Growing Southern Rural Organizing Power

We cannot create an effective multiracial organizing strategy without engaging deeply in the American South. Sixty percent of the nation’s rural population lives east of the Mississippi River, with almost half of all rural people living in the South. Our work centers and prioritizes rural communities because we know we cannot build the power we need for transformative change without a unified rural-urban-suburban movement that understands how all of our struggles are interconnected. 

The South is diverse and full of visionary people, and is the fastest-growing region in the country. The region is home to half of the Black population in America, with a significant share residing in deep Southern states like Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Seven of the top ten states with the fastest-growing Latinx population are located in the South, and the region holds the four states with the fastest-growing Asian population. Not only is the South racially diverse, but it is home to the largest share of the LGBTQ population. And the South is home to a greater share of both trans youth and adults compared to any other region of the country. 

The rural South is diverse, powerful, and full of people ready to take action. 

Traditional models of organizing are often informed by or perceived to be products of out-of-state 'coastal elites,' and tend to be one-size-fits-all and urban-centric. Hometown Action is fighting to change the way that we connect, and build a bigger movement that can hold the rural South. 

The national political landscape has changed significantly over the past several years and most dramatically since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.  Our movement can’t afford to be siloed by issues or geography. We are organizing across the intersections of race, class, gender, geography, and the range of issues impacting rural Southerners. We are centering and uplifting the leadership of BIPOC, women, trans/queer, and working-class people and providing a support system for their physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual needs.

Our work is a starting point to create a future that builds connection, hope, and excites the radical imagination of rural Southern communities. By bringing new people into Hometown Action, building lasting relationships grounded in trust, and politicizing people’s lived experiences, we can grow a movement that creates a better future for all Alabamians.