The story of '2 Quarter George,' New Orleans draughtsman
For one man teetering on the margins, lines have become his life. In this gorgeous feature, Frances Madeson sketches the life and inspirations of one of New Orleans' most beloved outsider artists.
The media doesn't influence you.
You influence the media.
Southern politics
What do we mean when we talk about voter suppression?
On this episode of As the South Votes, Cliff Albright of Black Voters Matter Fund joins us to talk through an overview of voter suppression, what it looks like, and what people can do ahead of the upcoming election to protect their vote.
Asheville nurses reflect on the largest labor victory at a Southern nonunion hospital since 1975
Scalawag Contributing Editor Zaina Alsous spoke with Mission Hospital nurses Kelley Tyler, Jill Rabideau, and Susan Fischer about what inspired their involvement, how they accomplished their recent historic union victory, and why nurses across the South need to unionize.
'I'm Black. I'm a mom. I'm mad.'
Erica Robbins, a Black mother and activist in Birmingham, tends to life and death issues for the homeless. As the summer of protests for Black lives comes to an end, organizers like her are holding on to the momentum—and money—raised for their work.
Arts & Soul
Sasha Rewrites Uhmareka
Repurposing the Black America Gothic, Sasha Banks' debut collection "america, Mine" is both a poetic and visual experiment in decolonizing language, history, and land.
Carrie Mae Weems and arts institutions step in where Southern governments fall short on COVID-19
Southern states were the last to close at the start of the pandemic, and some of the first to reopen. It resulted in some of the highest rates of COVID-19 in the country. One comprehensive art campaign is hoping to change that.
Jesus walks into a drag bar: Birmingham's alternative drag scene
Shed of Shame performers Saliva Godiva, Angel Fazce, and Sister Milky Juicy take Birmingham's alternative drag scene by storm, critiquing Southern suburbanites, white evangelicalism, and tired stereotypes of what drag can be.
Race & Place
Without profit from stolen Indigenous lands, UNC would have gone broke 100 years ago
Before universities profited from stolen Indigenous territory through "land-grants," schools like The University of North Carolina sold Indigenous lands hundreds of miles away from their campuses.
Q&A: Ajamu Dillahunt, long-time civil rights organizer and former USPS union president
The founding member of Black Workers on Emmet Till, the Great Migration, and labor organizing in North Carolina.
John Lewis fought for equal protection. That means tackling pollution, poverty, and policing.
Today, we're witnessing the tragic consequences of inaction for communities that have long been burdened by pollution and contamination and are now hardest hit by COVID-19.
field notes
In conversation with People4USPS, crafting a creative blueprint for solidarity through the mail
Q&A with the national creative collective amplifying stories and sharing creative interventions in solidarity with postal workers.
'Imagine not just the end of prisons, but the end of a society that could have prisons'
A discussion on abolition, crimmigration, and landscapes without prisons with documentary filmmaker Brett Story and North Carolina organizer and sociology professor Felicia Arriaga, from Scalawag's event 'Casting Shadows' for Abolition Week.
If your name ever falls on a prison roster: What I know now.
Incarcerated writer Eduardo Martinez brings revelation and poetry for Abolition Week. A rant is not always about rage—but sadness, frustration, remorse, nostalgia, and even epiphany. Listen closely.
Y'all come back now!
Get more stories, from the comfort of your inbox.
Essays
Lessons from rural communities in the crusade to save the USPS
Rural communities have fought for their post offices for decades. Photographers traveled the South to document the people and workers in small towns with the most at stake amid threats of closures and reduced hours.
Letter from a New Normal: Finding hope in purgatory
In response to student letters, Dante shares insight into the painful transformations he's been forced to endure in response to COVID in South Florida Prisons.
Introducing Abolition Week
For Black August, Scalawag's editorial team explains the motivation behind publishing work centered on Abolition—and why perspectives from incarcerated writers must be included in the newscycle.
'I hate that thug music.' How 'progressive' music outlets fuel false arrests in the trap scene
What led to the ICE arrest of 21 Savage? Progressive outlets profiling trap artists as criminals—even when they have no criminal history.
