Nikesha Elise Williams Jacksonville Today Contributor
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 | 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,…

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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…

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A group of demonstrators gather at dusk in Shelby Farms Park in response to the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers following a traffic stop, in Memphis, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. Tyre, who had a hobby in photography, frequented the park to photograph sunsets. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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…

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Labor organizations were among more than 150 groups that took part in Monday's MLK Day parade in Jacksonville | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
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…

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Ami Polonsky, author of "Gracefully Grayson," spoke during a rally ahead of the Dec. 6th Duval School Board meeting. The district ordered her book for fifth grade classrooms in 2021 but decided to send it back after a review process.
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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The Confederate statue is seen in Springfield Park prior to its removal in December 2023.
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…

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Democratic Reps. Tray McCurdy of Orlando, Angie Nixon of Jacksonville, and Felicia Robinson of Miami Gardens sit on the Florida state seal in protest of congressional redistricting by the Florida Legislature last spring. | AP
November 30, 2022

OPINION | Silence is not assent

As a child I would sometimes get in trouble in school, and then again at home, for trying to express…

Featured image for “OPINION | DeSantis’ and Trump’s freedom isn’t free”
Gov. Ron DeSantis holds his son Mason as he celebrates winning reelection. | AP
November 16, 2022

OPINION | DeSantis’ and Trump’s freedom isn’t free

Freedom.  That’s the word that’s been slung like dice since campaigning began for the 2022 midterm elections. Entire narratives were…

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A protester and counter-protester talk outside the Duval County Courthouse after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs in June of 2022. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
November 2, 2022

OPINION | Are we irretrievably broken?

The attack ads this election cycle have been vicious. Opponents on both sides have been characterized as racist, dangerous, liars…

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President Joe Biden speaks about student debt relief on Oct. 17th. | AP
October 19, 2022

OPINION | Requesting relief for the people

I am one of the millions of people who submitted an application for student debt relief. I attended the Florida…

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An undated photo of Emmett Till. | AP
October 5, 2022

OPINION | Focused on the future

Tomorrow, Till will open in theaters (in a limited release) nationwide. Sixty-seven years after the gruesome murder of 14-year-old Emmett…

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Artwork from the Deborah Roberts exhibit I'm, now on display at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens through Dec. 4th. | Cummer Museum
September 21, 2022

OPINION | Battle for the best of us

Over the weekend, I visited the Cummer Museum for the opening of the Deborah Roberts exhibition I’m. On a large…

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Photo: Jessica Palombo, Jacksonville Today
September 7, 2022

OPINION | The 7-hour solution for work-life balance

Why isn’t the school day as long as the work day?  That’s the thought that’s been running through my mind…

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Image: Screen shot from rondesantis.com
August 24, 2022

OPINION | Advocating for humanity is not indoctrination

As humans, we have an average of 6,000 thoughts per day. We are also flooded with as much as 34…

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Photo: AP
August 10, 2022

OPINION | Short on the things we need

Monday morning marks back-to-school time for my son along with thousands of other Duval County students. In preparation, I have…

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A mob storms the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. | AP
July 27, 2022

OPINION | Hotbeds of hatred

On Jan. 6th, 2021, I sat beside my mother in my living room, eyes glued to the television watching the…

Featured image for “OPINION | Kids should be able to live big”
Mourners comforted each other after a funeral service for Eduardo Uvaldo, a victim of the July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park, Ill. | Chicago Sun-Times via AP
July 18, 2022

OPINION | Kids should be able to live big

I was talking to my son recently about travel, and I suggested that for his next spring break we visit…

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Activists opposed to the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett protested in Washington in 2020. | AP
July 11, 2022

OPINION | What will the literature of tomorrow say?

Reckoning.  That is the word that’s most often applied to this time we’re living in. It began with the confluence…

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Monique Sampson was one of the hundreds of women who gathered at the Duval County Courthouse for a demonstration against a United States Supreme Court ruling that will send decisions about abortion back to individual states on Friday, June 24, 2022. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today.
July 4, 2022

OPINION | Where do the women go? 

As a woman it is not enough to demand “my body, my choice.” We have no solid ground on which…

Featured image for “OPINION | Bags of bundles for the Buppies”
Beauty Depot opened on Southside Boulevard this month. | Ric Anderson, Jacksonville Today
June 27, 2022

OPINION | Bags of bundles for the Buppies

When I walked into the new Beauty Depot store on Southside Boulevard for the first time, it was like the…

Featured image for “OPINION | I’ll take freedom over a holiday any day”
Fannie Lou Hamer, center, is pictured with Annie Devine, left, and Victoria Gray after the three were denied access to the U.S. House floor in 1965. | AP
June 20, 2022

OPINION | I’ll take freedom over a holiday any day

“I am sick and tired of being sick and tired…nobody’s free until everybody’s free…if I fall, I’ll fall 5 feet…

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Longtime state legislator Audrey Gibson is running for Jacksonville mayor. | News Service of Florida
June 13, 2022

OPINION | Bet on Black women

My heart was glad when I saw the announcement that term-limited Democratic state Sen. Audrey Gibson was entering the Jacksonville…

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Photo: Jessica Palombo
June 6, 2022

OPINION | A toast to brighter futures

Saturday, the city of Jacksonville will mark its 200th birthday with a jam-packed bicentennial celebration schedule. It’s also my daughter’s…

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Gathering at a memorial at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. | AP
May 30, 2022

OPINION | The answer to gun violence? Abolish guns

Last week, I dropped off and picked up my son from school for the last time until the next school…