Orion Grassroots Network

stories from the grassroots

Southeast Grassroots Gathering

In early November 2008 activists from around the Southeastern US converged on the Inner Banks of coastal North Carolina for the Orion Grassroots Network’s Southeast Grassroots Gathering. The Grassroots Network was the organizer and host of this event, and activists from SC, GA, NC, VA, TN, and AL were joined by Network staffers and writers Jan DeBlieu and Janisse Ray. The setting on the shores of the Albemarle Sound in Columbia, NC was perfect and the conversation was rich. Between discussions on the shape of activism in the Southeast and ways to increase our effectiveness, the group got out for a hike around a nearby cypress-ringed lake and a kayak trip down the eagle-festooned Scuppernong River, as well.

The timing of the event proved to be a terrific opportunity to share our views on the very recent election results and what they meant for us as activists. The setting in Tyrrell County was also very poignant, as the group learned about how this area has repeatedly refused extractive and destructive economic proposals that would have adversely effected the fishing and farming economy, and so led by activists, farmers, watermen, and forward thinking politicians, it is now focused on ecotourism, local agriculture, and traditional arts. Red wolves thrive in the area, prompting night time ‘howl tours’ with guides, and a group visit to the thriving Pocosin Arts gallery in the nearby town reinforced the power of interweaving the arts with culture and landscape.

One of the main benefits of the weekend was getting folks with like missions together that would normally not meet, leading to greater ties around the region. And we came away relaxed and ready to dig back into work, as evidenced by these reactions:

“I thank you so much for a beautiful weekend.  It was a very informative and relaxing trip that inspired a whole new way of thinking for me.”

“The group was very diverse and reflected many points of view and agendas. The trick will be applying what I heard, felt, and observed to our community…”

”I have come home with a shot in the arm. Not a flag waving, rush around organizing kind of do something NOW! feeling but something different. I have come back, calm, restored and recharged. Not only with my environmental work but also with my teaching.”

Many of the attendees plan to meet up again in March 2009 at the first annual Headwaters Gathering in western NC.

And that’s what it’s all about.

fresh from Orion Magazine