Brilliant and Bodacious
Don't know Black Twitter? Get to. The virtual cultural community is a force to be reckoned with, wielding its substantial power to effect social, political and cultural change.
Next JPD Chief Can Learn From Ferguson
The seeds of a Ferguson-type situation are firmly in place in Jackson. The search for a new police chief, however, presents an excellent opportunity for conversations about how to best train police.
Stinker Quote of the Week: 'Signs'
Vance's rationale for being angry about people holding signs is just bizarre. He described a hypothetical situation in which a jilted panhandler might call his sister the b-word.
I Hold My Son Close
Black mothers do not have reproductive justice. If we choose to parent, we have a long list of things to protect our children from.
Time to Reset, White Folks
What's happening in Ferguson isn't pretty, but it had to happen: Police and everyday people cannot keep killing black people for minor, or no, crimes and expect our citizens of color to just keep taking it.
Song for Charlie
We went to see one of jazz's great bassists, Charlie Haden, and his Quartet West. Rachel and Michael had never heard of him and had no interest in jazz, but they were going. Daddy insisted.
City’s Media Relations Must Be About Policy
Sending all questions about city government through a PR-processing machine isn't considered ethical in our business, nor is it a journalistic practice that serves the interest of citizens.
Stinker Quote of the Week: 'Failure'
While journalism can certainly have great impact, it's dangerous to link one's journalist's action or inaction to every event, and it's just idiotic to make that link in a situation as complex as this.
Powerful Like Dynamite
Mr. Teacher: "Ms. Superintendent asked me to close this year's Cootie Creek County Schools Pre-Back to School Teacher Retreat with a brief motivational address. So, I want to share with my fellow teachers a poem I wrote a while back titled 'Tale of Two Teachers':
Will I Survive Student Debt?
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that the average student-loan borrower, or masochist, owes about $26,000 in student loans.
Fight For Women, Not Against Them
If our politicians are truly concerned about protecting women and children, they should abandon their relentless assault on abortion rights and tackle the real issues facing girls and women in this state.
Stinker Quote of the Week: 'Dangerous'
Gov. Bryant says admitting privileges are vital to women's safety, even as the anti-abortion movement he supports pressures hospitals not to give admitting privileges to doctors who perform abortions so they can send women to the hospital in the rare number of cases where it's needed.
Everyone Has a Story
College is a fresh start for everyone. The best years of your life are just ahead, and I encourage everyone to meet someone new or someone you wouldn't normally talk to.
My Cool City
I can say without a doubt that there is no better place to grow up or to live than Jackson.
Denying Religious Freedom and Safety
By emphasizing removal rather than due-process protections, Gov. Phil Bryant demonstrates his apathy toward children who face certain bodily injury or death based on their beliefs.
Invest in Little Mississippians
Mississippi does not prepare kids for school early enough. As we report this week (See, "Early Ed: Critical to Child Success," page 17), the benefits of early education investment is huge.
Stinker Quote of the Week: 'Secure'
People wouldn't take guns to the polls—or anywhere—if they weren't anticipating that something might go down to cause them to brandish said weapon.
Writings Define Mississippi’s Emotions
State Supreme Court Justice Randy "Bubba" Pierce, a Greene County native, is a writer and his latest novel, "Mississippi Mud," defines state politics in the very sense of this state's current landscape.
Expanding Horizons Through Reading
Whether you read or not as an adult, it's important to teach children the value of reading.
Righting Our Grand Failure
Mississippi's wellness buckets are full of stagnant swamp water. Most of us are familiar with the dismal statistics. Take your pick: teen pregnancy, obesity, diabetes, smoking, heart disease—our rates lead or butt right up against the wrong end of the spectrum, and we've been stuck there for decades.
Help Children, Don’t Attack Them
The situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, where thousands of Central American children are being detained, is grave.
Stinker Quote of the Week: 'Race-Baiting'
We're unsure if Tyner is confusing the Cochran campaign with himself, since he recently told reporters that Democrats who voted in the Republican runoff—the ones the Cochran campaign engaged to help him win—"diluted the vote."
A Little Help From Our Affluent Friends
Ike On A Bike: "For many years as owner and chief tour guide of Village Ghetto Land Urban Tours, Incorporated, I've witnessed the steady decline and neglect of the Ghetto Science Community's infrastructure."
It’s Time to Change ‘The Game’
In most every election, we just move around the chess pieces but no one ever really wins, certainly not the voters.
10 Years of Stopping Abuse: How and Why We Started the JFP Chick Ball
The JFP Chick Ball matters to people who don't usually get asked to help with fundraisers. It gets everyone involved. It raises awareness. It gives a way to talk about abuse, even as it's one of the best and most stylish parties in town.
Don’t Ask Me to Forget
When I am asked why I often speak about my abuser and why I don't take his "feelings" into account, I cannot fathom any form of reaction and certainly no apology.
Don’t Miss Chance to Fix PAC Problem
The Jackson Free Press doesn't often say, "we told you so," even if we did. But after the news cycle of the last week, in which unreported PAC activity in the U.S. Senate race has made national news, it's hard to resist.
Stinker Quote of the Week: 'Everything'
The jury is still out on whether All Citizens for Mississippi, which Crudup helped start, is in compliance with all relevant federal election and campaign laws.
That’s Not How Pregnancy Works
Sit back for a moment and think back to the long gone days of 2011. That was the year many of us were either working to ensure Initiative 26 (better known as the personhood amendment) didn't pass, or we were concerned about its passage.