Safe and racially just communities are created through investments in mental and emotional health support services, after-school programming, transformative justice programming, and investments in public goods. We are creating alternatives to youth arrests, prosecution, and incarceration by organizing youth impacted by school pushouts and/or the juvenile justice system. Safe communities require innovation that should be led by community members and significant investments in student resources and public goods. We are training and organizing young people through our Youth Assembly Training Cohort so they have the tools to practice participatory democracy and organize for power. Additionally, our Youth Assembly Program includes regular youth meetings and youth assemblies with young people across the city. We understand that to win against the school-to-prison pipeline and criminalization of young people, we must work with parents or educators. We have decided to work with both. Parallel to the Youth Assembly is our Black Educators Collective, including educators and parents.
At the Southern Movement Committee, we believe deeply in the power of art and culture to spark connection, build community, and create lasting change. For us, culture isn't just a backdrop—it's the heartbeat of our movements. Through music, visual art, storytelling, fashion, celebration, and cout we open up new entry points for our people to engage in organizing and step into their power.
We meet our communities where they are—rooted in Southern traditions, rhythms, and values—and invite them into a shared vision for liberation. This means not only shifting policy but shifting culture: nurturing healthy relationships, establishing collective values, and reviving traditions that keep us grounded and connected across generations.
There is also a spiritual thread that runs through our work—not tied to any one religion, but to a sense of purpose, connection, and collective care. It’s the feeling of coming home to yourself and your people. It’s the wisdom in the music, the healing in the dance, the memory in the land. We honor the depth and complexities in our stories and in each other, knowing that spirit is a vital force in sustaining movements that last.
As Toni Cade Bambara reminds us, "the role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible." That’s the spirit we bring to our cultural work. Whether it’s a family field day, podcast, concert, or a backyard barbecue, we cultivate spaces where cultural power and political engagement rise together.At the Southern Movement Committee, we believe art and culture can connect people, build community, and drive change. Culture is at the heart of our movements, opening new ways for people to engage in organizing and empowerment through music, art, storytelling, fashion, and celebration.
The Southern Movement Committee uses Black-led participatory democracy to address voter disenfranchisement, institutionalized barriers to political engagement and political power, and the structural violence that it creates in Tennessee.
Our work includes Black-led regional and statewide People's Movement Assemblies for community members to collectively analyze issues, develop a collective vision, create solutions, and direct actions to implement those solutions. At the center of this project is creating a statewide political agenda that meets the needs of Black and working-class communities and mobilizing Tennesseans to vote to elect candidates who align with the agenda. Additionally, we host candidate forums and town halls so voters can determine whether candidates align with our political agenda. This project builds on our long-term strategy to develop regional and statewide infrastructure for Black and working-class Tennesseans to practice co-governance and hold elected officials and corporate actors accountable through regular political engagement. We define political participation as voting, holding elected officials accountable, membership inside a base-building organization, and implementing community-driven programs.
The Black Nashville Assembly, started in 2020, is the vehicle we use to build democracy and practice co-governance in Nashville/Middle Tennessee. The Southern Movement Committee, founded in 2021, is the statewide assembly infrastructure expanding the work of the Black Nashville Assembly.

Our Programs

Youth Assembly

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At the SMC, we strongly believe that arts and culture is an essential component of fostering community and driving transformative change. We create meaningful entry points that invite people to join our movements, empowering individuals from all backgrounds to engage in the fight for justice and liberation.

Arts and Culture

Get The Goods Podcast
Where culture meets movement—Get The Goods Podcast brings you real conversations on Black liberation, Southern organizing, and the stories shaping our communities. We break down the news, uplift the brilliance of Black art, and highlight the wins while keeping joy at the center. From grassroots struggles to moments of celebration, we’re here to inform, inspire, and build power.
We use the phrase “Get The Goods” because when we organize, we do it to win real, material change—the kind that tangibly improves the lives of our people. We're not in this for popularity. We’re in it to shift conditions, build power from the ground up, and make sure our communities get what they need to thrive.
Tune in—and always remember, we organize to Get The Goods.

The Meat and Three Tour
The Southern Movement Committee’s Meat & Three Tour was a Tennessee-based concert series designed to bring communities together through hip hop and R&B while promoting civic and political engagement. The tour centered culture as a strategy for outreach and connection, using live performance to reach new audiences and share accessible pathways into organizing.
The name is a play on the traditional “meat and three”—a Southern soul food staple where restaurants provide customers with the option of one meat and three side dishes for a hot, home-cooked meal. Just like the plate, each tour stop offered one main event—a concert—and three meaningful ways to get involved
Become a member of the Southern Movement Committee
Register to vote
Attend an upcoming mass meeting, assembly, or community dinner
The series featured dynamic performances from local and regional artists and created space for both celebration and conversation. The Meat & Three Tour offered an entry point into political engagement rooted in arts and culture.

Family Field Day
On June 15th—known locally as #615Day—Southern Movement Committee hosted a Family Field Day to bring people together in celebration and purpose. Set at Watkins park, this day of joy and connection was about more than just games—it was about deepening relationships with our community, raising awareness about the Varsity Spending Plan, and inviting folks to get involved in the work of community organizing.
With support from athletic sponsor On.the day featured a full lineup of fun for all ages:
Live DJ sets
Basketball tournament (congrats to the reigning champs, the Black Nashville Assembly Team)
Tennis matches
Community run
Yoga and guided meditation
BBQ and field games
Throughout the day, community members were invited to learn more about the Varsity Spending Plan, join SMC as members, and explore how we can all take action to shift power and resources toward our people.
Family Field Day is part of how we build trust and momentum—not just to gather, but to grow our movement. At SMC, we believe relationship is foundational to organizing. And when we show up for each other in joy, we’re more prepared to show up in struggle.

TSU Homecoming Parade
Every year in Tennessee, one of the most powerful gatherings for our people is the Tennessee State University Homecoming—a celebration of Black joy, culture, and legacy. For us at the Southern Movement Committee, it's more than just a parade. It’s a moment to deepen our roots and grow our reach.
Wedged between the marching bands and dance squads, we participate to spread awareness about our work, hand out flyers inviting over 5,000 people to a mass meeting or People’s Movement Assembly, and lead movement chants with the SMC Youth Assembly.
TSU’s legacy runs deep: from the 1960s student sit-ins that helped desegregate Nashville lunch counters, to the powerful 1990s student movement at TSU, where students organized against budget cuts and fought for better resources and conditions for Black students. We honor that history by teaching it to younger generations—connecting the spirit of protest with the culture of pride that makes HBCU homecoming’s so important.
Every year, nestled between booming marching bands and sparkling dance squads, we bring that movement energy to the parade. There’s laughter, learning, and a lot of love in the land of golden sunshine.

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At the heart of what we do is more than just clothing—it’s about creating designs that serve as a unifying force, elevating pride and fostering a sense of belonging. Everybody loves being on a team, and when you wear our gear, you’re not just rocking a cool t-shirt—you’re part of something bigger. These designs aren’t just fabric and ink; they represent camaraderie, group unity, and the power of working together.
People are sometimes initially attracted to our organization by the cool t-shirt, but it’s our job as community organizers to connect with them and spark action. We use this to build bridges, push the movement forward, and increase membership
The white and yellow VSP tees, for example, became a symbol during our Varsity Spending Plan campaign, easily identifiable in news stories, digital media, and print. Fashion is an element of culture, and cultural power is an asset when building a movement. When we wear our gear, we’re making a statement, raising awareness, and amplifying our mission.