How Alabama organizers blocked Gov. Ivey's prison lease plan

The Communities Not Prisons coalition has stalled Alabama's plan to work with private prison companies to expand the state prison system, which the U.S. Justice Department has charged with unconstitutional human rights abuses. The victory was won by organizing across geographic, race, and class lines — and by targeting the banks involved. (6/17/2021)

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Black Voters Matter holds Freedom Ride across the South to promote voting rights

This Juneteenth, Black Voters Matter will launch a bus tour through Southern states marking the 60th anniversary of the original Freedom Rides that successfully challenged segregation. The tour will promote the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and drive home the importance of confronting voter suppression. (6/17/2021)

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Dorothy Brown on racism in the tax code

The Emory law professor and author of "The Whiteness of Wealth" calls for returning to a progressive income taxation system and establishing a tax credit as compensation for systemic racism. She also argues that simply publishing tax data by race could make the public angry enough to want to change the federal tax system. (6/11/2021)

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Low-wage care workers rally for the American Jobs Plan

Home care workers, most of whom are women of color, are among the most underpaid workers in the U.S., and the situation is especially dire in the low-wage South. In North Carolina, care workers recently rallied to call on federal lawmakers to support President Biden's American Jobs Plan, which would increase their pay and on-the-job protections. (6/16/2021)

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VOICES: Betraying decency and democracy in North Carolina

As in the South of the 19th century, we have a massive group among us willing to throw democracy away in order to assure their ascendancy, writes Gene Nichol. With a dominant political party committed to autocracy, we're treading new ground — at least new ground in modern times. (6/10/2021)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Building a new Southern freedom movement

A 1988 issue of Southern Exposure magazine, the print forerunner to Facing South, reprinted a visionary address by North Carolina-based organizer Mab Segrest calling for an intersectional Southern gay and lesbian liberation movement. We're republishing it in honor of Pride Month. (6/18/2021)

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VOICES: Prison violence like Alabama's demands a national reckoning

Despite lawsuits instituting reforms, state prisons across the U.S. continue to be places of physical and sexual violence, especially against incarcerated people of color. Conditions got so bad in Alabama's prisons that the federal government recently sued the state for violating the Constitution. Robert T. Chase, a historian of prisons, says they need the same kind of scrutiny now faced by police.

Advocates unveil pro-democracy 'blueprint' for North Carolina

A new collaborative report from leading state and national experts highlights bipartisan policy proposals for North Carolina to improve voting, combat corruption, and promote good government. Read it here.

Re-diversifying the South's appellate courts

Federal appellate courts in the Deep South are disproportionately white compared to the region's population, but President Joe Biden has pledged to diversify the courts with his nominations. Efforts to expand the region's mostly white state appellate courts could also lead to more diversity on the bench.