Cherie Jzar, a North Carolina farmer, has become a lifeline for area residents as the Trump administration has delayed funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Many of her customers are seniors — who often live on fixed incomes and rely on SNAP. With the rising costs of food, she said, it has been difficult for […]
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 inAgriculture, Black Farmers, Rural Issues
As Tariffs Rise, One Family’s Fields Tell the Real Cost of the Trade War
Willis Nelson, a third-generation farmer in eastern Louisiana, was hoping to avoid the worst. The 38-year-old farms 4,000 acres in Sondheimer with his brothers and father. They grow row crops such as corn, cotton, and soybean, which are the leading U.S. agricultural exports that are sold to a global market. This year, they opted out […]
Posted inHistory
Founded by Freedmen, Forgotten by Textbooks: The Men Reviving Mound Bayou
MOUND BAYOU, Mississippi — On an early summer morning, Hermon Johnson Jr. walked the halls of the former band hall of the John F. Kennedy High School surrounded by archival photographs and rotating exhibits. The historical records tell the story of Mound Bayou, Mississippi. The small but mighty town is one of America’s first all-Black […]
Posted inEducation, Health, Partner Content
Parents Fear Losing Disability Protections as Trump Slashes Civil Rights Office
Devon Price, a 15-year-old boy with autism, has attended the largest school district in North Carolina for 10 years, but he cannot read or write. His twin sister, Danielle, who is also autistic, was bullied by classmates and became suicidal. Under federal law, public schools must provide children with disabilities a “free appropriate public education,” […]
Posted inCulture, Economic Development
Georgia’s Highest Court Sides With Sapelo Island Residents to Put Land Battle on Ballot
In a win for Black landowners, Georgia’s highest court unanimously sided with Gullah Geechee communities in a long-standing zoning battle on Sapelo Island. On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that had stopped a referendum to consider repealing a revised zoning ordinance passed by McIntosh County officials two years ago. A […]
Posted inFood Access, Politics & Policy
For 30 Years, a Report Tracked Hunger in America. Now It’s Been Canceled
After three decades of tracking food insecurity, understanding the reality of Americans without access to reliable food may become more difficult due to the discontinuation of a federal survey. The Household Food Security Report is an annual, national survey that monitors the severity of food insecurity in U.S. households. The United States Department of Agriculture […]
Posted inRural Issues
The Black Women Driving a Food Revolution in Rural Mississippi
Sowing Resilience: Rural communities across the country are grappling with food insecurity. Schoolchildren, seniors, grocers and even farmers face a food crisis compounded by government cuts and soaring costs. These nine stories reveal how communities are navigating — and reimagining — the systems that have left them hungry. OAKLAND, Miss. — Grocery store owner Marquitrice […]
Posted inNews
Black Student Found Hanging at Delta State. Police Say No Foul Play.
This story has been updated. The death of a Black college student, who was found hanging from a tree on his school’s campus in Mississippi, sparking online speculation of a lynching, has been ruled a suicide, according to the state examiner’s office. The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy on Sept. 17, after […]
Posted inGun Violence, Health, Health Equity, Partner Content
A Surgical Team Was About To Harvest This Man’s Organs — Until His Doctor Intervened
ST. LOUIS — Lying on top of an operating room table with his chest exposed, Larry Black Jr. was moments away from having his organs harvested when a doctor ran breathlessly into the room. “Get him off the table,” the doctor recalled telling the surgical team at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital as the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Partner Content, Politics & Policy
Fact Check: Social Media Said Salt Trucks Were Used to Block ICE Agents in Chicago. This Is What Really Happened.
It sounds like a bit of poetic justice, street-protest style: there have been widespread reports on social media that activists opposed to mass deportation raids were using trucks loaded with rock salt, which is typically used to clear frozen roads, to obstruct the work of agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the organization that is, […]
