Commemorating Bloody Sunday at a crucial moment for civil rights

Thousands of people gathered recently in Alabama for the 57th anniversary of the historic Selma to Montgomery March for voting rights, which was met with police violence as peaceful demonstrators tried to cross a bridge named for a Klan leader. This year’s event took place as state legislatures across the South are passing bills to limit voting and protesting. (3/11/2022)

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Pushing President Biden on voting rights

Organizers are frustrated by Biden giving short shrift to voting rights in his first State of the Union address. In response, they're stepping up efforts to secure federal voting protections as state legislatures across the South continue to pass suppressive voting laws. (3/9/2022)

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Why falling hate group numbers don't necessarily mean less hate

A new report from the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center finds that the number of U.S. hate groups fell for the third year in a row — but says that's not necessarily good news, as such views are now moving from the fringe into the mainstream. It also found that hate groups are becoming more concentrated in the Southern states. (3/11/2022)

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Exploring Fannie Lou Hamer's legacy 45 years after her death

Mississippi civil rights organizer Fannie Lou Hamer passed away 45 years ago this month. A recent book and documentary examine her life and work amid a pitched national debate over how to teach and think about U.S. racial history. (3/9/2022)

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VOICES: The long struggle to read in Alabama's prisons

While reporting on the human rights crisis in Alabama's prisons, journalist Beth Shelburne began corresponding with incarcerated men in the state about their fight to read. She recounts their ongoing battles against censorship inside an irrational system where books and magazines are treated like dangerous contraband.

Welcome Makaelah Walters, 2022 Julian Bond Fellow!

Please join me in welcoming Makaelah Walters, the Institute's 2022 Julian Bond Fellow, whose first story for Facing South appears in this issue.

An Atlanta native, Makaelah grew up in North Carolina and studied communications at Appalachian State University. She comes to the Institute via Boone, North Carolina, where she worked as a reporter for the Watauga Democrat and an editorial intern at Appalachian Voices.

After working remotely in Boone for the first month of her fellowship, Makaelah moved last month to join the Institute's team in Durham.

"I am honored to be joining the team of change makers at the Institute for Southern Studies as the 2022 Julian Bond Fellow," Makaelah wrote when accepting the fellowship. "I look forward to publishing work that promotes equity and democracy in the South."

The Julian Bond Fellowship, now in its third year, nurtures and trains early-career journalists and researchers in the South working in the public interest. The nine-month program honors Julian Bond, the legendary civil rights leader and co-founder of the Institute, who passed in 2015.

Your support helps make the Julian Bond Fellowship possible. You can make a tax-deductible donation to support the fellowship and the Institute's training programs for a new generation of social change journalists and researchers in the South.

Chris Kromm, Publisher

Countering the cruel politics of anti-transgender bills

As trans youth face a crisis of harassment, violence, and trauma, Republican politicians up for reelection in Texas and other states are launching misleading attacks on them and their families in a blatant attempt to stir up the party's base and win votes. Legal and human rights advocates and the Biden administration are taking steps to protect the lives of these vulnerable young Americans as others press for boycotts.