March 15, 2023 -
When it comes to protecting North Carolina schoolchildren from the widespread industrial PFAS pollution in the state's drinking water, the burden falls on parent-advocates, the state's cash-strapped school systems, and municipal water systems often unprepared to address the threat.
March 8, 2023 -
Founded in 1973 by the Institute for Southern Studies, Southern Exposure magazine went on to earn a reputation for groundbreaking coverage of politics and culture in the U.S. South. Democratizing access to the archive is critically important work in a moment when history and who is allowed to tell it are once again under attack.
February 24, 2023 -
The Census Bureau has released its first round of corrections for the 2020 population count, and communities in Southern states will benefit thanks to prisoners being added to their populations. Reform advocates say this "prison gerrymandering" distorts democracy and paints a misleading picture of community populations for planning purposes. A growing number of states, including several in the South, are taking action to end it.
February 23, 2023 -
Goat in the Road Productions of New Orleans recently presented an immersive play about a family of Sicilian grocers deciding whether to make common cause with Black/Creole grocers during the city's 1892 general strike. They were joined by community partners Step Up Louisiana and the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice to help raise awareness about the history behind the drama.
February 17, 2023 -
The Environmental Protection Agency is accepting public comments until March 6 on closing a regulatory loophole that exempts hundreds of polluting coal ash landfills from its oversight. The move is part of a proposed settlement in a lawsuit brought last year by environmental health advocates.
February 16, 2023 -
In a collaborative report highlighting bipartisan policy proposals for North Carolina to combat current threats to democracy, leading state and national voting rights advocates call for legislative action to ensure that elections are free, fair, accessible, and secure.
February 10, 2023 -
While public support for labor unions in the U.S. is at its highest level in a half-century, the portion of Southern workers in unions did not grow last year, even though unions added new members. But strikes and other workplace protests in the region jumped by over 20%, showing growing labor activism.
