Institute for Southern Studies

North Carolina mega-donor and rightwing cash machine Art Pope will be facing off against Chris Kromm of The Institute for Southern Studies (and publisher of www.artpopeexposed.com) this Sunday, January 15, at 3:00 PM for a 2-hour radio special on 106.1 FM, Raleigh. The show is hosted by Phyllis Coley and Gary Jones of Spectacular Magazine. You can call in questions to the show at 919-860-1061!

When you're dealing with the Republican Tea Party, it always comes down to bigotry and racism. They are scared out of their pants, as well they should be.

Much of the media buzz about the 2010 Census has focused on the role of Latinos and new immigrants in changing the face of the country. It makes sense: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about half of the nation's growth over the last decade was driven by growth in the Latino community, much of it in Southern states.

But equally influential in the South's rapidly-changing demographics is another story with a longer historical arc: The return of many African-Americans to Southern states after a decades-long exodus during the Jim Crow era.

Check out the whole story at Facing South. It's a good one.

Hopefully this dude will abide:

Carolina Public Press is a nonprofit media project dedicated to in-depth, investigative and independent reporting on the overlooked and under-reported people, places and issues facing the 17 westernmost counties of North Carolina.

A sponsored project of the award-winning independent media organization, the Institute for Southern Studies, we’re a small, scrappy website dedicated to nonpartisan, balanced and fair reporting and photojournalism. We aim, every day, to offer high-quality news and information for and about Western North Carolina.

I like scrappy. Scrappy is good.

Cross-posted from a Facing South article by Chris Kromm.

Thank you, dear readers, for another great year at Facing South! Due to your loyal readership and support (there's still time to chip in for our holiday fundraiser!), 2010 was a big success here at your favorite experiment in Southern-fried, non-profit, independent journalism. Here's what I'm most proud of: With only a fraction of the resources that bigger and flashier media outlets enjoy, we were again able to break big stories and deliver in-depth investigations that made a real impact on the national debate.

What kind of stories, you ask? Here is our annual look at some of the major issues where Facing South broke ground and helped keep you informed in 2010:

Cross-posted from a Facing South article by Chris Kromm

I'll admit it, I've got the holiday spirit.

Not the fruitcake-eating, gizmo-buying kind. I'm talking about the spirit of friendship, giving thanks and excitement about the promise of a New Year. I'm thankful for you and thousands of other friends who have made the Institute a powerful and effective voice for change in the South. From the Gulf Coast to the mountains of Appalachia, you helped the Institute expose problems others were sweeping under the rug, and give voice to people and issues others had ignored.

And now, you can join with us to strengthen our voice for a more just, safe and peaceful future. This month we're kicking off our 40th Anniversary Campaign for the Institute Investigative Fund. Our goal: To raise $35,000 by the end of the year to expand our investigative reporting, train a new generation of Southern journalists and double the audience we reach.

The right to vote. Free and fair elections. Every person having a say.

Growing up, this is probably what you learned democracy is
all about. And millions of people -- like the civil rights veterans who
founded the Institute for Southern Studies 40 years ago -- fought to
make it a reality.

But with the 2010 elections just a week away, we see dangerous signs everywhere that our democracy and voting rights are under attack:

An environmental watchdog is challenging the federal government's oft-made claim that recycling power plants' coal ash waste into consumer products helps the climate by reducing greenhouse gas pollution.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has filed a complaint under the Data Quality Act, also known as the Information Quality Act. The law charges federal agencies with "ensuring and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility and integrity of information" that they disseminate.

"Coal is our biggest source of greenhouse gases," says PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. "It is the height of absurdity to contend that the toxic wastes produced by coal combustion help our atmosphere."

Thanks to a certain oil spill and other attention-grabbing events, the nation's home foreclosure crisis has drifted off the news headlines.

But a new study by the Center for Responsible Lending shows that it's still a big and growing economic disaster -- and silently draining billions of dollars of wealth out of communities, especially African-American and Latino neighborhoods already battered by the recession.

Dear BlueNC reader -- I'm writing to ask for your help today.

As you know, the BP oil spill is one of our country's biggest disasters ever -- and for many on the Gulf Coast, the situation is only getting worse.

But do you feel like you're getting the whole story about the BP disaster? Over and over again, BP and politicians have blocked access to information and downplayed the impact of the catastrophe on ocean life and coastal communities.

I, along with Facing South's ace reporter Sue Sturgis, want to change that.

Cross posted from from Facing South

Coal ash isn't just dumped; it's increasingly being recycled into building materials and other uses. But in states like North Carolina, the failure to adequately regulate one so-called "beneficial use" of the toxic-filled waste is putting communities at risk.