Jackson, Let's Shoot for the Top
As I write this Tuesday, I have no idea who will be the Democratic nominee for mayor when you read this. As always happens in Jackson and Mississippi, it's been a tough campaign that has wallowed in the mud and brought out the worst in many of our neighbors.
Break the Cycle
What is it about elections that turns ordinarily sane people into back-stabbing, devious, scheming liars?
[Stiggers] Y'all Mart Hookup
Brotha Hustle: "Aunt Tee Tee pitched a great idea for our Ghetto Science Tube viral video show: videotape men and women hooking up for a date while shopping at the local suburban Y'all Mart.
Dwindling Republican Party Regrettable
As a 30-year-old Mississippian who never strongly identified with a particular party, I am excited to call myself an Obama Democrat. During the first 100 days of this administration, the Democrats made great strides in how they communicated with constituents to reflect the will of their respective districts.
[Johnson] The Miracle Machine
The season of the Obama baby has arrived. Like many members of our generation, my beloved and I found the Bush years distinctly unarousing. Even today, I worry that newborns who catch word of Dick Cheney's media blitz will cry foul and make a run back for the womb.
Why Harvey? Call Me ‘Responsible…'
Political seasons are always interesting, particularly because we at the Jackson Free Press feel it's important—despite the turmoil that often ensues—to endorse candidates for office.
[Stiggers] Enduring Money Stress
Rudy McBride: "Many of my loyal customers are concerned about how the Let Me Hold Five Dollars National Bank will hold up under the U.S. government and Ghetto Science Team's economic stress tests."
[Kamikaze] Brothers Behind the Badge
I began my life in the shadows of Christian Brotherhood Apartments, where I developed a latent fear for law enforcement. Back then, the sound of police sirens was constant, and the piercing blue lights glared outside my window more often than not.
[Hutchinson] Juvenile Justice?
Four years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court took a big step toward righting a galling wrong. It joined nearly every other nation on the globe and banned teen executions.
Lessons From My Mother
Mothers have a habit of bestowing advice and rules to live by, often perpetuating old wives' tales or insensible teachings like: "Don't read in the dark. You'll go blind." (I really thought I was going to go blind after my mom caught me reading in the moonlight; I was scarred for many years.)
Amend Senate Bill 3268
In March, Mississippi legislators passed Senate Bill 3268, which allows municipalities to raise certain sales taxes by 1 percent to pay for police and fire protection, and road, water and sewage repairs.
[Stiggers] Fighting the Pig Cooties
Boneqweesha Jones: "This is your 'Qweesha '09 special report and news brief. Dr. Peanut of the George Washington Carver Holistic Health Commission of Tuskegee, Ala., has informed me that a pig in Mexico has the cooties, and people have gotten really sick.
Stop the Cycle of Abuse
I was recently horrified to learn that our state is one of only four in the U.S. without a felony law against the crime of abusing cats or dogs. A law like this seems like a common-sense thing, yet there appears to be pockets of opposition to it in Mississippi and nationwide.
[Gregrory] Pregnant With Possibilities
I'm currently 11 million months pregnant. I feel like a member of the pachyderm family. One would think that I would be excited about having a baby sometime in the next month and finally becoming a mother.
[Kamikaze] My Mother, My Hero
My mother passed last week. The feeling is still surreal for me. It's the first time I've lost someone close to me, someone in my immediate family.
Put Jackson First
When the Jackson Free Press editorial board met with mayoral candidates last week, we asked each candidate roughly the same questions based on a list we had compiled beforehand. But when one candidate brought up John McGowan's Two Lakes project and pledged his whole-hearted support, we added the question to our arsenal and called those we were still considering for a comment.
Frank Melton is No Barack Obama
It's déjà vu all over again. Four years ago this week, I was writing a column calling for—no, begging—Jacksonians not to vote for Frank Melton as mayor in the Democratic primary.
[Stiggers] Resourceful Recession
Nurse Tootie McBride: "This is your Good Morning Ghetto Diet and Health segment. With me in the Hook-A-Meal-Up Kitchen is Chef Fat Meat, the Emeril Lagasse of the 'hood."
[Hutchinson] The 100-Day Fixation
Then-Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama did a prescient thing last October. He told an interviewer from a Colorado radio station that he thought the first 1,000 days, not the first 100 days, would make the crucial difference for his presidency.
‘Think Local' Elections
As the city primaries approach on May 6, 2009, I turn again and again to the thought of how local business will fare in these elections.
Know Your Limitations
The elections are well underway, and the plate is piling high with campaign promises, in both the council and mayoral races. There are good, noble, smart campaign priorities out there.
[Stiggers] DuBois' Talented Tenth
This is your resident satirist returning with another Reader's Guide to Ken Stiggers. Today, I want to share my thoughts behind "Ghetto Science Team," a term I frequently use in my column.
‘Passing the Trash'
Good job of reporting on that "Herding the Homeless" piece (volume 7, issue 29). I used to be a journalist, and I appreciate a clean, straight-forward story. But for years now, I've worked with the homeless. Thought you might like to know that people on the street refer to this herding concept as "passing the trash."
[Johnson] The Death of Birth
Biologist E.O. Wilson calls the stunning destruction of wildlife on our planet "the death of birth." We all must die in time, and there is a natural justice to the succession of generations.
Demand the Facts, Ma'am
The only time Jackson drives me crazy is during local campaign cycles. To be fair, of course, it's not every Jacksonian who goes insane and starts pushing lies and conspiracy theories—it's pretty much the same people every time.
[Kamikaze] The Dark Side of Elections
Election years are always bittersweet for me, especially in Jackson. This city is abuzz with frenetic energy—some good, some bad.
Know Your Options
Almost every day, Jackson voters can hear and question the candidates who will be making decisions on their behalf in the upcoming months and years.
[Stiggers] Finance Pimpin'
Mr. Announcement: "In the ghetto criminal justice system, the people are represented by two members of the McBride family: police officer and part-time security guard at the Funky Ghetto Mall, Dudley ‘Do-Right' McBride, and attorney Cootie McBride of the law firm McBride, Myself and I. This is their story."
[Carter] Standing in Solidarity
The morning of Feb. 12, 2008, was sobering for the students of E. O. Green School, in Oxnard, Calif. At 8:15 a.m., 8th-grade student Brandon McInerney walked into a computer class where he shot his classmate Lawrence "Larry" King twice in the head.
Good Friday ... Saturday ... Monday ...
Walking on the beach last week in my undisclosed vacation spot butting up to the Gulf of Mexico, I noticed two teen girls, say around age 17, walking toward Todd and me in string bikinis. Suddenly, one of them bent down and gently picked up a big piece of plastic lying on the beach and kept walking.