Sarah Bell had completed only one year of her two-year term on a federal committee to help farmers of color before she learned the work would be “on pause.” In 2024, Bell, an Asian American farmer in the South, was one of 15 appointees on the Advisory Committee on Minority Farmers. The committee was established […]
Aallyah Wright
Aallyah Wright is the rural issues reporter for Capital B. From farmers to land fights to health care and jobs, her reporting explores the issues that matter most while celebrating culture and joy.
Follow her on Bluesky @aallyahpatrice.bsky.social and Instagram @journalistaallyah.
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Voting
Black Women Are Sounding the Alarm About Voting Rights and America’s Future
Is the nation – from institutions to lawmakers — investing in the needs of Black women voters? A new, nonpartisan poll by The Highland Project and brilliant corners Research and Strategies that surveyed 700 participants found the answer is “overwhelmingly no.” The report focused on what researchers define as “the fulfillment gap,” whether Black women […]
Posted inNews
Nolan Wells: Expert Finds Deleted Messages on Phone After Death
Days after a grand jury declined to charge anyone in Nolan Wells’ death, questions still remain about what happened to the teenager, who was found dead on July 6, two days after he took a boating trip with friends on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. At a Thursday news conference, Andrew Garrett, a digital forensic expert […]
Posted inHistory, Transportation
What 9/11 Took From Her, She’s Now Giving to the Next Generation of Black Women Pilots
Nia Gilliam proclaimed she’d never fly again after 9/11. The morning of Sept. 11, 2001, felt normal. The Atlantic Coast Airlines plane had no engine problems or mechanical issues. Passengers were seated. The 25-year-old co-pilot and her superior, Capt. Shye Gilad, were ready to depart Newark Liberty International Airport for Boston. The bright blue skies […]
Posted inEconomic Development, Politics & Policy
A Data Center Promises Jobs in This Black Town, but Residents Aren’t Convinced
CLARKSDALE, Mississippi — Rumors of a potential data center had loomed over Voneshay Walker like a cloud for months. She’d heard the whispers and seen reports of other centers popping up in small towns across the South. She didn’t expect it to hit so close to home. Walker is a native of Tutwiler, Mississippi, a […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
The Battle Over Black Representation in a White Mississippi County
DeSOTO COUNTY, Mississippi. — Hester Jackson-McCray witnessed the beginning of the economic boom in this Mississippi Delta county when she moved south from Chicago in 1999. Year after year, she has watched the county attract newcomers and grow culturally and economically, cotton fields giving way to subdivisions and shopping centers. Other Black families like hers […]
Posted inCourts, History, Rural Issues
How One Woman Landed in Jail Over a Fight to Protect Her Family’s Land
Jennine Labuzan spent two weeks in federal custody in June — shuttled from her residence in Georgia to Tennessee to Mississippi — after refusing a judge’s order to sign away more than 1,300 acres of land she says her family has owned for generations. Her arrest and release came after a legal battle she never […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics & Policy
How Jackson’s Former Mayor Went From Progressive Star to Guilty Plea
Jackson, Mississippi, resident and social justice organizer Danyelle Holmes saw up close the scrutiny and efforts by the state’s top leaders to remove her friend and former Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba from office during his tenure. Lumumba consistently fought back against lawmakers and the governor for refusing to fix the city’s crumbling infrastructure, she said, […]
Posted inBlack Farmers, Politics & Policy
Black Farmers Win Court Case That Restores $127 Million in Federal Grants
Black farmers like Sharon Mallory can finally get some relief after a judge ruled to restore millions of dollars in grants. Earlier this year, the Trump administration yanked the money away from organizations led by and in support of Black farmers. Mallory’s organization, the 2020 Farmers Cooperative, promised to purchase equipment and land and provide […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Rural Issues
In the Oldest Town in Texas, Black Farmers Gathered to Secure Their Future
NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Jermal Sanders fell in love with farming as a child. When he saw the seeds he planted produce fruit, he began to take farming more seriously. He took agriculture classes in middle school — from gardening to horticulture. As a 26-year-old, he’s building a farm to call his own. On a scorching […]
