Do yourself a favor today and go immerse yourself in this lovely Safiya Charles piece about Black artists in South Carolina who are working to preserve indigenous plants, featuring beautiful photos from Talia (טליה) Moore and Tricia Vuong
thecounter.org/south-carolina…

After a last-ditch lawsuit is filed in Texas, Black farmers wait to learn the fate of USDA’s imperiled debt relief program thecounter.org/lawsuit-miller…

Take the time for this great piece from ProPublica, on the complicated tensions between well-intentioned white conservationists and generations of Black farmers. thecounter.org/conservationis…

#THREAD : The hype over hemp made many Black farmers wonder if they could increase their small farms’ profits—or odds of survival. But it's not that easy.

Why is hemp a gamble for Black farmers in particular?

thecounter.org/hemp-black-far…

Some personal news: Today is my first day The Counter as their first-ever Future of Farming fellow. Excited and honored to be covering the movement around justice for Black farmers.

Montgomery Public Schools to receive nearly $130 million from American Rescue Plan montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/edu…

Please apply and please share. Two rare opportunities for students interested in investigative reporting.

Our country has never invested in home care workers. In fact, it's worked hard to exclude them from min wage, overtime rules & benefits.

Biden has promised a $400B investment. A start, but is it enough?

W/ Shefali Luthra (the other half of our duo, Chafali)
bit.ly/3dkDmzh

The New York Times has a live tally of the Amazon union vote👇 nytimes.com/2021/04/08/tec…

Good piece touching on the challenges of vaccinations in Alabama and Mississippi. #alpolitics nytimes.com/2021/03/28/hea…

In 2016, I received an email that knocked me off my feet. It was a tip about Jesuit priests who sold 272 people in 1838 to save Georgetown University. This wasn't news to historians, but it it astounded me. Catholic priests participated in the slave trade? Why didn’t I know?

Alabama House has what promises to be a contentious calendar today. It includes bills banning on transgender youth playing sports of the sex with which they identify; a 'born alive' abortion bill; legislation expanding rioting definitions & a ban on curbside voting. #alpolitics

New: The sheriff's official who said the Atlanta spa shooter had 'a bad day' shared an image of T-shirts that said 'Covid 19 IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA' on Facebook.

After BuzzFeed News asked about the shirt, the public post became unavailable.

buzzfeednews.com/article/skbaer…

Excited to share some of my new research in Harper’s BAZAAR on how the CRM was funded + Black women's philanthropy/mutual aid networks. Traditions of giving that date back centuries & don't center white wealth. Mollie Moon is a fascinating key figure! harpersbazaar.com/culture/featur…

Good Safiya Charles piece: 'All too often, critics say, U.S. students are met with an education system that elides discussions of racial difference and prejudice in favor of a so-called colorblind approach that is as transparent as it is ineffective.' bit.ly/3rln65I

What will happen when Alabama's mask mandate expires? We'll return to piecemeal mask requirements.

Businesses today reported plans ranging from strict reqs to leaving it up to customers to ask employees to mask up.
montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/loc… via the USA Today - Alabama team

'A frustrated rebel': On this day in 1955, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin arrested on Montgomery bus montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/201… via @mgmadvertiser

New from me($): In 1944, New York attorney and Montgomery native Arthur Madison launched a voting drive in his home city. For that, he was arrested; put on trial, and disbarred. But the campaign linked him with many local activists -- including Rosa Parks. bit.ly/3aSMjib

I couldn't make it past this sentence because the only thing that saved me was support from a family I barely knew.

'When a person becomes homeless, they typically lose all of their outside support, from family members to doctors.' Jessica Boehm with more: azcentral.com/in-depth/news/…

Farmers are aging, and many are having a hard time finding young people to replace them. Nationally, the average age of a farm operator is 57½ years old. But almost half of Black farmers are 65 and older. montgomeryadvertiser.com/in-depth/news/…