Solidarity in Spartanburg! Reflections from the 2025 Southern Workers Assembly Summit
- Matt Olson
- Oct 8
- 2 min read
by Salem Seymour, NOWCRJ Intern
This summer, I received the incredible opportunity to serve as an intern here at the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice. Over the last three months, my knowledge has flourished more than I ever thought would be possible in such a short period. Perhaps even more importantly, this work has reinvigorated my passion for the fast-growing multiracial labor movement in the U.S. Looking back on my internship, there was one experience that I hold especially close: the Southern Worker Action Summit in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
The Southern Worker Action Summit was the first conference I ever attended, and it was my first week as an intern. I had no idea what to expect — but the summit exceeded any possible expectations I could have had. Coming out of college, I wasn’t used to being in spaces where everyone is so movement-minded, and it was like a breath of fresh air. Being from Mississippi, it was comforting just to hear about labor issues from people with accents that sounded so close to home. Even having casual conversations with people was enlightening, and hearing them discuss their work gave me a better understanding of how the labor movement can meet workers’ needs during the current period we’re in.
I quickly noticed that these organizers shared a cohesive vision of the systems that oppress workers worldwide. They were vehemently opposed to the idea of sacrificing someone else’s freedom for their own, and these principles originated from a common understanding that no one is free until all are free. There are spaces within these movements where people play a grab-bag game for their own freedoms, failing to understand that all of these oppressive structures are connected. Throughout the summit, this distinction was emphasized repeatedly: the Southern workers’ struggle is inextricably linked with the struggles of Black people, women, immigrants, disabled people, queer people, and people across the Global South.
The Southern Worker Action Summit also provided insight into the rich history of interracial Southern organizing, serving as a significant reminder that the South is not inherently backward, as some like to believe. Just because we don’t share the same union
density as the Northeast doesn’t mean that building a Southern labor movement is impossible. Those who are content to dismiss the South as unorganizable are ignorant of the stories I heard throughout the summit—stories of people who were targeted in lawsuits alongside the Charleston Five, who organized Black and immigrant temp workers in Mississippi, who empowered formerly incarcerated people in Florida to fight against exploitation. Hearing firsthand about the struggles of longtime Southern organizers gave me a wave of worldly optimism that I have not felt in a long while, and I am endlessly grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the Southern Worker Action Summit.
