ROYAL, Florida — The calmness of the wind reverberated across the burial ground as Beverly Steele motioned to her mother’s grave in Oak Hill Cemetery. Three months ago, they buried her here, just 12 days shy of her 102nd birthday. It’s not uncommon for residents in the majority-Black, unincorporated community of Royal, Florida, to live […]
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 inCulture, History, Rural Issues
A Florida Community Faces Erasure. Residents Are Honoring Its History.
If you ask any native, they all know the history of Royal, Florida, mostly because they are living descendants of it. As 67-year-old minister Janice Rivers put it: “There was not one corner that you could go to where the individuals didn’t know each other’s names or their history. You could talk to the elders […]
Posted inEminent Domain, Rural Issues
A Year After Attempted Land Grab, Hilton Head Elder’s Case Is Settled
Until her last breath, 94-year-old Josephine Wright fought tirelessly to protect her family’s land from developers. Two months after her passing, the battle is over. The lawsuit filed against Wright has reached a settlement, according to a report from South Carolina Public Radio. Altimese Nichole, a family spokesperson, said the settlement requires developer Bailey Point […]
Posted inHousing, Rural Issues
Rural America Has an Eviction Crisis, Too
Black rural Americans are still feeling the strain of the failed promises of the Reconstruction era and discrimination in lending, as redlining has pushed them away from homeownership into tenancy. A new report illuminates the struggle: Southern Black counties have higher eviction filing rates than their white counterparts. In four states — Georgia, Mississippi, North […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
60 Years After the Civil Rights Act, Equal Opportunity Is Under Attack
There’s too much at stake with constant assaults on civil rights — and a new report is calling on Black Americans to organize and “fight for the soul of America.” The National Urban League’s State of Black America report comes just months ahead of the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the […]
Posted inCulture, History
One Family’s Quest for Reparations: ‘We Owe it Gracie’
Candice Hammons’ curiosity about the history of the maternal side of her close-knit family unearthed a mystery along Texas’ Neches River. It all started with a simple ancestry test in 2018. Her niece had just completed a DNA kit from 23andMe and her excitement was contagious. For Hammons, it wasn’t just about learning where she […]
Posted inCulture, History
How to Find the Roots of Your Family Tree
From the inception of the United States, Black families have been displaced and ripped apart. It’s been difficult to track Black lineage because of limited data and written documents that erased Black folks. Over the years, and more recently, descendants have uncovered their histories, which have led to reclaiming stolen land, holding onto historical land, […]
Posted inRural Issues
What Solutions Exist to Eradicate the Digital Divide?
Capital B’s “Disconnected: Rural Black America and the Digital Divide” project explores the disparate effects of broadband accessibility on Black Americans in the rural South. Check out the first story here. You can read the second story here. The digital divide in the Black rural South has been a problem for decades — but the […]
Posted inBlack Farmers, Rural Issues
Her Family’s Land Was Stolen. Now, She’s Helping Black Farmers Keep Theirs.
During a four-day hearing in late November, Marvin Smith testified that he’s still fighting for his American dream: land ownership. After mostly Black residents refused to sell their property, the Sandersville Railroad Co. filed a petition with the Georgia Public Service Commission to seize the land through eminent domain. The private company wants it for […]
Posted inRural Issues
How Black Rural Americans Navigate Internet Issues
This is the second story in Capital B’s “Disconnected: Rural Black America and the Digital Divide” project, which explores the disparate effects of broadband accessibility on Black Americans in the rural South. This project is made possible by a grant from The Center for Rural Strategies and Grist. You can read our first story, “Digital […]