Your progressive guide to the South.
By Megan Brock, University of South Carolina
Thursday October 13, 2005
When I sent in my first tuition check to the University of South Carolina and picked up and moved from Houston, TX, I felt I had sealed my fate, forever becoming one of those “darned liberals” in a region widely considered to be a safe haven for the most conservative voices in the nation – the South. According to Andy Brack, President of the Center for a Better South (a progressive think tank based in Charleston, SC ), my misgivings, however common, were misconceptions. “It’s not Jethro and the Dukes of Hazard and grits. The South now is a black, white, brown and yellow society.” He then elaborated, “We need to understand more deeply how this society is functioning if we seek to make progressive changes in it.”
So, here’s your progressive travel guide to the land of sweet magnolias and flowing drawls – of rocking chair porches and progressive opportunity. Here are some of the best progressive publications, radio stations, activist organizations, blogs and more in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia.
Brimming with sweet tea, grits, and southern hospitality, South Carolina is the picture of Southern pride and home to two of the up-and-coming Republican hotshots of the U.S. Senate – Jim DeMint and Lindsay Graham. Despite the conservative South Carolinian presence in Washington, there are some local bright spots. The Free Times of Columbia provides a liberal news and entertainment viewpoint, while Charleston’s Mercury offers a more satirical slant. Even beyond the many, many progressive blogs and web magazines, South Carolina has a lot to offer. The South Carolina Equality Coalition works for equal rights for the GLBTQ community of South Cackalack, and Columbia’s chapter of PFLAG joins in their efforts. The Center for a Better South offers articles, interviews, a blog called ThinkSouth and policy briefs about issues that uniquely affect the South. SC’s Progressive Network is very well-organized and extensive and publishes a list of activist organizations around the state that makes it very easy to get involved. One of their events, Leftypalooza, is a fair where donated leftist memorabilia is sold to raise money for the progressive network. With a name like Leftypalooza, what’s not to love?
A little bit to the north and a little bit to the left lies North Carolina. Asheville, NC, is widely recognized as a sort of liberal oasis in the South. This vaguely hippie-ish mecca’s Asheville Global Report offers progressive news in the form of a free, city-wide publication. Farther to the East, you can find Durham’s Herald-Sun and the Raleigh News and Observer, or, if you’re in a capitol sort of mood, the Charlotte Observer. If listening is more your thing, tune in to WPVM 103.5FM, the Progressive Voice of the Mountains, which broadcasts out of Asheville (and globally, thanks to the Internet). North Carolina’s Peace Action offers lots of information and opportunities for activists in the area. The Winston-Salem Community for Peace is an activist organization that organizes peace vigils and marches throughout North Carolina. Facing South, a progressive blog out of Durham’s Southern Studies, gives wonderful analysis of progressive issues and news in the South. Southern Studies, which has been around since the 1970s, is a grassroots organization that runs the Southern Peace Research and Education Center, the Farmworker Justice Project, and the Southern Voting Rights Project. They also publish Southern Exposure, a magazine dedicated to grassroots efforts in the South.
North Carolina’s college campuses are rockin’ the progressive movement as well. UNC Chapel Hill has lots of impressive progressive student initiatives, like Campus Y, which sponsors 19 different social justice initiatives. Their SUDAN (Students United for Darfur Action Now) group hosts several ongoing projects and promotes awareness on campus. UNC’s Students Against Sweatshops/Student Action with Workers alliance presents even more opportunities to get involved, including a labor rights campaign and a national sweat-free campus campaign. UNC isn’t alone, though. Duke has a Students Against Sweatshops, as well as a very impressive Environmental Alliance.
Virginia is for lovers, and Virginians love progressives – well, sometimes. The Virginia Organizing Project works to lead lots of different advocacy campaigns, from enacting a living wage to eliminating the death penalty to ending racial profiling. Just a Bump in the Beltway is an up-to-date and well-sourced progressive blog chronicling national political happenings. If you look further on the net, you’ll find Prairie Angel and Documenting Democracy, two more progressive blogs run from the Old Dominion. Like the feel of news ink on your hands? Not a problem! The Richmond Times-Dispatch is right up your alley. The Coalition for Justice, an advocacy and activist group, is also published monthly by the New River Free Press. Iris Magazine, a biannual progressive women’s magazine from UVA, is most definitely worth checking out. They just launched Iris online, which is host to a bevy of essays, art, poetry, and reviews (well, it will be, but it just launched – give them time!). Meanwhile, the Virginia Coalition for Open Government is staying true to Thomas Jefferson’s (another famous Virginian!) quest for an informed citizenry.
Slide right on over to the Volunteer State. Now, Tennessee is known for many things (Bill Frist, BBQ, Elvis, Oprah Winfrey, and Dolly Parton among them – certainly not in order of preference), which puts it among the most dynamic states in the Union. Thus, it is no surprise that Tennessee has its fair share of progressive offerings. In fact, independent publications abound all over the state, from the Memphis Flyer to the Nashville City Paper. Looking to engage corporate media in a fight for information and attention? The Tennessee Independent Media Center is here to help! Providing many different and easily accessible viewpoints, the Center aims to develop an egalitarian and sustainable society through allowing equal access to media information and coverage. The Tennessee Alliance for Progress is a statewide coalition that works to increase access to health care and affordable housing, ensure openness in government, and improve environmental standards across the state. Meanwhile, Tennessee hasitsshare of progressive blogs. It doesn’t stop at blogging, though. In 2004, Jim Maynard challenged Democratic Representative Harold Ford for the Tennessee 9th Congressional District Seat. Believing that Representative Ford “no longer represented Democratic ideals,” Maynard waged a write-in campaign that won him 0.07% of the vote in the district. However, there are lots of opportunities to get involved that don’t involve running for office (hey, they don’t call it the Volunteer State for nothing!). The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, opened in 1982, is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to education and action on peace and justice issues. It is home to a living wage campaign, a progressive media project, Food not Bombs, an anti-prison privatization project, and Memphis Votes. If you’re looking for something more local, look no further than the Nashville Peace and Justice Center, which focuses on mobilizing the local community in local and global efforts. The Greater Knoxville area is also home to a chapter of PFLAG. In the end, what the tourist bureau says seems true: “ Tennessee sounds good to me.”
But give me Louisiana, a state of sweet magnolias and Creole melodies. Louisiana has been the center of a partisan battle on how to best solve the poverty that still plagues our nation. A few points of progressive light have come shining through the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina: The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, which previously worked to protect the wetlands of Coastal Louisiana, is now advocating a comprehensive reconstruction package for Louisiana – from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina, they’re doing their best to ensure a sustainable future. New Orleans’ Alliance for Affordable Energy is fighting the same fight, viewing the aftermath of Katrina as an opportunity to provide sustainable and energy efficient redevelopment for the state. The New Orleans Times-Picayune is known for great investigative reporting and is now primarily covering the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans. New Orleans Independent Media Center is also doing some great coverage, and, outside of times of crisis, provides a venue for independent expression and widespread access to media. The New Orleans PFLAG chapter is very active in the area in helping the GLBTQ community, their friends, and their families. Looking for something further north? The Coalition for Alternatives to War in Baton Rouge has started a progressive newspaper in the area, provides “teach-ins” on various issues (from Middle Eastern history, to the history of protest and dissent, to Islam), and organizes local informative protests. The best thing about Louisiana is, and always has been, the people and their energy. People in Louisiana remain dedicated, even in the face of disaster, to pursuing the best for their state and their fellow citizens.
William Faulkner once wrote that “To understand the world, you must first understand Mississippi,” and he’s still right today – to truly understand the progressive movement in the South, you must look to the state that typified the “Deep South” for years. Looking a little bit more closely, though, there’s plenty in Mississippi that shows that the progressive movement can exist in one of the most traditionally reactionary states in the nation. The Jackson Progressive Online Journal provides a great look at national politics. It’s updated fairly regularly, but if that’s just not enough, you can always check out their blog. The Jackson Free Press, after the 1960s civil rights rag with the same name, provides a bi-weekly progressive take on news and culture in the Jackson metro area. Even beyond Mississippi’s media prowess, there is plenty to do to get involved. Its Alliance of State Employees is a very active progressive labor union. Equality Mississippi is the state’s steward of gay and lesbian civil rights and offers opportunities to lobby, educate, and organize. The Community Foundation of Greater Jackson connects donors, volunteers, and community organizations to effectively serve Hinds, Rankin, and Madison counties. They also offer grants to students (in the form of scholarships) and community organizations. It looks like there’s more that’s sweet in Mississippi than the scent of magnolias.
A little to the east is Alabama, the “Heart of Dixie.” The Progressive Democrats of America in Alabama is a fairly active political advocacy and education group. The Birmingham Weekly offers news and culture with an independent twist, while Bama Environmental News reminds people that areas outside of the sprawling metropolises in Alabama are important, too. If you’re looking for more blogs than you could ever want to read, the World Around You provides a hefty list of progressive blog links (and is, in itself, also a very good blog), and War Liberalprovides a good mix of cultural and (mostly) political news.
The whole day through, just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind, and for good reason. Aside from the best peaches in the country, Georgia’s also got it going on in the progressive scene. Atlanta Indymedia provides easy access to independent media (hence the name) and different views on news, culture, and politics. Distance Blog provides a variety of news and analysis, along with an impressive list of blog links, and Blog for Democracy is devoted entirely to progressive politics in the Peach State. Georgia for Democracy is a grassroots organization that works hard to educate voters, promote progressive ideals at a local level, and increase the voter voice in local politics. They host peace rallies and film screenings and support book clubs. The Georgia Rural Urban Summit connects people from all over the state to promote positive progressive change. The Atlanta Bicycle Campaign works for a less polluted Atlanta and a better experience for bikers around the state.
While this sojourn through the most polite and slow-talking part of the nation is important, of course, we need to take it with a big grain of salt. Bigotry still runs rampant in many places in the South, and despite the improvements that have been made, progressives still have a lot to do. For a clear picture of the bigotry that exists, check out the Southern Poverty League’s map of hate groups. See where the numbers jump? South Carolina is the shining star of the map, with 47 hate groups active in 2004. The fact that states like Texas and California also have large numbers should be examined with the knowledge that SPL doesn’t adjust for population. South Carolina’s population was slightly under 4.2 million people in 2004, compared to 22.5 million in Texas and nearly 35.9 million in California. This is a region with a rich history of both injustice and the struggle for justice. Progressives are doing a lot, but we need to do more to turn these small pockets of progressivism into a Southern progressive movement. In a Campus Progress interview last week, I asked Senator John Edwards what he thought was most necessary to do in order to conquer the conservative influence on campuses in the South. He responded, “I grew up in a rural town in the South… [we must] give people a fundamental sense of fairness, of justice – that it’s not right for people to be working two jobs, in some cases, both parents – in a two parent family, two parents are working two jobs – they’re working four jobs between the two parents – it’s not right for them to be doing that and not be able to at least provide a minimum standard of living for their family. So, I think [we have to] talk about this as a moral issue, and talk about it as a fairness issue.” The promise is out there – a growing network of groups and individuals today have the chance to build a truly progressive South.
Thoughts, suggestions, objections, etc. regarding the progressive south? Want to tell about your state / region? Discuss on the blog.
Illustration: Matt Bors