News & Commentary

On July 1, hundreds of new laws passed by the Virginia General Assembly earlier this year went into effect. The Virginia legislature made great strides and greenlit a handful of important reforms that had been rejected time and time again in the past. Rather than attacking people’s rights and freedoms, lawmakers passed legislation that made it easier for people to vote, expanded abortion access, protected LGBTQ+ people from discrimination and started chipping away at the countless injustices in our criminal legal system.

For decades, Virginia has been one of the most difficult places in the country for voters to cast their ballots. Thankfully, the latest session of the Virginia legislature passed a historic slate of election reforms to create a more equitable, modern voting system.

No longer should we wait until women are gripped by the claws of the criminal legal system, but take action before their backs are pressed against trying walls.

These laws codify meaningful state civil rights protections for the first time for Virginians and make Virginia the first state in the south to extend state nondiscrimination laws to all members of the LGBTQ community.

As a 19-year-old Black man navigating a world enmeshed with implicit bias, I’ve always heard and seen things differently depending upon which article of clothing I wear, be it a hoodie or a suit.

It's time for Commonwealth's Attorney Collette McEachin to show up, lead, and do the right thing, right now. Demand she drop all charges against protesters, set standards for police in calling an unlawful assembly, and make sure Marcus-David Peters' case is re-opened and gets an independent investigation.

Instead of seeking peace, the governor has doubled down on police use of force. He can help stop the violence by lifting regulations on state property, telling state police to allow people to gather undisturbed, and ending his order expanding police power.

America — a country established on July 4, 1776, that prides itself of being a place where “all men are created equal,” yet inequities fostered from race, wealth and social status have festered in existence to this very day. A country that went to war with a government that strangled it under a tyrannical English crown, is similar to a constant war that some Black people encounter daily as they leave their homes questioning if their lives will be taken at a moment’s notice. A country where finally affirming the importance of Juneteenth, also known as Black Independence Day, has been long overdue.

On June 12, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a historic ruling declaring Virginia’s ban on interracial marriages unconstitutional. That landmark case, Loving v. Virginia, 'paved the way for the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015 and led to the diverse country that we see today.