The Southern Freedom Movement Assembly: reflections on the peoples movement assembly process as a convivial tool

This study takes a focused look at the methodology of the Peoples Movement Assembly (PMA) and its specific use through the Southern Freedom Movement Assembly (SFMA). In particular, I examine the history, politics, process, and practice of the PMA as a grassroots social justice movement building strategy used by working poor communities of color across the US South. I argue that the PMA is an important political process for confronting neoliberalism because it provides a way for communities in struggle to democratically facilitate the formation of multi-front initiatives. Moreover, the use of PMAs, and popular assemblies more broadly, represents a shift in the way people are collectively exercising power for positive social change. Because of this, the PMA is a convivial tool, a social device that cultivates practices of self-determination through the development of shared struggles across communities, issues, and identities. Because I participated in the organizing and coordination of the 2012 SFMA and 2010 National PMA, this study will rely heavily on my personal experience, observations, and reflections as one of many grassroots organizers involved throughout the Southern Freedom Movement Assembly from 2010 through 2013. I also draw from convivial research approaches as guides to make transparent the co-production of specific knowledges in and through this process.