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A time for reflection and best wishes for your new year


Welcome back to The American South!

If you're new here, thank you for subscribing and joining our community where we write revelatory stories about the South. You can keep up with our full slate of content on americansouth.usatoday.com. Our writers are incredible people dedicated to sound journalism and captivating storytelling.

For those of you who have been following our journey since our launch at the beginning of the year, we are especially grateful for your support. You can stay in the loop with our new moves in 2021 through Instagram or Facebook, and peruse a "short" list of my favorite stories of the year under Editor's Picks (see below).

Before I go, I would like to wish you and those you love a happy, healthy and safe new year. I know I'm not alone in this being a reflective time, even amid one of the most unusual and deeply challenging years. 

Take good care, 

Ashley Hopkinson (Editor, The American South) 

p.s. Pictures of 2020

PASSAGES 2020

  • A look at the icons, newsmakers and stars we lost in a year dominated by upheaval and COVID-19.

EDITOR'S PICKS 

I remember hearing about these historically Black churches burning just as I was contemplating a move from California back to the South. I followed this gripping story for weeks, so when I finally heard from the parishioners through this storytelling, it was a powerful moment. Parishioners of torched historically Black churches weigh justice, forgiveness. Read the full story here

Houses can be built. Gardens can be replanted. But how do you package a sense of home for an indigenous people? The state of Louisiana was 3 years into a $48 million plan to resettle Isle de Jean Charles residents. This was before COVID-19 hit. It’s estimated less than 50 people still reside on this land where a tribal community of 400 once lived. Read the full story here

Grief is not quantifiable. Even when there is a number, there is no true way to count the cost. As the death toll in New Orleans continued to rise, I became curious about the tradition of jazz funerals and wondered how a city, especially known for its street music (even at the end of life), was mourning in the age of COVID-19. Jazz funerals, normally a 'celebration of life,' are silenced: New Orleans grieves differently now. Read the full story here.

There was no shortage of important stories on the impact of COVID-19. It was hard to choose one so I'm sharing a few. This piece on promotoras in Mississippi made me think about community in a new way, as did this piece on grassroots organizations, this story on Southern restaurants, and this article on the Black community

HONORABLE MENTION : Small town protests, what civil rights stalwarts had to say about racial injustice, this chef profile and this cocktail story

OTHER NEWS IN THE SOUTH 

  • What is it like to manage sobriety as a restaurant worker in one of the most challenging years? More here
  • From Moon Pies to flip flops: 10 unique New Year's Eve drops from around the South. I'm not kidding when I say, this is a fun read
  • 'Someday the show will go on' : Southern artists, bartenders find hope in 2021