Scalawag (https://www.scalawagmagazine.org/author/mikecooper/)
Michael Cooper is an attorney at the McElwee Firm in his hometown of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in the foothills of Appalachia. He is Co-Director of New Leaders Council North Carolina, and has contributed to National Affairs, New Republic, U.S. News & World Report, the Charlotte Observer, and the Winston-Salem Journal.
The state’s Republican supermajority––which has wrought havoc on democracy, the environment, and civil rights––could come to an end. But these ballot initiatives could stand in the way of a progressive recovery.
State lawmakers who cut corporate taxes want court fines and fees to fund the government. So they’re coming up with ways to make judges jail people who can’t pay.
A small precinct ran out of ballots for voters from the mostly-Black part of town. The Black candidate lost by three votes. Now, a court has called a rerun.
Homelessness is a persistent problem in small towns and cities like Hickory, North Carolina, where industry has been trickling out for decades.
Redistricting, a conservative legislative agenda, and a Democratic attempt at a comeback will dominate the state’s politics this year.
Survivors of Hurricane Matthew and indigenous communities in North Carolina are fighting to stop a pipeline they see as America’s next climate crisis.
The UNC board of governors votes Friday on whether to defang the school’s Center for Civil Rights.