Greetings comrades,
It’s homecoming, yall! Welcome to Franklinton Center at Bricks. Welcome to SONG’s Queer South Homecoming. Welcome home! This weekend we celebrate 30 years of SONG creating a container to build power, “Beloved Community,” and Queer Liberation. As we gather for four days of strategizing, sharing, reconnecting and celebrating, one request is that each of you bring your whole selves. Bring your people and bring your lessons. Bring your joy and your longing because we have prepared a place for you and we are so grateful and glad that you are here.
Pandemic, loss, conflict and growing pains disagreement are a few of the things that contributed to the separation and distance between us. But babyyyyyyy longing, desire, hope, and resiliency are just some of what brings us back together time and time again. SONG is both a political home and kinship network.. The work of creating an even bigger world worthy of future generations requires deep relationships, trust, and collective action. What this means is that during this weekend we must prioritize care and connection. Connect with someone you do not know. Share your desires and dreams with the comrade sitting next to you. Embody Southern hospitality by looking after one another.
Enter the doors of the fellowship hall, the cafeteria, and the dormitory and know that you are welcome here. Do whatever is necessary to embody and enliven that truth. SONG is because you are part of it. Your laughter, your warmth, your unique energy, and queer magic fuel the work.
So welcome, dear ones! Welcome and welcome back. Welcome to Whitakers, NC. Welcome to this land rich with histories told and untold. Welcome home!
“and remember
for the embattled
there is no place
that cannot be
home
nor is.”
audre lorde
