The Progressive South

Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South: Ep. 15: Texas and the Gerrymandered South SYNOPSIS: All eyes were on Texas last week as Republican legislators moved toward drawing new congressional districts, effectively trying to steal five seats from Democratic incumbents. It’s part of P...

They're messin' with Texas! How gerrymandering shapes Southern politics.

Plus, a great conversation with Tulane professor @coreyjmiles.bsky.social, who guest-edited this summer's hip-hop themed issue of the journal Southern Cultures.

sites.libsyn.com/576820/ep-15...

Back in 2023, a farmworker named José Arturo Gonzalez Mendoza died while working on the massive farm estate owned by Republican State Senator Lisa Barnes.

What happened next should shock the conscience.
www.newsobserver.com/news/state/n...

Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South: Ep. 14: Florida's War on Immigrants SYNOPSIS: Florida has an estimated 5 million immigrants — more than 20 percent of its total population. It is also ground zero of the Trump administration’s mass deportation program. With the eager as...

This week: Florida's war on immigrants. We talk with Tessa Petit, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, about the fight for the rights of the state’s immigrant communities. We also take a drive out to Alligator Alcatraz. Listen in!

sites.libsyn.com/576820/ep-14...

YouTube video by The Progressive South Ep. 13: Fighting Alabama Book Bans

By the way, we're up on YouTube now as well as Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

youtu.be/2u83EYnsnDU

Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South: Ep. 13: Fighting Alabama Book Bans SYNOPSIS: Angie Hayden became an accidental activist when she stood up against censorship in her local library in Prattville, Alabama. Now she’s a founder of a statewide coalition called Read Freely A...

This week: Talkin' book bans in 'Bama with @angiehay.bsky.social of Read Freely Alabama, leadership failures on climate change across the South, and ... Kid Rock's patriotic flag-a-palooza Rock The Country.

Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South: Ep. 12: Meeting the Cast Iron Resistance Synopsis: What does U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett do in the bathroom? The privy proclivities of our East Tennessee congressman are among the issues on the minds of Jesse and the gang from “Cast Iron Resistan...

sites.libsyn.com/576820/ep-12...

YouTube video by The Progressive South What Does Rep. Tim Burchett Do in the Bathroom?

An excerpt here from our crossover with the guys at the Cast Iron Resistance podcast: What's up with the increasingly aggressive pro-Trump posturing by our congressman? And ... what does he do in the bathroom? (link to episode in comments)

youtu.be/86ieImYlNjQ?...

Higher Ground Floods, climate, and class.

From @gwenfulton.bsky.social:

"I think, maybe now ... they will install the sirens, maybe now they will rebuild the dams, maybe now they will cap the carbon, maybe now they will protect public lands, maybe now they will preserve the forests, maybe now we will be reborn.

But they don’t."

Meanwhile, Key West joins South Miami in refusing an agreement to use local police for immigration enforcement — despite state officials' threats of retaliation.

Alligator Alcatraz update: Fla. AG denies request from Miami-Dade County for oversight and regular reports on conditions at the detention center. The center is on land owned by Miami-Dade County.

Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South: Ep. 11: ICE in the Louisiana Heat SYNOPSIS: Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in America. It is also home to the country’s second-largest population of immigration detainees. Last week, a group of workers from the Service E...

We went down to Louisiana to hear from @seiu.org members as they demonstrated outside an ICE detention center and rallied in New Orleans. You'll hear from a lot of those voices here, along with representatives from @aclu.org, and more. Along the way: Louisiana history, Alligator Alcatraz and more.

Trump 'working on' deportation exemptions for undocumented farm and hospitality workers President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is exploring deportation exemptions for illegal migrants working on farms or in the hospitality industry who could be swept up in Immigration and Customs Enforce...

"Without those people, you're not going to be able to run your farm."

If you needed to summarize the various Confederate articles of secession in one sentence, this would pretty much cover it.

Ep. 10: LGBTQ Rights in the South Podcast Episode · Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South · 06/30/2025 · 47m

This week, Chris Sanders of @tnequality.bsky.social and Jeff Graham of @georgiaequality.org weigh in on the Skrmetti decision and the ongoing assault on LGBTQ rights in our states.

Also: Texas gov vetoes THC ban; a lawsuit over Mississippi's anti-DEI law; and DeSantis wants his own accreditation.

We drove out to Basile, La., today for a demonstration organized by @seiu.org at an ICE detention center for women. Union folks from all over the country showing solidarity with their many immigrant members.

Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock: "We are in a moral moment. Because something else is on the line. I submit that the character of the country is on the line. In a real sense, the question tonight is who are we?"

Service workers from the South gathered in Selma to honor our movement ancestors. On the Edmund Pettus Bridge, we felt their courage—and carry it with us. From Selma to Louisiana, we march for immigrant rights and justice for all. The fight isn’t over. #SolidaritySummer

Debbie DeWeese: Don’t cut our healthcare to give tax breaks to the rich A bill making its way through the U.S. Senate would be devastating for the millions of people on Medicaid in North Carolina.

About a quarter of North Carolinians use Medicaid to pay for their healthcare, including Debbie DeWeese.

Now, cuts to Medicaid have DeWeese worried that she will lose her life-saving health coverage.

Read more: bit.ly/45D9vO8

#NCPol #NCNews

the president does not actually have the power to fire a university president or a museum director, but if elites simply roll over under pressure, then effectively he does

Florida is working with the University System of Georgia, the University of North Carolina system, University of South Carolina, the University of Tennessee system, and the Texas A&M University system to establish an anti-"woke" accrediting system for higher education.

Great new issue of Southern Cultures with a bunch of smart writing and thinking about Southern hip-hop!

Louisiana is following Tennessee's lead in classifying natural gas as "green energy." (Spoiler: It's not.)

"This is the first known instance in American history where a state has imposed felony liability on local officials simply for the viewpoint expressed in their votes," the lawsuit says. "In an alleged democracy, our legislative chambers have been reduced to crime scenes."

YouTube video by Luaka Bop ANNIE & THE CALDWELLS – Wrong feat. Deborah Caldwell Moore (Official Music Video)

And here's a taste of Annie and the Caldwells.

youtu.be/DATemNjEwW8?...

Working Class Storytelling | Substack Stories about working-class people, places, and organizing. Click to read Working Class Storytelling, a Substack publication.

You can read Gwen's work here — and you should! workingclassstories.substack.com

Ep.9: Untold Stories Podcast Episode · Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South · 06/23/2025 · 44m

Whose stories count in the South — and who gets to tell them? In this week's episode, we talk about that with Gwen Frisbie-Fulton of "Working Class Storytelling." Also: In the wake of the Skrmetti decision, a look at LGBTQ rights in Southern states. Plus: the Gospel-soul of Annie and the Caldwells!

Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South: Ep. 8: Watering the Roots SYNOPSIS: Well before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brought his vaccine skepticism to the federal government, many Southern states were already taking steps to weaken immunization mandates. This week, we take...

This week: Talking with @brandonjones.bsky.social about the SPLC Action Fund and working to get progressive candidates elected in local races across the Deep South. Plus: How Southern states are ahead of RFK Jr. in mainstreaming hostility to vaccines.

sites.libsyn.com/576820/ep-8-...

Great remembrance of Mississippi's Camp Sister Spirit and the determined women who founded it.

Bonus Episode: More with Adeem the Artist Podcast Episode · Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South · S1, E7 Bonus · 54m

Here it is — the extended cut of our interview with queer country singer-songwriter @adeemtheartist.bsky.social. We go deeper on wrestling with Southern history, gender identity and the frustrations of party politics in a moment that demands more.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

Ep. 7: Songs from Queer Country Podcast Episode · Headlights: Voices from The Progressive South · 06/09/2025 · 37m

This week: Talking Southern masculinity, racial history and queer country with @adeemtheartist.bsky.social! Plus: the GOP's war on Nashville Mayor @freddieoconnell.bsky.social; DeSantis tightens his grip on Florida universities; and — Conan the Barbarian!

Revered Miami meteorologist @johnmoralestv.bsky.social has a warning about this year's hurricane season and the impacts of federal staffing and budget cuts.