Timothy Williams’ family has lived in the same community for over 150 years, but he is afraid that they are one big storm away from losing it all. Eight years ago, the Alabama Department of Transportation widened the highway that runs just a few yards from Williams’ home in Shiloh. Since then, every time it […]
Politics & Policy
Posted inVoting
NAACP Launches $20 Million Plan to Mobilize 6.5 Million Black Voters
As Black voters stand to lose representation, one of the oldest civil rights organizations in the U.S. is leaning on a playbook that allowed it to radically increase Black political participation at the height of Jim Crow. Thirty-three congressional districts. Twenty-thousand volunteers. A $20 million investment. Those are some of the details behind what the […]
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 inPolitics & Policy, Voting
Black Organizers Are Preparing for a New Era of Voting Rights Battles
The mobilization effort was swift once it became clear that Black Georgians stood to lose political representation. LaTosha Brown and other voting rights advocates sprang into action after Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on May 13 called a special session to redraw the state’s congressional and legislative maps in ways that could erode Black voters’ […]
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 inEconomy, Politics & Policy
Supreme Court Blocks Trump’s Attempt to Fire Lisa Cook from Federal Reserve Board
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday blocked President Trump’s bid to fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, leaving her job secure for now. A distinguished economist, the Georgia native and Spelman College grad is the first Black woman to sit on the Fed’s board. She also held roles in the Clinton, […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Voting
The Plaintiffs Behind Alabama’s Voting Rights Case Are Ready to Fight Again
This story first appeared on For the Record: A Black Oral History Archive. The archive is a collection of over 100 firsthand stories of Black life in America. MONTGOMERY, Alabama — Evan Milligan was visiting Berlin when he learned that he had won a voting rights case against the state of Alabama at the U.S. Supreme […]
Posted inCourts, Culture, Politics & Policy
World Cup Joy Gave Way to Deportation Fears for Haitian Families
For one night this past Wednesday, Miami’s Little Haiti forgot to be afraid. Haiti was on the field — its first World Cup appearance in more than half a century — and the neighborhood came alive in the way it used to: loud and together, Ruth Jeannoel recalled. Then Thursday arrived. The U.S. Supreme Court […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Voting
Georgia Republicans Back Away From Redistricting Plan After Outcry
Efforts to begin redrawing Georgia’s voting district maps through a special session of the General Assembly have been canceled. The Republicans’ plan, which many feared would disenfranchise Black and brown voters, had already sparked multiple protests Wednesday at the Georgia State Capitol. “Changes to Georgia’s maps should take place only when members of the General […]
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 […]
