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COVER STORY
Building a Just Energy Future in Michigan
Biden's Justice40 Initiative wants an equitable transition to clean energy. In Detroit, Black-led businesses are key.
Building a Just Energy Future in Michigan
Biden's Justice40 Initiative wants an equitable transition to clean energy. In Detroit, Black-led businesses are key.
Featured
FIELD NOTES
The Rise of the Cleveland Guardians
The story behind the Cleveland baseball team's new namesakes.
PERSONAL HISTORY
Grasping at Shifting Sands
On the eroding shores of Lakes Michigan and Huron, a buried eighteenth-century lumber port, and the stakes of inaction.
CULTURAL STUDIES
The Legend of Baby Huey
After fifty years and hundreds of hip hop samples, the iconic Chicago musician’s only record remains urgent and imperative listening.
ON THE RAILS
Riding the Fort Wayne Line
A proposed Amtrak route would restore passenger service between Chicago, Fort Wayne, Columbus, and Pittsburgh. Can new federal investment make it happen?
Riding the Fort Wayne Line
A proposed Amtrak route would restore passenger service between Chicago, Fort Wayne, Columbus, and Pittsburgh. Can new federal investment make it happen?
Independent, context-driven regional writing. Support Belt Magazine today. »
More Stories
“The Coney Island of the West”
At its peak, Ohio’s Silver Lake Park was a six-hundred-acre amusement park with more than thirty attractions and tens of thousands of visitors per day.
Climate Emergency and Environmental Justice in the Rust Belt
Stories on climate change, industrial legacies, and planning for a just future.
East Chicago’s Failed Utopian Visions
A century ago, East Chicago, Indiana drafted its ideal future. Here's how that went.
Fire in Steubenville
"Each time I come back home / something else has burned."
Portraits in Transition
On photographing non-binary community members in the Midwest and Rust Belt.
Exhibit O: A Look Inside Indiana’s Opioid Crisis
A new exhibit at the Indiana State Museum wants to break the taboos around addiction and recovery.
Black Freedom, Black Joy: A Juneteenth Reading List
Honoring Black joy and freedom struggles in the Rust Belt.
A History of the Pride Flag in My Doorway
Notes on living and moving as an out queer person in the Rust Belt.
Midwest Modern’s Architectural Road Trip
Josh Lipnik uses Twitter to document regional architecture and design.
In Hudson, Ohio, Whose History Matters?
A recent event highlights the messiness of the town’s white-dominated abolitionist narrative.
Rust Belt Pride
A queer Rust Belt reading list.
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From the Archives
The Rubber Industry’s Toxic Legacy in Akron
The stories of workers and their families reveal "unintended consequences" for life and health in the community.
Racism, Rebellion, and Police Violence in the Midwest
Stories on the long history of racism and police violence in the Midwest—and what to do about it.
Belt News
Centering Community Narratives in the Rust Belt
Watch the full video of our March 31 event "Documenting Home," in partnership with PEN America.
The Best of Belt Magazine 2020
Announcing a new anthology of regional writing, available exclusively to Belt members.
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