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Southern Partners Fund (SPF) remembers the life of Hollis Watkins Muhammad, a life-time civil rights activist and cofounding member of Jackson, MS-based Southern Echo, a nonprofit organization focused on empowering marginalized and vulnerable communities throughout Mississippi and the Southern region.
Mr. Watkins' civil rights activism began as a teenager, when he became the first Mississippi student to join the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). It was this work and experience that compelled and informed Mr. Watkins' cofounding of Southern Echo alongside Leroy Johnson, who is also a founding member of SPF, and Mike Sayer, a civil rights attorney.
Since SPF opened its doors in 1998, SPF and Southern Echo have shared a special relationship, partnering in capacity building initiatives such as leadership development and redistricting trainings, as well as in the spearheading of a multi-year early childhood education program.
As an architect of Southern Echo’s organizing model, Mr. Watkins' wisdom perseveres in the many Southern grassroots organizers and organizations fighting for racial justice who still employ his teachings to this day.
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