Why Almost Nobody Lives in Alabama's Black Belt

In 1900, twelve counties across the middle of Alabama were home to 381,548 people. By the 2020 census they held 183,744, fewer than half, while Alabama as a whole nearly tripled. This film follows the reasons in order: the soil the region is named for, cotton and slavery, tenancy after emancipation, the boll weevil, the Great Migration, the machines, the vote, the jobs, the hospitals and schools, and the water. It ends with the people who stay. WHICH COUNTIES ARE "THE BLACK BELT"? There is no official border. The Encyclopedia of Alabama counts roughly 12 to 21 counties depending on the criteria. This film uses the twelve named in the governor's 2004 executive order that created a commission for Alabama's Black Belt: Bullock, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter and Wilcox. HOW THIS FILM WAS CHECKED Every number in the narration was checked against a saved copy of its source before the voice was recorded (327 sourced rows; claim gate passed). Population figures are U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts (1900-2020) and July 2025 estimates; incomes, poverty and jobs are the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 2020-2024 five-year estimates. Years and sources are on screen with each claim. Every picture shows the place it names, and nothing in the film is AI-generated. County and town names follow local pronunciation, checked against Alabama TV newscasts. Which Black Belt town should we cover next? Tell us in the comments. CHAPTERS 0:00 Why the Black Belt emptied out 1:07 One. The line 3:34 Two. The ground 5:13 Three. Cotton 6:43 Four. Someone else's land 8:59 Five. The weevil 10:23 Six. The leaving 12:21 Seven. The machines 14:02 Eight. The vote 15:28 Nine. The work 16:38 Ten. The hospital and the school 18:15 Eleven. The water 20:11 Twelve. Who stays 21:23 The answer, in order SOURCES U.S. Census Bureau: Population of Counties by Decennial Census 1900-1990 (Forstall); 2000, 2010 and 2020 census counts (2020 PL 94-171); Vintage 2025 county and town estimates; 2025 Gazetteer land areas; American Community Survey 2020-2024 (B19013, B17001, B23025). Encyclopedia of Alabama: Black Belt Region in Alabama; Sharecropping and Tenant Farming in Alabama; Boll Weevil in Alabama; Great Migration from Alabama; Lowndes County Freedom Organization; Tuskegee University; Gee's Bend Quilters' Collective; Rural Studio; University of West Alabama; Lowndes County; Perry County. Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery (1901). U.S. Geological Survey, Geolex: Selma Group, Demopolis Chalk. USDA NRCS: Houston soil series; MLRA 135A Blackland Prairie. U.S. EPA Level IV ecoregions (map). Map of the slave population of the Southern states, from the census of 1860, Census Office, 1861 (Library of Congress). Alabama Department of Public Health, obstetrical service map, Sept. 2025. Alabama Political Reporter, Oct. 2020 (UA Education Policy Center report). Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, 2018. Birmingham Watch, Jan. 2024. NPR, Oct. 2023; Associated Press, April 14, 2025; Alabama Public Radio, June 2024. CREDITS Photos (Creative Commons): Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0: Rivers A. Langley; SaveRivers, Rivers Langley; SaveRivers Video: Anthony Harper, "(2024) 59th Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee" (YouTube, 2024), CC BY · CB Trail Riders, "Hayneville, AL Christmas Parade 2025" (YouTube, 2025), CC BY · National Archives, outtakes from "Tuskegee Trains Airmen" (via Internet Archive h-hf-263x), public domain · ORO NATION, "#SELMA #BLOODYSUNDAY #OROVLOGS A WALK ACROSS THE EDMUND PETTUS BRIDGE IN SELMA, AL | ORO VLOG 12" (YouTube, 2020), CC BY · YTtruss, "Look, Demopolis Lock Whirlpools!!" (YouTube, 2013), CC BY Public domain photographs: Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Farm Security Administration, and Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress; U.S. Department of Agriculture. Aerial photographs: USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program. Maps: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER; U.S. EPA ecoregions.