[Kamikaze] I Am Hip-Hop
Looks like I'm going to have to get on my soapbox, yet again. Folks around here should know by now that if you say anything derogatory about hip-hop, I'm going to come after you hard. Especially when your comments are not stemmed in fact, but based on outdated stereotypes and profiling, you are sure to read about yourself in my next column.
[Stiggers] Caught Looting? Call Cootie McBride
Here's an important message from the McBride family representing the Ghetto Science Team's Emergency Assistance Task Force.
Letter from Sweden
This came today from a filmmaker we know—a Mississippi native who divides his time between Oxford (Miss.) and Sweden. His message is important:
Times-Picayune's Open Letter to the President
<i>OUR OPINIONS: An open letter to the President
Reprinted verbatim from the Sunday edition of the Times-Picayune:
[Tisserand] Submerged
New Orleans is gone. I left it behind me on Saturday, with my two kids in the backseat, the soundtrack to "Shrek" on the CD player.
Real Life
As I start this column, I'm in a hotel room in Baltimore, Md., just outside of BWI airport, having had my flight back to Jackson canceled repeatedly for the past two days because the airport had no power and water. I'm watching the Weather Channel and CNN and checking in to post things on the JFP Web site, because I'm the only member of the staff with Internet access. Or power. The devastation on the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans is heartbreaking and, seemingly, getting worse by the hour.
[Lynch] Black Flammable Goop
Thanks to Katrina, the power is out at my place, just like it probably was, or is, at yours. As I walked out of my electricity-bereft house Wednesday morning and parked my wheezing car in the nearest gas line in the hot Mississippi sun, I tried to imagine what gasoline means to me these days, and I came to realize that I fear it's soon going to mean the end of life as we know it.
[Fleming] Pragmatic, Not Un-patriotic
Despite your personal opinions about Cindy Sheehan's political beliefs or motives, she has single-handedly brought into focus the lack of an exit strategy in Iraq. She has done more in the last few weeks than all of the politicians and special-interest groups in Washington to make us painfully aware that we are mired in a conflict similar to Vietnam and Bosnia, where we really have no consensus plan to pull out our valiant military forces in a timely and successful manner.
Sun-Herald: MISSISSIPPI NEEDS HELP NOW
<i><b>South Mississippi needs your help</b>
The Sun-Herald published a desperate editorial Thursday on its Web site.
No Minors Allowed
I had only eaten half of my French fries at Fenian's one night when they asked me to leave. I was in the back watching Fatman Squeeze with some friends. I was drinking water.
[Greggs] Why Ask Why
A few days ago I got an e-mail asking if I could write a column about "college" due to the theme of this week's paper. I decided it probably wouldn't be kosher for me to write a column screaming about politics, and then roll it in weed and dip it in beer. In sitting around thinking about what I could write that would encapsulate my five years of college, I wasted 100 words writing this introduction. I thought that was fitting, considering most everything I wrote in school had about 100 words of crap at the beginning.
[Kamikaze] Racists Win Again
Excuse me if I'm a little cynical when it comes to the American judicial system. Any system run by human beings is going to be flawed. Being that we are supposed to be the superior species on the planet, we're often too smart for our own good. We're a civilized society (sometimes), so we have laws and rules. Sometimes, however, our predilection to interpret and follow rules overrides basic common sense.
[Stiggers] Tips From Hair-Did University
Boneqweesha Jones, the president of Hair-Did University's Schools of Cosmetology, Hair Styling and On-the-scene reporting, addresses the freshman class: "To each member of the freshman class, I'm pleased that you did the right thing in the midst of tough times by choosing H.D.U. for your post-secondary education. We poor folk must pay the 'high' price because we allowed ourselves to be 'okie-doked' (tricked) by the 'American Scream.'
[McLemore] Say It Ain't So, Raffe
On March 17, Rafael Palmeiro pointed his finger at the U.S. Congress and emphatically stated his position. Of all of the baseball greats there that day, Palmeiro came off as the cleanest. The outcry against Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Jose Canseco never took aim at the Baltimore Orioles' star. Palmeiro's testimony even led to his participation in a coalition of pro leagues against steroid use.
[Stiggers] Stuck Like Chuck On The Side Of The Road
The Ghetto Science Team's Department of Transportation presents Transportation Secretary and Head Mechanic of Rev. Cletus Car Sales, Deacon O.D. Mann, promoting his transportation program for financially challenged commuters.
[Damiani] From One Iraq Extreme To The Other
Today, after you've had your first cup of coffee and stumbled out of your home to join society, walk up to somebody and say, "What do you think of when you hear the word 'Iraq'?"
Where The Pavement Begins
On a recent Tuesday a bunch of folk gathered for a cookout outside John Lawrence's place. It was kind of like the stoop cookouts we used to have when I lived at Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. John had a grill and tons of hamburgers, hotdogs, Bocas, all sorts of chips, sodas, beer. His guests—some from the Ironworks Building, others from the Dickies Building near the downtown post office, others of us who love downtown in spirit—came to the Downtown Neighborhood Association's first gathering outside the Hal & Mal's complex; John has a loft upstairs.
[Ali] Bootstrap Fury
I was attempting to have a nonviolent "discussion" with my conservative father the other day when he said the phrase, "Pulling themselves up by their bootstraps." After quickly looking around for President Reagan, I realized the man responsible for my existence had said that to me in reference to the ideal social welfare system.
[Kamikaze] Pump It Up
I've been an athlete all my life. Since I can remember, I've participated in organized sports, whether it was soccer in elementary school; baseball, basketball and track in junior high school; or football in high school and briefly at Jackson State.
But Earth, Which Is His Due
At the Neshoba County Fair this year, I had gotten up close to the lectern so I could take a close-up picture of Gov. Haley Barbour's face during his annual political address. He said my family name at the exact moment I snapped his picture.
[Stiggers] Bring Back The Hustle
Brotha Hustle: "Greetings, fellow hustlers and ghetto economists. I've come to realize that we live in a society of racketeering. Gone are the days of Hustle-Utopia (a.k.a. legitimate hustling society), a time when people made equal exchanges with each other, such as a product for a service. Today, lies mixed with the truth keep the insane craziness going.
Take the Time to Do It Right
Last Sunday two Clarion-Ledger columnists expressed dismay at Mayor Frank Melton's string of public proclamations that turned out to be more hype than good, legal policy—telling city board members to resign, saying he would close the Maple Street apartments without regard to the rights of owners or the tenants, declaring he would demolish the King Edward in 30 days.
[Mangum] Every Child, One Voice?
"Hey, FAGGOT!" Not exactly what you want to hear starting the school day, right? But I can't tell you the number of days of my Mississippi junior high school life that began with this greeting.
[Stiggers] Poor Kids' Hoop Dreams
Let's hear a message from the Ghetto Science Team's school superintendent. Grandma Pookie: "Under-funded schools in poor communities anticipate the elimination of athletic programs, which could disable a poor student's ability to advance in today's society. The bulk of America's great athletes rose from poor and working-class communities. Was it not athletics that turned poor kid's hoop dreams into NBA realities? Don't fret! Your superintendent announces the GSTAA (Ghetto Science Team's Athletic Association), an alternative high school athletic program for financially challenged students.
Going Dr. Laura On Your Ass
Perhaps Asa Carter, a Klansman and the secretary of the North Alabama White Citizens Council, said it best in 1956:
[Greggs] Why Not Just Turn Gay?
The other day I was lying around with a friend discussing my less-than-stellar dating life and wondering what it would be like if I expended all that time doing something useful, like eating. At one point during the conversation she looked at me very knowingly and asked the question I have heard from more than one person on more than one occasion, "Why don't you just turn gay?" This is asked like sexual orientation is a knob on the stove that keeps the cookies from burning.
[Stiggers] Meet Self-published Poet Zipp Pitters
From the Ghetto Science Team's bootleg public television studios, it's Pookie Peterz: Live and Direct. Pookie: "My special guest is Zipp Pitters, the front porch poet. He's a prolific author, philosopher and former janitor of the Closed Due to Budget Cuts Elementary School. Tonight, he will discuss his ghetto literary series of self-published chapbooks, now available from Brotha Hustle's mobile bookstore and portable Styrofoam juicy-juice-on-ice drink center. Zipp, I've noticed that your chapbooks have some intriguing titles."
The Alternative to What?
July 20, 2005 One question I'm asked frequently about the Jackson Free Press is why we call ourselves "alternative." It's a good question—with an easy answer that I don't even have to think about anymore. We're the alternative to the (tired, old, gray, craggy) daily newspaper.
[Sawyer] Catholics Need Not Apply
Imagine for a moment you're a middle schooler. You know, the kind of young girl or guy with a slight self-confidence problem, maybe some acne on that indomitable T zone, a little stuttering here or there. That was me 10 years ago; maybe it was most of us. During those years, I began to have some serious questions posed to me about my Catholic faith. What's normal is what's local, and in my town, being Catholic was anything but normal.
[Judin] There's A Hole In The Sky
Growing up in Mississippi, I dreamed of living in New York. I watched the "Today" show in the morning and Walter Cronkite in the evening. New York was Times Square, Wall Street, the U.N. and the Empire State Building. Cultural icons inhabited New York.