Author: Jordan Meadows

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer Anna Julia Cooper, born into slavery in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1858, emerged as one of the most influential Black scholars and activists in American history.  [caption id="attachment_13530" align="alignleft" width="308"] Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution[/caption] The daughter of Hannah Stanley Haywood and likely the enslaver Fabius J. Haywood, Cooper's early life was marked by the inhumanity of slavery.

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer This past Labor Day weekend, downtown Raleigh was transformed into a celebration of heritage, creativity, and community during the 16th Annual African American Cultural Festival (AACF) of Raleigh and Wake County. Drawing an estimated 50,000 attendees, the free, family-friendly event stretched across Fayetteville Street and Hargett Street and embraced this year's powerful theme: "Heritage Heartbeat: 16 Years of Rhythm." Festival organizer Pam Thompson Smith explained

By: Jordan Meadows Staff Writer  A wave of optimism swept through Raleigh as Fathers Forever, a local nonprofit dedicated to empowering fathers, hosted a Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony at its newly expanded campus on Stony Brook Road.  The event on Thursday drew a crowd of supporters, community leaders, and program participants to witness a new chapter in the organization's journey.  The ceremony's keynote speaker was First Lady Anna Stein, who shared her

By: Jordan Meadows Staff Writer Throughout the last century, Black Americans have made their voices heard not only through marches, speeches, and sit-ins, but also through a lesser-remembered yet equally powerful form of protest: the economic boycott.  These boycotts were not merely refusals to spend; they were declarations of self-worth. Black communities organizing economic resistance-refusing to support businesses that refused to hire, respect, or serve them with fairness-was vital to

By: Jordan Meadows Staff Writer  Veterans, and community members gathered on August 20th at a ribbon cutting event in Garner where the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System officially opened its newest and largest outpatient facility-the Garner VA Clinic, a state-of-the-art center located on Benson Road. The new facility is set to serve more than 30,000 veterans across 27 counties in Central and Eastern North Carolina, including Wake County-home to

[caption id="attachment_13459" align="alignnone" width="1536"] LeVelle Moton (center) turns dirt on site of future Cottages of Idlewild. (Photo by Greg Childress/NC Newsline)[/caption] BY: Jordan Meadows  Staff Writer On Monday, the Raleigh Area Land Trust (RALT), in partnership with Raleigh Raised Development and the City of Raleigh, officially broke ground on the Cottages of Idlewild, the city's first permanently affordable cottage court community. Located in the historically Black neighborhood of Idlewild-the first

  By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten, born Elizabeth Nevills on January 5, 1893, in Carrboro, North Carolina, emerged as one of the most influential figures in American folk and blues music. A self-taught, left-handed guitarist, Cotten developed a singular playing style by flipping a right-handed guitar upside down, creating a distinctive technique in which her thumb played the melody and her fingers plucked the bass strings. This

[caption id="attachment_13327" align="alignnone" width="1920"] A rendering of the potential redevelopment of Northgate Mall in Durham. Courtesy of Northwood Investors[/caption] By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer Last week, Raleigh's Planning Commission unanimously approved a controversial rezoning request that would allow the West at Peace development-a proposed 30-story mixed-use tower near Smoky Hollow-to move forward. The development, backed by Raleigh Development Company, aims to bring over 900 residential units, retail space, restaurants, and

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer North Carolina Central University's Department of Nursing broke new ground in health education last Thursday, becoming the first university in North Carolina to implement an immersive interactive training room designed to revolutionize how nursing students train for real-world clinical situations. Located on the second floor of the nursing building, the new immersive room transports students into high-stakes medical scenarios, including everything from post-operative complications to

By Jordan Meadows Staff Writer North Carolina has found itself at the center of a fierce national debate over the future use of private school vouchers. A program launched in 2014 to help low-income families access private schooling has now grown into a nearly billion-dollar initiative, driven by aggressive legislative expansion, rising private school tuition, and new opportunities introduced by federal policy. The state's Opportunity Scholarship Program was initially underutilized,