NEW VIDEO: What does Duke owe Durham? Historian and urbanist @davarianbaldwin.bsky.social breaks down the role of universities like Duke and why they should invest more to support workers and communities. www.facingsouth.org/2025/10/watc...

Southern states are being disproportionately hard-hit by the government shutdown. Analysis finds 8 of 20 states most affected are in the South, based on indicators including share of federal jobs and contract dollars per capita. More: wallethub.com/edu/governme...

🗳️Democracy is strongest when everyone has a voice. Last month we released the Blueprint for a Stronger Democracy — a bold plan to defend and expand democracy in NC. 40+ bipartisan policies to protect voting rights & ensure every voice counts. Learn more: www.southernstudies.org/2025Blueprint

This Founders’ Day, @durhamrising.bsky.social urges Duke to honor the workers — past & present — who keep the university running. The campaign demands higher wages & investment in Durham, challenging Duke’s history of resisting worker activism. www.facingsouth.org/2025/09/durh...

🚨 Democracy in NC and nationwide is under threat. Our new Blueprint for a Stronger Democracy outlines 40+ reforms to protect and strengthen our institutions. NC has a proud history of democratic innovation with proven, bipartisan solutions,w e can lead again. 👉 www.facingsouth.org/2025/09/nc-a...

So thrilled to be back in Durham to help strategize and build people power, so that our wealthiest local institutions truly lean into community responsibility beyond symbolic gestures...let's go ✊🏿!!!

What Does Duke Owe Durham? Join us Friday 9/26 at 2pm for a forum featuring @davarianbaldwin.bsky.social about how Duke University can support workers and the community. Visit here for more info and to RSVP: www.southernstudies.org/davarianbald... @durhamrising.bsky.social

“At approximately 7:05 am, University Police was notified of what appeared to be the body of a Black male hanging from a tree (at) central campus near the DSU pickleball course,” Delta State University Chief of Police Michael Peeler said on Monday.

A Georgia judge said this week he will toss racketeering charges against 61 "Cop City" protesters. For Facing South I interviewed attorney Devin Franklin at @thesoutherncenter.bsky.social about the flimsy state RICO charges when they were first brought two years ago @southernstudies.bsky.social

Southern states will feel brunt of attacks on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: 49% of complaints filed with CFPB since 2011 have come from 13 states in the South @ddayen.bsky.social @warren.senate.gov @southernstudies.bsky.social @crlonline.bsky.social www.facingsouth.org/2025/08/inst...

As the Trump administration escalates its efforts to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an Institute analysis finds that half of the complaints filed by consumers asking for the Bureau's help have come from Southern states. www.facingsouth.org/2025/08/inst...

This #LaborDay, we remember John Stewart, a Black sawmill worker in Arkansas who won a promotion, back pay, and legal costs with his union’s support—part of a wave of Black workers reclaiming wages, showing fairness at work is won through solidarity. www.facingsouth.org/eeoc-mandate...

@durhamrising.bsky.social is urging Duke to invest in its city & raise employee wages to $25/hr. Historian Davarian Baldwin says universities often worsen gentrification & inequality, and advocates PILOT programs to support schools, housing & public services. www.facingsouth.org/2025/08/what...

On the 62nd anniversary of the March on Washington, we look back at a 2023 Facing South story, where photographer Earl Dotter reconnected with Raymona Middleton — first photographed there as a teenager— to reflect on the march’s enduring meaning. www.facingsouth.org/2023/08/marc...

📅 On this day in 1975, Joan Little became the 1st woman in U.S. history acquitted for using deadly force to resist sexual assault—killing a white guard in self-defense. In 1978, Southern Exposure revisited how her case reshaped racial & gender justice in the South. www.facingsouth.org/i-am-joan

Today: North Carolinians protested at the legislature in Raleigh, speaking out against a number of bad bills that hurt immigrant and LGBTQ communities, attack diversity, and more. They called on lawmakers to uphold Governor Stein's vetoes of these harmful bills.

From the Archives: Medicaid expansion is the lifeline rural hospitals need. Back in 2022, we examined how Southern hospitals were on the brink and how expanding Medicaid could save them. The stakes are still high. www.facingsouth.org/2022/01/medi...

From the Archives: In 1980, Anne Braden wrote: “It is only on the basis of racism that a mass fascist movement can be built in America.” 📚 Her essay on the Greensboro Massacre is essential reading in the fight against fascism. www.facingsouth.org/1980/08/less...

🚨 NC Republicans are pushing SB416—a bill backed by ALEC & dark money groups like DonorsTrust—that would block public access to political donor info. Gov. Stein vetoed it. Now the GOP aims to override. Critics warn: transparency is at stake. 🔗 www.facingsouth.org/2025/07/gop-...

On July 4, President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” The results? 💸 $183.5B cut from Southern Medicaid 🏥 354K could lose coverage 🚨 289 rural hospitals at risk (37%) ⚠️ 77% of Southern Senators voted yes 📊 More via Facing South: www.facingsouth.org/2025/07/inst...

📚 A reading list tracing connections between Southern U.S. movements and global struggles for liberation, including Gaza. From civil rights sit-ins to Southern ties to U.S. militarism, these readings explore protest, policing, and solidarity across decades. www.facingsouth.org/2024/05/sout...

NEW: Top Democrats are fighting back as Texas Republicans push a Trump-backed redistricting plan to lock in 5 new congressional seats. They call the plan “egregious” and a direct threat to democracy. From: @yuniorarivas.bsky.social

A federal judge ruled Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be released before trial in Tennessee. But his attorneys requested a delay, citing concerns he may face deportation. Read more: bit.ly/46k0F8m

🚨 A new analysis warns that Southern states—home to nearly a third of all federal civilian jobs—are likely to bear the brunt of Trump’s sweeping 275k+ federal workforce reductions, including deep cuts to NIH support for Appalachia & other vital regional programs. www.facingsouth.org/2025/02/sout...

Breaking News: The UN’s top court called climate change an “existential threat” and said nations had legal obligations to act. It was the first time that the court has weighed in on climate change.

"Workers, public educators, students, & clergy are uniting together in a new coalition, Durham Rising, to hold Duke accountable to its responsibility as the largest employer in the region * show nat'l leadership in this moment of crisis for higher ed." - Nashoun Blount 📰 @indyweek.bsky.social

Dive into four decades of Southern history and resistance. Explore our digital archives — a rich collection of articles on economic, racial, and social justice in the region. Start your journey here. 🌍📚 Check out the link below: www.facingsouth.org/southern-exp...

Grateful to @npquarterly.bsky.social for republishing this powerful and timely piece by @rebekahbarber.bsky.social originally written for @facingsouth.bsky.social in 2016. nonprofitquarterly.org/what-to-the-...

New at Facing South: New NC election board chair Francis De Luca, a key operative in Art Pope's network, has long peddled election denial and unsubstantiated claims of "voter fraud" to push for voter restrictions - by chriskromm.bsky.social www.facingsouth.org/2025/05/nc-e...

Tennessee-based private prison company CoreCivic announces deal with ICE to detain 780+ immigrant detainees at facilities in four states www.axios.com/2025/02/27/p...

As Republicans consider cuts to Medicaid, data shows 5 of the 10 states with the most people relying on Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are in the South (map bsky.app/profile/kff....)

New at Facing South: Southern states poised to be hard-hit by Trump's federal job and program cuts www.facingsouth.org/2025/02/sout...

As Republicans consider cuts to Medicaid, data shows 5 of the 10 states with the most people relying on Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are in the South (map bsky.app/profile/kff....)

More than 4,000 workers at Amazon's RDU1 warehouse in Garner, North Carolina are holding a union election this week. At Facing South, Rev. Ryan Brown, president of Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity & Empowerment, explains what's at stake: www.facingsouth.org/2025/02/voic...

In the 2024 elections, Southern states largely followed the nation's rightward shift. But a deeper dive reveals that the South was far from a monolithic conservative stronghold. www.facingsouth.org/2024/11/key-...

A few key takeaways from the 2024 elections in the South, at @facingsouth.bsky.social: www.facingsouth.org/2024/11/key-...

"What happened during the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl was more than a systemic breakdown of leadership..." Uprooter Colin Bogle for @texasobserver.org www.texasobserver.org/a-crisis-of-...

NC legislature just overrode the Democratic governor's veto of a bill that would force sheriffs to collaborate with ICE. Wild timing with less than 2 months til Republicans lose supermajority & Trump begins mass deportations - with sheriffs a key link in those efforts. boltsmag.org/north-caroli...

“In October, incarcerated journalist Kevin “Rashid” Johnson broke the self-harm story for Prison Radio, reporting that men had burned themselves in a “desperate attempt” to be transferred outside of the prison.” theappeal.org/prisoners-in...

In the fifth story in our CAROLINADAZE series, a partnership with @commoncausenc.bsky.social, Hadeel Hamoud traces the enduring presence of Muslim communities in the South and the region's movements for change. www.facingsouth.org/2024/11/been...

In the fifth story in our CAROLINADAZE series, a partnership with @commoncausenc.bsky.social, Hadeel Hamoud traces the enduring presence of Muslim communities in the South and the region's movements for change. www.facingsouth.org/2024/11/been...

Charlotte International Airport workers are voting to authorize a strike this holiday season! We’re fed up with poverty wages, unlawful labor practices, and a growing housing crisis. Many of us can’t pay rent or meet basic needs. We demand respect on the job!

I wrote about all the anti-democratic things the NC GOP is doing in response to losing “some elections.” slate.com/news-and-pol... #ncpol #ncga

Dorothy Allison, the working-class lesbian writer and author of "Bastard Out of Carolina," passed away earlier this month. In 1988, Southern Exposure published Allison's short story "A River of Names" in our issue on the queer South. Read it here: www.facingsouth.org/1988/10/rive...

In the first installment of our CAROLINADAZE series, a partnership with @commoncausenc.bsky.social, Barbara Sostaita explores how NC's Latinx communities and churches are creating spaces for people to organize and chart a new vision for the future. www.facingsouth.org/2024/09/comm...

I led this archive digitization project for the last couple years and there's a lot in here relevant to current events for folks who are interested in movement and organizing history

How can we beat back attacks from the billionaire class? By getting organized! Get a rank and file job in a strategic industry in the South to build power on the job and a movement that can transform society. Apply: southernworker.org/rankandfile

“As the year progressed, more Cop City protesters were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism. Then, in May, three organizers who operated a bail fund were charged with charities fraud and money laundering.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023...

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