Uplifting unheard voices and agitating the status quo in the Deep South. Covering LA, MS, AL, GA, an Have a story you think should be told?
Founder Ashton Pittman began Deep South Voice as a short-term journalism class project in 2011, but it has since morphed into a passionate pursuit to dig deep into issues that touch the heart of communities across the region. We’ve been the first to unearth stories that impact underserved communities and put humanity back at the forefront of political, social, and economic issues. This gay-owned p
ublication gained notoriety in 2014 after we broke the story on Mississippi Senate Bill 2681, a so-called “religious freedom” bill written by out-of-state actors to enable discrimination against the LGBT community by making an exception for individuals and businesses that cite “deeply held religious views” as justification. Our coverage drew national attention from LGBT rights organizations and figures, including the Human Rights Campaign and former 'N Sync star Lance Bass, a Mississippi native. Though the mainstream media missed the story initially, our work drove it to the forefront of a statewide debate, and a number of House members who had not understood the bill’s implications when they first voted for it re-examined the bill, changed their votes, and began to speak out fervently against it. A significantly smaller majority of legislators ultimately approved the bill, and Governor Phil Bryant signed S.B. 2681 into law that spring. Still, we shined a light on the legislation's true intent, and the ensuing statewide conversation proved we were onto something. Because we believe in making a difference telling stories that matter, we’ve decided to dedicate our resources and talents to Deep South Voice full time. We’ll tackle tough topics, seek the truth, and strive for substantive change. We’re also a source for daily news and how it affects the diverse communities in the Deep South states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Join us on this journey as we lift up the voices of those around us. Reach out to [email protected].
04/13/2021
BREAKING: The NCAA is considering banning all sports championships in Mississippi after Gov. Tate Reeves signed an anti-trans bill into law that targets transgender teen and young adult athletes.
The state could lose millions in revenue as a result.
Mississippi could lose out on college championships and millions in revenue after Gov. Tate Reeves signed a law effectively banning transgender athletes from high school and college sports.
03/31/2021
BREAKING: A group of Mississippi activists are announcing a ballot initiative tomorrow that, if adopted, would require all counties to offer at least 10 days of early voting to all Mississippians, including on the two Saturdays before each election.
Mississippi currently offers no early voting options.
On Election Day last November, many Mississippians waited for hours in line to cast their ballots at some precincts, requiring some to miss work or find babysitters for their children. Now, a north Mississippi lawmaker and a group of activists have a plan to make democracy more accessible and flexib...
02/14/2021
BREAKING: The Louisiana Republican Party has voted unanimously to censure Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican, for his vote to impeach Donald Trump.
But former Sen. Mary Landrieu, the Democrat he defeated in 2014, praised him as "a true patriot."
The Republican Party of Louisiana is condemning U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican, for his vote to convict Donald Trump
02/13/2021
BREAKING: Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, voted to convict Trump today, surprising many observers.
"Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty," Sen. Cassidy said.
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, joined six other Republicans who voted to convict Donald Trump for incitement of insurrection at the conclusion of his impeachment trial today.
01/08/2021
Congress should take immediate action to remove President Donald Trump from office after yesterday’s insurrection at the nation’s Capitol, U.S. House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, Mississippi’s most powerful congressman, said in a statement this afternoon. House Democrats introduced articles of impeachment today, charging the president with inciting an insurrection.
“Never in my life did I ever expect to see a sitting president incite violent extremists at a rally and, after they stormed both the House and Senate chambers, raised the Confederate flag and erected a noose, tell them in a video that he loved them,” Thompson, a Black Democrat who represents Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District, said in a House Homeland Security Committee statement today.
Congress should take immediate action to remove President Donald Trump from office after yesterday’s insurrection at the nation’s Capitol, U.S. House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson, Mississippi’s most powerful congressman, said in a statement this afternoon. House Democrats introduced articles of impeachment today, charging the president with inciting an insurrection.
“Never in my life did I ever expect to see a sitting president incite violent extremists at a rally and, after they stormed both the House and Senate chambers, raised the Confederate flag and erected a noose, tell them in a video that he loved them,” Thompson, a Black Democrat who represents Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District, said in a House Homeland Security Committee statement today.
“What occurred yesterday at our nation’s Capitol was—pure and simple—domestic terrorism incited by President Trump, his enablers, and those seeking to overturn the results of a legitimate election,” Thompson said in today’s statement. “January 6, 2021 will go down in history as the date that an angry mob of domestic terrorists and insurrectionists illegally tried to prevent our elected representatives from fulfilling their constitutional duty in the orderly transfer of power.
Though Biden will take office on Jan. 20, Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, called for Trump’s cabinet and Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power and seat Pence for the remaining 13 days of Trump’s term. If they do not, though, Pelosi said the House will consider a swift impeachment.
“In calling for this seditious act, the president has committed an unspeakable assault on our nation and our people,” Pelosi said today, calling Trump “a very dangerous person who should not continue in office. … If the vice president and cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment. That is the overwhelming sentiment of my caucus.”
Thompson echoed her sentiments in the House Homeland Security Committee statement today.
“Though it has been apparent for years, it is more clear than ever that President Trump is a direct threat to the homeland each remaining minute he is in power,” Thompson said today. “He must be removed from office immediately.”
Congress should take immediate action to remove President Donald Trump from office after yesterday’s insurrection at the nation’s Capitol, U.S. House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement this afternoon.
12/30/2020
Luke Letlow, 41, would've taken office next week as Louisiana's newest congressman.
But he died this evening—11 days after testing positive for COVID-19.
He held multiple maskless indoor events in the weeks leading up to his election early this month.
Congressman-elect Luke Letlow, 41, has died in a Shreveport, La., hospital after falling ill with COVID-19.
11/17/2020
NEW: Families who hold big Thanksgiving gatherings this year could be planning small funerals by Christmas, Mississippi's top health officials warned.
“We don’t really want to see Mamaw at Thanksgiving and bury her by Christmas," Dr. Mark Horne said.
"It’s going to happen. You’re going to say hi at Thanksgiving, it’s so nice to see you, and you’re either going to be visiting her by Facetime in the ICU or planning a small funeral by Christmas,” the MSMA president said.
Mississippians should plan “to have very small Thanksgiving gatherings” with only nuclear family members this year to stay safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs and other public health officials warned on Friday.
09/01/2020
"As I’ve gone along through the years and looked back, I’ve said to myself really that I am a racist. Everytime I read a definition, I say, ‘Well, that’s me.’ I have no apology for it, though. It’s me."
The man who said those words is M.M. Roberts—the namesake for the University of Mississippi's football stadium, where Black athletes play football on a field that is also named for a segregationist.
On Friday, every football player, Black and white, walked out of their planned practice and marched across campus in a protest against racism in policing.
“Black Lives Matter,” the University of Southern Mississippi football team chanted as the entire group, backed by coaches and staff, marched out of Friday’s planned practice and to the front of campus to protest racial injustice. Dozens of mask-wearing fellow USM students and local residents j...
05/30/2020
Brittany Jefferson had just left her grandmother’s house on June 2, 2017, when she stopped at a red light on Evelyn Gandy Parkway in Petal, Miss., and spotted a black man lying on the ground, with two white men and a white Petal police officer next to a blue Buick SUV.
A “gut feeling” told her to pull her phone out and start recording, but the white 20-year-old college student decided against it. “It’s probably just a traffic stop or something,” Jefferson thought to herself, figuring the light would turn green before she could even press record.
The light remained red, though, and soon the man, who was wearing a white tank top, stood up, his empty hands stretched out to either side. The officer, standing at a distance, drew his pistol and pointed it at him. Jefferson could tell the man was saying something to the officer, but could not make out the words they exchanged through her car windows.
Moments later, the man took what looked to her like one small step toward the officer. Three shots rang out.
Marc Davis, a 34-year-old father of five from LaPlace, La., fell face-forward onto the ground, minutes after he had been in a car accident and called 911 for help. A doctor at Forrest General Hospital would later pronounce him dead.
In 2017, Marc Davis called 911 because he was injured after a car accident. Shortly after, a Petal, Miss., police officer shot him three times, killing him. His family wants answers.
05/11/2020
"Black men I interviewed who had jogged in White neighborhoods where they lived reported incidents of the police being called on them, neighbors scurrying to the other side of the street as they approached, receiving disgruntled looks and seeing the shutting of screen doors as they passed."
Black men are often criminalized in public spaces—that means they are perceived as potential threats and predators. Consequently, their blackness is weaponized.
05/08/2020
BREAKING: Georgia's top law enforcement agency has charged two men with the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man who was jogging when officials say a white father and son duo chased him down with fi****ms and killed him.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has charged two white men for murder and aggravated assault in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who was jogging in a Georgia residential area when officials say the alleged killers "confronted him with two fi****ms."
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Founder Ashton Pittman began Deep South Voice as a short-term journalism class project in 2011, but it has since morphed into a passionate pursuit to dig deep into issues that touch the heart of communities across the region. We’ve been the first to unearth stories that impact underserved communities and put humanity back at the forefront of political, social, and economic issues.
This gay-owned publication gained notoriety in 2014 after we broke the story on Mississippi Senate Bill 2681, a so-called “religious freedom” bill written by out-of-state actors to enable discrimination against the LGBT community by making an exception for individuals and businesses that cite “deeply held religious views” as justification. Our coverage drew national attention from LGBT rights organizations and figures, including the Human Rights Campaign and former ‘N Sync star Lance Bass, a Mississippi native.
Though the mainstream media missed the story initially, our work drove it to the forefront of a statewide debate, and a number of House members who had not understood the bill’s implications when they first voted for it re-examined the bill, changed their votes, and began to speak out fervently against it. A significantly smaller majority of legislators ultimately approved the bill, and Governor Phil Bryant signed S.B. 2681 into law that spring. Still, we shined a light on the legislation’s true intent, and the ensuing statewide conversation proved we were onto something.
Because we believe in making a difference telling stories that matter, we’ve decided to dedicate our resources and talents to Deep South Voice full time. We’ll tackle tough topics, seek the truth, and strive for substantive change. We’re also a source for daily news and how it affects the diverse communities in the Deep South states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
Join us on this journey as we lift up the voices of those around us.
Have a story you think should be told? Send an email to [email protected].
