COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on incarcerated people Most of us are taking the precautions necessary to protect ourselves and those around us from the coronavirus pandemic. We’re wearing masks, washing our hands regularly, wiping down surfaces, and practicing social distancing as part of the minimal effort to keep from getting sick. But imagine if you […]
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House and Senate Committees Take First Step Towards Ensuring Voting During a Pandemic Is Even Safer and More Secure for Everyone
Richmond, Virginia—Today, members of the House Appropriations Committee voted 13-9 to advance Delegate Mark Sickles’ bill HB5103. Members of the Senate Finance Committee voted 11-5 to advance Senator Janet Howell’s SB5120, an identical version of the same bill earlier this morning. These bills would allow registrars to establish secure drop boxes for voters to return […]
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Actually, No, Trump Cannot Delay the Election
The Tweeter-in-Chief has done it again. President Trump tweeted this morning that he is contemplating delaying our November elections. There are safe, secure, and healthy ways to vote despite the raging COVID-19 pandemic. Not only can we conduct a safe and secure election in November, but Donald Trump does not have the power to delay […]
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ICYMI: COVID-19 Leads to Massive Job Loss in Black Community Largely Due to Systemic Racism
Virginia—Black workers in Virginia are being laid off or furloughed disproportionately in Virginia due to COVID-19. Because of gaps in education, discrimination in hiring, racist zoning, and many other factors based in systemic racism and white supremacy, Black people are over-represented in jobs that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. “It’s already more […]
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Betsy DeVos Should Mind Her Own Business and Stay Out Of Fairfax County
Fairfax, Virginia—Over the weekend, Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, called for the full reopening of public schools across the country, despite the fact that the Center for Disease Control says “full-sized, in-person classes” would be of the “highest risk.” In making her dangerous call for schools to fully reopen five days a week with no […]
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Coronavirus Double Whammy: Death and Economic Inequality for Virginia’s Communities of Color
The coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating gross inequalities in the Commonwealth. Rampant racism and systemic discrimination existed way before the pandemic, but now they’ve left communities of color defenseless to the consequences of coronavirus. In Virginia, more Black and Latinx residents are dying from COVID-19 than white residents and more people of color lost their jobs […]
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Trump’s (Not So) Secret Anti-Environment Pandemic Agenda
We all know that Trump’s COVID-19 response has left a lot to be desired, but there is one thing he’s been really on top of during this crisis: rolling back protections for the environment. via GIPHY Hope You Didn’t Like Clean Air Since the pandemic started, Trump launched multiple attacks on environmental regulations, all the […]
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5 Things Less Popular Than Social Distancing
I don’t know about you, but I am slightly terrified about all of these calls to re-open the economy when it clearly isn’t safe yet. “Re-open the economy” seems like code for making people sick so that wealthy corporations can make money off the working class AGAIN. But while the calls to open things back […]
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You Want Us to Vote Now?
For reasons I cannot begin to fathom, the Virginia Senate decided to block efforts to move upcoming local May elections to a time in the future when it might actually be safe to vote in person. via GIPHY I worry about the danger this poses to communities throughout the state, including my own. Officials are […]
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Progress Virginia Stands With Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and Urges Delay of Reopening
Richmond, Virginia—Progress Virginia stands with the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus in urging Virginia Governor Ralph Northam to delay Phase One of his “Forward Virginia” plan to reopen Virginia businesses in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Data from the Virginia Department of Health shows ongoing serious outbreaks, some clustered in communities of color. Reopening too […]