In our second episode, Jesse offers the first Headlights weekly news round-up: a fight over library books in Arkansas, the rocky tenure of Louisiana’s top environmental official, and an attempt to block undocumented children from Tennessee public schools. He then heads out on the road to Richmond, Va., where he talks to community organizer Quinton Robbins, chair of a grassroots group called Richmond For All. They have had success both electing candidates to local office and pushing back against big-dollar development plans that threatened local communities. In the arts and culture segment, he checks in on the first-ever Biscuits & Banjos Festival in North Carolina, organized by musician and scholar Rhiannon Giddens.
Richmond For All
“Richmond’s $1.5B Navy Hill Project Is Dead” Virginia Business, 2/11/20
“The Tyranny of Structurelessness” Joe Freeman
Durham For All
Memphis For All
Arkansas library fight:
“Crawford County Library Will Foot the Bill for Lawsuit Over Segregation of LGBTQ Childrens Books” Arkansas Advocate, 4/29/25
Order from U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III
Louisiana DEQ:
“Top financial official the latest to depart from Louisiana Dept. of Environmental Quality” Louisiana Illuminator, 4/28/25
Roger Ward’s resignation letter from LDEQ
Tennessee undocumented students bill:
“What States Can Learn From Tennessee’s Fight Over Undocumented Students” Education Week, 4/25/25
Biscuits and Banjos Festival
“Rhiannon Giddens’ New Music Festival Celebrates Black Music, Art, Culture in N.C.” National Public Radio, 04/29/25
CONTACT:
Jesse Mayshark jmayshark@theprogressivesouth.org
(865) 214-7764
