Aallyah Wright

My First Byline: Aallyah Wright Rural issues reporter, Capital B

I remember it like it was yesterday: my professor nudged me to reply to an email from Mississippi Today. The org was looking for someone to cover education based in Clarksdale.

Thanks @ryanbeckwith.bsky.social for including me in Your First Byline!

yourfirstbyline.substack.com/p/my-first-b...

No knock to J-schools, but it’s what I’ve learned.

USDA Pulls Plug on Report That Measured Who Goes Hungry in America LaPorchia Collins, an agricultural economist, professor and researcher, answered five questions on the agency’s decision to halt data collection.

After 30 years of tracking food insecurity, the USDA discontinued a federal report that monitors level of hunger in U.S. households.

The USDA labeled the report as “redundant, costly, politicized."

capitalbnews.org/usda-ends-fo...

Awww thank you 🥰

Across the country, rural families are navigating a food crisis exacerbated by rising costs and dwindling resources. But instead of just spotlighting the struggle, I wanted to focus on solutions.

This summer, when the Institute for Nonprofit News’ Rural News Network called for pitches on food insecurity in rural America, I immediately thought of home — the Mississippi Delta.

The Black Women Driving a Food Revolution in Rural Mississippi From grocery stores to food distribution services, Black women are leading efforts to feed their communities.

From opening grocery stores to launching online delivery services, I traveled to rural Mississippi to highlight the work of two Black women who are reimagining how their communities eat and thrive.

This is part of the RNN's "Sowing Resilience" series.

capitalbnews.org/black-women-...

just a woman showing up, for herself 🌱

We do! We have newsletters for all of our newsrooms.

Newsletters We write the untold stories of Black America. Sign up now for Capital B's national, Atlanta, Gary and Everything's Politics newsletter emails.

I traveled across rural MS to learn how Black women are feeding their communities. The story is part of a series in collaboration with 8 other newsrooms and the Rural News Network.

My story publishes on Monday, but you can catch a preview in tomorrow’s newsletter.

capitalbnews.org/newsletters

Attorney Ben Crump issued a statement and said the family and their civil rights partners will commission a separate, independent autopsy to verify the findings of the state medical examiner and "ensure no question goes unanswered."

Black Student Found Hanging at Delta State. Police Say No Foul Play. The university’s chief of police and director of public safety said that investigators found no evidence he had been attacked before his death.

The death of Demartravion “Trey” Reed has been ruled a suicide by the Mississippi State Medical Examiner's Office, consistent with findings from the county coroner, which found no evidence of foul play.

The FBI and U.S. Attorney will review the case.

UPDATE: capitalbnews.org/trey-reed-de...

Join | Capital B Capital B is supported by people like you. Support Capital B today.

The news can feel heavy. At @capitalb.bsky.social, we’re building something different — journalism that points to solutions and reminds us that change is possible.

Help us raise $6,500 to keep doing this work: capitalbnews.fundjournalism.org/donate/?camp...

'Sinners' Came to Clarksdale Thanks to Years of Community Journalism - National Press Foundation Aallyah Wright of Capital B News used her reporting to amplify the cultural and economic paradoxes of the setting for the movie "Sinners."

Watch @capitalb.bsky.social journalist @aallyahpatrice.bsky.social tell @nationalpress.bsky.social Widening the Pipeline fellows about how sustained community engagement helped get the Hollywood blockbuster "Sinners" screened in her hometown of Clarksdale, MS.
nationalpress.org/topic/sinner...

Mississippi Blues Elders Are Still Here. This Festival Is Making Sure You Hear Them. In the birthplace of the blues, Clarksdale Mayor Orlando Paden keeps his father’s legacy and festival alive.

As aging musicians pass on and juke joints continue to close their doors, Red Paden, famed juke house owner in Clarksdale had a vision to pay homage to elders at his Old Timers Blues Festival.

Red died in 2023, and now his son is carrying on that legacy.
capitalbnews.org/blues-reds-o...

The Army Took Their Land. Decades Later, This Black Community Still Wants It Back. Harris Neck’s residents confront the legacy of federal land grabs and the struggle for reparative justice under the threat of climate change.

A Gullah Geechee community made home on a set of marshes & estuaries in Coastal Georgia. The land still holds their graves, but in 1942 the federal government seized the area for 'national security.'

83 years later, the fight for it back continues.

capitalbnews.org/harris-neck-...

Absolutely! I’ll never forget it.

He's been featured in the news before, but he said my story was the best representation of his story.

One of my sources told me how amazed he was by a story I wrote that featured him. He said I told the complete truth, captured his words accurately, and somehow managed to express what he couldn’t say. “It was like you were writing with the feeling from the ancestors." 😭

'Sinners' Put Clarksdale on the Map. Locals Used It to Build Unity. Black residents in Mississippi's home of the blues hold a festival and put African American culture on display.

When the Hollywood production of Sinners came to Clarksdale, it gave new life to an idea that had floated around for years: Clarksdale Day, a weekend to celebrate culture, community, and unity.

On Labor Day weekend, the Clarksdale Day Fest came to fruition.
capitalbnews.org/clarksdale-d...

Black Alabama Mayor Once Blocked by White Town Leaders Wins Reelection For the first time in the majority-Black town’s history, residents got to participate directly in the democratic process.

It’s great to see outlets like the AP & Times covering Mayor Braxton’s story out of Newbern, AL. I was the first national reporter to cover it — going back to '23 — and the only reporter on the ground on Election Day. Grateful for our work at Capital B for elevating this injustice.

Beyond impacting funding for schools, law enforcement and local government, the passage of SEA 1 is expected to impact funds for local libraries. Learn more in my latest for the Indiana Capital Chronicle - and if you're one of those who thinks libraries are just books you might be surprised!

I was the first national reporter to cover Patrick Braxton’s struggle and the only reporter that showed up yesterday to cover the town’s first election. What a full circle moment.

I’ve been to Newbern since 2023, and multiple times this year. They’ve really embraced me.

UPDATE: Patrick Braxton won re-election.

Rather than the courts demanding he’s in office, “the people put me there this time,” he told me after his victory.

(Braxton viewing results on the window at town hall.)

Black Mayor in Rural Alabama Once Denied His Seat Faces Opponent For the first time in the majority-Black town’s history, residents on Tuesday get to participate directly in the democratic process.

Remember Newbern, Alabama — the rural town where a Black man was blocked from serving as mayor and where elections had never been held?

Today, voters are making history as they cast ballots in the town’s first-ever municipal election.

NEW: capitalbnews.org/newbern-alab...

Black Voters ‘Finally’ Get Win After Federal Judge Strikes Down Mississippi Map On Aug. 19, a federal judge ruled the state must redraw the map that it uses to elect its Supreme Court justices.

Only four Black justices have ever served on the Mississippi Supreme Court, and never more than one at a time.

This week, a federal judge found that the state's map used for Supreme Court elections dilutes Black voting power.

capitalbnews.org/mississippi-...

It was definitely busy! Looking forward to a nice walk this afternoon.

I have been MIA on here. How are y'all?

She Got 27 Years for Killing Her Abuser. Oklahoma’s Survivors Act Could Free Her. A judge will submit a written decision in Tyesha Long’s hearing next month.

Supporters of Tyesha Long said she is the “poster child” for the state’s Survivor’s Act because of her documented history of abuse.
But one advocate said it’s “hard to imagine more Black women benefiting” from similar second chance laws.
To learn more about her case:
capitalbnews.org/tyesha-long-...

Medicaid Cuts Endanger Life-Saving Care for Black Families in Rural America Advocates and experts warn that the rollbacks could have a drastic impact on public health in Black communities.

In this spotlight on @capitalb.bsky.social –– one of 90+ newsrooms in @inn.org's Rural News Network –– health care professionals, advocates tell @aallyahpatrice.bsky.social their biggest fear is that Black communities will be the hardest hit and the lack of access could worsen economic disparities.