Opinion
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OPINION: Student Loan Confusion Is Stalling Dreams
The faint smell of chlorine marked my walk, preceded by wet footprints and the laughter of children on the other side of a hotel door. We were at a hotel in California in 2016 and I was dropping my 5-year-old daughter off with my cousin, Taylor. The informal designation of…
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Nerve Endings: Don’t Touch Black People’s Hair
I know it will garner eye rolls from some readers, but it must be said: I have the most exemplary baby boy. First of all, he’s adorable and people love to say so. His general shyness when people try to say hello makes this even more true. He’s so chill…
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OPINION: Jefferson Griffin, the Voters Have Spoken
I enthusiastically registered to vote when I turned 18 in 1999, and I was proud to cast my first ballot in the 2000 presidential election while living in Ohio. I have been a registered voter in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, since 2011. The first time I voted in North Carolina…
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Shen Yun, the Falun Gong and Practicing What You Preach
If you’ve lived in Charlotte for any extended period of time — or in any city around the world that’s home to a decent-sized performing arts theater, for that matter — you’ve likely been witness to the awe-inspiring marketing campaign that is Shen Yun. Often featuring a dancer in mid-split…
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Mourning Paul Ervin, aka Moses the Street Preacher
In September 2019, we published a story about Paul Ervin, aka Moses the Street Preacher, after he recovered from a brutal attack in his home. The feedback we heard from readers of the story confirmed that Ervin had touched countless lives with his words and actions. Ervin passed away last…
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OPINION: Charlotte’s Got the Sauce but Serves It Bland
After watching Charlotte wrestle with its own reflection for over a decade, I’ve come to one conclusion: The Queen City moves like a side character in its own story. A banking powerhouse with deep Black history and cultural richness, Charlotte is caught in an unnerving cycle of self-comparison. I’ve sat…
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Hello Uncle Pop-Up Serves in an Ever-Changing Plaza Midwood
When boo asked me on a recent evening if I wanted to try the Southeast Asian pop-up Hello Uncle for dinner, I sighed because founder Michael Le was set up at Common Market in Plaza Midwood on this specific night, and if you’ve been to the ‘Wood lately, you know…
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ESSAY: A Call to Black Artists on the Experience of Homelessness and Belonging
Have I loved the Black people in my home — or have I embraced the innate calling of mothering, a love that nurtures, protects, and builds? I am a Black woman; the motherland. My honor is to nurture the Kingdom of Heaven upon this Earth, our bodies’ first home. But…
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OPINION: The Christian Right Does Not Know Jesus
If there is any question about the intentions of the Christian Right, all one needs to do is observe their agenda and influence on the actions of President Donald Trump during his first days in office. I am the Pastor of the new Umoja Church and an organizer of my…
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OPINION: The CRBA Should Step Up to Support Public Education
Any day now, the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance (CRBA) will announce its new president and CEO. As a former member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education (BOE), I hope this ushers in a new era of business community support of traditional public schools. That’s not to say that the…
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OPINION: Josh Stein Must Continue Bold Leadership on Environment
Working together, states and the federal government have been able to achieve significant climate progress over the last four years. At the federal level, landmark legislation is boosting the clean energy industry, funding home weatherization, and reducing pollution. In North Carolina, transitioning to clean energy and growing electric vehicle manufacturing…
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OPINION: Transgender Women Need the Support of Fellow Women
A young woman stands beside a ballot box, sleeves puffed, neck hidden by a high white collar, hat tilted atop her head. She holds up her skirts as though she is about to curtsey and looks straight at the viewer, chin lifted, expectant. Beneath the drawing a caption reads: “Good…
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Clint Eastwood’s ‘Juror #2’ and the Decay of the Movie Studio
There’s a thing about the icons Americans look up to, the ones who are sent abroad as symbols of our culture: John Wayne, Elvis, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Clint Eastwood, for example. Eventually they just become empty idols, devoid of context and meaning. We stop seeing them as artists or even…
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OPINION: How Do We Find Candidates Who Represent the Working Class?
I grew up tagging along behind my dad at construction sites. He would find a hard hat for me to wear, and it would wobble around on my too-small head. Usually, we were there to look at some problem — the wrong lumber had been delivered and the team was…
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ESSAY: Farewell (For Now) From a Not-So-Phantom Publisher
If you’re familiar with the story behind Queen City Nerve, you know that phantom publishing played a role in the demise of Creative Loafing Charlotte back in 2018, which led to the launch of this paper. On Halloween of that year, a Greensboro-based publisher walked in, gave the entire staff…
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OPINION: How All Protest Votes Go to Waste
To all of my friends and family wanting a more progressive America and thinking about sitting out or voting for Jill Stein, I’ll start by saying I hear you on your desires, but I have some hard truths. For four to five decades we’ve all been sold a bill of…
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