Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Aallyah Wright reports on rural affairs and leads race and equity coverage for Stateline, the news branch of the Pew Charitable Trusts. Over these last months, Aallyah’s reporting has also ended up in the Daily Yonder, our partner program. She’s covered some of the most historically important issues of our time, including the intersections of race and COVID-19, the varied masking policies in schools across the South, a story about women’s health and period equity and stories about rural labor shortages. Before joining Stateline Aallyah worked for Mississippi Today, a digital nonprofit newsroom covering K-12 education and government in the Mississippi Delta, which is her home region. As a member of the Delta Bureau, she investigated Mississippi’s teacher shortage finding it was six times worse than in 1998 when the Mississippi legislature passed a bill to alleviate the crisis. She is a 2020 Mississippi humanities council preserver of Mississippi culture. 

She is a 2020 Mississippi humanities council preserver. I’ll come back to that. Is it, she’s a Mississippi humanities council preserver of Mississippi cultural award recipient? That’s a long phrase, it’s worth saying, I’m going to say it. She is a 2020 Mississippi’s, let’s try that again. She is a 2020 Mississippi humanities council preserver of Mississippi culture award recipient, a 2019 StoryWorks theater fellow and  a 2018 educating children in Mississippi fellow at the Hechinger Report. Aliyah graduated from Delta State University with a bachelor’s in journalism and minor in communication and another minor in theater. And I’m so grateful to have her join us on Everywhere Radio. Hi Aallyah. 

Aallyah Wright: 

Hey Whitney Kimball Coe. How are you? 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

I’m wonderful. Thank you so much for saying yes to this conversation with me. 

Aallyah Wright: 

Well, thank you so much for wanting me to be a part of this conversation. I am honored and grateful to be here and have conversation with you today. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

I’ve been a big fan of yours for a long time, I’ve been following your reporting, especially since you joined Stateline And I often re-share, re-post your stories to my friends throughout the South in particular. And I’m always struck by how you have your finger on the pulse of what at least me and my friends are talking about and what our communities are dealing with, everything from COVID-19, to period equity, to labor. So I’m again, very happy you’re here. And I wanted just to get started by asking you to tell me about your journey to journalism, how did you find your way into reporting? And was it something you always wanted to do? And certainly, I also want to know as part of your answer, was it something you wanted to do in your, or for your region in Mississippi? 

Aallyah Wright: 

Oh, what a great question. It’s funny because every time someone asks me this and I reflect on the journey, I’m like, oh my goodness, I didn’t know that I wanted to be a reporter or even be in the journalism industry. I remember as a little girl, I always loved to write, I knew I wanted to do something with writing, but I didn’t necessarily know what that would be at that time. And I remember between my junior and senior years of high school, my classmates and I were talking about what were we going to major in with colleges and universities, where we going to apply to, and I had no clue. I didn’t know what I would do or where I would go and I just recall my classmates saying, you should be a reporter, you should be a news reporter. I’m like, what, where did that even come from? And I think I didn’t feel like that could be a path for me because I didn’t necessarily see anyone who looked like me locally that were reporters even at the local newspaper, I didn’t know, or see anyone or have any personal connections. 

Aallyah Wright: 

And so time was winding down and I said, “You know what? I’m going to try this thing called journalism and I’m going to see if I like it.” And so I applied to one of the nearest journalism programs, which was at Delta State University. And the first two years, everything seemed great, I was learning the fundamentals of journalism, of reporting, of writing and interviewing, but I wasn’t connecting to the craft. So Whitney Kimball Coe, I really thought I was going to change my major and find something else. And then something happened. There was a student on campus who reached out because all of their belongings had been ruined because of a flood that had happened over spring break. And I’m like, what? What did you know administration do or say, are they going to replace your belongings? What’s going on? And what I found out that the women’s residents hall at the time, during that period was filled with mold and asbestos and there were leaks and all sorts of things happening. 

And the student body, the women, the young women who lived in that dorm felt like no one was listening. I went in one student’s dorm room and I saw that they had painted over, I don’t know if they had painted over the mold, but I know it was like fresh paint that they had put up and still you could see buckets of trash cans in the hallway, all sorts of things. And so I wanted answers and I reached out to administration. I didn’t get a response, I didn’t think they took me seriously as a student journalist. And one thing happened, my editor at the time, which was also my professor she said, “Anytime, someone doesn’t want to give you an answer, tell them that you’re going to publish the story with or without their quote.” And so I do that. I reached out and said, “Hey, I’m going to report this story, it’s going to be published on Monday with or without your quote.” And I literally got a response instantly. 

But in that process, I found out that this wasn’t a new issue for the women’s residence hall. It had been leaking for years and they had always done roof repairs. And there were so many things and so much more information to that story that students and other folks on campus didn’t necessarily know about. And after that, the students, the young women told me, we finally feel heard, somebody listened to us, thank you so much for sharing our stories. And it was in that moment that it clicked for me that I can amplify the voices of people who aren’t necessarily at the forefront of the coverage or even have their stories a part of that coverage. And also that dorm is no longer in use, so I can’t necessarily say it was because of my reporting that led to that, but it did spark some conversations about what’s happening and what should be done. So that’s how I got into journalism and stayed in journalism because immediately after college, I got my first job at Mississippi Today. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

And you decided to stay in your region. I mean, you got that job at Mississippi Today, stay in your region and I imagine that some of your experience of reporting issues from the region, mirror that experience that you had in college. Where you are helping give voice to individuals who don’t feel heard, or maybe are not at the forefront of coverage and also, you’re giving voice to issues that have been long time percolating. These are not new conversations necessarily we’re having, we’re just making sure that they’re at the forefront. Is there a recent story or a recent piece of coverage that you feel is somewhat of a mirror to what you started there in college? 

Aallyah Wright: 

I think one of the stories I wrote recently would be the story about how rural hospitals can’t find nurses and it was important. Well, I’ll say, being from the Delta, a rural area in the South, I know how there have been a lot of hospital closures over the years. And I know from my personal experience, as well as family members and other folks, I know just the challenges that they have with access to affordable healthcare and transportation, so many of these things. And so with me having that background of that knowledge, it strengthens the work that I do, but it also helps me to figure out what type of stories need to be told. So when I was seeing a lot of publications across the country, writing about hospitals being overwhelmed, my first question was, how are rural hospitals getting through these? Who are super small, but mighty and may not have the resources or the budget, all of those things. And so that’s when I decided to pursue that story from a rural context. 

Aallyah Wright: 

And so I think one of the things that I learned with that reporting when it came to the labor shortages is how much dire the shortages are in rural hospitals. I think the statistic was 60% of professional health shortage areas were in rural places and I just thought that was astounding to see that statistic. But then also, just talking to folks saying, we’ve always had challenges with retaining and recruiting nurses and hospital staff in rural areas, this isn’t a new issue, COVID only amplified that. And so I think I want to always, in a lot of my reporting, it shows that, and as you’ve mentioned, a lot of the issues that we’re seeing and we’re covering are things that have always been happening for decades even and it’s like, we can’t turn a blind eye to the things that have already been happening. 

Yeah. And even with that story, I wanted to see what rural hospitals were doing in terms of trying to retain and recruit nurses and hospital staff. And they were telling me, sources telling me how they’re trying to come up with sign-on bonuses and stipends and just trying to use money, financial incentives to bring folks in. But even that wasn’t enough for some rural hospitals, just because they don’t have the size and scale, or even the other things that come with being in a rural area, such as the aging population, the aging workforce, quality of life, so many other things that are internal and external factors that still contribute to the problem. And so, yeah, that’s one of the recent stories I covered that mirrored some of the things that I’ve known for ever, for being- 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

And part of your experience too. And that story just for our listeners, it appeared in Stateline and it’s also in the Daily Yonder because Lee is kind enough and so is Stateline to share some of these really incredible pieces with us. I wanted to ask you a little bit more about your race and equity bit, that that’s your focus for Stateline, what does that mean? And how do you weave that into your own maybe mission statement for yourself about what you’re doing in the world? 

Aallyah Wright: 

It’s interesting because I asked myself all this time, what does race and equity, what does that even mean to lead race and equity coverage? And I don’t think of it necessarily as a bit per se, but I think about it in terms of how does the intersection of race and equity influence or contribute to this particular issue or topic that I’m covering? So I immediately just think about, put on that lens when I’m reporting out and figuring out the role that that plays. And I think rule is so broad of a topic that there’s not necessarily one specific issue or bit. And so what I try to keep in mind, even with the race and equity piece, it’s also, how do my lived experience as a young Black woman from the Mississippi Delta, how can I put that at the forefront and how can I let that inform the reporting? But also I think that even with that experience, it helps me to notice, what are inequities and who are the voices that need to be amplified. 

And so in addition to that, I think about when we talk about issues of rural hospitals closures or rural hospitals not finding nurses or school mass policies, all of these different things I’m reporting on, I think about who is being helped or who is being harmed. And that also helps me to figure out, okay, who are the voices that need to be in these stories and in this coverage, but also who are the community experts who know all about these things that aren’t being given a platform to talk through some stuff. And usually I think about women, I think about young folks, students, and also communities of color. And so that’s how I think about that and I approach the work, but I think also just knowing communities of color are not a monolith, rule America is not a monolith, there’s so much more nuance and context that have to be added to the reporting. So I just think about all those things and it helps me to think through that more thoroughly, I would say. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Oh, thank you for that. I’m wondering if there are any voices, from your reporting, maybe within this year, that you still think about, people whom you’ve interviewed in rural, in the Mississippi Delta or elsewhere whose story or contribution to your reporting, you still carry with you. 

Aallyah Wright: 

Oh man, that’s a good question. I think it’s always, when I talk to the folks who are on the ground, in the trenches day in, day out working through these things. So it’s not necessarily one particular person, but it’s always, and I hate to say, the human element, I hate to use that term, but it’s literally, those folks who know it best and just hearing, not only the toll that the pandemic has taken on them, but how they’re just trying to thrive and survive while figuring out how to navigate a lot of these issues. I’m just thinking about now the school best policy story and the varied guidance on how some people think that State government leaders, lawmakers should decide on if there should be math mandates or not, or if it should be left up to the local level or if it should be up to the parents. 

Aallyah Wright: 

And I just remember one parent telling me, and I may not have this exactly right in the form that she said it, or the way that she said it, but she was just like, “We should be thinking about the kids first, but also, my kid’s life is more than your political statement.” And when she said that, I was like, oh my goodness. And she was like, this is life or death and we have to think about it in those terms. And so, yeah, it’s just things like that, how people are feeling, how people are, like I mentioned previously, just navigating all of this. It always sticks with me. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

I wanted to ask you about the article you wrote about period equity, it just came out of nowhere and in a wonderful way. I’ve been working a lot with a local group here in my hometown around this issue of period equity, making sure that menstruating individuals have access to the products that they need or the essential products that they need. And it’s not something that has gained a whole lot of traction in my small Southern town, but slowly but surely we’re educating folks about it. So I wonder how you found that topic and if you could describe the story that you were telling in your article. 

Aallyah Wright: 

So I think this particular issue of not having access to affordable menstrual products and education has been something I’ve thought about for a long time, even when I didn’t know it was called period poverty. I had seen classmates in high school who had gone through that, who didn’t have access to those products and what that did to them and how that affected them. And so when I was in Mississippi, I wanted to explore this a little bit more. I remember speaking with a local community activists who advocates for reproductive rights and works a lot in the childcare sector. And she talked about how parents, mothers, didn’t have the finances to pay for diapers and baby supplies and also period’s supplies and that stuck with me too, just talking with her about how she tries to raise funds, to be able to provide this for folks in the community. 

So when I got to Stateline, I always have, on my pad, I have different reporter pads with story ideas, and I need to organize them now that I think about it, but that was on my list, to be able to write a story about that. And so I just started researching around to see what was happening in that space, because I knew it didn’t go away just because we were in the pandemic. And so I saw that there were three States at the time, who passed legislation to, in the sales tax on menstrual products and I was like, oh, okay. And I didn’t see much about it, I think I saw another news publication that had written about it and I was like, oh, I want to write about this too. Especially since it was something on my idea list or story ideas list. 

And I wanted to know what else was happening, if there were three States who had done this, and if I’m not mistaken, it was Louisiana, Maine and Vermont, what other States were doing. And I saw that a handful of States had filed legislation, but they didn’t become law. And so I wanted to know what’s happening in this space, it seems like we’re seeing momentum, but we’re not, I don’t really know. And so one thing I wanted to do was talk to a doctor, who had seen patients, 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Aallyah Wright: 

 I wanted to talk to a doctor about what does this look like when she’s encountering patients and how do they even approach it, approach this topic? And she mentioned that there are a lot of women and individuals who menstruate, who aren’t even comfortable with telling their doctor about this. So how many more folks are affected? And then she talked about what lawmakers were doing in terms of ending the sales tax was only one part of the pie or one piece to the puzzle, which I thought was really interesting. And also some period equity advocates and experts had also said the same thing. 

Aallyah Wright: 

But I think what I didn’t know, that I wanted to get across to folks, was more about the impact, not necessarily of ending the sales tax or making it more affordable, but what happens when women and individuals who menstruate don’t have these products. And so my reporting shows that women of color, because they experience poverty more likely than White women, that they would also be disproportionately affected by not having these products. Also, it can lead to health risk that I did not even know and I thought that was really important to talk about. So that’s basically how, I already had the idea for it, I had seen a little bit of coverage and what some lawmakers were doing, but then I wanted to bring home to talk about, what did I think should happen next, but also how does not having access to these products affect folks? 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Absolutely. Yeah. I think that’s why it was a really meaningful article for me to read and for others with whom I shared it, because even just talking about it, bringing it out into the open, presenting it as credible coverage is a way of de-stigmatizing this conversation and this topic as well. So I really appreciated that piece. And I wanted to shift gears just slightly and give a plug for the Rural Women Everywhere Conference, that it’s a virtual conference that Rural Assembly will be having, October the 19th and 20th. So we will be gathering many rural women from all over the country to talk about all kinds of topics and also to talk about women in their lives who have influenced them. And I wanted to ask you a question we’re going to be asking some of our speakers at Rural Women Everywhere. Who in your life, what women in your life have really influenced you or left an indelible mark in some way? 

Aallyah Wright: 

I have my tribe of women who I just love so much and respect and admire, and I feel so bad because I’m like, oh, should I really list off all the women? 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

I don’t mean to put you in a bad spot. 

Aallyah Wright: 

No. And then list off all the women, then I forget somebody and they’re like, “You know what? I heard you on that podcast, you didn’t mention me.” But I think definitely the number one lady who has influenced me so much has been my mother. She is one of the most hardworking, thoughtful, outspoken individuals that I’ve ever known, not just because she’s my mom. I’m not saying that because of that, but she’s really imparted and instilled a lot of wisdom in me and also just the way that I think about the world and the way that I do the work, approach the work. A lot of that has come from seeing my mom in the challenges that she’s dealt with and how she always figures it out and comes out on top with things. And she, I don’t know, I would say she’s definitely the number one person, but there’s also a lot of women in my family, my aunts, cousins, I have some best friends, just their drive and their passion for the things that they do and their careers and their work. 

Aallyah Wright: 

It just, yeah, it helps me to want to continue to go forward and do all these things I love in journalism. And also there are some women and I’ll also just shout out a couple of my journalism sisters that I love, Cheryl Devall, veteran, podcast, editor, radio editor, I love her to death. The Ashley Norwood, who is a professor journalism professor at Jackson State, and then Errin Haines, who is at The 19th. Oh my God, amazing. So yeah, those are just a few, Cole Brick, see now I’m just listing off people, but yeah, there’s just, oh- 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

And when you said it was a tribe, it’s like, that is what we’re all hoping for, working for, I think, in our lives. What is your mom’s name? 

Aallyah Wright: 

Her name is Charity Wright. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Wonderful. Thank you for sharing that with us. 

Aallyah Wright: 

Thank you for asking. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Yeah. Before I let you go, I wanted to ask you too. Is there anything you’re reading or watching right now that you think you ought to share more broadly with the world? 

Aallyah Wright: 

That’s a good question. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

It can be lighthearted or very serious, we’re open to both because we need humor in the world too. 

Aallyah Wright: 

Yeah. Well, thank you for that. I was going to say, does it have to be journalism related? I feel like we’re so ingrained with news right now, but this has been one of the shows I’ve been being binge watching and it’s, I don’t know why I’m so giddy about sharing it because I don’t know if people, I don’t know. Okay. I’m just going to say it. So I’ve been watching the Circle on Netflix and it is this social media competition show and it’s so interesting because you go in and you literally cannot see the other contestants, they just see your profile. So they’re basically having to judge you off your profile to see if you’re real or not and I think it just teaches us so much, even though it’s funny and it’s a competition show, I think it teaches us that we can’t judge a book by its cover and we should give people grace and be a little bit more kind and gentler because you don’t know what people are going through. 

A lot of times people put on mask for whatever reasons and sometimes for good reason, like they want to protect themselves and all sorts of things from a lot of what’s happening in the world. And so that’s one of the things. I don’t know if they admit for viewers to get that out of that show, but yeah, that’s one thing that it taught me, you just have to be graceful. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

Oh, I love that too. Thank you for those reflections and for sharing that. And thank you for being on Everywhere, it’s so wonderful to get to talk to you and also read your work. Thank you for your work. And I hope you have a good rest of your day. 

Aallyah Wright: 

Thank you. And yeah, for anyone who’s interested, it’s stateline.org for news organizations. It’s free to republish if you’re interested. And just thank you for this platform and for having me here in this space, I really do appreciate it. 

Whitney Kimball Coe: 

All right, Joel.