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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · 5d

🗳️Democracy is strongest when everyone has a voice.

Last month we released the Blueprint for a Stronger Democracy — a bold plan to defend and expand democracy in NC.

40+ bipartisan policies to protect voting rights & ensure every voice counts.

Learn more: www.southernstudies.org/2025Blueprint

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · 15d

This Founders’ Day, @durhamrising.bsky.social urges Duke to honor the workers — past & present — who keep the university running. The campaign demands higher wages & investment in Durham, challenging Duke’s history of resisting worker activism.

www.facingsouth.org/2025/09/durh...

Durham Rising confronts Duke’s troubled labor history

A campaign launched this spring is calling on Duke University to raise wages and invest in the city of Durham. Over its history, the elite Southern school has earned a reputation for its hostility to ...

www.facingsouth.org

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · 17d

🚨 Democracy in NC and nationwide is under threat. Our new Blueprint for a Stronger Democracy outlines 40+ reforms to protect and strengthen our institutions. NC has a proud history of democratic innovation with proven, bipartisan solutions,w e can lead again.

👉 www.facingsouth.org/2025/09/nc-a...

NC advocates release 'Blueprint' to strengthen democracy

A group of 20 state and national advocates has released a report outlining a pro-democracy agenda for North Carolina. Issues range from voting access to combating corruption, protecting court independ...

www.facingsouth.org

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Davarian Baldwin @davarianbaldwin.bsky.social · 18d

So thrilled to be back in Durham to help strategize and build people power, so that our wealthiest local institutions truly lean into community responsibility beyond symbolic gestures...let's go ✊🏿!!!

Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · 18d

What Does Duke Owe Durham? Join us Friday 9/26 at 2pm for a forum featuring @davarianbaldwin.bsky.social about how Duke University can support workers and the community. Visit here for more info and to RSVP: www.southernstudies.org/davarianbald... @durhamrising.bsky.social

What Does Duke Owe Durham?

The Institute for Southern Studies and Durham Rising invite you to a talk and discussion with award-winning author DAVARIAN BALDWIN Friday, Sept. 26 | 2-3pm Asbury United Methodist Church | 806 Claren...

www.southernstudies.org

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · 18d

What Does Duke Owe Durham? Join us Friday 9/26 at 2pm for a forum featuring @davarianbaldwin.bsky.social about how Duke University can support workers and the community. Visit here for more info and to RSVP: www.southernstudies.org/davarianbald... @durhamrising.bsky.social

What Does Duke Owe Durham?

The Institute for Southern Studies and Durham Rising invite you to a talk and discussion with award-winning author DAVARIAN BALDWIN Friday, Sept. 26 | 2-3pm Asbury United Methodist Church | 806 Claren...

www.southernstudies.org

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Reposted by Institute for Southern Studies

Mississippi Free Press @mississippifreepress.org · 24d

“At approximately 7:05 am, University Police was notified of what appeared to be the body of a Black male hanging from a tree (at) central campus near the DSU pickleball course,” Delta State University Chief of Police Michael Peeler said on Monday.

DSU Student Found Hanging in Tree, No Foul Play Suspected

Delta State University staff found the body of 21-year-old student Demartravion “Trey” Reed hanging from a tree in the middle of campus on Monday.

buff.ly

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Chris Kromm @chriskromm.bsky.social · Sep 10

A Georgia judge said this week he will toss racketeering charges against 61 "Cop City" protesters. For Facing South
I interviewed attorney Devin Franklin at @thesoutherncenter.bsky.social about the flimsy state RICO charges when they were first brought two years ago @southernstudies.bsky.social

'The stakes are incredibly high': An interview with Devin Franklin on RICO charges against 'Cop City' activists

In late August, Georgia’s attorney general issued indictments under the state’s RICO statute targeting protesters against a planned new police and fire training center. An attorney with the Southern C...

www.facingsouth.org

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Chris Kromm @chriskromm.bsky.social · Sep 9

Southern states will feel brunt of attacks on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: 49% of complaints filed with CFPB since 2011 have come from 13 states in the South @ddayen.bsky.social @warren.senate.gov @southernstudies.bsky.social @crlonline.bsky.social

www.facingsouth.org/2025/08/inst...

Institute Index: The assault on consumer protection

As the Trump administration escalates its efforts to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an Institute analysis finds that half of the complaints filed by consumers asking for the Bureau's he...

www.facingsouth.org

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · Sep 4

As the Trump administration escalates its efforts to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an Institute analysis finds that half of the complaints filed by consumers asking for the Bureau's help have come from Southern states.

www.facingsouth.org/2025/08/inst...

Institute Index: The assault on consumer protection

As the Trump administration escalates its efforts to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an Institute analysis finds that half of the complaints filed by consumers asking for the Bureau's he...

www.facingsouth.org

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · Sep 1

This #LaborDay, we remember John Stewart, a Black sawmill worker in Arkansas who won a promotion, back pay, and legal costs with his union’s support—part of a wave of Black workers reclaiming wages, showing fairness at work is won through solidarity.

www.facingsouth.org/eeoc-mandate...

EEOC: Mandate for Labor

www.facingsouth.org

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · Aug 28

@durhamrising.bsky.social is urging Duke to invest in its city & raise employee wages to $25/hr. Historian Davarian Baldwin says universities often worsen gentrification & inequality, and advocates PILOT programs to support schools, housing & public services.

www.facingsouth.org/2025/08/what...

What do universities owe communities? An interview with Davarian Baldwin

At a critical moment for higher education, a leading urban scholar argues universities need to be doing more — not less — to support and invest in the communities where they are based.

www.facingsouth.org

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · Aug 28

On the 62nd anniversary of the March on Washington, we look back at a 2023 Facing South story, where photographer Earl Dotter reconnected with Raymona Middleton — first photographed there as a teenager— to reflect on the march’s enduring meaning.

www.facingsouth.org/2023/08/marc...

Revisiting the March on Washington

On the sixtieth anniversary of the March for Jobs and Freedom, photojournalist Earl Dotter writes about reconnecting with Raymona Middleton, a third-generation Black Washingtonian whom he first met on...

www.facingsouth.org

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · Aug 15

📅 On this day in 1975, Joan Little became the 1st woman in U.S. history acquitted for using deadly force to resist sexual assault—killing a white guard in self-defense.

In 1978, Southern Exposure revisited how her case reshaped racial & gender justice in the South.

www.facingsouth.org/i-am-joan

I Am Joan

www.facingsouth.org

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Common Cause NC @commoncausenc.bsky.social · Jul 29

Today: North Carolinians protested at the legislature in Raleigh, speaking out against a number of bad bills that hurt immigrant and LGBTQ communities, attack diversity, and more. They called on lawmakers to uphold Governor Stein's vetoes of these harmful bills.

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · Jul 28

From the Archives: Medicaid expansion is the lifeline rural hospitals need.

Back in 2022, we examined how Southern hospitals were on the brink and how expanding Medicaid could save them. The stakes are still high.

www.facingsouth.org/2022/01/medi...

Medicaid expansion could be a lifeline for rural hospitals in the South

Rural hospitals were able to survive 2021 with special pandemic assistance, but some aid is set to expire by the end of this year. Advocates say state Medicaid expansion could help rural hospitals con...

www.facingsouth.org

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · Jul 26

From the Archives: In 1980, Anne Braden wrote:

“It is only on the basis of racism that a mass fascist movement can be built in America.”

📚 Her essay on the Greensboro Massacre is essential reading in the fight against fascism.
www.facingsouth.org/1980/08/less...

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · Jul 25

🚨 NC Republicans are pushing SB416—a bill backed by ALEC & dark money groups like DonorsTrust—that would block public access to political donor info.

Gov. Stein vetoed it. Now the GOP aims to override.

Critics warn: transparency is at stake.

🔗 www.facingsouth.org/2025/07/gop-...

GOP escalates campaign to weaken donor transparency in NC

A North Carolina bill is the latest effort by GOP donors and advocates to hide Big Money political spending from public view. As they try to overturn the governor's veto, they're lobbying Democrats to...

www.facingsouth.org

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · Jul 25

On July 4, President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

The results?

💸 $183.5B cut from Southern Medicaid
🏥 354K could lose coverage
🚨 289 rural hospitals at risk (37%)
⚠️ 77% of Southern Senators voted yes

📊 More via Facing South: www.facingsouth.org/2025/07/inst...

Institute Index: Big bill's blow to Southern health care

Date in July on which President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: 4th

www.facingsouth.org

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Institute for Southern Studies @southernstudies.bsky.social · Jul 24

📚 A reading list tracing connections between Southern U.S. movements and global struggles for liberation, including Gaza. From civil rights sit-ins to Southern ties to U.S. militarism, these readings explore protest, policing, and solidarity across decades.

www.facingsouth.org/2024/05/sout...

A Southern Exposure/Facing South reading list for Gaza organizers

A collection of Facing South and Southern Exposure’s past coverage of militarism and state repression of protest in the South, created for the students, community organizers, faculty, and staff protes...

www.facingsouth.org

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Democracy Docket @democracydocket.com · Jul 24

NEW: Top Democrats are fighting back as Texas Republicans push a Trump-backed redistricting plan to lock in 5 new congressional seats.

They call the plan “egregious” and a direct threat to democracy.

From: @yuniorarivas.bsky.social

Democrats Mobilize to Stop Texas GOP’s Redistricting Power Grab