Demographics
July 5, 2022 -
Youth turnout set records in the 2020 presidential election, and organizers across the South are now building on that momentum to get young people to the polls this midterm election year. Polls show the Supreme Court's decision to overturn abortion rights is a motivating factor.
May 27, 2022 -
The ongoing infant formula shortage has illuminated another reproductive injustice: low breastfeeding rates in Black communities and in Southern states. Expanding Medicaid to cover lactation services could reduce breastfeeding disparities, but few states in the South have such a policy in place.
May 19, 2022 -
The racist and antisemitic conspiracy theory that claims elites are trying to replace the current electorate with immigrants has been tied to numerous domestic U.S. terror attacks, including the recent massacre of Black people inside a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. We look at some of the elected officials who promote the idea — and the corporate contributions flowing to their campaigns.
April 22, 2022 -
The recently released "Poor People's Pandemic Report" details how counties with larger percentages of poor people — the vast majority of which are in the South — have been more likely to experience higher death rates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
March 11, 2022 -
A new report from the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center finds that the number of U.S. hate groups fell for the third year in a row — but says that's not necessarily good news, as such views are now moving from the fringe into the mainstream. It also found that hate groups are becoming more concentrated in the Southern states.
February 25, 2022 -
Inspired by her own experience with postpartum depression, Louisiana nurse practitioner and doula Nikki Greenaway launched an innovative practice to care for vulnerable new mothers. She talks with Facing South about how her model of community care can help address the maternal mortality crisis, which is especially dire among young Black women living in Louisiana and other Southern states.
December 16, 2021 -
Southern states' new Republican-drawn election maps would mean less political power for communities of color in the Black Belt region. Voters there are now asking state and federal courts to decide if the new districts violate state or federal law, including the Voting Rights Act.