Opinion
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ESSAY: Grief and the Faceless Nature of Facebook
Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. The message arrived September 23, at 10:30 a.m.: “Hi Pamela. We received a request to reset your Facebook password. Didn’t request this change? If you didn’t request a new password, let us know.” More followed thick…
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OPINION: HB 64 Puts Historic Access to Government Records in Reach
When the 2021 session of the General Assembly began, passage of legislation to advance public access to records of disciplinary actions taken by those employed by taxpayers in state and local government seemed like a long shot. Long a priority of North Carolina newspapers on behalf of the state’s citizens,…
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OPINION: Ableism and Accessibility in a Post-COVID World
Since the beginning of time, accessibility has been a major issue for disabled people. Disabled people have trouble finding or keeping employment. Disabled students struggle in the classroom. Wheelchair users are often unable to enter restaurants and other buildings due to the lack of ramps or automated door openings, and…
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OPINION: The Charlotte NDO – Third Time’s the Charm
Charlotte has passed a non-discrimination ordinance (NDO) – again. It has been five years since the first successful vote to add protections for the LGBTQ+ community (there was also a failed NDO vote in 2015), and we all remember the damaging response from our N.C. General Assembly in the passing…
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OPINION: It’s the U.S. Senate’s Turn to Act on LGBTQ Nondiscrimination
I haven’t always agreed with North Carolina’s U.S. senators, but I appreciated a recent opportunity to meet with Senator Thom Tillis’ office to discuss something where I believe we can find common ground: ensuring fairness and equality for all Americans through LGBTQ nondiscrimination legislation. My friend Karen Graci, a fellow…
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OPINION: SB711 Is a Step Backward for Marijuana Legalization in NC
On June 30, 2021, a milestone for marijuana legalization in NC was reached as the Compassionate Care Act, SB711, advanced through the Judicial Committee of the NCGA. While bills like this medical marijuana legislation have been introduced repeatedly during the past decade, this is the first time such a bill…
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OPINION: CMS Must Reimagine Its Board of Education
If we know anything, it’s that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) Board of Education has a penchant for drama (just ask the six superintendents over the last 10 years), so it comes at no surprise that the board of education is yet again embroiled in a dispute that makes for great…
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OPINION: Charlotte Needs More Non-Alcoholic Options
Many moons ago when I was newly sober, my poodle Ziggy was recruited for a magazine photoshoot at a new-but-since-closed, dog-friendly, self-pour bar in Plaza Midwood. I brought him to the bar, fully planning on stage-moming from the sidelines, but as it turned out, the photographer also needed humans in…
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OPINION: The State Should Be Supporting Harm-Reduction Programs, Not Trying To Kill Them
If you were an injection drug user in Plaza Midwood before 2015 — before syringe service programs (SSPs) were legal in North Carolina —you probably knew me, and you probably knew my house. It was the place you went to get clean syringes. It was the place you got drug-user…
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OPINION: Why I Support the Cherry Community Organization’s Fight for Morgan School
In 2018 I moved to Cherry. I needed more space for my kids, and a beautiful almost-new house on the park was perfect for us. I knew Cherry was undergoing gentrification, and had read about the local Cherry Community Organization and its commitment to affordable housing. Within a few months…
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OPINION: A Spectacle of Unity Followed the UNC Charlotte Shooting
One day after a former student opened fire in a UNC Charlotte classroom, killing two students and injuring four others, then-Chancellor Philip Dubois stood before a podium in a packed stadium. In the span of a day, grieving students managed to organize a spontaneous vigil to honor the shooting victims,…
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OPINION: Open the Door to LGBTQ Equality in North Carolina
This spring marks five years since North Carolina sprang into the national spotlight because of a statewide conversation about LGBTQ equality — more specifically, about dignity and respect for transgender people. Following years of advocacy from local organizers at MeckPAC, it became clear that the Charlotte City Council needed to…
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Editor’s Note: Cherry’s Longtime Leaders Are Not for the Disrespect
Barbara Rainey has seen a lot of change in Cherry over her 70 years. Having lived the first 33 years of her life on a house on Cherry Street, then the next 37 on nearby Baldwin Avenue, Rainey looks back to a time when her mother and aunt lived in…
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OPINION: When Black Siding Replaces Black Lives
When the house flippers show up in west Charlotte, they move out the Black people, but they bring in black siding. It’s a fair trade, they argue. You have to find a way to honor the legacy without getting in the way of progress. By progress they mean “money,” which…
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Viral Video Highlights Barriers for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students
In mid-February, a video of an Oxnard college professor berating a hard-of-hearing student in front of their entire Zoom class for “not paying attention” went viral, causing dismay in the deaf community. The video had us reliving our pain from past experiences while worrying that this was still going on…
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OPINION: Duke Energy Plan Leaves Vulnerable Communities Behind
We know climate change is already affecting us here in the Charlotte region, where Duke Energy keeps a tight grasp on power in its most literal sense. We only have to look around to see that spring comes earlier, there are more hot days in summer, and rain storms are…
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![Two trans youth protest the bathroom bill inside the state legilature, posing for a photo with signs that read "Trans Youth exist, are valid [and] deserve human rights" and "Y'all means all."](https://qc-nerve.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/HB2Teaser.jpg)
