Race and Culture
How this year’s Selma Bridge Crossing could mark a community renaissance
President Biden visits Selma for the 58th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday." Residents there are still recovering from tornadoes that ripped through the city in January.
How a rare edition of ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ traveled from Italy to Lawson State
Lawson State Community College now owns a rare copy of one of the most influential books in American history. And it took a 5,000 mile journey to get there.
A local hip-hop education group teaches kids life skills
Here in Birmingham, the education collective Knowledge Rhythm and Understanding, known as K.R.U., is using the music genre to teach life skills.
‘White Lies’ sheds light on a prison takeover in Talladega that led to today’s immigration system
Many don’t realize a notable moment that shaped our current immigration system happened in Talladega, Alabama, when Cuban detainees took over a federal prison there.
Hoover City Schools canceled Derrick Barnes’ visit. He says it’s political
Hoover school officials say they canceled the Black children's book author's visit due to a controversial social media post. Officials never saw the post after an anonymous parent reported it.
Advocacy group helps Mexican families in Alabama reunite after decades apart
Some Mexican immigrants living in the U.S. hadn't seen their parents for decades. An advocacy group in Alabama is working with Mexican officials to reunite dozens of families in time for the holidays.
Organización ayuda a familias mexicanas reunirse después de décadas separadas
Algunos inmigrantes mexicanos que viven en los Estados Unidos no han visto a sus padres por décadas. Una ONG en Alabama trabaja con las autoridades mexicanas para reunir a decenas de estas familias.
Denial, detention and deportation threats: The uphill battle for Cameroonian asylum seekers in Louisiana and Mississippi
A Gulf States Newsroom investigation digs into the Deep South’s thorny regional immigration system and the obstacles and steep odds at every turn.
Traveling exhibit goes ‘deeper’ into Emmett Till’s story, civil rights history of host cities
The interactive exhibit “Emmett and Mamie Till Mobley: Let the World See” is in the middle of the first of two stops in the Gulf South region.
After years in a museum exhibit, Alabama is giving Native Americans their cultural items back
Alabama’s state archive has over 100 sets of ancestral remains and thousands of objects from Native American graves. Now, the institution is giving them back.
Slavery’s ghost haunts cotton gin factory’s transformation
What was once the world's largest cotton gin factory is being renovated into apartments. Some people in Prattville want the stories of the enslaved people who built and worked in the factory told along with that of its founder, Daniel Pratt.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute celebrates 30 years
For decades, the BCRI has educated everyone from local students to global leaders about Birmingham's role in the Civil Rights movement.
Outgoing Senator Shelby backs US recognition for state tribe
The MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians are still seeking federal recognition, and they're one of two state-recognized tribes hoping Congress will right what they see as wrongs of the past with the help of two influential U.S. senators who are retiring.
3 key reasons why ESPN chose Jackson State’s rivalry with Southern for College GameDay
An ESPN producer called JSU’s rise one of college football's biggest stories. Here are three key elements that make Saturday’s rivalry game worth highlighting.
Racist wording is still in the Alabama Constitution. Voters can erase it
The Alabama Constitution of 1901 contains racist language regarding slavery, poll taxes, and school segregation. If approved by voters, a recompilation measure on the November 8, 2022 ballot will remove that language, as well as reorganize the constitution.
Slavery is on the ballot in Alabama and 4 other states
More than 150 years after slaves were freed in the U.S., voters in five states, including Alabama, will soon decide whether to close loopholes that led to the proliferation of a different form of slavery — forced labor by people convicted of certain crimes.
Martin Luther King’s 1963 Birmingham arrest spurred a Supreme Court case. The ruling still matters
The case is Walker v. City of Birmingham, which ruled on the legal principles that allowed Bull Conner and Birmingham to jail Martin Luther King Jr. on Good Friday, 1963. Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy explains why the case continues to impact legal thinking during these tumultuous times.
Why now is the right time for Alabama to honor Hugo Black’s complicated legacy
Alabama native and Supreme Court justice Hugo Black became a civil rights champion after a brief time in the KKK. A new monument honors his complicated legacy.
Black leaders rebuke Tuberville stance on reparations, crime
Tuberville told people Saturday at an election rally in Nevada that Democrats support reparations for the descendants of enslaved people because “they think the people that do the crime are owed that.”
Memoir explores ‘being Black but growing up white’ after the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
"Dear Denise" follows Lisa McNair's life in a series of letters to the sister she never met. Lisa recounts her experience growing up in the first generation of African Americans after legal segregation.
Deion Sanders has ushered in a new era of HBCU football. Will the SWAC capitalize on it?
As a new college football season kicks off, a brighter spotlight will be put on HBCUs in the Gulf South, thanks to the influence of “Coach Prime.”
Imani Perry draws on her hometown, Birmingham, in her new book exploring the South
Perry is an Ivy League professor in New Jersey but a Southerner at heart. She was born in Birmingham, but today she teaches African American studies at Princeton University. In her latest book she argues to truly understand the United States start with the American South.
The story of ‘the Colony’: How a small, Black community thrived, survived in Cullman County
The Colony, Cullman County’s only Black community, has a rich history of resilience and self-made success. Its current residents are working to continue it.
A Black pastor was watering his neighbor’s flowers. Then the police showed up
Michael Jennings, a longtime pastor at Vision of Abundant Life Church in Sylacauga, Ala., says he was doing a neighborly deed of watering his out-of-town neighbor’s flowers, per their request, when a police officer showed up.
A new mural, shop at Birmingham’s airport pays tribute to U.S. Civil Rights Trail
City and state leaders hope the mural gives visitors to Birmingham’s airport a memorable introduction to the city’s history within the civil rights movement.
Civil rights attorney Fred Gray receives the nation’s highest honor
Among the 17 honorees for the Presidential Medal of Freedom award, two of them are civil rights leaders: Fred Gray and Diane Nash.
Exploring the Clotilda, the last known slave ship in the U.S., brings hope
The discovery of the ship on an Alabama river bottom has fostered a renewed hope for descendants of the Clotilda's captives, and the community they founded called Africatown.
A civil rights memorial in Alabama expands to document lynching victims’ stories
The Equal Justice Initiative addresses America's history of racial violence at a time when state lawmakers nationwide have been trying to limit teaching about divisive topics in public schools.
After a wave of HBCU bomb threats, a look at another era of violence at Jackson State
In 1970, the campus was the scene of a violent shooting by police that left two young men dead, many others injured and campus changed forever.
Jewish family faces death threats after complaining about Nazi salute performed in class
A teacher at Mountain Brook High School allegedly led students in a salute that mimics how Nazis raised their arms in World War II. A Jewish student in the class complained and his family says they’re now receiving death and arson threats.
After bomb threats, Southern HBCU leaders discuss how to move forward: ‘We can’t cave’
Historically Black colleges and universities in multiple states, including Alabama, have received bomb threats this month.
Critical race theory divides Gulf South educators and state leaders
Critical race theory is a hot-button issue for politicians in the Gulf South. Alabama and Mississippi are attempting to pass new laws prohibiting it.
