In the fall of 2014, just before the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board, then-Propublica reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones arrived at my high school newspaper class with a box of point-and-shoot cameras, enlisting our help with a story. Her project, "
Segregation Now," explored racial resegregation in my local school district and others across the country. As students, we helped capture the present-day reality of segregation – in the hallways, in the lunchroom and in after-school activities – across our divided school system. Our student photos were
published by The New York Times and displayed at a local art gallery.
After the story ran, I and a team of student reporters set out to establish a cross-district exchange program, where students from two of the district's high schools would swap schools for a few days and document their experiences. I wrote about the project in a column for the Tuscaloosa News, and we were later asked to speak about our work at national and state conferences.
Nikole is the reason I'm a journalist today. She taught me to find the historical through-lines, to work closely with communities, and to approach each story with a critical lens, no matter how small. At AL.com, I kept a close eye on a number of desegregation cases unfolding across the state, documenting the varied impacts that they have had on Black students and families. Below is a small sampling of that coverage.
Brown v. Board: Saving Alabama's Rosenwald Schools
Historical series reflecting on desegregation’s legacy and efforts to preserve Alabama’s Rosenwald schools. This story was praised by national education reporters and experts ahead of the 70th anniversary of Brown, and helped garner donations for a local school's fund.
60 Years After Integrating Alabama Schools, 3 Students Remember
On the 60th anniversary of school desegregation in the state, AL.com set out to create is the first known repository of oral histories from the students who integrated schools across the state in 1963. I traveled hours to different corners of the state with a video team to interview former students. The project, called "Season of Change" supported other stories commemorating events in Birmingham and elsewhere. A University of Alabama education professor wrote to me after this story ran, saying that she would make it required reading for her students.
Her Final Lesson: Remembering Autherine Lucy Foster
A tribute to the University of Alabama’s first Black student, reflecting on her legacy.
The “Best Gift”: Alabama School Celebrates Final Graduation Before Court-Ordered Closure
Coverage of a historic Alabama school’s final graduation, highlighting the challenges of sustaining small, majority-Black schools post-desegregation.
An Alabama Judge Will Have Final Say Over the Site of Chambers County’s Next High School
I covered a yearslong battle over a historic high school in a small, majority-Black town in Chambers County, Alabama, tracing its historical roots and connecting the impact of a local desegregation case with other school closures across the state.
