Scalawag is a left-of-center online magazine covering the American South. It publishes articles that are critical of capitalism, Israel, and the police, and publishes numerous articles on what it is like being LGBT in the South. Scalawag has encouraged donations to the legal defense of those charged with offenses related to left-wing violent demonstrations. It opposes voter ID laws and provisional ballots, running articles on political organizing and lessons learned. The magazine is funded by grants from private foundations.

History

Scalawag began in 2015 as a result of a Kickstarter campaign. ¹ Among the initial founders was an Obama for President statewide field director, journalism teacher, and United Nations consultant. ¹ Scalawag decided to become more minority-focused after the founding and the staff at Scalawag is currently predominantly Black with articles focusing on organizing, anti-police activism, pro-Palestinian activism, Blackness, and queerness. ²

Positions

Scalawag argues for dismantling capitalism. ³ Scalawag features anti-Israel articles from authors discussing supposed Zionist colonialism in Palestine, being imprisoned living in Gaza, and dying in Israeli prisons. ⁴ Scalawag contains articles opposing the new police training facility in Atlanta, “Cop City.” ⁵ Scalawag also encourages donations to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund to support the legal defense of those charged with offenses related to demonstrations over the training facility. ⁵ Scalawag founded Abolition Week in 2020 to highlight incarcerated writers. ⁶ Scalawag published an article on how to ensure there are no new cops hired. ⁷

While prostitution is illegal in Louisiana, Scalawag published an article criticizing Republicans for a law that targets trans sex workers. ⁸ Scalawag has run articles on LGBT interests in Puerto Rico, queer politics in Georgia, growing up gay in Alabama, growing up queer in Appalachia, and the trans movement in Atlanta. ⁹ The editor-in-chief of Scalawag describes herself as a “queermongering gender anarchist.” ¹⁰

Scalawag states that photo ID laws and provisional ballots when voting targets the most marginalized Southerners. ¹¹ Scalawag published articles on how to fight Republican gerrymandering in the South, how left-of-center Hispanic groups can organize in Texas and Florida, how left-of-center grassroots organizing in Georgia can be a lesson for the South, a Black feminist guide to electoral politics, and learning lessons of leadership from striking teachers. ¹²

Scalawag’s pop culture section praises HBO’s “We’re Here” as an important TV show focusing on drag queens traveling across the U.S. ¹³ Scalawag also notes that the film “Everything (Queer) Everything All At Once” as a favorite for awards. ¹⁴ Meanwhile the TV comedy “Night Court” is referred to as “Copaganda.” ¹⁵

Finances

In 2020, Scalawag had net assets of $91,293. ¹⁶ According to the organization’s tax returns, in 2020 Scalawag recorded $450,826 in revenue and $369,908 in expenses. ¹⁶ In 2019, Scalawag raised $192,799 in revenue and $236,277 in expenses. ¹⁷

Donors to Scalawag have included NewsMatch, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Hill-Snowdon FoundationN, PEN America, the Miami Foundation, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, and the Ford Foundation, which made a $200,000 grant in 2022. ¹⁸

Leadership

Cierra Hinton has been the executive director-publisher of Scalawag since 2017. ¹⁹ Hinton’s previous experience includes working as a manager of individual giving at Teach for America, associate director of recruitment at RePublic Schools, and positions at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics including development officer, program manager, student life instructor, and advancement officer. ¹⁹ Hinton has a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ¹⁹

1. Schmidt, Christine. “Five Years In, Scalawag is Reframing Who Get Included in ‘the South’ (and How to Build a Business Off It.).” Nieman Lab. November 21, 2019. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/11/five-years-in-scalawag-is-reframing-who-gets-included-in-the-south-and-how-to-build-a-business-off-it/.
2. Schmidt, Christine. “Five Years In, Scalawag is Reframing Who Get Included in ‘the South’ (and How to Build a Business Off It.).” Nieman Lab. November 21, 2019. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/11/five-years-in-scalawag-is-reframing-who-gets-included-in-the-south-and-how-to-build-a-business-off-it/; “Scalawag.” Scalawag. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org; “Abolition Week.” Scalawag. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/abolition-week/.
3. Hernandez, Gabrielle. “If We Can Dismantle Patriarchy and Capitalism, We Might Be Onto Something.” Scalawag. January 28, 2020. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/2020/01/song-combating-white-supremacy/.
4. “Race and Place.” Scalawag. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/category/race-and-place/.
5.  “Stop Cop City.” Scalawag. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/stopcopcity/.
6. “About Abolition Week.” Scalawag. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/press-in-prison/.
7. “Organizing and Resistance.” Scalawag. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/tag/organizing-resistance/page/2/.
8. Nadel, Matt. “Prostitution Was Already Illegal in Louisiana. Then Republicans Crafted An Even More Damning Law Used to Target Trans Sex Workers.” Scalawag. June 1, 2021. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/2021/06/trans-sex-worker-laws-new-orleans/.
9.  “Queerness.” Scalawag. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/tag/queerness/page/2/.
10. “Our Team.” Scalawag. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/about/.
11. Hagenah, Iliana. “How Photo ID Laws and Provisional Ballots Target the Most Marginalized Southerners.” Scalawag. October 8, 2020. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/2020/10/voter-id-laws-tn-trans/.
12. “Organizing and Resistance.” Scalawag. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/tag/organizing-resistance/.
13. Koehler, Sezin. “We’re Queer, ‘We’re Here,’ and We’re Fighting Back.” Scalawag. March 23, 2023. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/2023/03/were-here-florida/.
14.  Ortiz, Monica Teresa. “Everything (Queer) Everywhere All At Once.” Scalawag. March 10, 2023. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/2023/03/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-queer/.
15. Weill-Greenberg, Elizabeth. “Night Court: New(ish) Sitcom, Same Copaganda.” Scalawag. April 20, 2023. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/2023/04/night-court-reboot/.
16. Scalawag, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2020.
17. Scalawag, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2019.
18. ^[1] Schmidt, Christine. “Five Years In, Scalawag is Reframing Who Get Included in ‘the South’ (and How to Build a Business Off It.).” Nieman Lab. November 21, 2019. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/11/five-years-in-scalawag-is-reframing-who-gets-included-in-the-south-and-how-to-build-a-business-off-it/; “Scalawag.” Ford Foundation. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/scalawag-144179/; “Transparency.” Scalawag. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://scalawagmagazine.org/transparency/.
19. “Cierra Hinton.” LinkedIn. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/cierrahinton/.