Stories

Oral Histories: Southern Voices

  • Ralph Paige: Black Land Loss

    Ralph Paige served the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund for more than 30 years, 15 as Executive Director. The Federation improves the quality of rural life through housing, community credit unions, cooperatives and training programs. It helps small farmers access the full range of USDA programs and keeps thousands of landowners informed of their rights and...

  • Cheryl Peterson: Next Generation, Hope for the Delta

    As Senior Managing Director of McIntosh SEED (Sustainable Environment and Economic Development), Cheryl Peterson provides technical assistance to organizations in youth leadership and development, community outreach and engagement, local and regional organizational development, and educational supervision and instruction. McIntosh SEED is a grassroots organization that fosters quality...

  • Mayra Rangel: Need for ACIJ, Challenges of being Undocumented

    At age 16, Mayra Rangel walked through the desert for six days to escape poverty and find a job to support her family back in Mexico. Her activism began in 2011 when the Alabama legislature passed HB56, the nation’s strictest immigration law. She helped the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice defeat many parts of the bill. Since then, she has continued to volunteer, organize, register...

  • Daa'iyah Salaam: Opportunity in the South

    For five years, Daa’iyah Salaam served as Business Development Specialist for the Southwest Georgia Project, an organization founded in 1961 to educate, engage and empower through advocacy and community organizing. The organization has successfully addressed school segregation, welfare rights, voter rights and education, housing, land loss, economic development and unfair policies affecting...

  • Perry Perkins: South as a Dumping Ground

    Perry Perkins is the Supervisory Organizer for the southern region of the Industrial Areas Foundation, the nation’s oldest and largest network of organizers and training institute for institutional organizing. He serves on the National Strategic Team and is Co-Chair of the Staff Transition Process. Perkins also serves as Lead Organizer for Together Louisiana, the coalition of IAF-affiliated...