BLACK VIRGINIA NEWS

EP50 - John Reid, History and Blackmail? with Paul Goldman. On episode 50 of the Black Virginia News podcast Lauren Burke talks with attorney Paul Goldman about the unprecedented state of play around Republican Lt. Governor nominee John Reid after Gov. Glenn Youngkin contacted him to drop out of the 2025 race for Lieutenant Governor. Goldman, the former campaign manager for L. Douglas Wilder, will...

EP49 - Rep. Jennifer McClellan's Town Hall in Richmond. At a town hall on April 23, 2025, held at Mosby Memorial Baptist Church in Richmond, Rep. Jennifer McClellan addressed pressing concerns from constituents during a pivotal moment for the nation. This podcast covers the first seven questions of McClellan’s two hall with constituents — her second in two days. Representing Virginia’s fourth dist...

EP48 - Fergie Reid Jr. on the 2025 Virginia House Races - In this episode, Dr. Fergie Reid Jr., a prominent voting rights advocate and the son of civil rights pioneer Dr. William Ferguson Reid Sr. , who became the first African American elected to the Virginia General Assembly after Reconstruction in 1968, offers his perspective on the 2025 Virginia House of Delegates races. Reid’s analysis sits u...

On April 1, 2025, Congressman Bobby Scott hosted a panel that focused on the civil rights agenda at a moment of adversity as the Trump Administration attempts to undo 70 years of progress. This podcast covers three of the speakers who participated in that event. The panel showcased advocates in the trenches from the NAACP, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU. With the backdrop of U.S. Senato...

EP46 👷🏽‍♀️ Advice for Federal Workers . The onslaught of news of mass firings of federal employees has thousands of workers in the DMV on edge. Hundreds of federal employees are looking for advice during a tumultuous time. The Trump Administration is attempting to dismantle thousands of jobs of federal government employees and contractors. The impact on Virginia and the DMV will mean big economi...

EP45 - Tributes to Henry Marsh III - This episode features tributes to former attorney, State Senator and Richmond Mayor Henry Marsh who passed away at 91 on January 23, 2025. Moments after a major commemoration on the morning of January 24 in the Virginia State Capitol took place in honor of the first Black members of the General Assembly, news of Marsh’s death prompted lawmakers to post tributes...

EP43 - EXCLUSIVE! 🚨 Speaker Don Scott Pardoned by President Biden - An Exclusive Interview. Today, January 19, 2025, in the final hours of the presidency of President Joseph Biden, the President grants a pardon to five individuals including Virginia House Speaker Don Scott of Portsmouth. Don Scott was arrested in 1994 for a non-violent drug offense. In this episode we discuss his reaction to toda...

Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, who represents Virginia’s fourth congressional district, is a veteran of Virginia politics. With Donald Trump entering his second term in office, Rep. McClellan and her colleagues have a political fight on their hands against MAGA Republicans who want to end the civil service, gut Social Security and move federal employees out of the Commonwealth of Virginia. McCl...

AN INTERVIEW WITH VIRGINIA’S 58th SPEAKER DON SCOTT. Tomorrow, January 8, 2025, the Virginia General Assembly will convene at noon. This episode of the Black Virginia News podcast features Virginia’s 58th Speaker of the House of Delegates, Don Scott of Portsmouth, Virginia. Twelve days out from the start of the second White House term of Donald Trump, the Virginia General Assembly begins its work...

EP41 - Winsome Sears, Youngkin and Trump in Salem, Virginia. On November 2, 2024, former President Donald Trump held a presidential campaign rally in Salem, Virginia. Many are asking: Why? Virginia is not seen as being “in play” regarding the 2024 race for The White House between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump. But there they were: Governor Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Governor Win...

EP39 - U.S. Supreme Court Ignores Federal Law, Allows Youngkin Vote Purge of Lawful Voters in Virginia. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the morning of Oct. 30, 2024 that Virginia could continue to purge voters from the rolls even though a federal law mandates there be no voter purges 90 days before an election. They provided no details as to their legal reasoning. The three SCOTUS members who were...

EP40 - Jeffries in Virginia. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries made stops in Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Prince William over the last five days in an effort to assist Democrats in close races that will decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives The man who could be the next Speaker of the U.S. House if Democrats win back the majority, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries , campaigned a...

DAY 21 OF A PARTY IN CRISIS. ♟️ Who knew that the nominating process meant nothing when Biden received millions of votes during the 2024 primary season? In a never before seen moment in American political history, a former President, a former Speaker of the House and Democratic party leaders of the U.S. House and Senate are urging the candidate of their party to abandon a presidential race less th...

EP37: Biden State of Play as Biden Goes on Offense. Lauren Burke and Paul Goldman discuss the current state of play as Democrats deal with the fallout of a June 27, 2024 debate in which their nominee for President, Joe Biden, appeared mentally confused and tired up against former President Trump. After 11 days of very public criticism from fellow Democrats, Biden and his team moved fast to get on...

EP36:   Joe Biden: Black Base is Ridin' with Biden Before a Make or Break Week. With only 120 days until election day and 43 days until the DNC Convention in Chicago, President Joe Biden’s presidential run for re-election is at a tipping point. As concerns about his mental ability to run an energetic campaign against former President Donald Trump, Biden is being challenged by members of his own pa...

EP35: At a Trump get-out-the-vote rally in Chesapeake, Virginia on June 28, 2024, the Commonwealth’s 74th Governor, Glenn Youngkin, did what he avoided doing all 2021 long: He embraced Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. Youngkin also embraced Trump’s dangerous rhetoric on a topic he rarely mentioned during his successful 2021 campaign as he defeated Terry McAuliffe: Immigration. But in Chesapeake on Ju...

THE JUNE 18, 2024 PRIMARY. On episode 34 🎙️ of the Black Virginia News podcast Fergie Reid and Lauren Burke discuss their 5 takeaways after the June 18, 2024 primary in Virginia. Republican Rep. Bob Good and State Senator John McGuire’s contest is so close they're still counting ballots. State Senator Suhas Subramanyan won over Del. Dan Helmer after a suspiciously timed and unproven allegation fro...

In a world where internet rumor is viewed by some as fact and what’s posted can change the course of history, even when no facts have been confirmed, it’s becoming standard practice expect social media driven drama in the last days of political campaigns. The race for Virginia’s tenth congressional district is slowly taking on the look of something that happened in Virginia in 2019 during the blac...

On June 8, 2024, Alexandria, Virginia City Councilwoman Alyia Gaskins made her case for becoming the next Mayor of Alexandria at a popular West End restaurant. Episode 32 of the Black Virginia News podcast takes place at Taqueria Picoso at 1472 North Beauregard Street in Alexandria as Councilwoman Gaskins takes questions from journalist Michael Lee Pope. The primary that will likely decide who the...

On May 28, 2024 five members of the Virginia General Assembly held a town hall meeting at Forest Hill Presbyterian Church. Participating are Virginia Legislative Black Caucus Chair Senator Lamont Bagby, Senator Ghazala Hashmi, Del. Mike Jones, Del. Betsy Carr and Del. are Cousins. Constituents at the Richmond two hall asked questions about affordable housing, gun violence and other important to th...

EP30 - Senator Lashrecse Aird on License Plate Readers and Mass Surveillance . On the floor of the Virginia Senate on Feb. 13, 2024, Virginia State Senator Lashrecse Aird argues against Senate Bill 503, License plate reader systems; use by law-enforcement agencies, civil penalty. The bill failed by a vote of 19-21. ➡️  SUBSCRIBE TO BLACK VIRGINIA NEWS .  “One had better die fighting against injust...

🏛 See Virginia House legislative schedules here . 🚩 Virginia Senate stream 🏛 ➡️ EPISODE 29 of the BLACK VIRGINIA NEWS PODCAST | Micro Cannabis Business in Virginia? 🎙 This episode features a discussion with attorney Phillip Thompson, President of Cannabis Equity Consultants, on cannabis equity in Virginia. After the war on drugs destroyed the lives of many in Black communities across the U.S., th...

EP28 - SPEAKER DON SCOTT’S FIRST SPEECH. The Virginia General Assembly’s first day of session on January 10, 2024 featured a lot of history. Speaker Don Scott was sworn in as Virginia’s first Black Speaker in the Commonwealth’s 405 year history. A record number of Black lawmakers were also officially sworn in to Virginia’s House and Senate. Podcast 28 of the Black Virginia News podcast features th...

EP27 - TOP 10 TAKES ON THE 2023 ELECTIONS IN VIRGINIA! - Dr. Fergie Reid, Jr., the son of the first African American elected to the Virginia General Assembly after Reconstruction, and Lauren Victoria Burke discuss their takes from the 2023 Virginia General Assembly elections. What are the never before seen historical implications of the 2023 legislative elections in Virginia? Was rural ignored aga...

EP26 - Senate Democratic Caucus Chair State Senator Mamie Locke - On this episode of the Black Virginia News podcast we speak with State Senator Mamie Locke. State Senator Mamie Locke is the Caucus Chair of the Virginia Democratic Caucus. Locke served as Mayor of Hampton, Virginia from  2000–2004 after serving on the Hampton City Council from 1996–2004. During this podcast Senator Locke discusses...