By Brad Swanson and Karen Kirk: After more than two years and almost 400 articles, this is the last story that we will post as editors of The Blue View. We’ve reached almost 80,000 of you in northern Virginia, and…
Category: First Person
Trump’s election made politics essential for this middle-schooler
By Billy Bates: The author is a rising senior at Fairfax High School and president of the school’s Young Democrats chapter The year was 2016. I had just woken up and was preparing to leave for school when my mom…
“Today’s the day” — and off we went to protest
By Brad Swanson: My son’s text decided me. “If you wanted to go, I would say today’s the day.” The previous night, he had been caught in the unprovoked rush of police out of Lafayette Square to clear a space…
Enough already with the Karen memes
By Karen Kirk: At first the memes were amusing, sort of. Then they started being somewhat irritating. Now, calling white women behaving a certain way “Karen” is meandering toward dangerous. A Tweet calling the woman who lied to police, saying…
Phone banking is a great way to volunteer during pandemic
By Steve Verdier: As I first-time phone banker, I am finding much the same satisfaction as canvassing – and often with a higher response rate, as so many voters are at home these days. I used to say about canvassing,…
First-person: How the Great Recession prepared me for the pandemic
By Brandon Thurner: Isn’t it amazing how our past is often prologue, and in very unexpected ways? I never thought that being laid off a few times during the Great Recession a decade and more ago would have the advantage…
Meet FCDC’s new executive director, Jack Kiraly
Meet Jack Kiraly, the new Executive Director of Fairfax County Democratic Committee. As FCDC’s only paid employee, Jack is in charge of making the complex machinery of this large (900+ members) volunteer organization run smoothly. With elections every year, FCDC…
I’m feeling the Bern in 2020!
Editor’s Note: Another in our series of personal statements of support from readers for Democratic presidential candidates By Mike Sandler: The media and the top 1% wish Sen. Bernie Sanders would just go away. He doesn’t seem to follow the…
How a death in custody led one white man on a journey to equity in Fairfax County
By Tom Goodwin: Natasha McKenna died five years ago this past weekend, February 8, 2015 — naked, cold, frightened, shackled, muzzled, and black — after a rough afternoon at Fairfax County jail. The social and racial inequities that contributed to her…
FCDC volunteer has taken a journey across time and space
By Susan Boggs: Some of you may know me from my Thursday morning shifts at the Fairfax County Democratic Committee. Others of you have handed out sample ballots and back-to-school-night literature with me. I’d like you to see my other…
Senior diplomat dismissed by Trump sees danger to US global interests
By Steve Aoki: The international reputation of the United States is at a post-World War II low, according to a former senior diplomat. But instead of passively complaining, Tom Countryman is doing something about it – working on voter registration…
Laura Jane Cohen, seeking school board seat, has long worked hard to protect children
By Susan Laume: Laura Jane Cohen worked hard to protect children long before she decided to run for elected office. Cohen, the Democratic endorsed candidate for Springfield District’s seat on the Fairfax County School Board, heard the terrible news of…
New NAACP president says Dems are wrong to take black votes for granted
By Brad Swanson: Sean Perryman has only been president of the Fairfax County NAACP for a month, but he already has his priorities clear. “My plan is to focus on fewer issues, but go deeper,” he said. The top three…
Award-winning Reston farmers marketeer loves the gig, even after two decades
By Brad Swanson: What motivates a man to spend more than two decades – and counting – as a volunteer running a farmers market? In the case of John Lovaas, a manager of the award-winning Reston Farmers Market, the answer…