Project South
2014 Report
In 2014, Project South advanced our organizational
strategies to practice, facilitate, and share
movement power in the Black Radical and Southern
Freedom tradition.
Recognizing the need for organized forces to
collaborate across frontlines in order to transform
the generational & current crises related to poverty,
racism, and violence, we grew our work locally,
regionally, & nationally.
Project South builds flexible movement infrastructure
to nurture and advance grassroots power. Our work
expands organizing & rapid response capacity
and political education while practicing movement
governance for community self-determination.
Movement momentum is growing. Southern
organizations, critical to our collective success,
have assembled to support strategic local efforts
and launch bold region-wide initiatives.
Organizing with Black youth (ages 13-24) in
Atlanta roots our work in local realities & builds a
Movement education
prepares community members &
generates new knowledge.
youth-led agenda for justice.
Three semesters of University Sin Fronteras classes
connected over 200 community members' current
realities to the big picture of generational racism,
poverty, and social control.
PS Youth Leadership Team facilitated over 70 days of after-school political education
programming for hundreds of young people ages 13-24.
Real Talk Stand Up for Parents collaborated with dozens of local mothers,
grandparents, and fathers to support young parents to participate in organizing work.
Faculty teams developed 15 University Sin Fronteras
classes using a movement-based methodology rooted
in decolonizing education practices.
6 Action Team Leaders practiced their leadership skills during the SCCPI and facilitated
2 Youth Assemblies at Freedom Summer in Jackson, MS, Standing Our Ground Week
in Jacksonville, FL, & spoke on the first all-youth panel at Southern Human Rights
Organizing Conference in Savannah GA.
Project South & the University Sin Fronteras convened
two meetings of the anchor campuses located in
Detroit, San Juan, San Antonio TX, Jacksonville FL, and
Bemidji MN.
The 7th annual Septima Clark Community Power Institute (SCCPI) trained 34 Black
young people in organizing, action planning, and facilitation. Youth fellows surveyed over
100 community members to understand local realities & concerns.
The October Youth Movement Assembly convened over 40 young people and
determined the organizing campaign, “$10Mil For Real” to launch in 2015 to tackle
police abuse in Atlanta Public Schools.
Atlanta youth collaborated with youth in Baltimore, Boston, Jackson, and Philadelphia to connect the National Student Bill of Rights to local organizing efforts in schools and cities.
As part of Project South's political education,
10 historic timelines were developed to deepen
understanding of local sites and several infographic
poster tools were created to support understanding of
the current political moment.
Two 16-page newsletters were produced and
distributed to over 3000 people across the country.
Newsletters included cutting edge analysis on the
lessons from Ferguson, Reconstruction in the 21st
Century, movement education, and youth organizing.
Internship programs, ranging from 3 weeks to 3
months, connected college and graduate students
to social justice work. Partnerships included Emory
School of International Development and the
Civil Liberties & Public Policy Program (CLPP).
Movement infrastructure cultivates
Strategic partnerships deepen
social forces in the South to act in crisis &
opportunity.
collaborative work across multiple
frontlines, raising the collective ground.
Project South practiced grassroots democratic governance and facilitated
over 45 weekly calls with Southern leaders in 8 states.
Project South provided technical and strategic support to
partners throughout the year in order to increase capacity and
independence of grassroots organizations in the South.
Regional organizing capacity was expanded. The Unite to Fight 5-day
Organizing Intensive convened and trained over 70 new organizers working
with 19 organizations in 9 Southern states.
Project South supported Peoples Movement Assemblies on climate justice
in the Gulf Coast, workers assemblies in Tennessee, community-based
assemblies, and youth-led assemblies.
As facilitative anchor of the Southern Movement Assembly, Project South
organized with 13 anchor organizations across the region and established
7 Action Sites during the summer organizing drive including Atlanta,
Clarkston, San Antonio TX, Chattanooga TN, Durham NC, Jacksonville FL,
and Dothan AL.
Three Organizing Tours in 2 months covered 5,000 miles and reached 300
people with trainings, University Sin Fronteras classes, strategy sessions,
and recruitment to organize delegations to the Southern Movement
Assembly. The tours connected organizers in over 14 sites in 10 states.
The fourth Southern Movement Assembly represented an unprecedented
convergence of intergenerational, multiracial, and multi-ideological
organizers from every state in the South (13), up South partners, and Puerto
Rico. Frontline Assemblies developed shared analysis and partnerships on
Climate Justice, State Violence, Youth, Culture, Radical Labor, and Civic
Engagement to Build Political Power.
The SMA Governance Council expanded its members and developed
a 2-year Action Plan based on the synthesis of the Southern
Movement Assembly and the growing momentum in the region.
Partnership with Crescent City Media Group in New Orleans
expanded broad-based communication efforts through online
strategies, through videos and film, and through the development
of comprehensive Southern Freedom Movement narrative.
Partnership with Women Watch Afrika expanded efforts to reach
immigrant and refugee youth in Clarkston, Georgia through
education, actions, and assemblies.
Partnership with Georgia Citizens’ Coalition on Hunger supported
organizing efforts that mobilized hundreds of community members
living on the frontlines of poverty in South Atlanta.
Partnership with The Ordinary People’s Society (TOPS) in Dothan
AL connected local and statewide efforts to re-enfranchise
formerly incarcerated people to regional civic participation
projects.
Project South Income 2014
FINANCIALS 2014
Foundations ($416k)
Income: $928,033
Grassroots Income: Foundation Income: Small Family Foundations ($55k)
Individuals giving over $5000 ($530k)
Expenses: Individuals giving $25-$4999 ($70k)
Contracts & Publications ($16.5k)
Project South Expenses 2014
Local & Youth Organizing ($230k)
Regional Organizing ($200k)
Education & Research ($213k)
Redistribution to Grassroots Groups ($66k)
Operations & Administration ($85k)
Organizational Development ($14k)
$606,253
$321,780
$820,522
Bank Charges
$ 1,732
Contributions (Action Sites)$ 16,856
Operations Insurance
$ 3,077
Communications
$ 50,241
Misc/Fees
$ 1,367
Postage $ 1,654
Printing
$ 14,089
Prof. Fees (Contracts)
$164,809
Property & Equipment
$ 12,273
Rent$ 18,090
Salaries (FT & PT)
$311,883
- Benefits
$ 51,938
Stipends -Youth & Regional$ 40,981
Supplies
$ 42,099
Telecommunications
$ 7,411
Travel $ 82,040