#southern-united-states

#southern-united-states

As a daughter of the Mississippi Delta and Black woman in the South, so many narratives about me have been told without me. My body, as trauma specialist Bessel van der Kolk would say, keeps the score. Nevertheless, as a journalist, entrepreneur, mental health counselor, evaluator, and now foundation program officer, I have had the opportunity to combine and crystallize the importance of storytelling, leadership, healing, and lived expertise.

Nearly two million Black families in the US South have zero or negative net worth. More than half of the nation's Black population ( about 56 percent) lives in the South, including those nearly two million families with no monetary wealth. To compound the issue, this summer saw Black women nationally lose 300,000 jobs even as the US economy continues to grow.

Many professors in the US south, particularly in Florida, South Carolina and Texas, are considering leaving their state because of the impact the political climate is having on education, according to a new survey by the American Association of Professors. Of those interviewed in the survey, roughly a quarter of respondents said they applied for a job in higher education in another state since the start of 2023.