Discovering a new progressive blog that has a focus on Southern politics, communities, and issues is always like getting an unexpected present on Christmas morning or your birthday. The lack of news and opinions that are expressed from a progressive point of view in the South makes that much more difficult to rally people around a broad-based progressive agenda, as many people who might be allies have no idea what’s going on in their city, county, or state.
We at The South Lawn are going to do our part in combatting the lack of information about progressive issues in the South by introducing a blogroll for every state in the South. As you can see, our blogroll is fairly thin at the moment, and that is where we are counting on YOU! We have some parameters for our blogroll, though:
- The blog must be based within our 12-state coverage area (the map can be found on the blogroll).
- The blogs must be done by citizens (like us) or progressive news organizations (like The Texas Observer). We love our non-profits, but many of their blogs are narrowly tailored to the work that they are doing as organizations, and their posts can read as press releases.
- The coverage must be predominantly about local/state issues. There are enough folks covering the comings and goings of Washington, D.C.; we would like to know the issues affecting Washington, Georgia or Washington, North Carolina. Of course, if a blog is covering the ways in which federal politics affects communities at the local level, that is also fine.
- The blog must post regularly. You have no idea how frustrating it can be to go through a blogroll, only to find out that the person last posted in May (or in 2008), or has undergone an ideological change of heart in the time since the blog was initially listed on the blogroll.
We are happy to be doing our part to ensure that progressive voices in the South are heard. We hope that you will join us in making our list more inclusive and representative of the tapestry that comprises Southern progressivism.
The South Lawn 