Mother Nature: First, Do No Harm
"Y'all are just against economic development." That ribbing came from a Levee Board member who shall remain anonymous due to drinks on the table (a pretty good rule for journalists, by the way).
Fix the Smoking Ban
Jackson has taken a stand against smoking in public places, joining capital cities across the country that have banned indoor smoking from businesses, restaurants and bars. Health experts have long identified smoking as a serious health issue, and more recently, have found that inhaling second-hand smoke can be just as deadly as lighting up your own cigarette or cigar.
[Stiggers] Step Into Tomorrow
Boneqweesha Jones: "Welcome to Hair Did University School of Cosmetology and Vocational Studies Pre-Graduation Banquet. Our guest speaker is the honorable Congressman Smokey ‘Robinson' McBride. Congressman Smokey just arrived from an immigration debate and conference in Washington, D.C."
Tune Up, Mississippi
For a long time, I've lived uneasily with the disturbing assumption that most of the people I know who love music (and I know a lot of them) either don't know that the state song of Mississippi is an embarrassment or just shrug it off as one of life's ironies.
[Purvis] The Zen of Gardening
The weekend is over. I sit on my back patio, watching the endless parade of squirrels shimmying up trees and trotting across the top of my weathered-wood privacy fence. My arms ache to the bone. They have acquired a new crop of bruises of unknown origin.
[Balko] Watching the Detectives
George Orwell famously said, "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face–forever." He may still be right.
I Still Believe
My mind was restless and my thoughts wandered as I sat on the second row in the sanctuary of First Baptist Church in downtown Jackson at the Extraordinary Women's conference April 16. I was excited to be there, but I could feel the weight of the week, the weight of my life on my shoulders. I clapped and sang along to the praise and worship, going through the motions––preoccupied.
Women's Fund Gets It Wrong … Twice
The Jackson Free Press has been a strong supporter of The Women's Fund—including giving proceeds raised by our production of "The Vagina Monologues" this year to the group. We applaud the Fund for tackling the issue of domestic abuse and, like the JFP, focusing on tackling the systemic causes of the epidemic rather than just the outcomes.
[Stiggers] The Four-Way Test
Miss Doodle Mae: "The staff of Jojo's Discount Dollar Store just finished the daily staff meeting, similar to the meeting seen on the television series ‘Hill Street Blues.' Our morning meeting is a great opportunity to prepare for the work day."
[Kamikaze] New Breed of Renaissance Man
If you're an avid fan of the NFL, then you were probably glued to your TV this past weekend as the 2010 draft unveiled America's newest millionaires. The draft always holds a few surprises, and after 72 hours of picks, a few players are always left who have yet to be picked up by a pro team.
Pompous and Circus
To walk or not to walk, that is the question. Or is it?
Family Values
Our history as a state and a nation is filled with atrocious efforts to destroy the self-esteem of black men. During the entire arc of slavery and then Jim Crow laws--which did not end until the U.S. Supreme Court finally acted in December 1970, sending thousands of Jackson families fleeing to the suburbs and white academies--white supremacists worked diligently to de-moralize and criminalize black men. Their excuse was fear that those men would rape women with my skin color, even as many of the white bigots raped and impregnated black women that they "owned."
Things Can Change, Mississippi
Mississippi's prison system is in desperate need of reform. Under "tough on crime" legislation like increased zero-tolerance penalties for minor drug offenses and the 85-percent rule, which mandate that prisoners serve 85 percent of their sentences prior to parole eligibility, the state's prison population and incarceration rates exploded.
[Stiggers] Garment Of Destiny
Dear Disgruntled American Citizens: I want to make an appeal to you through this letter.
[Collier] Matters of the Heart
Just about all my formal education was whitewashed. The things I knew about the parts of American history that weren't white, I learned from my family.
[Balko] Justice Stevens' Mixed Record on Civil Liberties
Many hail retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens as a champion of the accused. Stevens, The New York Times editorial board opined, has a "record of being on the side of fairness and justice."
[Modak-Truran] And We're Rolling
The independent film scene is less robust than 20 years ago when it was the ultimate cool. The major studios have a tough enough time reaping profits today, and with a few exceptions such as Participant Media, the big players have virtually abandoned personal film-making because the numbers don't add up.
Stop Stalling Flood Control
It becomes more clear with every Levee Board meeting that the strategy of hard-core Two Lakes development supporters is to stall any alternative plan that could render their plan moot—even though the local levee board has voted to pursue other options. That strategy is severely flawed.
Bring Back Cartoons
When did ads and previews start taking up 30 minutes of good quality movie time? When I was a kid, cartoons preceded every movie on the silver screen. And while cartoons weren't the feature, at least they weren't advertising.
[Stiggers] Naked Truth
Boneqweesha Jones: "This is a ‘Qweesha Live' television news special report! Let's go to TaaQweema Jenkins, Suma Cum Laude graduate of Hair-Did University School of Cosmetology, reporting live from the Ghetto Science Team's Museum of Fine Arts and Culture, where the controversial Brother Sylvester, Christmas Missin' Toe artist, has another thought provoking exhibit titled ‘Breast-N-Plants: Exposing the World to the Naked Truth.'"
[Kamikaze] Open the Dialogue
My father and I are the only non-educators in my immediate family. My mother and my siblings were once or are all teachers. And since my father sees every conversation as a "teachable" moment, I guess he could qualify as some sort of "teacher."
[Balko] The Police Blackout
Last November along the roadside of Richmond Highway, a major thoroughfare in Fairfax County, Va., a police officer shot and killed David Masters, an unarmed motorist, as he sat in the driver's seat of his car. Masters, who was bipolar, was wanted for allegedly stealing some flowers from a planter. He received a ticket the day before for running a red light and then evading the police officer, though in a slow and not particularly dangerous manner.
Chronicling Jackson's BOOM
It just occurred to me when I sat down to write this that the Saints won the Super Bowl within weeks of the King Edward re-opening--after both had suffered roughly four decades of discontent. I guess the Saints and King Eddie were using the same cold month in hell to make a few "never gonna happen" things ... happen.
Recovering our Confidence
In the first glimmer of good news Mississippi has seen over its lagging tax revenues, the State Tax Commission reported an increase in collections of about a half a percentage point over the previous month.
[Stiggers] Little Bit of Change
Miss Doodle Mae: "Finally, it looks like this winter's cold spell has broken. Trees covered with white blossoms decorate the ghetto landscape. The street corners and hangout spots are alive with unemployed folk, winos and beggars."
[Collier] Rearing Ain't for Everybody
Picture it: A woman is rolled into Choose-a-Patron-Saint's-Name Hospital, writhing in pain, cursing men and pleading with God for mercy. The contractions are coming closer together and are more difficult to bear. After 40 weeks or so, it is finally time. The little bundle of joy (or terror, whichever the case may prove to be) is on the way to make a mark on the world.
[Balko] Another Senseless Drug War Death
The Jonathan Ayers story was already outrageous enough. Last September, a North Georgia narcotics task force gunned down Ayers, a 28-year-old Baptist pastor from Lavonia, Ga., in the parking lot of a gas station. Ayers had not been a suspect in any drug investigation. And even today, police acknowledge he was not using or trafficking illicit drugs.
Mapping Our Future
Our GOOD issue is not an easy spread to put together, but it is one of the most rewarding features we do at the Jackson Free Press. Among all the positive things we hear after each issue is how much people learn about how they can get involved and make positive change.
Do Good, and Do Better
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. – Hebrews 10:24
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. – Hebrews 10:24
[Stiggers] Too Nasty
Mr. Announcement: "G-SPAN presents live coverage of the Ghetto Science Community Health Care Reform Clinic grand opening. The clinic is the newest addition to the Club Chicken