Detroit Water Shutoffs and a Crisis of Public Health
Activists have been working for years to change the broader narrative around water access.
Fighting For a Fair Census in 2020
In an absence of federal investment, organizers across the region are working to improve the chances of an accurate count.
Game Day at the Ohio Pen
Remembering the Ohio State Penitentiary Hurricanes—and the day my father played against them in 1965.
After ICE
Life in a Guatemalan immigrant community in rural Ohio more than a year after nearby raids.
Somali Poetry Takes Minneapolis
In Minnesota, Somali youth poets are changing the game.
Richard Hatcher’s Gary
Remembering the life and leadership of one of the first Black mayors of a major American city. [Excerpted from "The Gary Anthology."]
Possible Landscapes
The future of the Calumet/south Chicago region will have to contend with its infrastructure and layered history.
Robert Smith’s Last Ride
The first person in West Virginia to die from the Spanish flu pandemic was an incarcerated Black man.
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."
The Best of Belt Magazine 2019
Announcing a new anthology of regional writing, available exclusively to Belt members.
When Socialists Swept Milwaukee
Democratic socialists attending the 2020 Democratic Convention won't be out of place in a city with a long history of socialist governance.
Scheherazaden: On the Power of Women’s Stories
Stories, recounted and repeated and insisted upon, accumulate.