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FEATURE
Black Lives and a River Road
Tracing water, memory and change through Black experiences along and near Route 65.
Black Lives and a River Road
Tracing water, memory and change through Black experiences along and near Route 65.
Featured Stories
FIELD NOTES
Development in Black and White
An interview with Jason Hackworth, author of "Manufacturing Decline: How Racism and the Conservative Movement Crush the American Rust Belt."
DISPATCH
Can Elk Heal Coal Country?
West Virginians hope elk restoration can help post-mining ecology and local economies recover.
DEPT. OF HISTORY
Witness to History
Juanita Mitchell, now 107 years old, saw the 1919 Chicago Race Riots firsthand.
NEWS
The Best of Belt Magazine 2019
Announcing a new anthology of regional writing, available exclusively to Belt members.
Support thoughtful, independent regional writing. Become a member today. »
More Stories
Did Art Walks Cause Trumpism?
(Or, let's stop with the economic anxiety.)
At the Lake County Fair
The fair connects communities that often seem worlds apart socially and politically, but are intimately linked by economics and geography.
Trick or Treat
Celebrating the season in one Chicago "Halloween neighborhood."
“On Strike for Better Schools”
Photos from the Chicago Teachers Union strike.
The Moral Power of Rust Belt Labor
As recent strikes by unions across the region demonstrate, collective action remains as vital as ever.
Fit to Kill: A Reactionary Existence (Part One)
An excerpt from "Life Sentences: Writings from Inside an American Prison."
Under the Big Dome
How the now-defunct Civic Arena buried Pittsburgh's "Little Harlem."
Something Like Irresponsibility
"Just a few minutes of vacation from my straight life; then back in the car."
The Potential of Public Art
The work of public memory is not only about the past, but about a shared vision for the future.
House on the Rock at Sixty
Approaching six decades of existence, one of the strangest places in the Midwest continues to defy easy description.
Lost and Gain
An excerpt from "Life Sentences: Writings from Inside an American Prison."
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From the Archives
White Shirt Day and “The Birth of a Union”
The legacy of the 1937 Sit-Down Strike—for Flint and beyond.
Calls for Submissions
Call for Submissions: Pittsburgh Neighborhood Guidebook
Announcing the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Guidebook, to be published by Belt Publishing.
Call for Submissions: Gary Anthology
Announcing an anthology of stories about Gary, Indiana, to be published by Belt Publishing.
Call for Submissions: Black Midwest Anthology
Announcing an anthology of stories about the Black Midwest to be published by Belt Publishing.
