[Stiggers] Desperate Men in Dire Times
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."
[Queen] We're Getting Hitched
"Do not dwell in the past; do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." Buddha's famous quote has directed my life for the last 30 years. I've always done my best to live life to the fullest no matter what. The last month of 2008 has proved to me that planning life is a great idea, but provides very little certainty.
Of Melton's Health and 'Failures'
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton called his administration's work on lowering the crime rate in the city a "failure" twice during a Dec. 30 press conference, but followed up each confession with a caveat.
A Long, Long Road
"Donna, you know what? I run Jackson," declared Mayor Frank Melton, scrunching his face up into one of his trademark snickers that are cute and creepy at the same time. "I do it in a weird way, but I run Jackson."
[Stiggers] High Hopes in 2009
Chef Fat Meat: "Despite all the terrible things that poor and middle-class folks have suffered throughhome foreclosures, job layoffs, natural disasters, loss of medical benefits and moreit's time to lift up our burdened heads to see the stars in times of darkness.
No Rest For the Weary
Benjamin Franklin once said that without continual growth and progress, such words as "improvement," "achievement" and "success" have no meaning. This statement, true in the 18th century, remains so in the 21st century.
[Johnson] Hear No Evil
More than two years after Mayor Frank Melton and police bodyguard Michael Recio destroyed a duplex on Ridgeway Street, they may finally answer for their crimes in federal court.
Make Jackson Weird
I grew up a Dallas Cowboys fan, and one of the biggest adjustments to rooting for my now-beloved Saints is to learn to keep hope alive for a team that lacks a tradition of winning.
Stop Spreading Powers
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann has approached the Senate Elections Committee asking for a statute that would allow his office to subpoena records and evidence relating to state or local elections.
[Stiggers] Christmas in the Ghetto
Bart Starrchild: "This is your token Caucasian announcer broadcasting live from the Funky Ghetto Mall. I'm here for the premiere of the Ghetto Science Team's Community Christmas Parade titled 'A Missing Toe Christmas,' brought you by the Ghetto Science Team Television Network.
[Kamikaze] Moving On to New Things
I hate moving! If I had to make a list of my least desirable things to do, moving would be just above being held hostage in a Cambodian prison camp and getting a prostate exam from a blind doctor.
Southern GOP: We're Over Ideology
The national electoral gains that Democrats have made in the 2006 and 2008 elections are nothing short of historic, and at the expense of a devastated GOP. Those gains even include large swaths of voters in the South, including nearly every ZIP code outside of Appalachia and the colder climes of Arkansas.
Come All Ye Faithful
In his column last week, The Clarion-Ledger's Sid Salter quoted the fifth chapter of Matthew to justify Gov. Haley Barbour diverting federal money away from low-income Katrina re-housing and into a port project instead. Yes, he said, Jesus cared about the poor, but "God allows people to suffer the havoc of disasters without regard to virtue or vice.
[Stiggers] Dodging Christmas
Brotha Hustle: "Miss Doodle Mae, spokeswoman, part-time cashier and security guard at Jojo's Discount Dollar Store, is on full-time security duty during the Christmas holiday season. She asked me to fill in for her to tell you about Jojo's Discount Dollar Store's 'I'll Be Broke This Christmas' sale.
[Hightower] Good Wages Good For America
Some U.S. senators are real corkers. Take Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee. Please.
[Wilson] Santa's New Suit
As my half-completed degree from Reformed Theological Seminary can attest, I have a hearty sense for the true meaning of Christmas, but I'll let some other commentator discuss that.
Art For the People
After an exquisite breakfast of fresh fruit and hot flapjacks during our recent honeymoon in Belize, my husband, J.P., and I slowly sipped our glasses of orange juice and walked 20 feet from the Turtle Inn restaurant to the sandy beach. The Caribbean Sea seemed to stretch for miles down the shoreline, and we wanted to explore.
Look at the Whole Immigration Picture
Immigrants and their children sent a loud message last week. About 50 people marched on the capitol, protesting recent raids at a Laurel factory and a new Mississippi law that puts people in jail for being undocumented and employed at the same time.
[Stiggers] Who Will Bail Us Out?
Nurse Tootie McBride: "If you work a full-time job, live in a financially challenged neighborhood (aka the ghetto) and want to join a labor union, become a member of the Ghetto Workers' Labor Union #776 and 3/22.
[Kamikaze] Battling the Holidays
Living in the greatest country in the world has its obvious advantages, but sometimes it's difficult living with the utter intolerance of some of its citizens. This is most evident during the holiday season.
[Queen] A Woman's Worth
My mother and I have been extremely close since my father passed, but it took some time to obtain the relationship we have today. The first couple of years after my father died, I thought I was the reason for most of her grief; I was a handful for her. But nothing I ever thought I knew about my mother compares to her life as revealed to me during a recent Celebration of Life ceremony that friends and family arranged for her.
For Them, the Brave
It used to be that murders of black people didn't matter. They still don't matter enough, but they get taken a lot more seriously than they did back when I was a baby. Then, an angry white person, a mob, or a sheriff or deputy could murder an African American in cold blood, and it didn't matter to the state's white authorities and citizenry.
Fire the Employees Stealing from City
Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Weill summed it up best when he said the city of Jackson had "dropped the ball" on supervising the city's gas cards. According to city council members, 1,088 city employees have access to gas cards that allow employees to fill up public-owned cars and trucks.
[Sue Doh Nem] Hoop in Hard Times
Rev. Cletus: "Welcome to a special radio broadcast titled 'Tithing and the Economy.'"
[Hightower] Repairing Bush's Regulatory Wreckage
You don't hear it outside the Beltway, but there's a constant roar inside Washington, D.C. these days.
[Gregory] The Christmas Miracle
I've always loved the holidays. I like the fall smells in the air, eggnog lattes and almost any dessert spiced with cinnamon. I especially adore the whiskey drinks and how no one seems to mind if you get publicly drunk between the last week in November and Jan. 1.
Let Us Begin Again
Not long ago, an evangelical minister and his teenage son visited me at the JFP offices. We sat in the classroom, under the watchful gaze of Emmett Till from a movie poster on the wall, and talked about being inspired to live a good life. The dad is well known in the state for his very conservative views and, well, I'm not.
Stop Creating More Shortfalls
If State Auditor Stacey Pickering gets his way, the state could end up paying an extra $3 million for a bill that has already been paid.
[Sue Doh Nem] Inauguration at the Disco
Momma Roscoe: "I thought I'd never see this day. And you know what I mean. This old lady hasn't been this excited since John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1961. I'm not like that sweet 106-year-old lady President-Elect Barack Obama referred to in his speech, but I'm proud to say that I, too, witnessed a lot of history while raising my son, Big Roscoe.
[Kamikaze] One-Way Metro Street
I often hear the term "metro Jackson" bandied about, more so in recent years. We have a "Metro"center Mall. We even had a "Metro" Jackson Chamber of Commerce (now called the "Greater" Jackson Chamber Partnership). But I often find myself asking, "What does the term 'metro Jackson' really mean?"