Southern Movement Assembly
Channel: Solidarity Research Center
Date: 2022-11-16

Ayana Clemmons presents on the Southern Movement Assembly (SMA). The role of the Southern Movement Assembly is to grow a social movement in the U.S. South with the power to practice a people’s democracy, build new social economies, and protect and defend our communities. We are building the world we know is possible. We draw from the brilliance of grassroots organizers working on every frontline in the 21st century, acknowledging the U.S. South is part of a centuries-old and global struggle for justice. 

Ayana Clemmons is a grassroots cultural organizer based in Chattanooga, TN. Born in Nashville, Ayana has returned to the roots of her family's diaspora and has lived in Appalachia since 2016. She has found her political home as a member of the organization Concerned Citizens for Justice (CCJ), rooted in the herstory of Black Liberation in Chattanooga. Ayana has been in the streets disrupting capital in defense of Black lives alongside various local, statewide, and national formations. She currently serves as a regional organizer for the Southern Movement Assembly, a formation of more than 100 organizations across the U.S and Global South aimed at resisting oppression and building social movements on the frontline of struggle.  Ayana has completed popular education programs such as the Universidad Sin Fronteras Leadership Development Course, and Tufts University’s Black Futures Matters: Civic Life, Health, and Equity Course. Her development as a cultural organizer, fighting for Black Liberation, is fueled by her dedication to the South, community organizing, cross-generational learning, and the intersection of transformative justice and abolition in the 21st century. Ayana Clemmons believes whole-heartedly in practicing cultural organizing through a Black, queer, and feminist lens, as coined by the revolutionary author Charlene Carruthers.