Submissions

Race & Place:

With Race & Place, we examine the role and legacy of race in the places that form the South—from porches and penitentiaries to places of worship and port cities.

Scalawag's Race & Place coverage pushes the boundaries of traditional conversations about incarceration, segregation, gentrification, nutrition, migration, liberation, and more. Our stories help folks better understand both the nuances of how places are made (and for whom) and how we can actualize our dreams and transform power in the places we call home.

We are interested in stories that show the connections between the legacy and lasting role of race in Southern places big and small, from porches and penitentiaries to places of worship and port cities—and everywhere in between.

We welcome submissions from writers who are rooted in community and eager to build on our work exploring food traditions in the South, investigating the way our carceral system continues the legacy of slavery, and illuminating the role of historically Black institutions.

Politics & the People:

This vertical pushes the boundaries of traditional conversations around carcerality, abolition, gentrification, civic responsibility, grassroots organizing, mutual aid, labor rights, and other important political issues. The examination and interrogation of Politics here will extend beyond those associated with the governance of Southern states to also welcome critical engagement with body politics, fat politics, trans and queer politics, and more. 

Scalawag's political reporting centers the people and communities rallying collective power to change our political landscape by investigating relationships and power dynamics between people and policy. We look for reporting that stands in solidarity with those pushing back against the systems of oppression perpetuated in the South and beyond.

We especially want to hear from people who are not trained journalists but who feel misrepresented or maligned by mainstream or traditional media coverage.

In addition to reported pieces, we also look for accessible political explainers, essays that explore "the politics of" a thing/place, Q&A's and profiles of radical Southerners, and humorous responses to current events.

Salt, Soil, & Supper:

We nurture this space with seasonal offerings of narratives from the South that center holistic conversations about Southern climate justice and resilient cultures, alongside critical explorations of Southern geographies, migration, agriculture, foodways, and food justice.

Scalawag Salt, Soil & Supper coverage lives within the following themes: 

• Salt (Preservation): Salt has long given humans and their environments the capacity to preserve, and with it, the ability to grow communities, to travel further and to sustain. This capacity to live longer, more secure lives is in large part due to the way salt has long "kept" food, resources, and the human body itself against the threat of expiration. Submissions under this theme should broadly consider the ways in which Southerners both rely on traditional and new means of preservation in the face of environmental catastrophe, antiBlack, white supremacist violence and state terror. 
• Soil (Growth and Recovery): The soil is essential for the growth of that which nourishes and preserves communities, spirit, and our cultures. The "soil" section honors the ways in which southerners work against the longue duree of the plantation to restore and build alternative support infrastructures. Just as Black and Indigenous land stewards have developed practices to restore, protect, and defend the soil and other natural resources that make growth possible. Soil refers to those practices we employ personally, communally, and culturally that stabilize and sustain. It is in the fertile soils of community cohesion and a collective understanding of the conditions that (re)produce the Southern paradigm where the seeds of political revolt are sewn. 
• Supper (Nourish):  Supper asks and answers: what feeds the South? How does The South feed us? And what are the conversations happening around the table that nourish Southern critique? The Supper sub-section is envisioned as an audiovisual content space featuring social media content submissions for the Salt, Soil &  Supper Instagram and Twitter accounts. Its intention is to center critical dialogue that deepens the Southern climate conversation. 

Media, Culture, & Meaning:

Through narratives about power and identity, media creates Meaning. Here, we offer Southern perspectives on how Media technologies and landscapes continually shape Culture—from news and advertising to memes and social media to film, television, podcasts, and other forms of entertainment.

Arts & Soul:

This vertical seeks to capture how Black folks in and from the South engage with Arts. We dedicate this space to highlighting the multitude of ways Southerners create and dream, how we use craft and curiosity to aid in our survival in an anti-Black world. What is revealed—in poetry, illustration, and performance—is the Soul of the South. 

Scalawag approaches art and poetry with a lens of naming that which otherwise can be almost impossible to articulate. The South has birthed a cataclysm of brilliant and radical visual art, prose, and music, and we want to amplify and share this radical brilliance with our readers.

We welcome submissions from art-makers, cultural organizers, and writers of any level. Multimedia submissions and photo essays are welcome!

We are especially interested in reviews that critically and personally engage artistic work in the context of political and social moments, profiles of established and emerging artists, lyrical essays, celebrations of Southern joy, and reported stories on arts news and happenings across the South.