Perspectives

Those hoping to revitalize Jacksonville’s historic Black neighborhoods should take a look at Chicago’s Bronzeville. Located in the South Side, Bronzeville rose to prominence as a national hub for blues music during the Great Migration. Today, the neighborhood is in the midst of revitalization while continuing to embrace its heritage and culture. The revitalization of Chicago’s Bronzeville  South Side Chicago’s

Over the last few weeks, I’ve allowed my son to go out in the world sans mask. Initially, it wasn’t a conscious decision. Rushing out the door to get him to school on time, I forgot to remind him to grab one of his many masks lying around the house. I suggested he get one from the front office at

The Jacksonville City Council is set for yet another of its masochistic explorations of what would, in a 21st Century city, be a simple question: Should a monument to a band of seditionist criminals, the legacy of whom looms over us like the shadow of a 500-foot statue of Jim Crow, be maintained for all to see? It seems so

In honor of Women’s History Month, here are six sites associated with women who transformed our community and nation. Born Ninah May Holden in 1875 and the wife of lumber magnate Arthur Cummer, Ninah was an avid gardener, parks advocate, art collector and philanthropist. She organized relief efforts in response to the Great Fire of 1901 and served as a

Florida has gotten a well-earned rep for being the country’s sideshow. “Florida Man” headlines alone illustrate why we’re considered America’s three-ring circus. (No shade to the dearly departed Barnum & Bailey from Sarasota.) But there comes a point for every prankster and practical joker, for every comedian, comic, and clown when you realize your audience is no longer laughing with

As the Legislature wrapped up its business Friday, the last bit of work before passing the budget Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis put in some work of his own, appointing a local woman to the state Board of Education, a post subject to Senate confirmation. DeSantis chose Esther Byrd of Neptune Beach, who recently lost a City Council race in that

Lake Okeechobee, the massive water body north of the Everglades, is surrounded by a dike that was built by the U.S. Corps of Engineers in the mid-20th Century. If such a dike is breached, lives are lost as we learned so tragically when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. In 2016, while lake levels were dramatically rising, massive toxic algae blooms

Despite a common perception that parking is difficult in the city center, Downtown Jacksonville has more surface parking lots, garages and empty land – in other words, “parking craters” – than standing buildings. This vast amount of dead space has long been one of the biggest hindrances to Downtown’s progress. What is a parking crater? A Google map of surface

My mother was a public high school teacher for 33 years. She worked at Bloom High School in Chicago Heights. As a child, I attended a Catholic school from kindergarten through 6th grade. Between the ages of 5 and 8, when school was over, I either stayed in the school-run after-care program, was bused to an after-school program focused on

The narrative thrust of American war, at least as presented in mass media, has been remoteness. Our enemies never have coherent bargaining positions. Often, they are presented as figures of ridicule. To destroy, at least as an American war machine destroys, you can’t see your enemy as your neighbor.