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Nicholas Lemann
Journalist and author Nicholas Lemann may have a lot of New York cred, but he's a southerner at heart, born, raised and educated in New Orleans.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tis the Season to Stop Judging the Poor
Bare feet don't have bootstraps. You catapult from day-to-day, trying to stay ahead enough not to go hungry or have the lights turned off, even if you eat milk and cornbread for supper a lot.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Fighting Like a Woman in 2018
Like many women, I grew up in a world where our careers were already subject to the approval of the men who tend to run and fund stuff, and if I was too loud, too outspoken, too sassy, the powers-that-decide would move along to a woman, or probably a man, who wasn't.
Never Back Down: Mississippi Escalates War on Gangs
Mississippi law enforcement may soon be able to decide young people are a gang even if they're not part of a larger criminal enterprise with a hierarchy and criminal connections beyond whomever they got the pot from.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Move On from ‘Antiquated and Useless’ Gang Bill
A very bad "gang bill" has died in the Legislature for the second year in a row. This death occurred after the Senate passed the bill to criminalize gang association and give expanded sentences to associates of gangs or crews or cliques for up to 15 years.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Parkland Teens Lead by Talking Back, Listening
The Parkland, Fla., teenagers who became activists against gun violence while locked in closets on Valentine's Day are giving many of us life during a dark period in our country.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Right, Left Must Work Together for Criminal Reforms
It is time that criminal-justice reform be on every candidate's agenda in Mississippi, regardless of party. The goal should be to lower mass incarceration, especially for drug and victimless crimes—which both parties here voted to begin back in 2014.
UPDATE: Four Mississippi Men, One Woman Die from COVID-19 as State Cases Rise to 377
Men from Holmes, Webster and Wilkinson counties and a woman from Tunica county are the second, third, fourth and fifth person to die from the coronavirus in the state, the Mississippi State Department of Health announced today.
Fallout of Tate Reeves’ Executive Order: Department Store Roulette, Scared Associates
The concrete shopping jungle known as Dogwood Festival Market looked as much like a ghost town as it could as the sun started to set on a warm spring Saturday afternoon.
April 4 Update: COVID-19 Deaths in Mississippi Rise to 35, Could Reach 1,000
Confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 1,455 today, with the Mississippi State Department of Health adding 97 more infected people to its official tally. It also added six more deaths since yesterday, bringing the total to 35, with the state health officer warning Friday that the state may see 1,000 fatalities due to the virus.
FACTCHECK: Tate Reeves Blames ‘Statute’ for ‘Confederate Heritage Month’
Gov. Tate Reeves is conflicting a state statute requiring Confederate Memorial Day in late April to his proclamation that the entire month celebrate the Confederacy.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Gov. Tate Reeves Has Failed the COVID-19 Leadership Test
Tate Reeves’ leadership logic says it’s OK to endanger people’s lives to keep churches and guns stores open using a constitutional excuse, but then ignore constitutional precedent on a procedure Mississippi women have the legal right to choose.
EDITOR'S NOTE: ‘Essential’ Truths: Gov. Reeves Is Failing Many Mississippians
There is no such thing as a 'nonessential' Mississippian." When I saw Gov. Tate Reeves' tweet that on April 23, I stared at my screen. As a native Mississippian, I know that our leaders don't feel that way about every Mississippi resident. Their own actions, or lack of them, speak volumes.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Dear Dr. Dobbs, Mississippi Needs Precise COVID-19 Data
It’s often been a slog to get good and relevant information about the spread of the coronavirus that isn’t either confusing or incomplete, or what we get may combine apples and oranges.
Brotherhood of Destruction: An Addiction-Fueled Journey to Hell and Back
Benny Ivey met former Vice Lord and prominent drug dealer John Knight at a June people’s assembly at New Horizon Church on Ellis Avenue, and the two bonded as they brainstormed ideas for what would help people returning from prison to re-integrate into healthy lives without re-offending.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Of Love, Ego and Believing in All of Our Children
The Mississippi Youth Media Project, Donna Ladd's passion project with its own newsroom next door to the Jackson Free Press, invites young people of various backgrounds, and doesn't shy away from accepting young people who have struggled in school or the community.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Change the Rape Culture for Women and Men Alike
Young men too often grow up in a toxic masculine environment where their friends and even fathers or uncles celebrate some level of abuse. Many are challenged to be macho and to at least brag about rough sexual exploits or contexts.
Only Black People Prosecuted Under Mississippi Gang Law Since 2010
In the lead-up to this year's legislative session in Mississippi, supporters of a tougher gang law in the state talked a lot about the need to arrest white people. But in an ironic twist, the Jackson Free Press has learned that everyone arrested under the existing gang law from 2010 through 2017 were African American.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Celebrating Teen Excellence at Crossroads Film Fest
Little pleases me more than seeing teenagers from all parts of Jackson achieve great things and be recognized for them such as their inclusion this week in the Crossroads Film Festival.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Time for Mississippi to Get Smarter on Crime
Dozens of officers from 15 federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies gathered in a circle in front of the new colorful Jackson mural facing State Street meant to symbolize a better capital city. The Clarion-Ledger's cops reporter was invited to join the nighttime gang hunters with her video camera.