Profile
Abrams campaigns at a barbecue restaurant in Atlanta on July 2
Akasha Rabut for TIME
Stacey Abrams Could Become America’s First Black Female Governor—If She Can Turn Georgia Blue
By Molly Ball | Photographs by Akasha Rabut for TIME
Editor’s Letter
Natalie Nelson for TIME
Why TIME Created a Special Issue on the American South
Photographs from Thibodeaux’s first monograph, In That Land of Perfect Day
Brandon Thibodeaux
My True South: Why I Decided to Return Home
By Jesmyn Ward
Oscar Diaz of the Cortez in Raleigh, N.C., which has become an exemplar of new Southern cuisine
Mike Belleme for TIME
How Southern Food Has Finally Embraced Its Multicultural Soul
By Gustavo Arellano | Photographs by Mike Belleme for TIME
The line outside a Trump rally in Nashville in the spring. Trump’s 2016 victory continued the GOP’s dominance of Southern politics
Luke Sharrett—Bloomberg/Getty Images
What Democrats Don’t Get About the South
By David French
A young woman skates in front of an LGBT Pride booth at a music festival in Berea, KY
Meg Wilson
The South Could Mend America’s Divide—If It Reckons With Its Past
By Jon Meacham
The Mississippi River, seen here north of New Orleans, feeds into the Port of South Louisiana, the largest port in the U.S. Port workers here have higher average starting salaries than workers in the tourism sector
Stacy Kranitz
Why the Mississippi Remains the South’s Most Vital Artery
Dispatches
Natalie Nelson for TIME
Waters of the Bayou
Natalie Nelson for TIME
Growing Up in a ‘Sundown Town’
By Silas House
Natalie Nelson for TIME
Jogging Through Paynes Prairie
By Lauren Groff
Natalie Nelson for TIME
Doe’s Eat Place
By Julia Reed
Natalie Nelson for TIME
In Elvis We Trust
By Ace Atkins
Natalie Nelson for TIME
The Church of SEC Football
Natalie Nelson for TIME
Fried Chicken on Race Day
Natalie Nelson for TIME
Hunting Camp
By David Joy
New Poetry
Waterfront area of Mobile is covered by water caused by high tides from hurricane Camille. Mobile did not suffer any substantial wind damage.
Bettmann/Getty Images
‘Duty’ a Poem by Natasha Trethewey
Side facade of cottage on Pulaski Street, Tybee Island, Georgia. Homes on this street were formerly barracks for enlisted men when Fort Screven was an active military installation.
Joseph Shields—Getty Images
‘Foreday in the Morning’ a Poem by Jericho Brown
Apple orchard at sunrise. Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina.
Jim McKinley—Getty Images
‘An Orchard at the Bottom of a Hill’ by Maurice Manning
Change Agents
Before launching a criminal-justice reform initiative in 1989, attorney and advocate Bryan Stevenson represented prisoners on the South’s death rows
Nick Frontiero
Meet the 31 People Who Are Changing the South
By TIME Staff
Photo Essay
Dayo Okeniyi, left, and Brad Carter on the set of Emperor, an upcoming historical drama produced by Freedom Run Films. Other historical films like Glory and Remember the Titans have also taken advantage of Georgia’s timeless landscapes.
RaMell Ross for TIME
How Georgia Became the Hollywood of the South: TIME Goes Behind the Scenes
By Eliana Dockterman | Photographs by RaMell Ross for TIME
Favorite Places
Miranda Lambert; Brittany Howard; Tim McGraw; Faith Hill
Getty Images (4)
Miranda Lambert, Faith Hill and Other Celebrities Share Their Favorite Spots in the South
By TIME Staff
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