COLORLINES - Brentin Mock

Brentin Mock

Reporting Fellow
New Orleans, LA

Brentin Mock is a New Orleans-based journalist who serves as Colorlines.com's Reporting Fellow on Voting Rights, covering the challenges presented by new voter ID laws, suppression of voter registration drives, and other attempts to limit electoral power of people of color. In his previous position as senior editor at The Loop 21, Brentin also covered electoral politics with a significant amount of reporting on voter ID issues.

In New Orleans, Brentin also works as web editor for the online, citizen-journalist driven blogsite Bridge the Gulf and helped launch the New Orleans online investigative news site The Lens. He previously worked at The American Prospect as a reporter and blogger covering environmental justice issues through a fellowship awarded by the Metcalf Institute for Environmental Reporting. Brentin also served on the staff of the national magazine Intelligence Report, published by Southern Poverty Law Center, investigating hate groups and anti-immigrant nativist extremists.

Brentin's professional career began in his native city of Pittsburgh, working as managing editor of the African-American community newspaper Renaissance News before joining the staff of the alternative newsweekly Pittsburgh City Paper. His work has been published in GOOD, The Root, The Daily Beast, Newsweek.com, The Grio, The Atlantic, Next American City, Truthout.org, Alternet, Vibe.com, XXL, The Source, and Religion Dispatches.

Follow Brentin at @bmockaveli.

Will EPA’s ‘Environmental Justice’ Outlast Lisa Jackson?

by Brentin Mock on March 14 2013, 10:21AM

As head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson was explicit about protecting people of color and low income communities from excess pollution and waste. This made her unpopular in some corners. Will her EJ legacy survive her exit?

Topics: Environment

North Carolina’s Voter ID Bill Has Finally Arrived

by Brentin Mock on March 12 2013, 3:03PM

Let’s get ready to rumble. Again.

Topics: /NOW Blog

Obama’s Labor Department Nod is Very, Very Good News

by Brentin Mock on March 12 2013, 12:29PM

For progressives, that is.

Topics: /NOW Blog

At ‘Shelby v. Holder’ Hearing, Debate Over Southern Racism and Congressional Power

by Brentin Mock on February 28 2013, 11:30AM

Yesterday’s Supreme Court hearing about Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act revealed a lot about how some of us deal with race in America. Here, five major takeaways straight from the courthouse.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, Politics, Voting Rights Act

North Carolina: A Case for the Voting Rights Act’s Modern Relevance

by Brentin Mock on February 27 2013, 8:59AM

As the Supreme Court weighs whether the feds should maintain oversight in Southern election law, North Carolina proves why the answer is obviously yes.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, Politics, Voting Rights Act

What Is Alabama’s Problem With the Voting Rights Act?

by Brentin Mock on February 26 2013, 8:46AM

The Supreme Court will hear arguments this week in a case that could deeply gut the historic law. To understand where this is going, it’s crucial to know how we got here.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, History, Politics, Voting Rights Act

Virginia Legislators Approve Voter ID Law, May Kill Chances for Federal Bailout

by Brentin Mock on February 22 2013, 1:42PM

Will Virginia be the latest case for proving why the Voting Rights Act is still needed?

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, /NOW Blog

From Selma to the Roberts Court: Reflections on Voting Rights History

by Brentin Mock on February 21 2013, 9:36AM

Diane Nash, Dorie Ladner and others who led and joined the March 1965 demonstrations that created the Voting Rights Act speak with Colorlines about their work then—and now.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, History, Voting Rights Act

Despite Longest Lines in the Nation, Florida State Sec. Calls Elections ‘Fair’

by Brentin Mock on February 5 2013, 5:19PM

Florida blames all its elections problems on its counties while missing major problems in its elections improvement report.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, /NOW Blog, Politics

Voter Registration Has an Ugly History, and Some Want to Revive It

by Brentin Mock on February 4 2013, 9:29AM

Right wing machinations around voting haven’t stopped just because the election’s over. Now up: rebuilding the walls around registration.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, Politics

Virginia Republicans’ Bizarre Notion of ‘Fair’ Voting

by Brentin Mock on January 30 2013, 9:07AM

If the state GOP’s effort to reconfigure electoral college tallying would have been law last year, hundreds of thousands of black voters would have waited hours in line for nothing.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, Politics

Florida Gov. Rick Scott Joins the GOP Retreat on Voting Rights

by Brentin Mock on January 18 2013, 2:16PM

What a difference a hellish election can make. The governor who helped create Florida’s notoriously long voting lines now supports expanded early voting.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, /NOW Blog, Politics

Why Were There Long Voting Lines in 2012? Virginia Holds Answers

by Brentin Mock on January 15 2013, 9:42AM

A congressional hearing seeks to find out what caused so much turmoil on Election Day.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, Politics

True the Vote is Reloaded, Still Firing Blanks on Voter Fraud

by Brentin Mock on January 11 2013, 1:17PM

True the Vote appears to be expanding, but their impact is contracting.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, /NOW Blog, Politics

Virginia Governor Says Restore Voting Rights for Nonviolent Felon Offenders

by Brentin Mock on January 10 2013, 11:38AM

Gov. Bob McDonnell throws support behind two GOP-sponsored bills to automatically restore some felons’ rights.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, /NOW Blog, Politics

NAACP Checks Iowa on Felony Disenfranchisement Credit Check Rule

by Brentin Mock on January 3 2013, 2:15PM

NAACP scores voting rights victory, but Iowa stands its ground on refusing automatic voting rights restoration for ex-felons.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012, /NOW Blog, Politics

Senate Hearing Recounts the Many Election Season Mishaps of 2012

by Brentin Mock on December 20 2012, 10:50AM

Elections administrators gathered for “The State of the Right to Vote After the 2012 Election” hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to unpack some of the shenanigans from last month.

Topics: 2012 Election, Voting Rights 2012, Politics