Justice

[Greggs] The Love Of Power

I've been reading the "The 48 Laws of Power" recently. I won't take credit for buying it, as it was a gift from a friend. A gift, that once I figured out what the book was about, immediately made him suspect in my eyes. I wanted to question him extensively about Law Number 21 ("Play a sucker to catch a sucker"). Today, as with most days, I feel like a sucker.

Let Us Be Audacious

Let us be dissatisfied until integration is not seen as a problem but as an opportunity to participate in the beauty of diversity.

Let Me Count The Ways

When my assistant editor, Casey Parks, left the JFP last month to go on to graduate school, she wrote a goodbye editor's note that made me cry. I admit I was touched by what she said about me, the city and the JFP's mission, but more than anything, I cried with pride at the love and maturity such a young person was showing for her community, and herself.

[Greggs] An Angry Young Woman

Topics often jump out at me over the course of a week. This week, everything was jumping, and not a one of them was staying down. I went over my last columns in my head wondering what to pontificate about this week. Gay? Did it. Woman? Been there. Sex? Several times.

The Cult Of Irresponsibility

Just how bad of a newspaper is The Clarion-Ledger? A hint comes three-quarters of the way into Executive Editor Ronnie Agnew's "end of the year" column (Jan. 1, 2006). The paragraph is about Mayor Frank Melton:

2005 Year In Review, Part 2: To Hell and Back

The second half of 2005 turned out to be the most interesting six months any of us have lived through in a while. On the positive side, the city continued its march toward greatness - with increasing numbers of younger people turning up in the "Bold New City" and finding that it was not the city they had left after high school, or heard negative things about from afar. Their energy, despite obstacles, keeps the city moving forward, and the Jackson Free Press is thrilled to be the forum where people who believe in the city turn for news and community-building.

[Greggs] Ali G's Magnificent 2006 Predictions

Last year on New Year's, I made a resolution against resolutions. My logic for this decision was knowing that if I truly wanted to change something about myself, I could wake up some random Tuesday in March and make the same promise with the same results. I guess this gives a pretty good idea how well my resolutions have previously been integrated into my life. Yes, like hurricane relief in the Senate. Empty. Freaking. Promises.

City Ends Precinct-by-Precinct Crime Stats

Not that it made the front page as any story about the previous administration and crime stats used to, but The Clarion-Ledger has a story today about how the new police chief is officially ending the weekly precinct-by-precinct crime stats, so she can supposedly take a more "holistic" look at crime in Jackson. Of course, this is direct defiance to the Maple-Linder recommendations that the Metro Crime Commission/SafeCity (with Melton as chairman) pushed so hard and for so long. And it brings to mind all those angry editorials the Ledge wrote about the last administration's handling of crime stats. So, why is the city closing ranks on crime statistics? More from the Ledge:

Loving Thy Neighbor

Last week, the day after the JFP's first "Race, Religion & Society" panel discussion, I looked at two e-mails within a couple hours of each other. The first, from a white man in Brandon with a subject line of just "Donna Ladd," opened by dressing me down for devoting so much ink to young Emmett Till's life and death.

Crossing The Mighty River: Race, Religion and Mississippi

At the climax of the 11 o' clock church service at Galloway Methodist church, the Rev. Ross Olivier assumes the pulpit to deliver his sermon. Olivier's polished demeanor gives no air of being weathered by years of struggle against apartheid in South Africa. He does not let any possible scars from that experience stop him from addressing the hard issues before American Christians. His sermon, which is riddled with messages of the social Gospel, is an open call to Christians to unseat themselves from complacency and work toward living out the mission of Jesus Christ by working for justice.

Mayor, Chief Downplay Crime Stats

Jackson City Council President Marshand Crisler spoke out last week against the city police department's tight lips regarding crime figures, in contrast to Former Police Chief Robert Moore, who provided weekly reports on crime statistics. The computer-generated statistics, called COMSTAT reports, were used to pinpoint what crime was occurring where, and were provided to both City Council and the media.

[Casey's Note] Leaving My Heart In Jackson

When I first saw the Jackson Free Press, something sparked. I had given up hope for local weeklies, but the cover—a grid-like spread of a variety of Jackson folks—called to me. Someone had dropped off about 100 copies outside of the Millsaps cafeteria, and I—the eternal journalism snoop—scooped up two. I devoured the whole preview issue and then Googled "Jackson Free Press," hoping to find some Internet connection to this new paper.

My So-Called Holiday Column

They say that during the holidays, you're supposed to stop and consider what you're thankful for. (OK, this is starting out cheesy, I know. Work with me here.) Combine that seasonal desire with the fact that Donna assigned me the Publisher's Note this week, and you get what you paid for—a Publisher's Note in which I offer up a laundry list of the things that have me smiling this season.

Just Rewards

Christmas came early for Thomas Moore when Mississippi religious leaders agreed to offer a reward for tips about the 1964 murders of his brother and his friend.

Oh, Say Can We See?

When Mazie Moore saw that picture in Jet Magazine in 1955, it terrified the Franklin County mother. Mamas across the South, black mamas, were hearing about the photo. They took it as a warning to protect their boys from the wrath of angry white men. She couldn't, though: One of her sons, Charles, would be brutally murdered in 1964, just because he stepped in the path of hateful white men out to terrorize young black men. And no one did anything about it. Her son's life didn't matter.

Ellington