Images from the community easter egg hunt at Langan Park, April 13, 2019, in Mobile, Alabama.

Images from Tropical Storm Gordon, which made landfall west of the Alabama-Mississippi state line with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph.

Six teenagers marched 50 miles from Dundee, Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated 50 years ago in Memphis. See my story in Christian Science Monitor: Photos from the teenagers' march to Memphis https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2018/0404/For-teens-50-mile-march-to-honor-King-became-a-deeper-journey

Residents of Refugio, Texas cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey with a unique blend of faith, grit, community spirit, and high school football.

Images from the aftermath of Hurricane Nate on the Alabama Gulf Coast.

The Alabama Gulf Coast experienced significant flooding following heavy rains caused by Tropical Storm Cindy. The tropical storm made landfall at daybreak near Lake Charles, La., leaving one person dead and a drenched Gulf Coast, from Texas to Florida, in its wake. Gallery includes flood photos from Bayou La Batre, Alabama and Cedar Point.

Images of Baton Rouge and surrounding areas in Louisiana after heavy flooding. Approximately 20 parishes in Louisiana experienced severe flooding after receiving torrential rain Aug. 12-15, 2016, and 13 people died. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, along with numerous other agencies, responded quickly to help with mud out, feeding, and other survivor needs.

Images made for Christian Science Monitor to accompany a story about homelessness in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Pictures of residents of Pass Christian, Mississippi, and scenes along Pass Christian Beach. The city was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Photos of Alton Hardy, pastor of Urban Hope Community Church in Fairfield, Alabama, and Bob Flayhart, pastor of Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Hardy, who is African-American, and Flayhart, who is white, began having weekly breakfasts together more than two years ago — a move they say has been instrumental in forming the trusting relationship needed as their congregations work together to heal race relations in Birmingham, Alabama. Since the Charleston, South Carolina shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, churches nationwide have started examining race relations in their communities as well as in their sanctuaries, hoping to put an end to what some say is escalating racial tension. To read the story, please visit http://www.carmenksisson.com/can-churches-lead-on-racial-harmony/

Images from the South Carolina State House following the removal of the Confederate flag, July 10, 2015, in Columbia, South Carolina. The flag flew above the capitol dome from 1961-2000, then was moved to the grounds. The flag, which is now permanently removed, will be stored at the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. The House voted for its removal after the shooting of nine African-Americans at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, June 17, 2015. Alleged shooter Dylann Roof, who published a manifesto on his website supporting white supremacist beliefs, was seen in numerous photographs holding the Confederate flag.

Images from the Entrepreneur Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The non-profit organization, located on Peabody Street, helps startup enterprises and small business owners take their projects from the idea stage to fully-fledged businesses.

Images of Christian Circle resident James Warren, 85, who is hoping to get a county waterline soon. Residents of the Mississippi community say they are tired of coping with shallow wells and a low water table.

Images from Severstal steel mill in Columbus, Mississippi. Employees' families got an inside glimpse of the entire metallurgical process during an open house and tour of the plant's one million square foot facilities Oct. 22, 2011, during "Family Day."

Classroom images of McComb High School teacher Vickie Malone and students in the senior elective class, "Local Cultures," Sept. 21, 2009, in McComb, Miss. The class focuses on civil rights issues, teaching the multiple perspectives involved in African-Americans' fight for freedom. Mississippi Senate Bill 2718, passed in 2006, mandates all kindergartners to 12th-graders to be exposed to civil rights education and tested on the subject matter.

Portraits of former actor and Texas environmental activist Hilton Kelley in Port Arthur, Texas. Kelley received a $150,000 Goldman Environmental Prize for his efforts to fight pollution in his community.

Images of African-Americans who have left the north to move back to the South. For most of the 20th century, African-Americans were fleeing the South. The 2000 Census showed the South's first black population increase in more than a century. It is a growing trend that has caught demographers' attention. By 2010, about 57 percent of the nation's African-Americans were living in the South – a higher percentage than at any time in 50 years. For my full story in Christian Science Monitor, please visit http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2014/0316/Why-African-Americans-are-moving-back-to-the-South.

Pictures of children exploring the Nina and Pinta. The ships, replicas of two of the three vessels Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sailed on his 1492 voyage, were in Columbus, Mississippi as part of a floating museum tour.

Alabama "chainsaw artist" James Seal and his wife, Miranda Seal, do not have health insurance, but they have not yet explored their options on the Obamacare health care marketplace website. Pictures of the artist working on his chainsaw carvings in Coden, Alabama.

Images of the new generation of civil rights activists, from the Dream Defenders in Tallahassee, Florida, to Young People's Project in Jackson, Mississippi, to University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) students in Oxford, Mississippi. Photos accompanied my Aug. 19-26, 2013 Christian Science Monitor cover story, "Defending the Dream: A New Generation Takes Up Martin Luther King Jr.'s Torch."

Images from Grand Isle, Louisiana, which was heavily impacted by the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill. Images include a number of protest signs erected by angry residents.

Baseball legend Hank Aaron and his wife, Billye Aaron during the dedication of the Hank Aaron Childhood Home and Museum April 14, 2010 at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile, Ala. Aaron's childhood home, originally built by his father, was moved to the stadium's "Gaslight Park" and restored in November 2008. The celebration, which included a ribbon-cutting and private reception, was attended by a star-studded roster of Hall of Famers and baseball dignitaries. Other images in the gallery include Willie Mays, Reggie Jackson, Ozzie Smith, Bob Feller, Rickey Henderson, and Bruce Setter, along with President of Minor League Baseball Pat O'Conner, President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Jeff Idelson, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, and Hall of Fame senior director of exhibitions Erik Strohl.

Images of Academy Crossing apartments in Starkville, Mississippi, following a fire that took the lives of nine people, including six children, Dec. 28, 2009.

Images of Magnolia Springs Volunteer Fire Department Chief Jamie Hinton, who led the small Alabama town of Magnolia Springs in a fight to protect the area from encroaching oil by blocking the entrance to Weeks Bay with barges and layers of containment boom following the Deepwater Horizon explosion and BP oil spill. For the story, please see: http://www.carmenksisson.com/archives/113

Images from an ongoing project chronicling the family life of six-year-old Elisha Perrigin, who has Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism.

Images of the April 27 tornado aftermath and recovery from Tuscaloosa, Alabama and surrounding areas, including Alberta City, Rosedale Court, Forest Lake, 15th Street, and McFarland Boulevard.

Images of Smithville, Mississippi following an EF5 tornado which slammed through the town April 27, 2011, killing 16 people and leaving behind a path of destruction.

Three people were injured and several homes and businesses sustained heavy damage when an EF-2 tornado hit Theodore, Alabama on March 9, 2011.

Pictures of the Alba Middle School Jazz Band, the ALBA Club, and the Bayou La Batre City Council celebrating the beginning of the holiday season at the annual Christmas tree lighting Dec. 4, 2010 at Bayou La Batre City Hall in Bayou La Batre, Alabama.

Residents of Gulfport, Miss. gathered at Gulfport City Hall Aug. 29, 2010 to remember the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The storm took the lives of 231 people in the state and some infrastructure remains in ruins. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and First Lady Marsha Barbour were guest speakers at the event.

Images from the 130th annual Fancy Farm Picnic. The event, which features old-fashioned stump speeches from local and state politicians, kicks off the beginning of the Kentucky political season. This year's speakers included U.S. Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul and Democrat Senate candidate Jack Conway.

Pictures of Bayou La Batre, Ala. as shrimpers, fishermen, and residents struggle to cope with the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its effect on the local seafood industry.

Mississippi had been largely spared from the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion April 20, 2010, but winds from Hurricane Alex began pushing oil ashore earlier this week, affecting beaches from Biloxi to Pass Christian.

President Barack Obama held a press conference at the Theodore Staging Area for oil spill cleanup June 14, 2010 in Theodore, Alabama. The trip, which included visits to Gulfport, Miss. and Pensacola, Fla., marked Obama's third trip to the Gulf Coast since the Deepwater Horizon explosion April 20, 2010.

Louisiana residents held a Community Crisis prayer service for the BP oil spill May 26, 2010 at First Baptist Church in Chalmette, La. Nearly 100 coastal residents attended the service to pray for protection, comfort, guidance, and mercy as BP continued to battle the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

As the U.S. Army National Guard erected barriers to protect Dauphin Island, Alabama from globs of oil steadily spreading from the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and the BP oil spill April 20, 2009, reports rolled in of tar balls sighted on the west end near the public beach, providing both curiosity and concern for local residents.

The Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola, Fla. has developed a lifesize, bipedal robot. M2V2 cost nearly $1 million to build and is unique because of its ability to mimic human heel-to-toe motion and, when pushed, right itself to prevent a fall.

Ken Mink enrolled as a full-time student at Roane State Community College in Harriman, Tenn. in Fall 2008 and became a member of the men's basketball team. His inclusion on the team gained worldwide attention and earned him a spot in Ripley's Believe It or Not. He has written a book about his experiences called "Hoops Dreamer: The Ken Mink Story." He was later ruled ineligible by the NJCAA after failing Spanish. Roane State appealed the ruling, but the appeal was denied.

Johnny Holley Jr., 63, was released from prison in April after serving 29 years of a life without parole sentence for armed robbery in the first degree. Holley, who was sentenced under the three strikes law for stealing a toolbox in 1980, was allowed to go free following the Alabama Legislature's 2000 decision to ease mandatory sentences for non-violent, repeat offenders.

Financial analysts expect Huntsville, Alabama to fare well in the new economy thanks to its strong aerospace, defense, and biotech industries. Gallery includes pictures of Madison, Alabama residents Veda and Levern Eady.

Residents along the Gulf Coast in Pensacola Beach, Florida prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Ida, Nov. 9, 2009. The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm before landfall.

Images of people watching the 2009 Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama Jan. 20, 2009 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.