Read Capital B’s continuous coverage on Newbern, Alabama, and the first Black mayor’s fight to serve. The rural Alabama town that once ousted its first Black leader has now appointed its second Black mayor and first woman to hold the office. The historic appointment of Barbara Patrick in Newbern on Feb. 1 comes after Patrick […]
Newbern
Posted inElections, Politics & Policy
Black Alabama Mayor Once Blocked by White Town Leaders Wins Reelection
NEWBERN, Ala. — On a quiet, sunny morning, Gabrielle Cook and her 20-year-old son Mark Cabil walked into their town hall to cast their ballots in an election that would decide the future of their rural Alabama town. For the first time in Newbern’s history, the citizens of this majority-Black town got to participate directly […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Rural Issues
Newbern’s First Black Mayor Won in the Courts, but the Fight Is Far From Over
NEWBERN, Ala. — The sunrays beamed on Patrick Braxton’s forehead as he raised his right hand and placed his left on a Bible, held by his wife, Freda. He stood confidently, ready to execute his oath of office for all to see. That moment — on an early August afternoon — felt so familiar yet […]
Posted inNews, Rural Issues, Voting
After Years of Litigation, First Black Mayor in Rural Alabama Town Gets to Serve
Patrick Braxton is overwhelmed with gratitude. He’s been juggling a yearslong legal battle to serve as the lawful mayor of his hometown, Newbern, Alabama. After years of harassment, his rural town enters a new chapter: Its first Black mayor will finally get to serve. Braxton will be reinstated as mayor of Newbern, according to a […]
Posted inRural Issues
How Alabama and the Politics of Retribution Limit Black Representation
Alabama is becoming fertile ground for the dilution of Black voters’ political power, experts say. Last week, the state’s Republican leaders refused to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s order to redraw a congressional map to include two majority-Black districts. Gov. Kay Ivey approved a map with just one majority-Black district. While Black Alabamians make […]
Posted inRural Issues
A Black Man Was Elected Mayor in Rural Alabama, but the White Town Leaders Won’t Let Him Serve
NEWBERN, Ala. — There’s a power struggle in Newbern, Alabama, and the rural town’s first Black mayor is at war with the previous administration who he says locked him out of Town Hall. After years of racist harassment and intimidation, Patrick Braxton is fed up, and in a federal civil rights lawsuit he is accusing […]