In November 2021, workers at Richmond’s Diversity Thrift used-goods store went on strike. After a whirlwind nine-day campaign, they won higher wages, staffing changes, and new store policies regarding sexual harassment.
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 16,000 and statewide. The online publication launched in Summer 2020.
NEWPORT NEWS SHIPYARD UNION TO VOTE ON NEW CONTRACT PROPOSAL
After voting down an earlier contract agreement late last year, members of United Steelworkers Local 8888 will be voting soon on a new deal with their employer, Newport News Shipbuilding. And this time the proposed contract may meet a key union demand: recognizing shipyard workers as “essential.”
PRISONERS, EX-PRISONERS & ADVOCATES SPEAK OUT FOR PRISON JUSTICE
Despite threatening weather forecasts, cold temperatures and the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 90 people still turned out Jan. 22 for the 5th Annual Virginia Prison Justice Rally.
THE MANY FACES OF MENTAL HEALTH BEHIND THE WIRE
An essay on mental health by Shaka Shakur.
BOOK REVIEW: THE LIFE & LEGACY OF ENSLAVED VIRGINIAN EMILY WINFREE
The book that Jan Meck and Virginia Refo have written is the first study of the life of Emily Winfree, a Virginia-born African woman who lived from 1834 to 1865 enslaved in Petersburg and Chesterfield Country and, after Emancipation, in Manchester until her death in 1919.
UNITED BLACK BIRTH COLLECTIVE GROWING ‘SLOWLY AND WITH INTENTION’
In January 2020, Weluna Finley and a group of like-minded Black mothers, birth workers, mental health professionals and healers founded the United Black Birth Collective.
NEWS U CAN USE: WINTER 2022
The Winter 2022 edition of News U Can Use includes information about free at-home COVID tests and an online map tool to monitor sewage overflow into the James River.
The Virginia Defender 