NAARPR Southern Region Organizing Conference day 1: Gathering momentum for struggle

Jacksonville, FL – On Friday evening, December 6, the air was electric as the inaugural Southern Regional Organizing Conference (SROC) of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) kicked off with a rally outside Café Resistance. Over 200 attendees gathered to connect, reflect and prepare for the intensive days ahead.

Florida State Representative Angie Nixon welcomed attendees to the venue, which serves as a hub for activists and community-building in Jacksonville. In light of the recent Trump victory, Nixon remarked that it is up to us to, “keep up the fight. We gotta get back to the basics: Grassroots organizing.”

“When I say people, you say power!” Monique Sampson, a conference organizer and member of the NAARPR National Desk began, “We are here to organize and resist. They say the South is too far gone. This weekend shows that it is a lie! We are here to fight. This weekend is about struggle. It is about justice and continuing to fight. Because when we dare to struggle, we dare to win!”

Organizers and participants expressed enthusiasm about the weekend’s agenda, which is set to address critical issues such as community control of the police, political repression, and liberation struggles across the Deep South. Many noted the significance of convening in Jacksonville, a historic Black city marked by both resilience and repression.

In his speech, NAARPR Co-Chair Michael Sampson highlighted the need to struggle against undemocratic and racist state laws like Florida’s HB-1 and Texas’s HB-9, two measures that will criminalize protests and block police accountability. Sampson emphasized, “We are going to keep pushing for real political power. All the harsh repression we have faced in Florida; they are trying to snuff out our voice and harm our movement. Our presence and organizing here is a message and a clear shot across the bow: they cannot stop us.”

Frank Chapman, the executive director of the Alliance, told the crowd, “When we were born 51 years ago, all of our first major cases came out of the South. Wilmington 10, Atlanta 6, Joann Little. Today, the National Alliance continues to press the legacy of fighting repression in the South. The SROC is about building the people’s power. The South has always been a battleground for the Black liberation movement, and we are here to take the struggle to a new level.”

The evening’s rally set a powerful tone for the weekend. The night buzzed with conversations about the transformative potential of the strategizing sessions and discussions to come.

As the rally concluded, NAARPR Co-Chair Sydney Loving addressed the crowd, grounding the event in its historical significance. She led attendees in a unified chant: “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win!”

“Our job is not to tell people they are oppressed,” Loving continued. “The people feel it – we feel it heavily in the South. Our job as organizers is to show our communities that we can step into our power together and do something about it. We can and always will fight back.”

The night ended with the crowd chanting, “The South got something to say!”

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