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Mike Espy Didn't Make History in Mississippi, But He and Other Black Candidates Definitely Made Progress
JACKSON, Miss—The U.S. Senate runoff between Mike Espy and Cindy Hyde-Smith got most of the national attention, but that race may not have been the most important one in Mississippi this election cycle. That’s why it’s important to not let disappointment about Espy’s failed bid to become one of the rare black candidates to win…
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Mike Espy Is Hoping to Prove America Wrong About Mississippi During Runoff for Senate Seat
Ridgeland, Miss.—There were just as many members of media as there were voters when Mike Espy appeared at his voting station at Highland Colony Baptist Church, just a five-minute drive outside of Jackson. The former congressman and agricultural secretary rolled up to the entrance in his SUV with his wife, Portia, and their family, to…
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Group Made Its Way Through Mississippi Before Senate Runoff to Get Black People to Register to Vote—and to Understand Their Political Power
TUNICA, Miss.—Devin Gordon was standing outside his second-floor apartment when LaTosha Brown asked to have a chat. “How you doing young man?” Brown asked. “Can we talk to you for a second?” She was out canvassing the neighborhood with Tunica Teens In Action, a local organization that helps young people become politically engaged, when one…
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Stacey Abrams' Political Rise Is Georgia's Coming-to-Jesus Moment
ALBANY, Ga.— Glenn Singfield, Sr. takes a lot of pride in the racially diverse clientele that enjoys his meals at Albany Seafood Company, a family-owned business that’s been around since 2014. “Look around this place and see who’s here,” he told me Saturday night, noting the 50-50 split of black and white customers. “The only…
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A Nurse Aims to Heal More Residents of Rural Georgia—But This Time From the State Legislature
LEARY, Ga.—Joyce Barlow had barely warmed her pew seat at Mt. Zion Baptist Church before having to deal with health scares affecting two members of the congregation. She had just delivered her campaign speech when the holy ghost filled one of the deaconesses. The woman began shouting and convulsing. A couple of . church members…
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In Rural Georgia, Rev. William Barber Excoriates Trump and His Supporters for Using Pseudo Christianity to Support Racism
Cuthbert, Ga.—Over the past two years, President Donald Trump has made a mockery of Christianity. His white evangelical supporters have aided and abetted him every step of the way. Though the God many of us have grown to know as kind, generous and forgiving, a different God has been erected by Trump and his supporters:…
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Frustrated With Trump, Some Florida Republicans Throw Support Behind Andrew Gillum
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—One of the first things Joe Bryant did when I walked into his home was to hand me his Republican Party membership card. “I wanted to show you my bonafides,” he said, before walking me over to his living room, where we sat and talked for nearly hour. He had to tell me why…
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Andrew Gillum's Hamilton Tickets Are Barack Obama's Tan Suit
When Barack Obama won the Iowa presidential primary in 2008 and went on to win Super Tuesday, I prayed the brotha didn’t have a side piece the Republicans could pull out to dash his hopes for winning the White House. Barring Fox News’ misleading reporting of his former pastor’s “Goddamn America” sermon and conservatives’ false…
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Ron DeSantis’ Racist Smear Campaign Forces Florida Civil Rights Group to Beef Up Security
For more than a month, Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis has been race-baiting the work of the Dream Defenders. That fear mongering, along with heated rhetoric from President Donald Trump, has begun having an effect on the civil rights group, which is why its leadership has grown concerned that Dream Defenders may be in…
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Florida Is on Course to Restore Voting Rights to Residents Convicted of Felonies
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Marissa Alexander knows politics. No political race—judgeship, state representative, national—nor proposed amendment escapes her notice. That’s why during this midterm election season, she has sat down her 18-year-old twins at the dinner table to go over everything—the amendments and candidates that voters must choose from on Tuesday so that her children will be fully…
