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Since the end of Reconstruction, voter suppression has been a tool of white supremacy in the South.
With new political maps in place that are likely to limit the Black vote, we face more of the same in the 2022 election. That's why Scalawag and Anoa Changa are teaming back up to cover Southern communities working to drive change at the ballot box and beyond.
Southern organizers know the monumental challenges their communities face. Through micro-interventions, these groups are providing a home base for community members to feel connected and supported as they take on entrenched power systems.
In our forthcoming podcast, we'll talk about what's working, what's not, and what lessons Southern organizers have learned in their efforts to make the region we love a more just place.
Listen to this season's trailer:
If you want to get involved with electoral action, As The South Votes is the resource you need, whether you're just getting started or have been on the frontlines for years. Together, we can expand who thinks of themselves as an organizer, and build collective power across the South. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to join us in this work.
Ahead our official launch, check out some of what we've learned so far:
How millennial and Gen Z organizers are moving Mississippi beyond Jim Crow
Mississippi Votes invests in year-round community-building to build momentum for long-term political change.
Read the interview.
In Texas' most populated counties, people-power and political power go hand-in-hand
Texas Organizing Project rallies its 285,000 members to keep momentum with some 6 million voters in the state's most populated counties between election cycles.
Read the interview.
Florida's problems—and their solutions—are a bellwether for the South at large
Florida Rising is empowering organizers and redirecting resources to address government failings and shift the balance of power across the state.
Read the interview.This series is made possible with the support of the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems.
Tools & more reporting:
Black voting rights experts weigh in on disinformation: We've got your back
What role does disinformation play in aiding or furthering voter suppression? "Those who are most susceptible to disinformation are the ones with the most at stake."
Don't discount the majority of your state: Reaching rural Southern voters
How can we work to help more rural voters get engaged this cycle? "If we had enough voting power in our metro areas, we would already be living in the kind of state we want to live in."
Black disillusionment is real, but Black liberation is possible
Many voters—and organizers—are critical of the Biden/Harris ticket, but don't have a good alternative to offer. Is that voter suppression? How do we combat this specific kind of disillusionment?
In Florida, protesting can cost you your right to vote
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis met calls to defund the police with an expansion of police power to crack down on protests.
New Tennessee law surfaces the South's racist beginnings of felon voter disenfranchisement
A decades-old debate over whether to keep a bust of the former Klu Klux Klan Grand Wizard in Tennessee's State Capitol sparks a new law excavating the South's racist history with voter suppression.
In plain words: Making sense of election results and news coverage
A full two decades since we collectively learned about hanging chads, the language around elections is more confusing than ever.
revisit the videos from as the south votes 2020:
more 2020 election coverage:
Five Peachy Takeaways: Georgia's grassroots organizing lessons will be valuable in the South for a long time coming
Court fees and fines make voting near-impossible for ex-felons in Tennessee
To shift the media narrative about the South, we have to rebuild it altogether
'If I asked my family to get rid of a bumper sticker, they would tell me to quit my job.'
I ran from my church after Trayvon Martin's murder—but not from my religion
Black Power in the South: How to keep supporting the movement
Voter suppression reporting and urgent information for voters in Southern states including: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Walking through common questions around the upcoming November 2020 election, and issues with the postal service around absentee ballots. How to cast your ballot, send in a mail-in ballot, find resources for voting in person, avoid voter intimidation at the polls, and what to do when someone tries to keep you from voting. Investigating racist laws and providing tools and strategies for underserved and marginalized communities.