bold idea
Reduce gun violence and increase quality of life for young people in Tennessee by building an Office of Youth Safety through co-governance, participatory democracy, and community organizing.
organization overview
The Southern Movement Committee expands racial justice and defends human rights by organizing Black and working class communities in Tennessee. With a focus on young people and families, the Southern Movement Committee builds healthy and thriving communities through civic engagement and participatory democracy. It combines base building and leadership development to shift power, strengthen democracy, and enable communities to engage in co-governance. The Southern Movement Committee implements innovative programs that address root causes of harm while building communities grounded in restorative justice and community care.
Personal Bio
Erica Perry is the co-founder and executive director of the Southern Movement Committee. She is an organizer and movement lawyer from Nashville, Tennessee who believes deeply that people power and democracy are the vehicles to collective liberation. Erica has dedicated her life to fighting for more power for Black people and working-class communities. She has worked with communities in Tennessee and nationwide to create alternatives to police and jails and to organize for local budgets that invest in community-based resources. Erica graduated from the University of Tennessee and the University of Memphis School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Tennessee. In 2022, Erica was awarded the New Profit Civic Lab Democracy Entrepreneur Fellowship. She has been featured in NPR, HuffPost, The Tennessean, and This Is Nashville. Erica is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the Napier-Looby Bar Association.
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