Economy

January 16, 2019 - The federal shutdown ordered by President Trump in a bid to get congressional funding for a $5.7 billion wall at the Mexican border is now the longest in U.S. history. With 800,000 workers furloughed or working without pay, and millions of contractors idled, the economic pain is widespread — and disproportionately affects African Americans.

November 13, 2018 - They ended racist Jim Crow-era policies in two states and raised the minimum wage in another. But elsewhere, Southern voters embraced racially discriminatory voter ID laws and took steps to restrict reproductive rights. The ballot measures that passed this year reflect a politically divided region.

October 26, 2018 - Voters in Southern states are weighing in on ballot measures to expand voting rights, raise the minimum wage, and protect the environment.

September 28, 2018 - Agricultural workers — many of whom are undocumented or in the country on work visas — are among the most vulnerable workers. We recently spoke with Justin Flores of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee about how these workers are building power despite the numerous attacks on their right to organize.

September 24, 2018 - Will the problematic process for awarding aid that was documented after Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Maria in Puerto Rico repeat itself in the Carolinas in Florence's wake — and will other funders be ready to fill the gap?

September 20, 2018 - The pain and suffering caused by disasters do not affect all communities equally.

September 12, 2018 - Cooperatives have a deep history in the South, and especially in African-American communities. A growing number of co-ops in North Carolina are drawing on that rich history to fill gaps created by economic inequality.

August 24, 2018 - The plan to roll back Obama-era pollution regulations on coal-burning power plants would put vulnerable communities across the coal-dependent South disproportionately at risk for respiratory problems and premature death.

August 9, 2018 - With private prisons under scrutiny, some Southern states have moved away from contracting with them — but some have gone in the other direction. Where does your state stand?

July 11, 2018 - The organization's special rapporteur on extreme poverty presented a report last month documenting his disturbing findings in states including Alabama, Georgia and West Virginia.