Mississippi Rising Coalition (MRC), a multiracial, multigenerational community of Mississippians, has been organizing to advance human rights and climate, racial and economic justice since 2016. Envisioning healthy, abundant and self-determined communities, they build and support movements that empower working class, low-income and historically and deliberately marginalized communities across the state through bottom-up organizing, information and skill sharing, mutual aid, coalition-building, direct action and advocacy. The nonprofit is headquartered in Hattiesburg, where 32.5% of the residents live below the poverty line, and in a state with the nation’s highest rate of food insecurity. MRC is working to change that. Their Hub City Mutual Aid project tackles food insecurity through community gardens, a free community pantry, and the Hub City Food Freedom Collective – an initiative to build a safe, inclusive and sustainable community-led local food system providing healthy food for community members in need.
MRC organized the state’s largest Black Lives Matter Protest on the MS Gulf Coast during the Summer of 2020.
The non-partisan, women-led, all-volunteer organization focuses on coalition-building with other grassroots groups, emphasizing shared values across diverse communities to drive lasting change. By organizing and executing strategic campaigns, MRC challenges the status quo and fosters cooperation, equity, and care. MRC leads the MS People’s Movement and is a key member of the MS Gulf Coast Mutual Aid Collective, Jobs to Move America’s Coalition for Community Benefits, and the Raise Mississippi campaign. Regionally, MRC is part of the Southeast Climate & Energy Network, Clean Up TVA Coalition, and Southern Movement Assembly. Nationally, they work with the Center for Biological Diversity, Energy Policy Institute, National Association of Climate Resilience Planners, and Climate Advocacy Lab.
Leading by example, Mississippi Rising Coalition organizer Theo Sutton protests at the nation’s second largest utility, Southern Company, in 2023. “I know what it means to be alone, unheard, and stigmatized. For this reason, I aim to empower youth to learn themselves in order to better serve others. It is through this practice that we will create generational change.”