Alabama

April 11, 2023 - Facing South recently spoke with Larry Spencer, an official in the United Mine Workers district that represents the over 1,000 miners who unsuccessfully struck against Warrior Met Coal in Alabama for almost two years. He discussed conditions for the returning miners, relations between the long-time workers and the scabs who replaced them, and how the union — now facing a decertification petition — is challenging the company's refusal to take back 41 strikers, many of them union officials.

November 18, 2022 - Voters across the South weighed in on dozens of high-profile ballot initiatives in this year's general election, directly shaping policy on matters including reproductive rights, prison labor, and ballot measures themselves. In another election to be held next month, Louisiana voters will consider three ballot measures, including one to bar noncitizens from voting in local elections.

August 11, 2022 - As climate change-fueled heat waves become more frequent and intense, many incarcerated people endure dangerous triple-digit temperatures for long periods. Efforts are underway in some states to bring relief from the heat — and to challenge the underlying constitutional provisions that allow prisoners to be treated as subhuman.

April 22, 2022 - Over 100 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in Southern legislatures this year, the latest application of an old Republican strategy to win votes by bullying a vulnerable minority. Facing South recently spoke with LGBTQ advocates in states around the South to find out how they're responding.   

April 20, 2022 - This month marks one year since 1,100 members of the United Mine Workers of America went on strike at Warrior Met Coal in Brookwood, Alabama — a company that was formed from the bankruptcy of Walter Energy and that's now owned by hedge funds. A recent U.S. Senate hearing focusing on Wall Street greed featured testimony from striking Warrior Met miner Braxton Wright calling for passage of the Stop Wall Street Looting Act.

March 3, 2022 - 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.

December 17, 2021 - Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi are among the states with the lowest vaccination rates. Grassroots organizations there are partnering with public health officials to battle misinformation and distrust in rural, Latino, and Black communities — but elected officials in those states aren't making their jobs any easier.