We Need to Learn From Charter Schools Before Expanding Them
It is too early to deem charter schools a success or failure in Mississippi. We are witnessing the beginning of a limited experiment in privatized "public" education starting this year in Jackson.
God Is Still in Public Schools
I am a high-school teacher and a Christian. And I have some great news: God is still in our public schools.
On Education, Privilege and Empowerment
Payton Head, student body president at the University of Missouri, my alma mater, recently wrote that while walking through campus Sept. 11, a pickup truck full of white guys screamed the word n*gger at him.
Another GOOD Idea: Improving Pregnancy Care
In a state with so many restrictions on sexual education and abortion, ostensibly to protect the health of women, the conventional wisdom should hold that Mississippi's pregnancy statistics should be stellar.
One Hiccup Should Not Ruin FFT
Every time we have a hiccup, we can't boycott, we can't shut things down, we can't run from it. We all can learn from the mistakes, and all come out better people on the other end.
Your Turn—The Confederate Flag: A View from Tougaloo
Our state's continued waving of the Confederate battle flag is an indicator that our dark past is more prevailing than our bright future.
Creating a Sense of Community
Before our kids venture off into school or seek out new places for recreation, it's the very streets where they grow up that give them their first introduction to a larger world.
Need Solutions? Love The Problem
What Jackson needs, perhaps more than anything else, is more taxpaying people to help shoulder the burden and work on solutions.
Time to Understand and Undo Racism
Awareness of differing viewpoints and cultures must happen: Ignorance needs to be dispelled and truths told in a safe environment with the purpose of moving forward on a continuum of understanding.
Real Transparency, Please, Not Smoke and Mirrors
One online dictionary defines transparency as "free from pretense or deceit," "easily detected or seen through" and "readily understood." However, too many government agencies at the local and state levels are only ostensibly transparent.
Stinker Quote of the Week: 'Warfighters'
Sen. Cochran, who came within a hair's width of losing his Senate seat in the Republican primary against state Sen. Chris McDaniel because of his penchant for pork-barrel spending over the years, is already back in the saddle raining federal taxpayer cash on Mississippi and beating his chest about it.
Tripping, Flipping, Fixing, Selling and Pimping
"For a while, I believed that certain types of people would never change. On today's show, the Finance Pimp is on the set to prove me wrong."
The Curse of the Mississippi Flag
The 1894 Mississippi flag, with the Confederate battle emblem as its canton, represents much more than an antiquated piece of cloth.
Do the Right Thing in Disasters
There's an expression that says if the nation sneezes, Mississippi catches the flu.
The Katrina Education Lie
Among the many reflections on the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, the discussion of its effects on schools in New Orleans may be the most disingenuous.
Howard Industries’ Secret Life
Many of Howard Industries' predominantly black workers say they're underpaid for the hard, grueling work they do, but negotiations with management went nowhere after at least 16 meetings.
To Build a ‘Creative Economy,’ Fund Education
I started thinking a lot about the "creative economy" when we started our coverage of the 2014 TEDxJackson event. The whole idea behind Jackson's first TEDx event was big ideas, and many of them were incredible.
Media: Stop Vilifying Black Teens, Explore Roots of Crime
One doesn’t wake up and become a criminal, nor is one born a criminal; something happens that pushes a young person toward it.
Oxford Takes Right Stand on Flag, Deserves Support
Making a change by adopting a new state flag would make it much harder for outsiders to look at Mississippi and see us as the backward haters they mistakenly think we are.
Barbour’s True Place in Katrina History
The 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastation has understandably come with a deluge of retrospectives and remembrances—what went right and wrong, what lessons were learned, what work remains and how we all pulled together.
Stinker Quote of the Week: 'Credit'
By the estimation of many observers, it was the ineptitude primarily of top federal government officials that exacerbated the damage Mother Nature wrought.
Booty MacDrawers, Crime Investigator
"Watch Booty MacDrawers and Christie 'Love' McBride bring justice into your home and to the people on the new Ghetto Science Team for Truth and Justice Television Network."
‘Blood Sells’ No Excuse to Sell Out Young People
It's as if struggling media outlets want a quick fix of attention from trotting out young faces accused of bad things more often than they feature kids doing amazing things.
A Three-Point Plan for Public Safety Built on Youth Success
Driven by research and common sense, law enforcement leaders are advocating for quality early education and reduced school suspensions and expulsions.
Mississippi Flag: A Question of Pride
The state flag represents separation. As it flies, it reminds this state that black people still are not measured as equal (enough).
Budget Spitting Matches Must End
The budget cannot be held hostage or become the casualty of a childish, pointless spitting match between politicians. These are serious times for the City of Jackson, and those games have to stop.
Rest in Paradise, Julian Bond
Julian Bond was a figure I had looked up to for many, many years due to his lifelong mission to combat inequality.
Swift Kicks in the Game of Life
Sometimes we need a swift (verbal) kick to tell us we need to step up our game. Whether it's football or media, we have to work hard, really hard to be good.
An Open Letter to My Daughter
Discriminatory practices are and must continue to be challenged in the legal, policy, judiciary, corporate and executive arenas. Victory in such arenas must be achieved through political participation, litigation and good ole zeal.
JATRAN Overhaul Past Due
It's not that having a reliable public-transportation is just a nice thing to have, but as Dr. Scott Crawford rightly told the Jackson City Council this week, for many people, and for our city, it's as important as food, water and shelter.