Ode To Ms. Wilson
I had my first encounter with jazzreal jazz, the kind that washes over your body like a cool, gentle caresswhen I was a high-school sophomore at Murrah High School. One Saturday morning, my mother dragged me out of bed to accompany her to the "homegoing celebration" of her friend's late ex-husband, John Reese, at the Smith Robertson Museum. I was reluctantsleeping in late sounded far better than milling around a funeral talking to strangersbut she wanted company, and I wasn't doing anything, so we went.
Stop Secrecy in Mississippi Government
One of the ways to keep people ignorant is to control their access to information. Open any newspaper in the country, and you'll see stories about how Muslim fundamentalist clerics and repressive dictators control their people by only allowing them access to the information deemed "appropriate" by extremely narrow standards.
[Stiggers] Recreational Recession
Brotha Hustle: "Aunt Tee-Tee and I are back again roaming the city streets, country roads and other interesting places with our mini DV camcorder, $5.99 Radio Crib microphone and work lights from the suburban Y'all Mart. Last week, our homeless wino friend, Tipsy Lee Jacobson, conducted a thought-provoking libation ceremony on the seat of a public-transit train.
[Mott] It Starts At Home
Sometimes the universe just comes along and slaps you up side the head. I was the recipient of one of those slaps a few years ago, when the company I worked for (and moved to Mississippi for) laid me off after nine years. In the time it takes for you to read this sentence, my entire world was inside out and upside down.
Tearing Down the Wrong Walls
Out of all the disturbing things emerging in Mayor Frank Melton's trial this week, the worst to me has been Michael Taylor's testimony that he lived with the mayor for a year and a half or so when he was a minor and never attended high school.
Promote Sexual Health
Mississippians have been riding the "abstinence-only" train right into some of the worst sexual health statistics in the nation.
[Stiggers] Unemployed Wino
Bro Hustle: "Aunt Tee Tee and I got this great idea to capture the free-flowing, alcohol-induced thoughts of Tipsy Lee Jacobson, a homeless wino riding the southbound train to the city.
[Kamikaze] Show Up, Jackson
"Those that succeed are the ones that show up" is a mantra that I live by and practice. It is the simple premise that one's mere presence can be a positive influence or driving force to action.
[Chandler] Protect Workers' Rights
On Jan. 21, House Labor Committee Chairman Rep. Rufus Straughter, D-Belzoni, read House Concurrent Resolution 25 to the Mississippi House of Representatives. HCR 25which Rep. Jim Evans, D-Jackson, authoredwould "commemorate Workers' Memorial Day on April 28, 2009."
When the Going Gets Tough
No doubt about it, these are scary economic times. Many people are losing jobs, some businesses are closing, consumers are holding tight to their dollars.
DA Needs to Get Organized
A growing source of frustration around the Hinds County Courthouse is that the office of Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith is handling case pleadings and motions in a sloppy manner -- much sloppier than his predecessor Faye Peterson. And some of the people complaining now say they supported Smith in his campaign against Peterson.
[Stiggers] On The Edge
Nurse Tootie McBride: "As the jobless meter climbs to higher heights, depression, apathy and shame infect the wounds of the people. Life for poor folk in this country is like chewing gum that has lost its flavor. And anxious individuals wait hopefully for a fresh, new stick of gum."
[Wilson] Draining A Bloated Government
In Mississippi, a new year means more than just changing calendars. It means the Legislature is back in session, and all 174 of our elected representatives have descended upon the capital city.
Now, Go Produce a Record!
Last week's Best of Jackson issue was followed, as always, by the Best of Jackson party, and this year's party was an amazing blowouthundreds of our closest friends joined us for a sneak peak at the new Auditorium in the old Duling School in Fondren for what has been pretty roundly praised as a good time on a Sunday night.
Enough 'Cheap Thrills'; Time for Action
In 2008, Jackson Free Press readers voted Riverside Drive the best "cheap thrill" in the citya pointed statement about the condition Jackson's streets, and the fact that so little has been done about it.
[Stiggers] Getting a Piece of Mine
Mr. Announcement: "From the producers of the hit reality TV series 'Ghetto's Most Craziest Videos' is a new television show for economically challenged individuals seeking to justify using force to achieve peace and security within their own living space.
[Kamikaze] The Party is Over
Last Tuesday was a historic event, one that many of my elders never thought they would see in their lifetimes. An African American became president of the United States. We are indeed blessed to have witnessed what could be the paradigm shift for which we have waited for so long.
[Queen] Moving Onward
Rows and rows of plowed earth await attention, while endlessly curvaceous streets leak secrets of struggle and anguish. Stiff winds wrap intensely against all that interrupt its peace, announcing itself with firm determination.
Celebrating Excellence
I write this having just watched the swearing in of our new president, hearing his call to service and responsibility in his inaugural address. It will take some time to let that speech soak in and to hear more about the tone that will be set in Washington.
Unite Against Corruption
In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama spoke of uniting parties, bringing Americans together and working with the world to make a better life for us all. We agree wholeheartedly that we could all use a little unity right now, and we welcome the profound words of the incoming president.
[Stiggers] History In The Making
Miss Doodle Mae: "Jojo and I had a very deep conversation during some down time at his discount dollar store. We talked about the conflict in the Middle East, the Iraq War, bad economy and a world in turmoil. In the words of one of Nurse Tootie McBride's favorite rappers named Humpty (pronounced with an Umpty) from the group Digital Underground: spite, doubt, despair, frustration and hatred are all around the world, same song.
[Hightower] More Bark Than Bite
After Bernard Madoff confessed in December to looting some $50 billion from investors through a long-running, widespread Ponzi scheme, Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pennsylvania, complained that this massive fraud "fell through the cracks of our regulatory system."
[Hutchinson] Has Obama Fulfilled King's Dream?
The unchallenged article of faith is that the election of President Barack Obama fulfills Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream that the content of character should trump skin color. King uttered the words in his March on Washington speech in 1963. We heard it over and over again in the march up to the King national holiday, Jan. 19, and Obama's inauguration the next day.
Naked Party Animals Be Damned
"We all evolve." That's what Marcy Nessel told Maggie Neff about the Jewish Film Festival in this issue.
Stop Wasting the City's Time
Jackson City Council President Leslie McLemore said it best in summing up the proposed "Sagging Pants Ordinance," when he described it as "a waste of council time." He's got a point, and the majority of the council agreed with him this week in rejecting the ordinance with a 4-to-2 vote.
[Stiggers] Queem Deferred
Qweem-O-Wheat: "Now that the holiday season has ended, another economic nightmare looms like a large ole Christmas parade balloon, casting a shadow onto a crowd of people shocked and awed into doubt and despair. The swift backhand of being broke, jobless and nearly homeless stings the skin of the middle class, while the poor folk hurt some more.
[Kamikaze] Time To Shine in '09
It's a new year, folks! A new year brings new experiences and wisdom, but also new challenges.
[Hutchinson] The Other Eartha Kitt
The smile on Eartha Kitt's face was unforgettable. It belied the pain, ridicule and turmoil she had endured after finding herself at or near the top of then-President Lyndon Johnson's enemies list. But that seemed to be the furthest thing from her mind that late spring afternoon in 1978 when she greeted me at the old Aquarius Theater in Hollywood.
The Great Compromise
After a failed attempt at filling the Medicaid budget shortfall last year, Mississippi lawmakers left the capitol city and returned home with a $10,000 salary and no solution. The prior three months had been hellish as countless pieces of legislationsome of which had the support of one legislative body but not the otherfailed.
Feds Need to Clean Corrupt House
The news that former District Attorney Ed Peters turned in his license to practice law to the Mississippi State Bar Association Tuesday has rekindled chatter about the corruption scandal that rocked the state after feds indicted Richard "Dickie" Scruggs on Nov. 28, 2007.