An editorial by Aurora Higgs, a Richmond-based producer, actor, consultant and professional speaker, on the transgender experience in Virginia.
The Virginia Defender
Established in 2005 as The Richmond Defender, The Virginia Defender is a free community newspaper, published quarterly for the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality. Print distribution is currently 12,000 and statewide. The online publication launched in Summer 2020.
Shockoe Project Update
An update on the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground memorial. The proposed theme for the memorial is “Hush Harbor”: hush harbors (or arbors) were the secret spaces in the woods where enslaved people could gather unobserved to rest, worship or plan.
Spread Information, Not Panic
A short guide on sharing information about ICE/law enforcement threats. Share information, don’t spread panic!
The people united will never be defeated
Palestinian-American writer and translator Joharah Baker on her feelings toward pro-Palestine campus protests.
Letters to the Editor: Conflict of interest?
A letter to the editor from Philip Daniel, incarcerated at Pocahontas, analyzing the Virginia Department of Correction’s motivation to provide rehabilitation programming to inmates.
On Trump banning immigrants from 19 Black & Brown countries
On Nov. 27, “Thanksgiving Day,” a U.S. holiday supposedly dedicated to honoring friendship between the Indigenous peoples of North America and English immigrants to their lands, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued new restrictions against people trying to move to the United States.
RIC: A major hub for deportation flights
Until recently, few people in the Greater Richmond area knew their local airport is being used as a major hub for transporting immigrants from ICE detention centers to major centers from which the detainees are eventually deported.
The Virginia Defender 