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Of Truth and the Shortest Month
I admit it: I've never been Black History Month's biggest fan. Let me put that another way: I don't like how media tend to treat Black History Month. Too often, it is a vehicle for selling ads on a special page to commemorate black history, usually with predictable images or talk of little-lady Rosa Parks suddenly getting tired and refusing to get up out of her seat. (No. She was a trained activist; the historic moment was planned.)
All God's Children
One image won't leave my head since I finished my part of the cover story I wrote this issue with freelance writer Valerie Wells (starts here): A deputy with his foot against a door as a desperate mother tries to get through to be with her 13-year-old son during a police interrogation that will elicit a murder confession that may or may not have any truth to it.
Higher Ground
Amid all the bellowing anger and finger-pointing and insults and threats to shove tennis balls you-know-where, last week I was fortunate enough to participate in something remarkable in downtown Jackson.
Talking Back in Flyover Country
Not too long before the election, I found an e-mail I'd missed from a young Mississippi artist: "Donna, I think this article deserves a talented rebuttal. See what you can do." I clicked his link to a Slate article, and I braced myself for a pseudo-intellectual snippet of snobbishness.
Do the Right Thing and ... Report
As I proofread this week's cover story about the stories mainstream media won't cover, I thought back to the first year of the Jackson Free Press.
Time For Strength
I was talking to a police officer recently about a domestic-abuse situation I'm worried about. It was the case of a local woman whose partner has beaten her for years. She finally got up the courage to leave, and he hunted her down where she was hiding and nearly killed her.
Into the Groove
Back in the 1980s, I wasn't too worried about much of anything. I was living in Washington, D.C., working by day as a legal assistant for a huge broadcast corporation and, by night, in a club as a deejay.
For Noella
When Kimberly Griffin told me that the Fondren Theatre Workshop had agreed to direct "The Vagina Monologues" in Jackson, I was happily stunned. Nearly seven years ago when we started the Jackson Free Press, I couldn't have imagined that in the not-far-off future, we would present Eve Ensler's empowering, funny, tragic and eye-opening ode to womanhood.
At Least I Know I'm Free
I had a religious experience in Hal & Mal's the other night.
Tarring and Feathering Faye Peterson
I was sitting in the student center at Belhaven College Friday afternoon, participating in a media-ethics forum with several other media leaders from around town. The conversation was compelling, and there was a great deal of mea culpa (not to mention JFP back-patting, I'm happy to report) over how local media covered, or did not cover, Frank Melton's shenanigans during the campaign and in the early months of his tenure as mayor.
We Can Do It!
I sure do love it when a plan comes together.
Real Love Can Be Tough
Love is a funny thing. It too often earns its status as a four-letter word. It bites us in the ass. It keeps us awake and alive. It motivates us.
Of Paranoia and Xenophobia
See related blog thread.
Frank's World
We're living through one of the worst D-movies one could imagine. In fact, this flick likely wouldn't get made in the first place because no one would buy it. Roll the videotape.
Art is the Best Revenge
This past Saturday I gave a seminar on freelance writing, and a whole lot of creative people showed up.
For The Girls
While reading the first draft of Natalie Collier's cover story this issue about domestic abuse, I was overtaken by emotion and memories.
Two Steps Forward
"Leave." That one-word tweet came from a conservative dude in Louisiana, not Mississippi. But he wasn't pleased that I was talking about crazy legislation that the right wing has wrought upon Mississippi once again. I have a way of raising the hair on the necks of folks who prefer empty rhetoric over research-based criticism, especially when I'm talking about issues like women's health and reproductive services; sex ed; voter ID; or, yes, race.
President Obama: ' I Believe That We Can Be Better'
Following is the verbatim text of President Obama's remarks at the Tucson memorial tonight:
To the families of those we've lost; to all who called them friends; to the students of this university, the public servants who are gathered here, the people of Tucson and the people of Arizona: I have come here tonight as an American who, like all Americans, kneels to pray with you today and will stand by you tomorrow. (Applause.) There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: The hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief. And we add our faith to yours that Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy will pull through. (Applause.)
Gov. Haley Barbour
"To the Freedom Riders yourselves, our state does celebrate and thank you for your courage, your commitment, your suffering and your sacrifices of 50 years ago. We apologize to you for your mistreatment in 1961, and we appreciate this chance for atonement and reconciliation."
Inherit the Flame
I haven't written much over the years about the man I like to think of as my "real father." Maybe it's too painful.