Demographics

February 25, 2021 - With census data now set to be released to the states at the end of September, six months later than usual, election officials across the South are scrambling to prevent major redistricting challenges.

February 12, 2021 - How could such an extremist end up in Congress? Consider Georgia's congressional district map, which like all state congressional and legislative maps is set to be redrawn later this year. A new report out this week finds that Georgia and a handful of other Southern states remain at risk for more extreme partisan gerrymandering.

January 27, 2021 - Black women played a lead role in helping Joe Biden win the White House and Democrats win the Senate. One way to repay them would be by canceling the student debt that disproportionately burdens them.

December 3, 2020 - Partly in response to the acclaim for Nikole Hannah-Jones's The 1619 Project on slavery's legacy in the U.S., President Trump recently signed an executive order that seeks to stifle federal agencies, contractors, and grant recipients from talking about systemic racism and sexism. Refusing to be silenced, the African American Policy Forum has launched an effort to overturn it.

December 3, 2020 - First-time voters including young people, former felons, and newly naturalized citizens proved to be a crucial voting bloc in many races nationwide including in Georgia, which a Democratic presidential candidate hadn't won in 28 years. Experts predict that these first-time voters will continue to play an important role in shaping Southern and national politics.

October 28, 2020 - As Election Day approaches, frontline workers and anti-poverty activists are encouraging eligible low-wage voters in the nation's poorest region to take part in this year's election in hopes of electing leaders who will support a living wage and respond to the needs of low-wealth communities.

October 8, 2020 - Following protests against police brutality, growing anxiety over COVID-19, and now a concerted effort by Republican leaders to strengthen the Supreme Court's conservative majority, polls are showing that young voters plan to turn out in record numbers this election cycle. We look at youth voter organizing underway in a key Southern swing state.