Paul Davis
Providence Journal
Providence, RI, United States
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Past articles by Paul:
Paul Davis: How I wrote The Journal’s series on slavery in Rhode Island
The Providence Journal recently republished online Paul Davis’ 2006 series on slavery in Rhode Island, "Unrighteous traffick." Here, Davis reflects on the series, available at providencejournal.com/RIslavery.Fourteen years ago, I wrote a series of stories about Rhode Island’s deep role in the slave trade. Not everyone was happy about it.One Newport librarian described Abraham Redwood to me as a… → Read More
R.I.'s jewelry industry history in search of a permanent home
CRANSTON— The Providence Jewelry Museum isn’t easy to find. It’s on a dead end street in Cranston, not Providence. There are no visitor-friendly signs directing tourists to the front door; it’s open by appointment only. But the nonprofit museum, with an office in Providence, houses a big part of the state's industrial past: 50 Providence-made machines, 200 pieces of jewelry and 20,000 company… → Read More
Jewelry District: Ghost of its former self
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Not far from John Mesrobian’s jewelry shop, a banner heralds the coming of yet another university building, a new arts and sciences center.“Experience Your Future Now,” says a sign above a hole in the ground on Friendship street.“They call it the knowledge district,” snorts Mesrobian, the longtime owner of S&M Enameling Company. But once Providence was the jewelry capital of… → Read More
NAACP asks Providence's mayor to hire more top-ranking police officers of color
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The NAACP and others are asking Mayor Jorge O. Elorza to appoint a black police officer to the rank of major in the Providence Police Department.The department should reflect the population it serves, said James Vincent, president of the NAACP’s Providence branch. Currently, however, it “does not reflect the diversity of the city of Providence, particularly at the command… → Read More
Minorities in R.I. 'feel invisible'
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Diana Garlington worries about the girls in South Providence. Young, black and spirited, they are a bit like her own 21-year-old daughter, Essence T. Christal -- a college student who was shot and killed in 2011 while riding with a wayward boyfriend on Broad Street. "You have to tell these girls you love them," says Garlington, who runs a Thursday-night program where teenage… → Read More
PC black studies director alleges racial profiling on campus
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In her seven years at Providence College, black political science professor Julia Jordan-Zachery says she has been questioned eight times by white campus policemen.Jordan-Zachery, the director of the college's black studies program, was most recently stopped in September after parking in a faculty spot, she said Friday.An officer pulled up beside her while she stood on a… → Read More
Black political science professor says she has been profiled 8 times in 7 years by PC campus police
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In her seven years at Providence College, political science professor Julia Jordan-Zachery has been stopped eight times by white campus policemen, she says.Jordan-Zachery, the director of the college's black studies program, was most recently stopped in September after parking in a faculty spot, she said Friday. An officer pulled up beside her while she stood on a sidewalk in… → Read More
2 Pawtucket girls lied about suspicious photographer
PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- Two young Pawtucket girls lied about seeing a suspicious man taking photographs of young girls playing soccer in a field last weekend, → Read More
It's a girl! New guard donkey born at URI farm
KINGSTON, R.I. – The University of Rhode Island may have a new guard for its animal herd: a baby donkey. Jenny, one of the university’s two donkeys, gave birth to the foal Sunday. URI uses donkeys as guard animals to protect its sheep and goats from coyotes or feral dogs. Bonnie, the first guard donkey at URI, arrived in late 2003. The animals are part of the university’s animal science and… → Read More
2 dead, 1 hurt in fiery crash in Swansea
SWANSEA, Mass. — A young man survived a deadly one-car crash Thursday night after passing motorists helped him escape from the burning 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt, state police said Friday. The man was transported to Rhode Island Hospital with serious injuries. Police would not identity the survivor or the young man and woman who died in the smashed car after it spun off Interstate 195 west near Route… → Read More
In play about the past, racial tensions of today
Ricardo Pitts-Wiley's 'Reflections' offers his 7 rules for how black men should interact with police → Read More
R.I. Historical Society seeks black history artifacts
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island Historical Society has launched an ambitious project to tell the story of Rhode Island’s blacks in the 20th century.The story will be told largely through photographs, documents and oral histories collected this year. Participants are encouraged to bring items to the society’s ongoing lectures.The next event — "Rethinking the Civil Rights and Black Power… → Read More
Test your water, R.I. officials say
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- Your drinking water tastes OK. And it and smells fine.But when was the last time you had it tested?And what should it be tested → Read More
Psychic Fair to benefit veterans group in Seekonk, Mass.
American Legion Auxiliary will use proceeds from psychic readings to buy baby items for veterans with newborns. → Read More
Portsmouth man arrested on child pornography charges is Naval War College professor
PORTSMOUTH, R.I. -- Adam Cobb, the 45-year-old Portsmouth man arrested Friday on child pornography charges, is a warfare expert and professor at the Naval → Read More
High incarceration rates prompt RWU forum speakers to call justice system 'broken'
Bristol, R.I. -- The American criminal justice system is broken, said speakers at a Friday forum on mass incarceration at Roger Williams University. → Read More
King's Selma speech to be read in Providence Wednesday
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Two dozen community members Wednesday will recreate a key moment from the civil rights era: They will read Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech during the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery. → Read More
Experts to talk about race at 3 Rhode Island events
More than two dozen experts at three events this month will talk about what has become, arguably, the nation's number one topic: Race. At Brown University, experts on Thursday will focus on black communities and the events following the police shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Speakers include Glenn Loury, a Brown professor of economics; Khalil Muhammad,… → Read More
D&E Concrete Solutions wins small business award
D & E Concrete Solutions, a concrete and masonry repair and waterproofing business, is a recent winner of The American Small Business Championship award sponsored by Score and Sam’s Club.The three-year-old South Kingstown company was started by Emma Migneault and her father, Dennis. Since then, the company has worked with homeowners with flooded basements and hotel owners with leaky garages.The… → Read More
During Newport's Gilded Age, blacks thrived too
Rhode Islanders have long thought of Newport as a playground for white socialites — a Jay Gatsby world of railroad tycoons, summer parties and 70-room mansions. But researchers have uncovered another side of the City by the Sea, a city embraced by black entrepreneurs, artists, free thinkers and even tourists from Philadelphia, Washington, New York and Boston. “Newport was more than a summer… → Read More