Opinion

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OPINION: My COVID Experience; Sick and Scared Led to Renewed Motivation and Opportunity

COVID-19 drastically changed much of the day-to-day operations of society. The vast effects of this virus changed the way children are educated.

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Bridge the Wage Gap: Domestic Violence Hurts Survivors’ Economic Security

Domestic and dating violence, or intimate partner violence, referred to as IPV, is a common reality that has short- and long-term negative effects on survivors’ economic security and independence.

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Publisher’s Note: Jackson Free Press to Suspend Printing, Boost Online Presence

We have big news from the world of the Jackson Free Press. Much of it is positive, and some of it is simply inevitable in the face of COVID-19 and how the delta variant has affected us here in Mississippi.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: 19 Years of Love, Hope, Miss S, Dr. S and Never, Ever Giving Up

"I dedicate this first 19 years to Charles Corder, Herman Snell, Stephen, Jimmy, Alisa, Bingo, staffers over the years, advertisers who got it, and all of you who have believed in this vision and helped us in so many ways."

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OPINION: The Algebra Project: Bob Moses’ ‘Gateway To Equality’ For Black Students

Bob Moses used a MacArthur Foundation genius grant to create and launch the Algebra Project in 1982 to help rural and urban students achieve math literacy and to train teachers, administrators, and community activists to be math coaches. He taught math himself from Lanier High School in Jackson for years.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Mississippians, Take Care of One Another, Don’t Feed the ‘Virus-Animal’

We have the means to end this pandemic that has taken so many from us and, for those of us fortunate enough to simply be inconvenienced, been such a previously unimaginable disruption to our lives. Editorial Assistant Shaye Smith views Mississippians as generous people who care about their neighbors and take care of one another. As such, she encourages residents to receive their COVID vaccines to reduce chances of viral mutation and a prolonged pandemic—a way to stop the “virus-animal,” she writes.

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OPINION: To Maintain a Legacy or Start Afresh? Questions Surround Veterans Memorial Stadium’s Fate

"Football is a contact sport. In addition to the ever-present risk of life-threatening injuries, our recent COVID-19 experience suggests a facility big enough to maintain social distancing is important."

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: On Hope, Travel and Award-Winning Journalism Teams

"Here on the first anniversary of the old flag coming down, driving Mississippi reminds you of all of the integration work that white Mississippians have yet even to attempt. Taking down the flag and statues is just table stakes."

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OPINION: Size Matters; Mixed Conservative Messages Pervade Mississippi Amid Pandemic

"Sen. Wicker, conservative Republican that he is, also believes in 'limited government,' except when he doesn't: as when he successfully pushed spending $28.6 billion to aid all those struggling restaurants across the country."

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Mississippi, Stop Stacking the Deck. Listen to Your Constituents.

Last fall, approximately 766,000 Mississippians voted to pass Initiative 65, which would have called for the Health Department to launch a medical-marijuana program in the Magnolia State by August 2021.

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OPINION: U.S. Sen. Tim Scott’s Speech—An Intended Target, A Repeated Harm

"(U.S. Sen. Tim Scott's) statement that "America is not a racist country" sent shrapnel flying all over America, but it was intentional and targeted. He was speaking to his party's base and at the same time he was scattering his party's opponents."

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Systemic Racism Created Jackson’s Violence; More Policing Cannot Stop It

"You don't destroy hope and safety of generations of young people with threats of being burned at a stake for flirting, with the state's largest newspaper announcing it in advance to swell the crowds, without the trauma of that violence sinking in generationally until we as a society pivot together to stop it."

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OPINION: Bring Mississippi Into the 21st Century—Overturn Its Jim Crow-era Voting Laws

When it comes to voting, there is no denying a simple fact about Mississippi: our state has refused to eliminate antiquated laws that disproportionately silence Black and young voters.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: The Chapter Ahead of Motherhood, Meeting My Co-workers, Learning How Journalism Works

"Life happens in stages, it seems. I'm a reader, so I tend to think of it in terms of chapters, or maybe even books in a series."

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OPINION: Like Hard-Packed Soil, The Danger of Being Right

"Hard-packed soil does not grow flowers in the spring, nor any other kind of plant in any other season. If I am convinced that I am Right (with a capital R; on either side of any one of those many gulfs), my mind is like hard-packed soil."

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Jackson’s Water Crisis, What Would Ditto Do?

While Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann often presents himself, rightly, as the Mississippi GOP's adult in the room, his reaction to Jackson's water woes this week leaves a bad taste.

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Celebrating the Best, Pandemic Style

We published our first ever Best of Jackson issue in January 2003, right after we'd launched the Jackson Free Press in the fall of 2002. Nearly two decades later, a lot has changed in Jackson.

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Big Changes for Jackson Free Press in January 2021

Along with changes on the national level, I've got several changes to report on the local JFP front, effective with this issue.

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OPINION: Making Government Surveillance Great Again in America’s ‘Radical City’

"Virtual policing means that 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, an all-seeing eye will be fixed on Jackson's majority poor and working-class residents."

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OPINION: Mississippi’s Republican Cats Up Trump’s Authoritarian Tree

One of Mississippi’s senators and three of its congressmen chose to jump on the Trump bandwagon, objecting last week to final certification of the Biden-Harris presidential victory.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: My COVID-19 Story; Appreciate the Good, But Don’t Be Complacent

Well, it happened. Despite my continued caution, I ended up contracting COVID-19 the week before Christmas.

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OPINION: Early Childhood; Best Investment for Community, Business Strength

As we near the end of an incredibly tumultuous and unpredictable year, I've thought a lot about what really matters and what kind of Mississippi I want to live in.

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OPINION: Janet Yellen and Kamala Harris Keep Shattering Glass Ceilings—Yet Global Elite Boys Club Remains

Janet Yellen may soon become the first woman to lead the Treasury Department—about six years after shattering another glass ceiling at the top of the Federal Reserve. She’s not alone in breaking down barriers in President-elect Joe Biden’s proposed new Cabinet.

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OPINION: Ask People with Memory Loss about Past Holidays to Help Them Recall Happy Times

"Many people love the holidays because they are a time to make happy memories with loved ones. But what if you could do something to help restore memories in some of the people you love? Using a process called reminiscence therapy, that may be possible."

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Rest Well, Gov. Winter. We Will Keep Your Fire Burning.

"Through the life of this newspaper and my adult years back in Mississippi, Gov. Winter and Mr. Meredith have been living history who have connected the past and present for me in the best possible way."

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OPINION: Governor’s ‘Patriotic Education Fund’ to ‘Fight Revisionist History’ is a Trojan Horse

"Gov. Reeves is merely parroting the president's belief that there is a vast, 'far-left fascism' working behind the scenes in our schools to bring down America by corrupting its youth. That is how firmly wedded our governor is to Trumpism. It's embarrassing."

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Truth and Journalism on the Front Lines of COVID-19

Tate Reeves is nothing if not a partisan first and foremost, as his choices to please Donald Trump by withholding sufficient COVID-19 safety regs have shown us all in the most horrendous way possible.

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Gov. Reeves, Denial Ain’t a River in Mississippi

"Gov. Tate Reeves has done precisely the wrong things to quell this virus. He could have led his party and supporters in Mississippi instead of sheepishly kowtowing to the extremists."

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OPINION: Black Women Have Shown Us The Way; We Must Keep Feet on The Gas

"With strong progressive Black female political figures such as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams leading the way, Black women are poised to take this new decade by storm."

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OPINION: A Premature Christmas, What Many of Us Need This Year

Humans have an innate desire to feel good, to feel joy, to feel love, to feel cherished, to feel sheltered. Those are just a few things that the Christmas season represents. So, I say, Merry Christmas everybody!

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