A Recap of Nashville’s Southern Movement Committee’s Mountaintop Summit on Co-governance & Democracy Building

This past February, Nashville’s very own Southern Movement Committee, in collaboration with the John Lewis Center for Justice, hosted the first annual Mountaintop Summit on co-governance and democracy building. This two-day event was hosted at the historic and illustrious Fisk University, a Historically Black College & University located in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee, and featured programming that brought together local community members, state representatives, organizers, and various coalition members from across the U.S. The location of this event could not have been more appropriate, as this summit was grounded in culture, intentionality, and a deep affinity for community growth and sustainability. By virtue, these qualities transcended the summit’s central purpose in exploring how Black, marginalized communities can move from the margins of decision-making to the center of governance to exemplify a democracy rooted not just in participation, but in shared power.

The summit kicked off in momentous form and opened with a powerful moment of collective remembrance with the event’s organizers calling out the names of Black organizers and freedom fighters like Fannie Lou Hamer, Fred Hampton, and John Lewis, who laid the groundwork for today’s efforts to strengthen democracy and build community power in an effort to pay tribute and welcome the legacy of their work into the space. This simple, yet significant, act not only set the tone for the event, but reminded those of us in attendance that the push for greater community control and collective decision-making is part of a much longer struggle for justice, as the idea of co-governance did not emerge in a vacuum. Instead, it builds on decades of organizing aimed at ensuring communities most affected by public policies have a voice in shaping them. The first event of the night was a fireside chat on mental health and system change, which introduced to me the concept of liberation psychology, a framework that examines how systems of power influence individual and collective well-being. That chat invited attendees to critically analyze how mental health can impact one’s ability to engage in healing justice and resistance work, and also consider how the structures around us may shape our experiences and necessitate collective organizing to change them. In this way, the opening program provided a good intellectual foundation for attendees and sought to help us see that when communities understand the systems that affect them, they can also help transform those systems. This idea was later reinforced through a film screening entitled “Getting Wins” following the fireside chat, which showcased how meaningful change often begins with collective awareness and the courage to challenge existing power structures.

Day two of the summit started just as beautifully as the first with all attendees invited to engage in a harmonious call and response exercise that seemed to honor the musical legacy of Fisk’s renowned Jubilee Singers, undoubtedly creating a moment of culture and connection. For me, that exercise served as an intentional reminder of the gifts that can be created through community engagement, and was a good way to open the day which centered on collective action. With the room still abuzz, attendees moved to various breakout sessions scheduled throughout the afternoon covering various aspects of democratic participation. The two sessions that I attended focused on local co-governance and protecting immigrant students in schools. The first session explored what it means for communities to play an active role in governing institutions in the community, rather than merely reacting to decisions made by them, while the second session I attended highlighted how co-governance can be important for vulnerable populations and what you should know to keep them safe. Both of my sessions included small group circles to identify ways to create symbiotic co-governance structures that benefited the community I represented. Following the breakout sessions, two large group discussions took place and brought together local leaders and community members from across Nashville to reflect on how collaboration between community organizations and public institutions can strengthen democratic governance at the local level, underscoring that democracy functions best when those most affected by decisions are directly involved in making them. The summit ended with a powerful display of art through a concert held offsite for attendees to experience community beyond the work.

Overall, one key takeaway that I had from the summit is that co-governance goes beyond traditional forms of civic engagement and involves a system where community members help define the problems that institutions address, participate in designing solutions, and share responsibility for implementing and evaluating policies. Where public education is concerned, this approach recognizes that parents, students, educators, and community organizations possess critical knowledge about the realities facing local schools, and when that knowledge is excluded from decision-making processes, policies often fail to address the needs of the communities they are meant to serve. Marginalized Black and Brown communities often experience the greatest impact from education policies, but have historically had the least influence in shaping them. The summit highlighted that co-governance would remedy this imbalance and allow schools who have typically operated for communities, to shift to operating with them to create collaboration, and systems in which community participation leads to real decision-making power.

The Mountaintop Summit was my first introduction to co-governance and topics like liberation psychology, and I can honestly say I know more now than I did before attending the convening. What I appreciated the most about the summit was that the organizers did not claim that their suggestions would fix the challenges to democracy overnight. Instead, the summit offered a space for reflection, learning, and strategy-building among people like myself committed to strengthening democratic participation at the local level beyond elections, which requires ongoing collective decision-making. Doing this work takes time and requires organization, committed community members, responsive institutions, and a willingness for everyone to share power. What is clear following this summit is that when these elements come together communities can be empowered to move from the margins of governance to the center of shaping the policies that affect their lives.