Behind closed doors, developers are fast-tracking AI data centers into Mississippi’s majority-Black neighborhoods. Residents want to know the cost and whether the boom will bring generational wealth or generational harm
Over 70 concerned citizens settle into the openness of Warren Hall, a vibrant student life center on the campus of historically Black Tougaloo College. It’s the perfect space for a diverse, multigenerational group of community members to become a classroom as Mississippi For A Just World (MSJW) organizers guide them through the evening’s theology: “People Over Politics: Stop Data Centers Edition.”
Pops of orange and blue adorn each table with materials and notebooks containing a workbook reviewing community agreements, presentation slides, and a glossary of related terms: Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Data Center, Hyperscale. The folder also includes a data center fact sheet, a thorough local decision-making guide, interactive worksheets like “stop data centers” bingo, word search, and a crossword puzzle, and a POP pen…