When will we raise the minimum wage?, by Julianne Malveaux
The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009. Several states have a higher minimum, but a predictable few, including Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Alabama, are stuck at that low minimum.
The renaissance wasn’t just a concert tour, by Errin Haines
We have just witnessed the Summer of the Black Woman.
Good news
Done deal A vote Wednesday in the state House and Senate represents good news.
It’s for the culture
Just a reminder that the city’s 2023 edition of the Summer Festival of the Arts will wrap up this weekend with a really cool, free festival from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Dogwood Dell amphitheater in Byrd Park.
Razzle-dazzle vs. racial violence, by Clarence Page
Sixty years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic March on Washington, much of his dream is still just a dream.
Enigma of high-stakes testing, by Ashley Clerge
Hello again, folks. Let us continue to go down the rabbit hole of understanding standardized testing and why it has become the cornerstone of the American education system.
No, Donald, you’re not being persecuted like the Scottsboro Boys, by Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan
“War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength.” So wrote George Orwell in 1984, his famous dystopian novel about authoritarian- ism. The book gave us the term “Orwellian,” describing situations where facts are ignored, truth is turned on its …
Oh ye of little faith
Gov. Glenn A. Youngkin and Attorney General Jason S. Miyares both profess to be men of Christian faith, which calls on adherents to be accepting of people no matter their status, resources or appearance. So why do they take such …
Once more, America faces a reckoning, by Rev. Jesse Jackson
This country faces a reckoning. The question is whether we will come together or fall apart, move forward or descend toward a moral abyss. In this time of deep discord, of partisan divide, racial tension, extreme inequality, the outcome is …
Who gets to play?, by Julianne Malveaux
As summer winds down, and folks start rushing back to school or work, the memories of their vacations perhaps sustain them when, after Labor Day, the business of fall quickly engulfs them. There’s that Gershwin song from Porgy & Bess, …
Best in class
Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras announced in his weekly newsletter that Open High School and Richmond Community High School recently ranked as the No. 2 and No. 3 best high schools in Virginia, according to U.S. News and World …
60 years after the March on Washington, please read Dr. King’s full ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, by Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan
It’s been 60 years since the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. One of the most famous speeches in American history, it is named for its …
Labor Day 2023: Celebrating the union difference and building tomorrow’s public service workforce, by Lee Saunders
As we prepare to celebrate Labor Day, it’s as exciting a time as any to be a part of a union. Working people are seeing what the union difference is all about, and they want to be a part of …
Transparency and speaking truth to power
I am a 19-year veteran of the Richmond Fire Department and a candidate for the City of Richmond Personnel Board to represent the classified service. I have been closely following the narrative of the proposed burn building at Hickory Hill. …
Back to school
Richmond area students are back in the classroom, a new experience for those of us who are used to public schools starting after labor Day.
