Wilkine Brutus

Working from home during the pandemic has been so common it has earned its own well-known shorthand — WFH.

But the novelty of not having to battle traffic jams and working from home has worn off for many first-time remote workers. Productivity may come with a dose of isolation when your kitchen table turns into your office. And shifting priorities may come with the anxiety of eventually going into a workplace sometime in the near future. 

The nationwide protests for racial justice impacted several local cities in Palm Beach County. The tension is still there; it’s a movement, not a moment, says activists, members of various communities, and elected officials. A task force formed to help solve racial inequities might be a potential huge step within the proverbial movement.

As restaurants, bars and other businesses started to reopen across South Florida they were quickly forced to shut back down as coronavirus cases began spiking again last month.

And for business owners, or anyone stepping out of their home, it's been tough to keep track of the latest safety rules and guidelines.

Black church leaders and members of the Lake Worth Beach community staged a protest outside of a scheduled city commission meeting.

About 50 to 60 demonstrators, young people and long-time residents of various racial and ethinc backgrounds, wore face masks, raised protest signs, and chanted “no justice no peace” in front of city hall along Dixie Highway. 

Don’t just stroll through. The art is speaking to you. The inaugural artist-in-residence program in West Palm Beach is a series sparking public discourse surrounding issues of the day.

New Wave Art Weekend, founded by Sarah Gavlak, features talent from marginalized communities. To bring their recent work to life, they’ve partnered with Related Companies, the developers behind Rosemary Square in Downtown West Palm Beach.

As the Palm Beach County school district decides how to open schools this year, the county’s health director is raising concerns about child safety amid the pandemic. She says the positivity rate for kids under 18 has gone up slightly. 

Jenn Accius doesn’t like opening up about her past encounter with a violent police officer. That trauma is normally hidden away but occasionally spills out on poetry pages — one of the only spaces where she’s felt comfortable.

This moment feels different.

Beaches will be closed in South Florida for the Fourth of July weekend but people are still going to be on the water — on boats. From Palm Beach County to the Keys, law enforcement is gearing up to handle  crowds and to try enforcing social distancing, and other rules, on the water.

June 19 commemorates the day the last enslaved African Americans learned of their freedom in Galveston, Texas — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

This year, Juneteenth was observed amid continuing demonstrations and other events addressing systemic racism, injustice and police violence. In South Florida, people danced, remembered and looked ahead.