SIDON, Mississippi — Malissa Whitehead is known for making tea cakes and blueberry pies during the holidays — but as Christmas approaches, she’s uneasy about baking anything in the house she’s lived in for 40 years. The kitchen ceiling wood is peeling, revealing small holes and chipped paint. On the outside, the roof is covered […]
property rights
Posted inCulture, History
South Carolina’s Gullah Geechee Are Denied Their Right to Bury Their Loved Ones
For generations, Mary Mack’s family has offered free burial plots to the bereaved families on St. Helena Island. It’s an ancestral calling and a tradition. Spanning 64 square miles, the island on the coast of South Carolina is home to one of the largest remaining Gullah Geechee communities in the southeast U.S. Surrounded by creeks, […]
Posted inRural Issues
5-Year Legal Battle Pays Off for Black Residents Who Sued Their City for Condemning Their Properties
Joseph Askew Sr. reveled in good news on a recent Sunday afternoon. The 77-year-old retiree has been in a legal battle to keep his historic properties from being destroyed by the city officials in his hometown, Kinston, North Carolina. Already, they’ve demolished some of his properties. He contends it’s because of his race because officials […]
Posted inRural Issues
This City Wants to Raze Black Properties, at the Cost of Generational Wealth.
On the east side of Kinston, North Carolina, historic buildings still bear the original architecture. Whether it’s on Queen Street, where formerly enslaved people became entrepreneurs, or Gordon Street, the neighborhood’s significance is clear. The rural North Carolina town was once known as a thriving tobacco and textile manufacturing industry and the birthplace of funk […]
Posted inEminent Domain, Rural Issues
Developers Sue 93-Year-Old Woman Over Her Land. She’s Fighting Back.
For over 30 years, Josephine Wright, 93, has enjoyed the peace and comfort of her home in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina — known more as one of the state’s largest tourist attractions than a refuge for formerly enslaved people. Wright’s property, which has been in the family since after the Civil War, has served […]