Salvation South

Sixty years ago, there was a long-running TV program called “The Andy Griffith Show,” which took place in a fictional North Carolina town called Mayberry. The show’s laughter and life lessons were built on small-town Southern values.

Salvation South Editor Chuck Reece explores the shows deeper meaning and explains why it resonates so personally for him in this week's episode.

Pimento cheese is a classic Southern dish — a staple of Sunday dinners, Saturday tailgate parties, and late-night snacking. But did you know that pimento cheese did not originate in the South? Salvation South editor Chuck Reece was as surprised to find this out as you probably are. He explains in this week's commentary.

For a decade, Salvation South editor Chuck Reece has focused his work on the region in which he lives — the American South. After spending years pondering the question of why Southerners feel such pride for their region, he’s learned some things about where that pride comes from as he explains in this week's commentary.

Few foods are as divisive as oysters. In this week's commentary, Salvation South Editor Chuck Reece shares that the divide extends beyond the taste and texture and into the very cultivation of this Southern staple.

There is a very significant community down on Alabama’s Mobile Bay called Africatown — established after the Civil War by formerly enslaved people, who were brought to America aboard the illegal slave ship Cotilda, the last to land on this country’s shores. Over time, Africatown became one of the largest African American-governed communities in America.

Salvation South editor Chuck Reece has the story in this week’s commentary.

Many Georgians are at work this fall, preserving the bounty of the vegetable gardens they planted back in the springtime. In this week's commentary, Salvation South Editor Chuck Reece shares found memories of canning and putting up time spent with his Aunt Mary.

In the early 1960s, in places like Memphis, Tenn., and Muscle Shoals, Ala., groups of young Black and white musicians made hit records together in defiance of Jim Crow.  In this week's commentary, Salvation South Editor Chuck Reece explains why the significance of Southern soul music goes far beyond its irresistible call to the dance floor.

When Afghanistan fell back into the hands of the Taliban last year, thousands of Afghan people who had worked to assist U.S. forces scrambled to leave the country and begin new lives elsewhere. In this week's commentary, Salvation South Editor Chuck Reece has the story of one such Afghan family — and what their experience might teach us about life in America.

One of country music’s greatest and most influential stars, Loretta Lynn, died this week at age 90. Her fearless and powerful writing spoke for rural people everywhere — particularly for rural women. Salvation South editor Chuck Reece has this remembrance.

The end of summer means the end of the season for what is probably the nastiest creature in the southern ecosystem according to Salvation South Editor Chuck Reece. He explains why the pesky yellow fly is so despised in this week's commentary.