the themes grappled with within this document by artist and Forever SONGster kai lumumba barrow. They are from “[b]REACH: The Libretto,” a series of 78 mixed-media collages rendered as abolitionist tarot cards that were originally designed to accompany the Gallery of the Streets visual opera, [b]REACH: adventures in heterotopia. The work features a group of fantastical characters that forecast abolitionist principles, strategies, and contradictions.
This playlist is a recording of the SONG community sing in Witakers, NC on April 7th, 2023. The community sing was led by Wendi Autumn Moore-O’Neal during the first in-person Strategic Planning Session with SONG membership. It was lovingly recorded and compiled by SONG member Rolynné Anderson.
Photostream