The school library is a place where inquiry begins and a love of learning is born. This has been quietly vanishing in schools.

This was originally published in the Richmond Free Press on the Editorial Page for the May 10-12, 2007 edition as a special Mother’s Day tribute.

On the night of Jan. 11, 1989, near the end of a 21-minute farewell address, President Ronald Reagan asked the television audience, “How stands ‘The City’ on this winter night?” The City—a reimagined America based off highly controversial pioneer John …

Will Donald Trump have Chicago to kick around anymore? That question, an update of Richard Nixon’s memorable farewell to news reporters as he dropped out of the California governor’s race in 1962, came to mind on the heels of some …

This year, Virginia Republicans are running an immigrant from Jamaica, an openly gay former talk show host and a Cuban American for statewide offices. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? Didn’t they get the memo from the Oval Office that …

As a record number of pilgrims representing all walks of life filled the streets of Rome to mourn the death of “The People’s Pope,” history will indicate the fiercest critics of the Francis Pontificate were American Catholics. This should come …

As President Trump’s polling takes a tumble 100 days into his second term — and Dick Durbin, the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat, announces his retirement, a very old hit tune by Ethel Waters comes to mind: “There’ll be some changes made.”

His Holiness Pope Francis made his transition on the morning of after Easter Sunday, after he delivered an Easter blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, and after he toured St. Peter’s Square in his popemobile. His doctors had …

Let’s take a moment to applaud the good work of the Hanover Branch NAACP. In a county that’s more that 80% white, you might think highlighting the concerns of African Americans is one of those jobs that isn’t worth the …

As an international music icon, James Brown emerged as one of the founding fathers of funk with a musical style that often profoundly influenced R&B, jazz, and rock.

Kafkaesque. One hears that word a lot in discussions of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Or, for lowbrows like me, “The Twilight Zone” might be the pertinent reference.

I’m writing to demand urgent action to address the dangerous conditions on Mosby Street. As someone who commutes by bicycle, I’ve experienced firsthand how unsafe this corridor has become, and a recent incident made it painfully clear that if nothing …

An onslaught of executive orders from President Donald Trump aim to restrict how and what educators can teach America’s children.

If you’re seeing this on your phone or computer, go ahead and take a moment to appreciate the irony — you’re reading about the governor’s call for “Virginia Screen-Free Week”... on a screen.

There he is again, a friend said to me and pointed at the television. Why won’t somebody stop him? I took a look and wondered the same thing.