by shay bell Plastered on headlines of every local news website, two VCU students killed in a fatal shooting. Victims Adrianna Brooks and Matthew Gibbs lost their lives to gun violence before they reached the legal drinking age. This isn’t even a new story. We’ve heard this story several times over the past year alone, […]
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Spare Us the Secret Police–The Public Ones Are Plenty Unaccountable
So, Chesterfield has their very own Secret Police–or at least police that are secret. The department recently moved to redact 500 names from its roster in what is little more than a thinly veiled attempt to skirt any accountability for their actions. That they did this in response to OpenOversight VA’s request for a full […]
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Senator Siobhan Dunnavant Is Still The Worst
by Ashleigh Crocker It’s me again, reporting with an update that Senator Siobhan Dunnavant is still the worst, in case you were wondering. I wrote a few years ago about her bizarre views on birth control and abortion, despite being an actual OB-GYN. I’ve also talked before about how she even voted for junk health […]
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Flowers for Mothers
by shay bell In observance of Pride Month, I wanted to honor the pioneers who made this celebration possible. Marsha “Pay No Mind” Johnson and Sylvia Rivera are the icons of the Gay Liberation Movement of the 1960s and 70s. These confidently expressive women who met and became friends in NY during the early years […]
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5 Things I Hate About Senator Joe Morrissey
by Ashleigh Crocker Senator Joe Morrissey has got to go! It took me forever to write this blog because narrowing it down to just 5 things I hate about Joe. You might know of the Senator because he is an anti-abortion Democrat. Or maybe you heard about him because he has been disbarred more than […]
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Vote Right Meow!
By Kimberly R. Nario I admit, I’m a complainer. It’s a natural talent, and I’m incredibly gifted in this arena. Sometimes I think it should go on my résumé under special skills. But this time, instead of thinking of more ways to call out Republicans in our state legislature for continuous attempts to roll back […]
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It’s the Guns (And the Legislators)
By Kimberly R. Nario Last year I wrote about guns. This year, I’m writing about guns. I’m sick of writing about guns. My brother was a student at Virginia Tech in 2007. My mom worked near the municipal building in Virginia Beach in 2019. My family frequents a restaurant across from the Walmart in Chesapeake. […]
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And in April, We Sparked
by shay bell It’s my favorite time of year. Spring is upon us, the sun is shining, birds are chirping, the smell of jasmine lingers in the air. And what’s that other smell wafting through my nostrils? Earthy, musky, and sent from above, it’s the smell I’ve come to associate with peace, marijuana. Virginians far […]
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Transphobic Legislation Affects Everyone
By Kierra Johnson It’s open season on trans folks, and everyone, regardless of their gender, should be worried. This past legislative session in Virginia was full of committee meetings staffed with cisgender politicians questioning the rights of transgender children. While those who are defending anti-trans bills do so under the guise of protecting children, the […]
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Voting Rights, Youngkin Wrong
by Kimberly R. Nario Everyday we hear about elected officials who are actively working to dismantle our democracy. But did you know some of those very people are right here in our state legislature? Just this past session, several Republicans in both the state Senate and House of Delegates introduced bills to rollback progress on […]