Justice

Civil Rights to Actually Be Taught

Gov. Haley Barbour likely shocked his staunchest supporters when he announced a bill authorizing public schools to add civil rights and human rights to the public-school curriculum in all grades. "I think the broader the curricula and history are, the better it is for the students," Barbour said at the March 20 announcement.

FBI Presents DA with Report on Emmett Till

The Associated Press is reporting:

The long awaited report into the 1955 killing of Emmett Till concludes no federal charges will be filed in the case, but District Attorney Joyce L. Chiles will make the decision on state charges, the FBI says. The FBI turned the report over to Chiles' office on Thursday. Chiles, who was trying a case in Leflore County, was not immediately available for comment.

The Choices Chicks Make

I spoke to a roomful of young chicks recently. We were all packed into the charming old depot in Forest, Miss., some 40 miles from where I grew up in Neshoba County. They've renovated the building into a downtown art gallery and performance space in a small town where such cultural offerings are unusual.

[Greggs] Steel Magnolia

I am a woman. I write about it all the time. The dating, the shoes, the makeup, the irrational bouts of temper and the complicated decisions. I often get teased about it. People I meet usually laugh at most of my statements, letting me know they are fully aware of what I am saying, but generally don't agree with it. It's the politeness of the South. I try not to care when this happens. I really try not to care when I know the dismissive act is preceded by the realization that I have boobs and wear perfume.

[Chick] Quack! Quack!

It all started in October, when I became the Hunchback of Noter Damn. After my back went wonky while doing laundry, MRI results showed Degenerative Disk Disease, and there's not a damn thing to be done for it. While I would like a prescription for no laundry, clothes get dirty. Also, Monkey insists that I feed him and clothe him and provide medical care, which requires working a full-time job. To tell the truth, I really don't have time for chronic back pain.

[Stiggers] Toot That Honky Horn

Broadcasting live from Lil' Ray-Ray's rigged satellite dish television network studio and home entertainment center, it's the Brotha Hustle TV Moment.

Melton: Police Taking Over Court Services; No Crime Stats to Media

UPDATE March 16, 2006: This is now a full transcript of the mayor's press conference, addressing many issues—from crime stats to his pursuit of the Wood Street Players.

[Greggs] Quitters Never Win

I am a smoker. For 10 years I've been a smoker. I smoke, and I love it. At last count, I've tried to quit six times. Each time I've exponentially increased the number of days I stayed off the cancer sticks, but always I seem to find my way home. After a few weeks sans cigarettes I would find myself coveting a friend's smoke and would stop at a store to buy a pack. Wracked with shame, I would thank the Sweet Baby Jesus that living in Mississippi at least meant the price of them wasn't killing me.

With A Little Help From My Friends

My childhood was filled with strains of country—Hank Williams Sr. and Jr., Merle Haggard, Tammy and George, Porter and Dolly, Mel Tillis. Actually, I did know the music of one black man, Charley Pride. My mother played his music over and over again, and I pop in the CD of his greatest hits when I'm especially missing her.

Fight or Flight

The 1st Annual Conference of the Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement takes place March 2-5 at the JSU E Center on Raymond Road. Organized around the theme "The Pursuit of Quality Education in the Ongoing Movement for Human Rights," the conference offers workshops with veterans of the movement with the goal of inspiring a return to work, focused this time on ensuring that every American receives the quality education that is his or her unalienable right. Owen Brooks, 78, who along with Hollis Watkins serves as co-convener of the conference, spoke with me recently about his experiences as a veteran of the civil rights movement in Mississippi.

Mississippians Standing Up for Justice

Welcome to the JFP's new Justice Blog. This blog is dedicated to the quest for justice in old Mississippi civil rights cases. It is also a place we can collect our own work toward that goal to date — the work of a group of native Mississippians who are investigating and publicizing both well-known and little-known civil rights cases of the past. This effort began in earnest when the JFP led an online petition drive, called "Real Mississippians Aren't Racist," calling for the prosecution of the murderers of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, and then picked up steam when the JFP team reported and blogged about the Killen trial in a personal and immediate way that no other media outlet did. Our efforts really paid off when we joined with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and published an in-depth story that kicked off a national media frenzy about the long-forgotten Henry Dee-Charles Moore killings, and revealed that one of the primary suspects is still alive, contrary to reporting by The Clarion-Ledger and The Los Angeles Times.

[Greggs] You're Already There

This week I've been wistful. I don't know exactly when this mood came about, but I know that it has definitely been affecting my behavior. This mood might have lent itself to listening to Michael Buble's song "Home" on repeat 437 times.

Do The Right Thing

This story originally ran in the Daily Mississippian, Ole Miss' student newspaper.

Coretta, Betty and Me

It was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century in the United States.

[Greggs] Male Rules For Dating

While sitting down and enjoying an "adult beverage" with a few guy friends the other night, the topic of dating came up. Now, I've always maintained that I wouldn't write about dating in a column. I've previously mentioned that I just don't do it well, and recent events in my life prove it. Dating for me at this point consists of believing that Michael Buble speaks to me through the radio. He is commanding me to stalk him. Every time he sings "Save the Last Dance For Me" with that Sinatra-like smoothness, he's shooting a rainbow straight through my heart laced with obsessive compulsion and covered in a restraining order. That man knows exactly what he's doing.

Ellington