Black Belt
This new high-speed fiber internet project aims to close the technology gap in Alabama’s Black Belt
The $230 million project, which broke ground in Selma in early March, will reach around 53,000 homes and businesses.
What architects learned from 30 years of building affordable homes in Alabama’s Black Belt
Auburn University’s Rural Studio is sharing its wealth of knowledge with partners in a half dozen states to help solve rural homelessness.
Legal complaint claims Alabama discriminates when distributing sewage infrastructure funds
Alabama only allows state funds for sewage infrastructure to go to public bodies. A civil rights complaint argues the policy hurts communities of color.
Record-high gas prices are cutting into Alabama drivers’ budgets. Here’s how they’re coping
The added expense affects people in Alabama’s Black Belt differently, including road trippers, commuters and even those who can’t drive.
Alabama Plans To Open Vaccine Eligibility By May 1, But Hesitancy Remains A Problem
About one-third of adults in Alabama are hesitant to get the vaccine, according to polling by the state department of public health.
ADPH Plans Mobile Vaccination Clinics For Black Belt Region
State health officials hope to administer more vaccines to residents of rural areas.
Alabama’s Absentee Ballot Rules Draw Increased Scrutiny Amid Pandemic
Criticisms of Alabama’s absentee ballot requirements are intensifying. Legal challenges to the law call for greater accessibility, especially to the state's most vulnerable populations -- black residents, the elderly and those with disabilities.
Drawing a More Diverse Crowd to the Outdoors
There’s a growing number of outdoor enthusiasts who say nature isn’t just for white people. They want recreation groups to do more to attract people of color. The Birmingham Audubon Society organized a trip where black birders led a group to Hale County.
Uniontown Hopes to Finally Fix its Sewage Problem
The city of Uniontown is set to receive more than $31 million in mostly federal money to address a decades-old sewage issue. But some say the problem should have already been fixed.
Alabama Has Nation’s Highest Rate of Cervical Cancer Death
Alabama has the highest rate of cervical cancer death in the country. Black women in the state die from the disease at nearly twice the rate of white women. That is according to a report released today by Human Rights Watch, an international nonprofit.
Rural Hospitals Struggle, but Wilcox County’s Could Survive
Most rural hospitals in Alabama are operating at a financial loss. Since 2010, a half-dozen have closed, one of the highest closure rates in the nation. But as it turns out, a tiny hospital in the state's poorest county could buck the trend.
“What’s Lost is Found” — Photographs of Hale County
For decades, photographers have captured Hale County in Alabama’s Black Belt. Photojournalist Walker Evans documented families there suffering from the Great Depression. Starting in the 1960s, Alabama-native William Christenberry took pictures of decaying buildings. Now photographer Lauren Henkin can add her work to the tradition. Last year, Henkin spent a month in Hale County as an artist-in-residence sponsored by the Do Good Fund, which supports photography of the South. Some of those pictures will be displayed in an exhibit called “What’s Lost is Found.” It opens Friday at the Birmingham Museum of Art where she’ll also talk about the project. Henkin spoke with WBHM’s Andrew Yeager.
UAB Student, Iraq Vet Hopes to Help Feed Black Belt with Aquaponics
Ramon Jeter was raised by a single mother on the west side of Birmingham. Right out of Ramsay High School he joined the Navy. He eventually served as a field medic in Iraq. Now the married new father is studying public health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and he’s been accepted to Clinton […]
Justice Department Called on to Investigate Alabama Voter ID Issue
Voting rights activists are protesting what they say is voter suppression in Alabama. The state suddenly closed 31 part-time driver’s license offices last week due to budget cuts. That leaves many rural residents without a place to obtain new driver’s licenses. Those licenses that double as IDs for voting.
State’s Response to Rural Driver’s License Office Closures not Enough for the Black Belt
Calls are growing for the Justice Department to investigate how the closure of 31 rural driver’s license offices may affect voting. The state closed those offices last week due to budget cuts. The problem, say civil rights advocates, is residents must have a photo ID to vote. The most common ID is a driver’s license and Alabama now has 31 fewer places to get a new drivers license. Alabama Media Group columnist John Archibald says state officials are taking steps to address the situation, but it’s not enough for the Black Belt. That's an area of the state that’s poor, largely African American and disproportionately hit by the closures.
Getting a Driver’s License in Alabama’s Black Belt is Difficult
The closure of 31 driver’s license office leaves 28 counties in Alabama without a place you can get a driver’s license. The closings, all in mostly poor rural counties, many of them with majority African-American populations has some saying the state is making it more difficult for black Alabamians to vote. Kyle Whitmire is he state […]
Driver’s License Offices Closures Could Affect Voting
Governor Robert Bentley warned there would be cuts to state services if lawmakers didn’t pass enough new revenue measures for the budget that goes into effect Thursday. The budget includes some new money but still cuts many agencies about 6-percent. As a result state law enforcement announced Wednesday examiners will no longer travel to 31 part-time satellite driver’s license offices. It’s a move that some worry could affect voting. We talk about it with Alabama Media Group columnist John Archibald.
There is Never a Final Word on Barbecue, John Archibald
A Road Trip – Columnist John Archibald of the Alabama Media Group has almost finished his month of travelling the highways and two lane roadways of Alabama, writing a story a day from places, all over. He says he's learned a lot from people from all over in a redeeming trip with a lot of miles.
Pushing Middle-Schoolers All The Way Through College
Fewer reading materials in the home. Less access to camps or museums. Those are some reasons summer learning loss disproportionately affects low-income kids. And there are many in the South, which can hamper efforts to raise graduation rates. But in the second part of this Southern Education Desk series, WBHM’s Dan Carsen reports on “GEAR […]
The Thorny Issues of Alabama’s Black Belt
Alabama's Black Belt historically held the state's wealth. But now that cotton is no longer king, it's one of the most impoverished regions of the country. The Black Belt has beautiful antebellum homes, but those homes were built thanks to slavery. The contrast shapes how Alabama Media Group columnist John Archibald thinks about that part of the state. He's traveling Alabama this month and spent time recently in the Black Belt.
On the Road and A Haircut with John Archibald
Columnist John Archibald of the Alabama Media Group continues his sojourn across Alabama, finding interesting people and places - including a storied barber, a church that has taken a trip, and gluten-free soul food.
