Nikesha Elise Williams
Nikesha Elise Williams is an Emmy-winning TV producer, an award-winning author, and host/producer of the Black & Published podcast. Her latest novel, Beyond Bourbon Street, was awarded Best Fiction by the Black Caucus of African-American Librarians in the 2021 Self-Published eBook Literary Awards, as well as the 2020 Outstanding Book Award from the National Association of Black Journalists. Nikesha’s debut novel Four Women received the 2018 NABJ Outstanding Literary Work Award and the Florida Authors and Publishers Association President’s Award for Adult Contemporary/Literary Fiction. Her bylines include The Washington Post, ESSENCE, and Vox. Nikesha lives in Jacksonville with her family.
Featured image for “OPINION | On the come up ”
May 17, 2023

OPINION | On the come up 

I criticize this bold new city of the South consistently, but I’m not above applauding when ovation is due. And, Jacksonville, ovation is due. 

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Featured image for “OPINION | The body is the crime scene”
April 19, 2023

OPINION | The body is the crime scene

Recent legislative measures target the very existence of marginalized groups.

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Featured image for “OPINION | Ring the alarm ”
April 5, 2023

OPINION | Ring the alarm 

Florida Republicans are stripping people of safety, bodily autonomy and dignity while masquerading as choice.

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Featured image for “OPINION | Don’t close your eyes”
March 22, 2023

OPINION | Don’t close your eyes

College DEI programs provide safe space and solace for those of us looking for community in a dominant culture that’s hostile to difference.

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Featured image for “OPINION | Look beyond the top of the ticket”
March 6, 2023

OPINION | Look beyond the top of the ticket

The real change lies in who’s elected to the down ballot races. We have 19 seats on our City Council, and only four incumbents are running unopposed or against a write-in candidate, guaranteeing their return to the Council.

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Featured image for “OPINION | The real life implications of erasing history”
February 15, 2023

OPINION | The real life implications of erasing history

What came home from school was a list of people, places, or things the students could portray. Out of two dozen options, only four were Black people.

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Featured image for “OPINION | Rinse and repeat”
February 1, 2023

OPINION | Rinse and repeat

The hashtags that now date back a decade, and centuries of crimes against humanity, are the reason A.P. African American Studies is necessary.

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Featured image for “OPINION | We don’t have a labor shortage”
January 18, 2023

OPINION | We don’t have a labor shortage

The U.S. workforce suffers from the unwillingness of corporations to pay workers a wage that signifies value, worth, dignity and respect.

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Featured image for “OPINION | The lie of invisibility”
January 4, 2023

OPINION | The lie of invisibility

Banning books eliminates an opportunity for students to expand beyond their own surroundings and worldview.

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Featured image for “OPINION | Remember, reconcile, repair”
December 14, 2022

OPINION | Remember, reconcile, repair

“Take ‘Em Down!” is an ineffectual narrative strategy to effect change.  Is it a demand of adamance? Absolutely.  A passionate plea for empathy? Of course.  A spirited rallying cry, pithy enough for posters and T-shirts, and to fit into the mouths of young protesters who chant the phrase while elder dissenters offer themselves to the law as a martyr for

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