A north Alabama family of five is encouraging more Black explorers to take up space outdoors as they trek through trails and mountains of the Tennessee Valley. Known as Black Adventure Crew, Zenovia Stephens, her husband, George, and their three sons, don’t travel far from their Huntsville, Ala., home to [...]
Tiffany Trotter was a teenager when she helped lead historic protests in the aftermath George Floyd’s murder. In the 11 months since, she gave a stirring speech in front of thousands in her hometown of Mobile, Ala., she has used that momentum to continue her activism and organizing around the [...]
Last summer, Amazon worker Darryl Richardson was fed up with how he and his colleagues were being treated at work. Every part of their day was being tracked and recorded. Even going to the bathroom had become an ordeal. Too long off the job in a single day could result [...]
In 2019, less than a year after London Lamar was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, she suffered a devastating late-term pregnancy loss. Lamar herself nearly lost her life. Since then, the Memphis-born Democrat has gained attention as a champion of maternal health issues in her role as a state legislator. Most recently, she introduced a resolution recognizing the [...]
In the 70 years that have passed since the sprawling interstate highway system was built, which destroyed many Black and brown communities throughout the country and prompted decades of ignored protests, there has been little effort by the federal government to reverse the damage. A massive new federal program could [...]
Right now, the situation in Georgia involving a freshly signed set of new voting restrictions, Gov. Brian Kemp, the Atlanta Braves, Major League Baseball and Stacey Abrams and other ballot-access advocates has all the dramatic tension of one of The Sandlot gang smacking a baseball into Hercules' domain. The fate [...]
The racial inequities of the COVID-19 pandemic have been well documented over the last year. A disproportionate number of African Americans have died from the disease, while the subsequent economic and social impact hit Black people much harder than their white counterparts. And in solving the crisis, people of color [...]
Black Joy is a weekly round up of how Black people are finding and cultivating joy in their lives in a world that is dedicated to oppressing them. How are you celebrating your Black Joy? Send me an email at jdunigan@reckonsouth.com and share your happiness and laughter with us! Also, take a minute to [...]
Born May 24, 1946, Patience Hodges Claybon was a physician and the first African American woman to graduate from the UAB School of Medicine. When Claybon was a child, Vivian Malone Jones and James Hood became the first Black students to attend the University of Alabama. After graduating from Burrell [...]
Payday lenders targeting low-income people is nothing new. The short term, high interest loans, which are often catered to minorities in rural areas, have the potential to create a spiral of debt that many struggle to free themselves from. In 2018, for example, over 33,000 payday loans were taken out [...]
