Commentary
How to give incarcerated people a fighting chance against opioids
By Libby Jones The overdose crisis has wreaked havoc on the health of Virginians, claiming over 1,000 lives each year across the Commonwealth – and 107,000 across the United States. A closer look into these staggering numbers reveals an even more alarming truth: some members of society, specifically those battling opioid use disorders behind […]
Richmond’s post-graduation mass shooting reflects America’s gun violence epidemic
This morning, a Richmond mother woke up to the yawning absence of her teenage son and husband, men whose lives were snuffed out by bullets in a mass shooting right after Huguenot High School’s graduation ceremony in downtown Richmond Tuesday afternoon. That son and brand-new graduate, Shawn Jackson, was just 18 years old when his […]
Proposed federal housing law could reinforce protections for veterans, voucher holders
In 2018 when Sen. Tim Kaine first advanced a bill to expand the federal Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of veteran status and tenants’ source of income, state law in the commonwealth afforded Virginians no such protections. During Democrats’ brief blue trifecta, however, a flurry of bills in 2020 established housing […]
Black men’s lower life expectancy a factor in starting Social Security
Black people know, intuitively, that we lag white Americans in a host of categories including health, wealth and living standards. So it was no surprise that, as The Washington Post reported, African American communities suffered an excess 1.6 million deaths compared with white populations over the past two decades. What shocked me, though, were these […]
Tax reform might just save the American dream in Charlottesville
By Anand Colaco, Nathaniel Doty, Nadia Gallimore, Naad Kundu and Shea Miller Novello What is the state of the American dream when people can no longer afford the very home they own? For residents of many Charlottesville neighborhoods, gentrification and rising property values have dimmed the bright vision of homeownership. Charlottesville must expand its […]
Virginia’s youth can influence policy. Are legislators ready to listen?
By Kayla Bravo This is an important election year in Virginia, where voters will decide who will represent us in the General Assembly. For young voters like me, it’s important that our voices are heard and that our leaders are responsive to our concerns. That starts with our leaders wanting to listen and connect with […]
A healthy lifestyle is vital for aging Virginians
By Chris Henderson As we celebrate Older Americans Month this May, it’s crucial to remember that the health and well-being of our aging population is critical to the well-being of our nation. With people living longer than ever before and America’s large baby boomer population, it’s essential to prioritize overall wellness for aging citizens to […]
Remembering and mourning our foreign partners on Memorial Day
By Jim Jones Beginning with the Revolutionary War, almost 1.4 million Americans have died in our nation’s wars, including about 667,000 killed in combat. We remember, honor and mourn those gallant souls every year on Memorial Day – May 29 this year. Those Americans who have served in or near war zones carry their memories […]
How long is too long for the VEC?
By Lisa D. Dance The pandemic is “officially” over. But, like thousands of other people in Virginia, I’m still waiting to receive my full unemployment benefits from the pandemic. I’m lucky; I can cover my bills. I worry about the people who can’t pay theirs and have waited over a year for the unemployment benefits […]
Justice system reform will improve police accountability
By Alan Davis When a grand jury declined to indict the officer who shot Timothy Johnson last month, the decision was disappointing, but not necessarily surprising. As a retired senior law enforcement officer who’s spent the last decade exploring issues in policing, I know that more than individual bad actors, it is often the broader […]
The battle for menhaden: corporate greed threatens the Chesapeake Bay
You might know them as bunker or pogies. Landlubbers might not know them at all. Menhaden, a kind of herring that has been called the most important fish in the sea, are a keystone species in the Atlantic, serving both as a critical food source for predatory fish, marine mammals and birds, and as a […]
Virginia’s historic Black watermen communities are endangered
Most days, James Douglas would be on the water by 5:30 in the morning, on the hunt for oysters. He’d push off in his small boat from his family’s wharf on the Yeocomico River in Westmoreland County, the birthplace of the nation’s first president, George Washington, and, since 1824, of Douglas’ family, the Wilsons. Douglas’ […]