One hundred fifty people from Jacksonville and from outside of Florida gathered for Meaning Dignity and Community’s (MDC) “State of the South Jacksonville,” to discuss how communities are building resiliency throughout thier neighborhoods.
The goal of the confab is to amplify Southern stories and connect people across state lines to create a more thriving and equitable South. Through art, data, storytelling, and conversation, attendees grappled with topics like cultural erasure, displacement, and the ways that systems can cause harm at the same time they’re trying to help.
They shared ideas about how neighbors can protect and build their assets, their stories, and their communities. Mt. Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, with 160 years serving their Moncrief Springs community, provided space for these important discussions to happen. Participants enjoyed learning more about the history and ecology of Jacksonville on a boat tour with Ennis Davis, local historian, and Jimmy Orth with the St. Johns Riverkeeper.
Attendees also indulged in Duval Displaced, Duval Dis Place art exhibit displays at Yellow House, featuring 16 local JAX artists that will run through mid-April. Attendees also participated in sessions about Southern data, heirs’ property, inclusive disaster recovery, family support, local agriculture, and community organizing.
The one day conference closed with a panel featuring the Black Jacksonville Collective, a team of artists, organizers, and journalists working to document and share the stories of Black Jaxsons. The panel reinforced that Duval is a community of storytellers and keepers of history, as they inspired attendees to collect and tell their own stories.
The composium is a program of MDC, a North Carolina-based nonprofit working to create livable communities throughout the south with programming held in various cities such as Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA.
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