WaPo: “Tennessee is a state of civil rights legends and ghosts, but there’s a new version of Black church and liberation politics here that’s becoming a sensation. It’s called the Justins. Since their GOP colleagues voted them out of office this spring, state Reps. Justin J. Pearson (D-Memphis) and Justin Jones (D-Nashville) have quickly become…

Political Wire: “Mississippi is a lighter shade of red than outsiders might think. It’s been consistently easy in recent years for Democrats to get up to 45 percent of the vote here, but nearly impossible for them to top 50.” “In 2023, their hope is that Brandon Presley, a longtime elected public service commissioner from…

The Guardian: “A historic Black fraternity is pulling its 2025 conference from Florida to protest the rightwing governor Ron DeSantis’s “continued assault” on minority communities, which includes new state teaching standards that forced labor was beneficial to enslaved people. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated said the decision to move its event from Orlando, joining a growing…

MSN: “Six white former law enforcement officers in Mississippi who called themselves the “Goon Squad” pleaded guilty Thursday to a racist assault on two Black men in a home raid that ended with an officer shooting one man in the mouth. The officers entered the house without a warrant on Jan. 24, assaulting the men with…

MS Today: “The Democratic Governors Association announced Tuesday the organization is donating $750,000 to Brandon Presley’s campaign for governor, giving the Democratic candidate a boost in operating expenses as the bitter governor’s race heats up.  Meghan Meehan-Draper, the executive director of the DGA, said in a statement that the organization has a track record of…

WaPo: “A federal judge in Arkansas temporarily blocked a state law that would have made it a crime for librarians and booksellers to give minors materials deemed “harmful” to them — a move celebrated by free-speech advocates, who had decried the law as a violation of individual liberties. Act 372 would have taken effect Tuesday. U.S….

Yahoo!: “Florida’s new social studies educational standards have drawn national scrutiny from academics and politicians alike, particularly the state’s revised language around how skills enslaved people learned could be used for their “benefit.” The language has been attacked by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ opponents in the 2024 presidential campaign on both sides of the aisle, including the Democratic Vice…

NY Times: “A Georgia judge forcefully rejected on Monday an effort by former President Donald J. Trump to derail an investigation into attempts by Mr. Trump and his allies to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state — an investigation that is expected to yield indictments in mid-August. Mr. Trump tried to get Judge…

NY Times: “It has been decades since there was any real uncertainty at the top of the Republican Party in the Senate. But Senator Mitch McConnell’s alarming freeze-up at a news conference on Wednesday at the Capitol, as well as new disclosures about other recent falls, have shaken his colleagues and intensified quiet discussion about…

Politico: “Florida Democrats see a possible path to winning America’s once-foremost battleground state: Abortion and marijuana. National Democrats had all but written off Florida as a lost cause — a former purple state turned solid red by the MAGA movement and Gov. Ron DeSantis. But key party leaders in the state, desperate to turn things…