The #WeAreTheSouth photo campaign works to explore the rich complexities and inclusive organizing of LGBT people, people of color, and immigrant communities living at the intersection of the LGBT equality movement and racial justice in the South.
#WeAreTheSouth, also known as #SomosElSur, is led by the Better Together Southern Leadership and Action Cohort. The cohort is an initiative made up of eight Southern-based organizations, coming out of Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina. Together, these organizations work across varying identities and communities, operating through an intersectional lens in order to "build power, increase visibility, and secure social and economic justice for LGBTQ/people of color/and immigrant communities in the US South."
People from all walks of life in the South have been participating in the #WeAreTheSouth photo campaign, holding up a pieces of paper that list their different identities. Some are deeply felt, such as "feminist," "believer," "panromantic," and "demisexual," while others are more playful, with identities such as "gamer," "snuggler," and "trailblazer."
Through this project, these individuals are tasked with displaying their robust lives as individuals who live and love at the intersections of race, gender and sexuality. #WeAreTheSouth aims to highlight the nuances of identity and the uniqueness of each person.
The political implications of such work are grand. If we see the way that various social movements can coexist in the inter and intra-personal happenings of one person's life, we can begin to understand how beneficial working together on a larger scale can be.
TAKE ACTION:
Are you from the South? You can take part in the #wearethesouth campaign. Just visit the We Are the South web site, and follow the instructions for how to upload your photo. Also, add the right tags to allow more people to see your photos.