W.E.B. DuBois once said that “As the South goes, so goes the nation.” This sentiment rings as true today as it has historically. The United States of America, particularly in the Southern states, continues to extract itself from the deeply rooted impacts of centuries of intentionally oppressive and unjust laws, policies and culture.

A key finding of the Southern Landscape Scan research project is the region’s long- standing racial justice organizing and its underfunded reality. A few Southern states (such as Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, and Virginia) have seen the benefits of building up local social justice infrastructures.