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EDITOR'S NOTE: Mississippi Women, It’s Your Time to Speak Up, Lead
Election season was tough for Mississippi women as usual. It was a time for broken promises and slights as we watched male candidates, and their women enablers, show little apparent interest in our safety, prosperity, health and voices and be elected to all statewide offices.
DOSSIER: Of Corporate Media and Insulting Shenanigans
What a week. The last 10 days saw not only the official demise of the Mississippi Democratic Party, at least the way it's run and strategized now, but it was filled with disillusioning encounters with local representatives of national media corporations for us, revealing a certain callous regard of other reporters and editors.
Mississippi Democratic Party Needs to Overhaul Strategies, Outreach, Diversity
Prominent novelist Angie Thomas is planning to leave Mississippi due to the toxic politics here, on prominent display in last night’s election outcome. The wildly successful graduate of Belhaven College grew up in Georgetown in Jackson and travels frequently to Atlanta, Los Angeles and beyond. Her first novel became a popular feature film, and now her second film is in production.
DOSSIER: GOP's Red-baiting Mailer Template, Campaign Lies, Bryant Miffed
Republicans are already sending out glossy mailers warming up the crowd in Mississippi and other southern states to the necessity of electing Trump apologists and enablers—that is pretty much what Reeves' whole campaign is about at this point.
DOSSIER: Hinds Doc Destruction Still Threat; Disrespect in Green's Court; N-JAM Club
If you've been reading Seyma Bayram's coverage of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors and my previous Friday columns, you know that she was shocked to discover that the county voted one month ago to destroy a long list of documents spanning 23 years.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Recovering Out Loud from Loss and Breast Cancer
"We must breathe through it all—the physical pain, anguish, stress, disappointment. We must just be present in our lives and accept and release whatever happens. Honestly, I can't imagine a better Zen practice than recovering from cancer while being a woman newspaper editor in a conservative state."
DOSSIER: Incoming DA Faces Accusations, NBC's Tentacles in Mississippi
Multiple women are accusing Jody Owens, who won the Democratic primary and faces no challenger in November, of inappropriate and sexual behavior and comments from his time as the managing attorney of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Jackson office.
DOSSIER: Two Faces of Mississippi Powerhouses; Meek Strikes Back
Power brokers like former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott can always find a sympathetic, or least non-questioning, ear back in the Magnolia State.
Mississippi Lobbyists, Associates in Thick of Trump’s Ukraine-Russia Web
A key figure in Trump's impeachment inquiry has an ongoing and paid association with lobbying firm BGR Group, started by former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, as well as a paid position as executive director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership in Arizona.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Dehumanization Spreads Racism, Destroys Lives
Dehumanizing other human beings, as Trump does with about any person of color who dares criticize him, is ripping our country apart, just like it did during the Civil Rights Movement and back when the South fought the Civil War to continue its right to dehumanize and enslave human beings and to force new states to allow it.
DOSSIER: County Documents At Risk, Public Meeting Confusion, No to WJTV
The Jackson Free Press scored a transparency victory this week, at least for now, when the Hinds County Board of Supervisors provided us a list of the documents it plans to destroy, which I addressed in last week's Dossier after reporter Seyma Bayram learned about the impending destruction.
UPDATED: Abortion Clinic 'Buffer Zone' Draws Ag Commish, Protesters to City Hall
The City is set to vote on a proposal to limit protest activities outside the state's only abortion clinic.
DOSSIER: Hitting Transparency Brick Walls, Scolded for Immigration Coverage
"I'm officially launching my new weekly Dossier, which will spotlight our accountability journalism, whether about how ICE raids are conducted or when public officials aren't being transparent or not following proper protocols for informing the public about how they reach their decisions and the motivations behind policy."
Caller Demands JFP Not Sully Football Issue with Stories About 'Illegals,' ICE (Listen)
"Y'all get all this crap in there about this damn illegal raid on these illegal aliens that stole jobs from American citizens," he lectured. "I think that really sucks because I wanted to read about football."
Judge Disqualifies Attorneys In Water Lawsuit Against City of Jackson
The City of Jackson, a defendant in a lawsuit over how it is handling the current water-billing crisis, sent out two press statements Wednesday night announcing a victory for its defense in the legal action.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Media: Horse-Race Election Reporting Signifies Nothing
It is vital to stop treating elections like a fun, two-sided thrill ride, which (usually male) political reporters and campaign strategists love—and they're getting paid either way, even if your hospital closes.
Beto O'Rourke: Trump Used ICE to 'Terrorize' Mississippi Hispanics
"(Donald Trump) is terrifying this community. People who have done nothing to anybody else posed no threat to America. So there's no other reason to raid this community than to terrify this community. And that's exactly what he's done," Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke said in Canton this morning.
Rep. Bennie Thompson Demands Answers, Details from AG Barr on Mississippi ICE Raids
Congressman Bennie Thompson sent an eight-page letter and attachments to U.S. Attorney General William Barr demanding answers on why many children were "separated from their parents and terrified because they did not know where their parents were taken and detained.
UPDATED: Mississippi ICE Raids: How to Help Children, Families (New Funding Links)
After news broke Wednesday of the workplace immigration raids in Mississippi, with 696 arrests and leaving many children stranded at school with nowhere to go, local ministers, advocates and lawyers began mobilizing and compiling resources to share with the public.
After ICE Raids, Some Kids Reunited with Parents or Relatives in Mississippi
Scott County Youth Court Prosecutor Constance Slaughter-Harvey watched Thursday morning as a few children reunited with and embraced parents whom, just a day before, they had been separated from after U.S. federal ICE agents arrested them.