The Last Shall be First
Three mothers, two black and one white, came to the State Capitol Monday, July 19, to tearfully beg the state to stop abusing children. One question: Will the state listen? Another question: Do Mississippians care?
[Aziz] Bought Out: African Americans Sell Future for Shoes
During my last year in school at Jackson State University I learned that African Americans spend three times more than any other ethnic group. When I heard this, I couldn't believe it. After all, I knew we as African Americans were definitely brand loyal, and I knew that we spent a lot more money on material things, but three times as much? This figure definitely appalled me because the average African-American salary is only $21,000 and some change. This means that with the help of credit, we are not only spending what we make, but more.
[Stiggers] The Hippest Anchorwoman in the World
The following is an abbreviated transcript of the E! Network's urban news and entertainment show "Boneqweesha Live."
[Spann] Daddy's Girl Grows Up
Pops called at 12:30 last Sunday night. Startled from a deep sleep, I felt my heart race when I glimpsed his number on the caller ID screen. But then a sense of relief flooded my body as I answered the call to hear his cheerful voice loudly bidding me to "Wake your ass up, girl!" As always, his enthusiasm was contagious, so I had to laugh despite the hour.
[Stiggers] The Honeymoon Phase: Calm Before the Storm
We interrupt "Rikki Lakeside and Jerry Springtymer Present Outrageous Talk Show Guests and Their Problems" to bring you a special message from Bro. Kunta "Rasheed X" Toby, producer of a new documentary film on PBS (Peoples Broadcast System):
[Ladd] A Fool by Any Other Party
Man, I can't stand Bill Clinton. It drives me crazy to see him all over the place, hawking his new book and his excuses for his bad behavior in the Oval Office. His reasons for lying to the American people. His rationale for using his power to screw around with the lives of a parade of vulnerable women, some barely old enough to drink.
[Lott] Big Media Lose, Consumers Win
The federal 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a challenge by consumer groups to rules proposed by the Federal Communications Commission, which would have allowed more cross ownership of local print, television and broadcast media. Having a single media company control both the print and broadcast media in a single market would be bad for consumers, and I'm glad the court has agreed. As a conservative, I believe that diverse ownership and more competition are good things because they encourage businesses to better serve customers in local communities. That especially includes the media who use public airwaves and in whom the public trusts.
[Stiggers] Cussin'-N-Fussin-N-The House
Hey beautiful peoples! Bone Qweesha Jones, your on-the-scene reporter, here with the socio-political/celebrity scoop! And it's all 'bout music! Coming to you live, rough, rugged and raw! D.G.I. (Darned Good Intelligence) Entertainment presents the long-awaited CD titled "Cussin'-N-Fussin-N-The House," courtesy of your vice president, Dick "Off The" Cheney. This CD features some highly anticipated, chart-climbing hits like "Get the F--K Out of My Face," "Pressure-N-Stress Off My Chest," "I Said It Before and I'll Say It Again: Cussin'-N-Fussin'-N-The House Remix" and "My Position Against 'Fahrenheit 9/11': Quit Disrespecting My Homie."
[Silver] Notes from a Former Addict
Hi. My name is Lawrence, and I'm a recovering Republican. Addicted to the pachyderm's promise of smaller government, for years I voted a straight ticket. But, one day I realized that if Democrats wanted in my pocketbook, Republicans wanted in my bedroom. Enough was enough—I took freedom's pledge and became a Libertarian.
[Stauffer] On Mr. Moore and Making Us Talk
I saw "Fahrenheit 9/11" twice in the past few weeks—on opening night in San Antonio, and a second time at the UA Parkway Place in Flowood, during a screening that the Jackson Free Press sponsored with Crossroads Film Festival and The Collective. In the time between the two screenings, I'd read some of the responses to the movie, including many from the independent press. In fact, independent and alternative news outlets seemed to be treating the movie more critically than the mainstream press, which was, perhaps, more eager to move on to more important news … such as the release of "Spider-Man 2."
[Ask JoAnne] A Girl and Her Hat
Q. I need a hat. Where can a girl get a hat? Is it appropriate to wear a hat to a wedding? Thanks.
A. I need one, too! And I'm sad to learn that the amazing Christabelle, who designed and made fabulous hats in Jackson*, has passed away. (But don't you know the angels are looking lovely in their Christabelle hats?) I've recently heard that there's a woman in Canton with a shop on the square—Alexia Lain—who has fantastic hats, but I haven't been there, yet.
[Barbour] Leaving No PLAD Behind
Mississippi Medicaid was bleeding badly—doubling in cost over five years—and changes had to be made. Our dilemma was this: How to keep the Medicaid program sustainable while making sure everyone had adequate health care coverage? A part of the solution was to move 47,000 state Medicaid recipients who are also eligible for federal Medicare (6 percent of all recipients - called PLADs, or Poverty Level Aged and Disabled) off of Medicaid and onto Medicare alone.
[Lott] Our Independence Day
As we celebrate our freedom this July 4th, we should remember our troops abroad and what it takes to remain free. We should also pray that former terrorist states Afghanistan and Iraq can achieve a lasting freedom in the coming years. While we Americans have known freedom all our lives, these people are just beginning. It is new to them. But once freedom is tasted, there's no going back. We hope they one day celebrate their own Independence Day.
[Ladd] Freedom is Just Another Word
When I was living in New York, we heard that the Klan was coming to march in Manhattan. This, predictably, caused an outrage in the city with folks screaming about why the stupid yuck-yucks shouldn't be allowed to march there. They oughta stay home in New Jersey, or wherever they were shlepping from. Tell them they weren't welcome.
[Stiggers] Your Car is a Hoopty When..
Your international hustler is here to help the peoples who drive their raggedy cars to a low-paying, no- Medicaid-benefits job with the greatest invention since the Pocket Fisherman.
[Cohen] Beware the Writhing of a Starving Beast
When Haley Barbour was running for governor, the national GOP pulled out its heaviest hitters to canvass the state for his campaign. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Rudy Giuliani all came down on Barbour's behalf, as did both Bob and Libby Dole, J.C. Watts, Ari Fleischer and the president's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida. Each time a luminary would show up, the national media came along for the ride.
'Mississippi Burning' and Other Tall Tales
In one of those bizarre twists of fate that keep happening to me since I returned to Mississippi, I ended up recently spending a Saturday afternoon in Neshoba County with a camera crew from Glamour magazine. As if that weren't odd enough, we were at two of the most historic locations in Neshoba County, actually in the U.S. The über-hip crew, flown in from New York and Los Angeles, was doing makeup, arranging clothing, and taking pictures first at the spot where a gaggle of Klansmen killed civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner on June 21, 1964. Then the crew moved to Mount Zion, the black Methodist church that Klansmen burned to both punish the parishioners for trying to register blacks to vote, and to lure the civil rights workers to Neshoba County from Meridian so that they could be "eliminated."
[Hutchinson] What is ‘the Truth,' Mr. Cosby?
Comedian Bill Cosby's partial recant that his knock of allegedly bad behaving blacks was a call for action and not a broad brush stroke indictment of all poor blacks, came too little, too late. Rightwing shock jocks, conservative black apologists and op-ed columnists have giddily embraced him as their darling, and many blacks cheer him for supposedly daring to speak what they call "the truth."
I Felt the Earth Move
It was like old home day in Neshoba County Sunday … with a few twists. The usual suspects—the people I've gotten to know in the struggle for justice and racial reconciliation in the state—were there to honor Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner: former elected officials and social activists and journalists and movement veterans and everyday citizens who want justice for victims of civil rights violence.
[Stiggers] Join the Electric Slide for Medicaid Protest
…indicate precisely what you mean to say/yours sincerely wasting away/Give me your answer/fill in a form/mine forever more/Will you still need me/Will you still feed me/When I'm sixty-four." — The Beatles
[Ask JoAnne] The Dreaded Sentence Prayer
A. You're right, nobody really sent in that question. But it's not totally made up. It's a question I get all too often—the dreaded question. It's the dreaded question because my answer has been the same for far too long: "I'm still working on The Book, and I don't get out much anymore." Of course, I don't get out much anymore, not only because of The Book, but also because I have to answer "the dreaded question." It's a conundrum, and it takes me back to the sentence prayer.
[Lott] Less Partisan, More Plainspoken
To win the War on Terror we must recognize it for what it should be—a deadly serious fight to save American lives. When we treat it as a political exercise or a word-parsing game, we do so at our nation's peril. The fight against terrorists will proceed regardless of who is President or which party controls Congress. The outrageous beheadings of Americans Daniel Pearl, Nick Berg, Paul Johnson and South Korean hostage Kim Sun Il show that terrorists will be stopped only by their own demise. Either we wait for them to kill Americans in our homeland again, or we kill terrorists on their turf, before they get here. Waiting for another attack is not an option, and it's time political leaders and some press folks are less partisan and more plainspoken about this conflict.
Bigotry of Low Expectations
I was about to start my second year at Mississippi State when Ronald Reagan came to the Neshoba County Fair in 1980. My gut instincts told me one thing. "The Republicans are playing Mississippians for fools," I told my oldest brother then. He was a Reagan supporter, but he later tended to agree with me about the Gipper. My naïve hunch played out. No matter how many syrupy, lemonade-soaked reminiscences of that visit we read about now from one Fair cabin owner or another (the "elite" of Neshoba County), the net result of that visit hasn't been pretty.
The Next Generation
Those are six words I never expected to say. I grew up, like many restless kids, thinking my town was the most backward place on earth. That's normal. But when I was 14 and found out what occurred in Philadelphia, Miss., when I was 3, I was overwhelmed with shame. That's tragic
[Lott] Upon the Death of Ronald Reagan
"On this sad day, I am thankful that, at a time when our country was down, and the cause of freedom was in danger, and so many had lost faith in the future, Providence gave to us and to mankind - Ronald Wilson Reagan.
[Young] Not About Conservatism
A few days after the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, an extraordinary panel met in New York City to discuss the urgent problem still posed by the racial gap in educational achievement.
[Stiggers] Watch That Indecent Exposure
The following is an excerpt from the new E! program, "Mo'tel William's Celebrity Interview," with special guest, the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.
The Governor Sacrifices His Rook
One burning question from our past two weeks of reporting at the Capitol on the governor's special session is a simple, if surprising, one. Does Haley Barbour really want tort reform?
[Ask Joanne] Eureka, She Found It!
Q. I've noticed for years the signs at Fortification and Monroe Streets pointing south indicating some sort of "Community Children's Theater." And I've hunted for it, but I can't seem to locate where it once was. You know anything about this? — Mystified on Monroe
[Mizell] It's as Simple as That
I took a creative writing class in college recently that was small and intimate and we actually discussed interesting things. Usually we'd go over poems and plays; but recently we began to discuss Mississippi, and what we like about it, and what we don't like about it, and how we could change it. So I offered up the question of how my classmates felt about the controversy about the cigarette tax proposals that were recently brought up, and defeated, in the Mississippi Legislature. Most had no idea what I was talking about, and being passionate about the topic, I began to explain.