Roger Chesley

Norfolk

Freelance Writer and Journalist at Freelance

Contributor @MercuryVirginia. Former columnist, The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk. D.C. native, Howard U. grad. Husband, father & creaky-kneed ex-b-ball player.

Articles

Roanoke girl’s suicide sparks calls for kindness – and the need to intervene • Virginia Mercury

1 week ago | virginiamercury.com | Roger Chesley

Autumn Bushman’s age when she killed herself is unfathomable, gut-wrenching. The Roanoke County girl was just 10 years old, and her parents say she’d been bullied – citing that as a key factor in her death. Unfortunately, Autumn’s death reflects a troubling national trend: Children are taking their own lives more frequently. Her March 21 suicide in her own home has caused immeasurable grief for her family, and it has stunned a Southwest Virginia community.
Norfolk State b-baller nets spotlight for herself, other HBCUs

2 weeks ago | virginiamercury.com | Roger Chesley

by Roger Chesley, Virginia Mercury April 9, 2025 Norfolk State University sharpshooter Diamond Johnson elevated her draft stock for the WNBA with a stellar performance at the Women’s College All-Star Game over the weekend – and may have forced professional teams to give a second look to basketball players at historically Black colleges and universities. Johnson earned the Most Valuable Player award with a stat line of 21 points, four rebounds and two steals in her team’s 71-59 victory.
Norfolk State b-baller nets spotlight for herself, other HBCUs

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Roger Chesley

Norfolk State University's Diamond Johnson (center) earned MVP status for her performance at the Women’s College All-Star Game, April 5, 2025.
Youngkin’s sanguine pronouncements do little for Virginia’s laid-off federal workers

3 weeks ago | virginiamercury.com | Roger Chesley

by Roger Chesley, Virginia Mercury March 31, 2025 It’s not surprising that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, in our current partisan landscape, failed to protest the damage inflicted on Virginians by President Donald Trump’s reckless cuts to the federal workforce. Rarely do politicians publicly criticize the president when they’re from the same party.
Commentary: Plan to axe SNAP would harm poorest Americans so richest ones could live more luxuriously

1 month ago | alxnow.com | Roger Chesley

by Roger Chesley, Virginia MercuryMarch 24, 2025Think the decades-old food stamps program deserves to be in the callous, capricious cross hairs of Elon Musk, President Donald Trump and the latter’s spineless sycophants in Congress? Then you don’t know someone like Ndaneh Luseni. The 34-year-old Alexandria woman, a single mother with three children, depends on the nourishment that food stamps provide.
Plan to axe SNAP would harm poorest Americans so richest ones could live more luxuriously

1 month ago | virginiamercury.com | Roger Chesley

Think the decades-old food stamps program deserves to be in the callous, capricious cross hairs of Elon Musk, President Donald Trump and the latter’s spineless sycophants in Congress? Then you don’t know someone like Ndaneh Luseni. The 34-year-old Alexandria woman, a single mother with three children, depends on the nourishment that food stamps provide. Luseni receives only $83 a month in benefits from what’s formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Roger Chesley: Youngkin should elevate school-building over his future aspirations

1 month ago | dailyprogress.com | Roger Chesley

Legislation on Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk will unambiguously tell Virginians what he values most: sufficient funding for school construction in the commonwealth or snappy slogans for his next campaign. I wish he’d choose the former. As an ambitious, ladder-climbing politico, though, the governor has so far shown he’ll opt for the latter — with some version of “I didn’t raise taxes” leading his media blitz for a U.S. Senate or presidential quest.
Enough already: Extend the length of Virginia’s regular legislative sessions

1 month ago | virginiamercury.com | Roger Chesley

Here’s Exhibit A that sessions at the Virginia General Assembly, dictated under a half-century-old state constitutional update, aren’t nearly long enough:Since 2000, special sessions to complete legislative tasks have been held in all but eight years. Sometimes – like in 2018 and 2021 – two additional sessions took place.
Governor should elevate school-building over his future aspirations

2 months ago | virginiamercury.com | Roger Chesley

Legislation heading to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk will unambiguously tell Virginians what he values most: sufficient funding for school construction in the commonwealth, or snappy slogans for his next campaign. I wish he’d choose the former. As an ambitious, ladder-climbing politico, though, the governor has so far shown he’ll opt for the latter – with some version of “I didn’t raise taxes” leading his media blitz for a U.S. Senate or presidential quest.
Roger Chesley: Proposed anti-gun violence center an asset, should be embraced

2 months ago | dailyprogress.com | Roger Chesley

Efforts to create a state firearm violence intervention and prevention center, given the number of related killings and suicides in Virginia every year, are straightforward and innocuous. The center would be a positive step in getting at the roots of gun crimes around the state. It should help reduce the number of people killed and injured by guns. The legislation, sponsored by Del.