Opinion

Durham City Council: Call it a genocide

By Sydney Brainard

March 10, 2024

On February 20, the Durham city council passed a cease-fire resolution, urging Biden “to call for and facilitate de-escalation and a sustained, bilateral ceasefire” and calling for “the release of all hostages held in Gaza,” as well as an end to U.S. military aid to Netanyahu. It was a hard earned victory for activists, who […]

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A Note to the Durham VOICE

By Hannah Adams

December 12, 2023

By Hannah Adams Published Dec. 12 I extend my deepest gratitude to Durham VOICE for providing me with unforgettable experiences that have been instrumental in propelling my journalism career to new heights. Prior to my involvement with your esteemed platform, I contributed to Black Ink Magazine, where I enjoyed the freedom to explore diverse topics […]

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A reflection of my time at the Durham Voice

By Ava Dobson

November 23, 2023

Reflecting on my time reporting for the Durham community has been the hardest task assigned to me yet. Not because I don’t know what to say, but because I feel unqualified to in so few words.  I believe the most significant takeaway I can provide is the least obvious: while media outlets often portray Durham […]

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My Reflection on the Durham Voice

By Christina Polge

November 16, 2023

by Christina Polge Uploaded November 16 at 3pm Writing for the Durham Voice has been a powerful experience for me. It reminded me about the true value of journalism: the readers. When writing my stories, I spent a lot of time considering what would be important for Durham residents to know and then I centered […]

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Celebrating a pioneering Black community newspaper

By Carl Kenney

April 12, 2022

Some claim that it’s always Black History Month — so then it’s never too late to celebrate the pioneering work of a bold and enterprising young Black journalist, Milton B. Robinson who, in 1945 launched The Harris Herald, billed proudly as the “Only Negro Newspaper in Rutherford County.”             Robinson’s publication was a groundbreaking, heroic […]

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UNC-CH honors Black music faculty trailblazer, Martha Flowers

By Carl Kenney

January 23, 2021

Martha Flowers came to the front door prepared for her photo shoot, looking every bit like a diva — dressed for a concert, pearl necklace, and a smile that could – and did – light up Broadway. Diva; I may not know what that means technically, and I have a hunch its like when someone […]

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50 years later: they’re “still in the fight”

By Carl Kenney

October 30, 2020

By Jock Lauterer Founding Publisher The Durham VOICE Fifty years ago this past spring, four outstanding 18-year-old Black graduating high school seniors from a rural high school in Western North Carolina teamed up to express their gloves-off opinions about the first year of school integration and the state of race relations. Earlier this fall, those […]

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Furry friends providing support and companionship during pandemic

By Madison Reese

October 7, 2020

I recently lost my long-time companions, Simba and Nala. The pair of Rottweilers, both dying from old age — Nala at 12 and Simba at 13 — were integral family members since I was a toddler. I think about my dogs daily and often wonder how pets and their owners are faring during this pandemic […]

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Managing the stress of Covid-19

By Carl Kenney

By Antoine Freeman             In early August a man in Pennsylvania was charged with shooting at an employee of a cigar shop. This violence started when the cigar shop employee told the man, Adam Zaborowski, 35, to wear a mask. According to local news reports, Zaborowski allegedly fired shots at the store clerk and later, […]

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Staying strong while dreaming of returning to ‘normal’ school days

By Khadijah McFadden

August 15, 2020

After a long, unexpected and crazy break during the coronavirus pandemic, it is now time for students to “return” to school. School this year will look a lot different than any other. This year the majority of local schools will be online for probably the entirety of the fall semester however, chances could creep up […]

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We need to make the change

By Nway Dee

August 13, 2020

Ever since George Floyd’s murder, there has been huge outrage from citizens of the United States. Many protests took place in every state in order to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Back in June, a peaceful protest took place in Durham downtown where numerous people marched. I believe that this is a […]

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Following the yellow brick road towards Durham Children’s Initiative

By Khadijah McFadden

May 6, 2020

“The yellow brick road with a pot of gold at the end,” are the words that David Reese, President and CEO of East Durham Children’s Initiative, uses to describe the upcoming merger between two local NGOs dedicated to helping Durham’s children have a better life.  On July 1, Partners for Youth Opportunity, led by Julie […]

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The Little Newspaper That Could:

The Durham VOICE celebrates 10 years

By Jock Lauterer

February 24, 2020

Dear Reader, A proper news story must satisfy a little formula we newsies call “the Five Ws.”  The what, who, where, why, when…and sometimes how. So, here are the 5W’s on our own story. WHAT: With this new year, the Durham VOICE turns 10. And, as any experienced journalist knows, newspaper years should be measured […]

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Honoring Grandma’s hands

By Carl Kenney

February 16, 2020

My Grandma, Rose Krivensky, wasn’t like other grandparents — she and my grandfather were parents. They are my earliest memories of what parents are and should be. My Grandma was my hero and still is in many ways. In Arabic, we call Grandma, “Sitty.” When I was little I was put into foster care, and […]

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Commentary: Inside the mind of a minority, Latinx edition

By Rocky Jones

September 25, 2019

This essay is the first in a series of interviews exploring minorities in America. Before we get into this, let me just point out that I am a 16-year-old African- American female. And I know what you’re thinking, “Why in the world is this black girl writing about her Latinx brothers and sisters?”  My answer […]

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The end to a journey just beginning

By Cindy Chen

May 15, 2019

  This is my story of how writing became an escape, rather than a chore, through journaling — and then journalism. Coming to America with English as my second language I always thought it was the hardest subject to master. Being the quiet shy kid in class, I felt inferior with my English language skills […]

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Commentary: Reconsidering our place in extractive journalism

By Courtney Staton

March 27, 2019

  Earlier this month, as part of the NeXt Doc Fellows, a fellowship which promotes 20 to 24-year-olds identified as the next generation of documentary filmmakers, I attended the True/False Documentary Film Festival in Columbia, Missouri. I watched “The Commons,” a film about the protests surrounding the Silent Sam statue and the Pit. I watched […]

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What I learned delivering the Durham VOICE

By Spencer Carney

February 27, 2019

Whenever my family and I visit my dad’s hometown, we always make sure to do what we call the “Old Homes” tour, where we drive around and see the houses that my dad and his siblings grew up in. This tour also includes us driving his old paper delivery route. He points out the houses […]

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A publisher’s reflection: Giving thanks at a 10-year milestone

By Jock Lauterer

February 14, 2019

  As every good reporter knows, a proper news story must satisfy a little formula we newsies call “the Five Ws.” What, who, where, why, when…and sometimes How. So, here are the 5W’s on our own story. WHAT: With this new year, the Durham VOICE turns 10, a marker anniversary that could not have been […]

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Commentary: Are school protocols imitating prisons?

By Rocky Jones

November 14, 2018

  Nobody likes being told what to do, but the truth is without regulations there is no order. But does this mean the government can literally set children up for failure? The school-to-prison pipeline is not new — in fact, according to NC Child, an advocacy organization for North Carolina kids, the school-to-prison pipeline began […]

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Powering through Florence in spite of it all

By Carl Kenney

October 12, 2018

  Editor’s Note:  During her senior year at UNC-Chapel Hill, Elise Clouser served as a staff writer-photographer for the Durham VOICE. Upon graduation in 2017, she was hired as a reporter by the Carteret County News-Times of Morehead City, which donates the printing of the Durham VOICE as a public service. We wanted to know […]

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Age ain’t nothing but a number

By Rocky Jones

September 17, 2018

  When there is no barrier between adolescence and adulthood, what makes a person “grown-up?” Standing at the Durham bus terminal one day, I asked a random young male what did he think makes him an adult. “I’m not an adult, but I’ve been through so much more than the average adult and have taken […]

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Heading East: My summer bike ride with Triangle Bikeworks

By Cindy Chen

September 11, 2018

  In mid-July, a few weeks ago, my friend and fellow PYO (Partners for Youth Opportunity) student, Tyee Meek, and I biked from Chapel Hill to the Outer Banks — a distance totaling over 700 miles — with Triangle Bikeworks. Triangle Bikeworks is an organization that promotes youth leadership development through biking. Our bike tour […]

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Dear Durham: An open letter to our readers

By Katie Rice

April 11, 2018

As a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, I often find myself stuck in the “Chapel Hill bubble,” the detached environment of privilege and academia surrounding my campus. I go to class with people who, for the most part, look like me and have had a lot of the same experiences as me. It is easy for […]

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¿Por qué queremos escuchar tu VOZ? (Why do we want to hear your VOICE?)

By Maria Elena Vizcaino

My dad has lived in the United States for the past 10 years. He doesn’t speak a word of English. That’s why back in January, when my professor suggested The VOICE publish articles in Spanish, I didn’t hesitate before committing to translate our content. Like my dad, thousands of immigrants in this country decide to […]

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Commentary: an immigrant’s dilemma, and dream come true

By Zayrha Rodriguez

February 28, 2018

As a woman, an immigrant from Colombia and a college student pursuing a career in journalism, I feel that I am under constant attack by the current U.S. administration. Often recently, I have felt the need to call out our administration and elected officials. But I keep myself from doing it. I wonder how much […]

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Not a newspaper…It’s a news outlet

By Nafisa Shah and Tyee Meek

  The VOICE recently had the opportunity to have a conversation with Bob Ashley, the former editor of Durham’s The Herald-Sun and recently retired a little over six months ago. Ashley worked for newspapers for over 50 years and gave us an insider’s view of the journalism industry. He started working with the newspaper in […]

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Seeing race in a new light

By LaMon Jones

February 6, 2018

  Let’s talk about race. Race, in its basic definition, is “a social construct” created to separate people by the way they look. Racism has not always existed simply because race itself hasn’t always been a part of society. These two things and many more are facts I learned at an REI (Racial Equity Institute) […]

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Learning life lessons through volunteering and basketball

By Qaadir McFadden

January 31, 2018

  Imagine this: The game is tied with two seconds on the clock, and coach calls his last full timeout. He draws up a play to kick the basketball out to one of the two shooters on the court. When the timeout is up, the girls come onto the floor to run the play that […]

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Take your community heart wherever you go

By Carl Kenney

December 6, 2017

  Editor’s Note: Lu Xu is a 10-year veteran Chinese broadcast journalist who, for the last two years, has been studying communications at the UNC-CH School of Media and Journalism, where she is a visiting international scholar. In her final semester at Chapel Hill, she joined the MEJO 459 “Community Journalism” class and became a […]

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Chuck Stone Diversity Program impactful for teen journalists

By Nafisa Shah

October 3, 2017

  This summer I had the opportunity to attend the Chuck Stone Program at School of Media and Journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. The program was started in 2007 for seniors in high school and honors the legacy of Professor Emeritus Charles “Chuck” Stone. Stone was a Tuskegee Airman during World War II and a prominent […]

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Celebrating high school journalism at Hillside

By Jock Lauterer

September 23, 2017

As the Durham VOICE enters its ninth year, when I look back in mind’s eye rear-view-mirror, the thing I see is not the 42 print editions or the hundreds of online versions of our paper. I see faces. For if there’s anything we’ve learned over the years, it’s that community journalism – that all-in, relentlessly […]

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Durham protests: Who is really guilty?

By Nafisa Shah

August 27, 2017

    You may have already heard, but on a Monday in early August a group of protesters pulled down the statue of a Confederate soldier that stood outside the old Durham County courthouse. The statue, the Confederate Soldiers Monument, was dedicated to the county of Durham in May, 1924. Engraved in the statute are […]

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Commentary: This Land is Our Land

By Linda Chen

April 20, 2017

  Think about a landfill. Can you imagine living within five miles of one? Imagine the smells during the summer and the big trucks filled with trash barreling down the streets. Think about the sour-smelling brown water coming from water sources like sinks and bathtubs. Environmental injustice or even environmental racism includes the placement of […]

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Commentary: A world I never knew

By LaMon Jones

April 16, 2017

  Before I entered PYO two years ago, I had the reputation at school of being unmotivated and lazy. One day I got suspended from school for a week — and luckily got sent to a great program called “Rebound,” which helped me keep up with my schoolwork while out of classes. Once I finished […]

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Commentary: My Ride with Meals on Wheels

By Molly Smith

April 5, 2017

The second I set foot inside Meals on Wheels of Durham, I was immediately greeted with an air filled by the smell of sizzling hamburgers, the sound of animated chit-chat and the sight of dozens of smiling faces. After hearing about President Trump’s proposed budget cuts that endanger thousands of local Meals on Wheels agencies […]

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Hillside Chronicle staff writers pen “Letters to Durham”

By Carl Kenney

April 3, 2017

Editor’s Note:  Following a recent incident near their high school, the Hillside Chronicle staffers of Hillside High School received some negative comments via social media about their school. Anonymous, of course. In response, the staff elected to write “Dear Durham” letters, aided by UNC-CH students from the Durham VOICE mentoring team which has worked with […]

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Looking for opportunity, not a handout

By Carlton Koonce

March 20, 2017

  Opportunities. Not handouts. When you think about it, it’s really not too much to ask. A chance to work and to prove one’s self worth. A chance to get into a good college.  A chance to land a job or start a business that provides for a family. A chance to live a safe, […]

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Teens talk social media

By Veronika Payne

March 9, 2017

  Social media has a profound effect on society. From the way we dress to the way we speak social media takes its toll. Stalking, pornography, and school yard fights all dangers you run across while on social media. There has even been an increase in live streaming suicides among teen social media users. The […]

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Knee-deep in snow, Natasha finds a new home

By LaMon Jones

February 7, 2017

  Being the editor of the Durham Voice is not a role you can just joke around with. You’re in charge of a monthly column, and although that may not seem like much, it’s more than most think. Depending on what you have going on in life, some months may be easy and others not […]

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College doesn’t define me

By Linda Chen

February 6, 2017

  It’s Friday morning at 9:57 a.m. and the stress is real. Friends are discussing colleges, while I sit believing I’ve got the college stress under control. Still, that does not mean there is no stress for me. After overhearing the talk and stress concerning colleges among classmates, I feel it is time to share […]

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Growing up an ‘Other’ in America

By Linda Chen

December 4, 2016

  Growing up, I always felt different. I always entertained myself alone. Played alone and read alone. I was a huge daydreamer and a helpless romantic. I loved to play doctor, school teacher or the mom going into the hospital because she’s having a child. It was just something I always effortlessly did. My story […]

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Evaluating The Trump Card

By LaMon Jones

November 11, 2016

  The 2016 election has been a rollercoaster ride of insults, hate speech, sexism and racism. The Clinton campaign versus the Trump campaign will go down in history as one of the nastiest battles in politics. The career politician Hillary Clinton battled it out with one of the most iconic businessmen of the modern era, […]

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Obama comes to Chapel Hill one last time

By Nafisa Shah

November 10, 2016

  On Wednesday, Nov. 2,  I had the opportunity to see President Obama give one of his last speeches as sitting President at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.     Throughout the day there were several speakers such as Deborah Ross, Roy Cooper, James Taylor and an UNC advocate for the Clinton campaign. […]

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HHS Tennis teaches overcoming adversity

By Nafisa Shah

October 23, 2016

    Playing tennis for Hillside High School since my freshman year has taught me much. Now a senior, I can see how the sport has developed me as a person. Tennis this year started off with only a few returning players from last year’s team. I got involved my 9th grade year because my parents […]

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