Southerners on New Ground (SONG) is endorsing and participating in the October 22nd National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation alongside other organizations in the Coalition to Stop Cop Nation. Under the umbrella of our Free from Fear campaign work, SONG continues to demand an end to state violence against Black and Indigenous people, immigrants, people of color, and LGBTQ people in Southern towns and cities. We have further defined our Free From Fear campaign strategy using these three pillars:
- Confront Criminalization and Cop Cities
- Protect our Queer and Trans Kindred
- Housing and Land Liberation
This Riotsville, USA film screening toolkit is an offering to our people building power to confront criminalization in their communities. Share this resource far and wide among friends looking for shared language, strategies, and resources to resist and build the movements of our time.
At SONG, we call into question who gets to exist, who gets to stay, and who gets to be safe in our homes, schools, and streets, and we answer that question with this simple answer–we do. Our answer names a demand: safety, dignity, and respect for our people, now! What could be born in our communities if LGBTQ people and people of color were not afraid to walk our streets, lead in our towns, and fully lean into our own bodies and lives?
On October 22, SONG participated in the National Day of Action to #StopCopCity, a national, coordinated action to bring an end to police violence against Black and Brown communities and to stop the construction of Cop City projects all across the so-called United States.
We hosted a virtual screening of Riotsville, USA, a film about a fictional town built by the US military. Using all archival footage, the film explores the militarization of the police and creates a counternarrative to the nation’s reaction to the uprisings of the late ’60s.
Save the date: Join the Stop Cop Nation coalition for another Day of Action on January 18th in remembrance of Tortuguita.
Follow the coalition at @stopcopnation on Instagram or visit stopcopnation.com for updates.
