Elisha Brown

Julian Bond Fellow

Elisha Brown is a staff writer at Facing South and a former Julian Bond Fellow. She previously worked as a news assistant at The New York Times, and her reporting has appeared in The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, and Vox.

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Articles by Elisha

Grassroots groups in the South's least-vaccinated states take on hesitancy

By Elisha Brown

December 17, 2021 - Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi are among the states with the lowest vaccination rates. Grassroots organizations there are partnering with public health officials to battle misinformation and distrust in rural, Latino, and Black communities — but elected officials in those states aren't making their jobs any easier.

Politics

Bracing for a post-Roe South in the region's last three abortion-safe states

By Elisha Brown

December 3, 2021 - If the U.S. Supreme Court rolls back Roe v. Wade in deciding the Mississippi case it heard this week, the only states in the South where abortion would remain broadly accessible are Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia. Reproductive rights advocates there are girding for political battle to protect abortion access.

Census undercounts mean less Medicaid money for most Southern states

By Elisha Brown

November 16, 2021 - The 2020 census undercounted the overall U.S. population by just 0.5%, but much bigger undercounts in Southern states will cost them millions of dollars in federal health care funding for low-income communities, according to a new report from the Urban Institute.

New GOP congressional maps diminish the power of voters of color

By Elisha Brown

October 29, 2021 - The Republicans who control legislatures in Arkansas, North Carolina, and Texas have drawn congressional maps that favor their party and disadvantage voters of color. Meanwhile, an independent redistricting commission has faltered in its effort to draw new election maps in Virginia.

South Carolina schools struggle to keep children safe as politicians fight mask mandates

By Elisha Brown

October 4, 2021 - South Carolina is dealing with a high proportion of children suffering from COVID-19, but Gov. Henry McMaster (R) and other state leaders want to block public schools from enforcing mask mandates. We hear from teachers and doctors fighting to protect children from deadly infection.

Pauli Murray documentary shines light on an overlooked trailblazer

By Elisha Brown

September 29, 2021 - Facing South interviewed co-director Julie Cohen and producer and writer Talleah Bridges McMahon, two creators behind "My Name is Pauli Murray," a new documentary that details the triumphs and struggles of the groundbreaking civil rights and feminist lawyer and advocate who was raised in Durham, North Carolina.

Ending harsh felony disenfranchisement laws in the South

By Elisha Brown

September 17, 2021 - Though a lawsuit seeking to restore the voting rights of North Carolinians on probation or parole suffered setbacks in recent court rulings, the broader movement to re-enfranchise people with felony convictions has made gains in Southern states in recent years.