In their own words
Voices.
Not our summary of what people think. What they actually said, attributed and sourced, so you can read it yourself.
On camera
He didn’t bow.
On August 2 a statewide politics program gave a segment to Project Red Clay and titled it Sacred Ground. The panel says it is for data centers. It says this is the wrong ground. Our cut of the segment, captioned, is below.
Watch the dispatch →A family's letter
“This land is not disposable.”
This land is not disposable.
Do better.
Bob Mants was a SNCC field secretary who marched on Bloody Sunday, helped build the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, later served as a county commissioner, and opposed a U.S. 80 landfill in 2000. His family's letter describes the area as sacred ground, warns against turning it into a sacrifice zone, and asks whether the company would place such a facility in their own communities1.
At the podium
What residents have told the Commission.
At the July 27, 2026 Commission meeting, John Urquhart, a north Lowndes County resident who has opposed the project, told commissioners that citizens have come together in what he described as unprecedented unity to protect their way of life2.
In the papers
Published, in their own names.
Charles Steele Jr.
Former SCLC president; former Alabama state senator
Supports economic development in Lowndes County and asks that the data center be sited away from the Selma to Montgomery route.3
R. Bernard Lee
President, Lowndesboro School Alumni Association
Writing as the grandson of a 1965 marcher, argues the project threatens the county’s heritage, health, and future.4
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell
Alabama’s 7th Congressional District
Asks for independent analysis of water demand and impact before the project moves forward, and joins residents in opposing it as things stand.5
Sources on this page
- ↑
Letter from the family of Robert Mants Jr. to the Lowndes County Commission, Submitted to the Lowndes County Commission (2026-05-24). Correspondence to the Commission
Accessed 2026-07-27 - ↑
Citizens unite for Protect Lowndes County, The Lowndes Signal (2026-07-28). Article body — view source
ReportedAccessed 2026-07-30 - ↑
Dr. Charles Steele Jr. op-ed: Build it. Just not there., Yellowhammer News (2026-07-23). Guest opinion, with the author bio line "former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a former Alabama state senator from Tuscaloosa" — view source
Accessed 2026-07-29 - ↑
Red Clay project threatens our heritage, health, future, The Lowndes Signal (2026-08-02). Guest opinion, with the author line "President, Lowndesboro School Alumni Association" — view source
ReportedAccessed 2026-08-04 - ↑
Why I oppose the proposed data center in Lowndes County: op-ed from U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, al.com (2026-07-31). Guest opinion column, with the closing bio line "U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell represents the 7th Congressional District in Alabama, which includes Lowndes County where she held a town hall Thursday night (July 30) on the data center issue." — view source
ReportedAccessed 2026-07-31
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