March 7, 2022
My mother was a public high school teacher for 33 years. She worked at Bloom High School in Chicago Heights.…
Jacksonville Today seeks to include a diverse set of perspectives that add context or unique insight to the news of the day. Regular opinion columnists are independent contractors who are not involved in news decisions. Want to submit your own column on a matter of public interest? Email pitches to jessica@jaxtoday.org.
March 6, 2022
OPINION | Ukraine war hits close to home
The narrative thrust of American war, at least as presented in mass media, has been remoteness. Our enemies never have…
February 28, 2022
OPINION | Differences make us better
On this first day of Women’s History Month I’m celebrating the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court…
February 27, 2022
OPINION | House redistricting map creates Jax-only CD5…lands with a thud
The intramural pissing match between Republicans in Tallahassee continues, and no clear resolution is at hand as they try to…
February 23, 2022
OPINION | Leave university funding alone
In Florida’s state government, the Legislature is required to produce a balanced budget every year. This is very different than…
February 22, 2022
THE JAXSON | 5 Gullah Geechee dishes to try in Jacksonville
The Gullah Geechee descended from enslaved Central and West Africans who worked the plantations of the Lowcountry in the coastal…
February 21, 2022
OPINION | What are you so afraid of?
The definition of democracy is “government by the people.” It’s “a form of government in which the supreme power is…
February 20, 2022
OPINION | Drama on Florida House floor reflects Duval’s racial divide
Duval County legislators were at the center of drama in the Florida Legislature last week, and the confrontation spoke to…
February 15, 2022
OPINION | 7 big projects that moved Downtown forward (and how they did it)
Downtown Jacksonville has its fair share of “gamechanger” developments that have failed to deliver, but when done right, major projects…
February 14, 2022
OPINION | History is happening now
Tomorrow would have been Jordan Davis’s 27th birthday. Trayvon Martin would have made 27 on February 5th. Instead, we remember…
February 13, 2022
OPINION | Ron DeSantis isn’t bluffing about his map
Many of those reading this rejoiced last week when the Florida Supreme Court rebuffed Gov. Ron DeSantis’ unprecedented ask for…
February 9, 2022
OPINION | Florida’s surgeon general fight is a preview of 2024
Before the 2000 Bush/Gore election, Tim Russert, the late Meet the Press host, was asked what he would be watching…
February 7, 2022
OPINION | The value of being
There’s a notion that has circulated in the Black community for generations: Black people have to be twice as good…
February 6, 2022
OPINION | Lawson for Lt. Gov?
Will Florida’s 5th Congressional District, which connects Jacksonville’s Urban Core to Gadsden County while hugging the Georgia border, become a…
January 31, 2022
OPINION | Erasing Black history does not erase Black people
In my other life, I write books and host a podcast. I am unabashed about centering the point of view…
January 30, 2022
OPINION | Bring Byron home
It’s hard for me to understand, as a longtime observer of the Jacksonville Jaguars franchise, why it’s taken the team…
January 25, 2022
OPINION | A sad lesson from Broad Street’s past
If you travel down Broad Street in Downtown Jacksonville’s LaVilla neighborhood today, you won’t pass by much that’s open. In…
January 24, 2022
OPINION | I am American
“African-American voters are voting at just as high a percentage as Americans.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made the offhand…
January 23, 2022
OPINION | Corrine’s revenge? Ron DeSantis goes after Al Lawson
Is Gov. DeSantis trying to do what Jacksonville Democrats could not, in removing Al Lawson from Congress? That is one…
January 19, 2022
SPORTS | What Trevor Lawrence needs from the Jags
Former NFL coach Bill Parcells famously said, “You are what your record says you are.” Considering the Jaguars have the…
January 18, 2022
OPINION | Rethinking Jacksonville’s convention center dilemma
A new convention center has been in Jacksonville’s long-term plans for decades, but the Downtown Investment Authority now says it…
January 17, 2022
OPINION | An open letter to Gov. DeSantis
Dear Governor DeSantis, My daughter has COVID. She’s 7 months. I’m watching her little body battle an invisible bully. She’s…
January 10, 2022
OPINION | Rebirth of a nation, state
Today marks the first day of the Florida legislative session. A session where our elected legislators will tackle a myriad…
January 9, 2022
OPINION | Ben Frazier makes his point
A week ago, the world hadn’t heard of Ben Frazier. The president of the Northside Coalition was known locally, but…