Fred Hampton’s deep Southern ties
Many American schools usually keep their Black History curriculum on the Civil Rights Movement narrowed to just a handful of people. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks — of course — John Lewis and his heroic act on Bloody Sunday and maybe a brief mention of Malcolm X. Most students never learn about Fred Hampton, whose story is the subject of the recently [...]
Howard University: A long tradition of producing historic ‘firsts’
HBCUs celebrated on January 20, 2021, as Kamala Harris became the first Black and South Asian American woman to serve at Vice President of the United States of America, and also the first HBCU graduate to serve as the second-most powerful person in the U.S. The vice president graduated from [...]
If Kamala was your daughter: South Asian and Jamaican moms stan the new VP
January 20, 2021 will go down in history as the day former U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris begins her term as U.S. vice president, the first woman of color to serve in the position. Throughout her career, Harris has spoken about her South Asian and Jamaican roots with pride, especially when she [...]
How an Electoral College objection 150 years ago ushered in Jim Crow
Has Congress ever effectively challenged the Electoral College? Just once. And it ushered in the Jim Crow era. Here's the story about how Congress turned a blind eye to Black voters nearly 150 years ago, ended the political gains for African Americans and ushered in a century-long fight for Civil [...]
Kwoya Fagin Maples talks poetry, trauma and the craft of writing with See Jane Write
Kwoya Fagin Maples is a poet, writer and a University of Alabama professor from Charleston, South Carolina. In her poetry collection, “Mend,” she explores the traumatic strife of enslaved women used as medical guinea pigs in the mid-1800s. She recently sat down with See Jane Write founder and editor [...]
Black Women and their Perennial Political Power
Many of the races on the ballot in the South in 2020 could be decided by Black women. This voting bloc has been a force in the political world for decades, but only recently started receiving recognition for those efforts. During the 55th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday earlier this year, five prominent leaders in the [...]
America’s racial wealth gap explained
On this week’s episode of Money Talks, Reckon discusses the racial wealth gap in America. The racial wealth distribution does not correlate with the racial demographics of America. White Americans have a disproportionately large percentage of the wealth in America compared to people of color. Data from the Federal Reserve [...]
What is wealth?
If you watched this week’s episode of Money Talks, you know we explored what wealth actually is. (Spoiler alert: wealth and money are not the same thing). If you have a lot of money or a lot of cool expensive stuff, you might be wealthy. But you may just be [...]
Southerners from eight states demand Medicaid expansion
Activists from eight Southern states have formed a new coalition to urge Medicaid expansion. Of the 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid since the passage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, eight are in the South. Nine out of 10 people who fall in the so-called “coverage gap” — [...]
How far does $15 stretch behind bars in Alabama? Find out at our virtual prison commissary
Click this direct link for the optimal Commissary Slips app experience. In Alabama, state prisoners say items purchased from commissaries are vital to their survival and comfort. But a Reckon investigation has found that the Alabama Department of Corrections pays most inmates nothing for the jobs they perform behind [...]
Absentee voting, the USPS, and COVID-19: How to ensure your vote counts
The USPS is warning states that the federal government's defunding of its services could affect the 2020 election by delaying mail-in ballots. Many had hoped a wider mail-in option would help lower the risk of spreading COVID-19 at polling places. But this week, President Donald Trump has indicated he would [...]
Reckon Women reflects on first year while looking ahead
https://youtu.be/XPsW5MVJG00 Earlier this year, the first anniversary of Reckon Women quietly passed while we all navigated life during a pandemic and racial justice uprisings in our communities across the South. And though May 2020 marked a year since our online community was born, we are still celebrating today—all that [...]
Haylie McCleney of THIS IS US SOFTBALL on The Reckon Interview Live
Morris, Ala. native and professional softball player Haylie McCleney talks softball, growing up in Alabama, and how she & her teammates turned a politically decisive tweet into a movement combining softball and racial inequality & social justice awareness with THIS IS US SOFTBALL.
Reed Watson of Single Lock Records on The Reckon Interview Live
Reed Watson is the Chairman of the Advocacy Fund for Alabama Musicians, a musician himself, as well as label director and partner at Single Lock Records. He joins Reckon Interview Live to discuss the new nonprofit dedicated to supporting the state's artists. https://youtu.be/59qNgDqReU0
Black with COVID: Episode 1
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions to everyday life for everyone in the United States, but it is disproportionately affecting Black Americans. Black Americans are being hospitalized and dying at a higher rate than most other groups in America. Reckon’s Dez Wilson, along with friends, healthcare professionals and more, [...]
Alabama police officer reunites with his children after recovering from COVID
By Dez Wilson Harry Wills Jr., a Birmingham, Ala., police officer recently shared his story of battling COVID-19 on TikTok. Wills is the father of four children, with his oldest recently enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Wills explained on TikTok that he passed out at work in mid-June, one day [...]
Roy Wood Jr. to Jimmy Fallon: ‘I’ve never been more proud to be from Birmingham’
Comedian Roy Wood Jr. joined “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” Wednesday to talk about being back in Birmingham and the removal of the Confederate monument from Linn Park.
Mobile, Alabama Protest
Young protesters just off Airport Boulevard in Mobile. They wanted to march down on the main road but MPD Chief Lawrence Battiste threatened to arrest them if they stopped the regular flow of traffic. They stuck to the fringes of a nearby parking lot.
The Reckon Interview: Season 2
You can’t understand America without understanding the South. And Southerners are changing the music America listens to, the movies we watch, the food we eat, and the stories we share. Each week on The Reckon Interview, host John Hammontree talks with some of the South’s most interesting thinkers and creators. They'll talk about how this place shaped them and how they’re reshaping the South.
Bryan Stevenson on ‘Just Mercy’
"I hope people will take from this that, if we resolve to do better, we have the power to do better," Alabama innocence lawyer and Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson says about the new film, 'Just Mercy'. "We can create a more reliable, more just system. But it takes all of us." "Just Mercy," which features Michael B Jordan playing Stevenson and Jamie Foxx as his client, Walter McMillan, and is in theatres everywhere Friday.
Reckon Women: Pre-term Infant Loss and Heartache
"Hold on to hope, Mothers. We are some of the strongest people God ever created." Warning: This video discusses graphic elements of infant loss. These brave women shared their hearth-wrenching stories of pregnancy complications and infant loss with us for Reckon | Women. Did you know that Alabama has the highest pre-term birth rate in the nation, behind only Mississippi?
PrideFest and Drag in Alabama
What? You didn't know the history of drag in Alabama? Honey, you need to meet Bronzie DeMarco. She can explain everything.
Voicing the Violence: Reflection on Lynching Memorial
It's been more than a year since The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened in Montgomery. Since then, nearly half a million people have visited. In a moving tribute, Reckon's Starr Dunigan reflects on why it's important we remember those lynched by mobs in Alabama and around the country.
What is ‘The South?’
Is it the accent? SEC speed? The Mason-Dixon line? Sweet tea? How do YOU define the South? Let the debate begin.