Last year, the Gulf States Newsroom, in partnership with America Amplified, covered the 2024 election cycle in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District.
The voting district, which is made up of 13 counties spanning a portion of the Black Belt, from Mobile up through Montgomery to the Georiga border, was redrawn in 2023 after a lengthy U.S. Supreme Court lawsuit argued former district lines violated the Civil Rights Act and didn’t allow Black Alabama residents accurate representation in Congress.
Former community engagement reporter Maya Miller and community engagement producer Nellie Beckett spent the year traveling to various towns in D2 each month and talking with residents about the issues that affected them most when choosing a candidate. Common themes included mental health, hospital closures, education and food access.
On Jan. 15, Beckett hosted a listening session to hear one of Miller’s stories and talk with D2 stakeholders — advocates who are working in the community to help uplift marginalized communities — about the district’s strengths and the challenges it faces.
Panelists who joined Beckett for the listening session include:
- Carol Gundlach: A senior policy analyst at Alabama Arise, a statewide, member-led nonprofit advancing public policies to improve the lives of residents marginalized by poverty
- Letetia Jackson: Convener for the South Alabama Black Women’s Roundtable, a voting rights advocate and a plaintiff in Allen v. Milligan — the lawsuit that led to D2 being redrawn
- Rodreshia Russaw-Glasgow: Director of The Ordinary People Society, a nonprofit that works to restore rights to formerly and currently incarcerated people, aid the homeless and mobilize communities in the Deep South
- Khadidah Stone: Director of field operations for Alabama Forward, a voting rights advocate and a plaintiff in Allen v. Milligan — the lawsuit that led to D2 being redrawn
You can watch a replay of the listening session below.
Can’t see the video below? Click here.
This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR.