If we as progressive funders are serious about blocking authoritarianism and building a liberated world, we must step up our support and resource the progressive South in the long term. Since the founding of this nation, the South has been the epicenter of the country’s deepest authoritarian tendencies, but it has also been the birthplace of our most significant achievements in democratic repair.
We are both from the South: ada smith from Kentucky and Hillary Holley from Georgia. For our entire lives, we have witnessed funders come in and out of our states, and our communities have felt the consequences. We see a boom of investment when Washington pollsters deem a Southern state “flippable,” and then the cycle ends, and the dollars disappear. Our friends and movement leaders have to lay off organizers and fight authoritarian attacks with mere pennies. Unlike that now-obsolete copper coin, progressive Southern communities are born every day and deserve funding that keeps up. Then, we watch as the nation spins out when those same autocratic actions spread to the federal level. It’s a dangerous cycle: One that has led us to this current political moment.
As we head into the 2026 midterms, candidates in Florida, Tennessee, and Texas showcase a 21st century vision of a new progressive South Despite little support from national funders, their success and ever-growing popularity is a testament to the power of state-based organizing and power-building efforts. It’s also proof that Southern communities are ripe and ready for change. Through real foundational organizing, a new era for the South – and the country – can emerge.
As funders and philanthropists, if we are to act on our responsibility to invest in the resistance against authoritarianism, the South must be centered, not just with short-term outcomes in mind, but through multi-year commitments for a generation. It’s critical that we unlock unrestricted 501(c)(4) funding so that groups on the ground can engage in direct political and electoral activities while continuing their year-round advocacy work.
The South is rapidly moving into deeply dangerous territory. Louisiana v. Callais essentially demolished the Voting Rights Act, and conservatives are acting fast to collapse Black leadership. As many as 19 Black-led congressional districts and thousands of local offices and school boards are at risk of being