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Abuse Children? No Way!
Decades of abuse—physical, mental, emotional and sexual—of young people sent to Mississippi's juvenile training schools may have ended last week when Mississippi reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, agreeing to stop doing unthinkable things the state never should have been doing in the first place.
[City Buzz] Kenny Said He's Gonna Slap Me
MAMA, KENNY SAID HE'S GONNA SLAP ME: About time you think that Kenneth Stokes has calmed the hell down, someone goes and sets him off again. Even though we can see why anybody would want to slap the maddening Ben Allen now and then, shame on Stokes. That said, we don't think Stokes gets a fair rap in the city, or at least in Northeast Jackson and the suburbs and the daily paper, but threatening to pop anyone in front of cameras seems so, well, caveman. Also amazing, Allen suddenly announced for the cameras that a man sitting in the front row—Leon Horne, apparently a Council gadfly and Brown supporter—had allegedly threatened his life if didn't support Brown's promotion. Huh?
Barbour, Carroll Bash Jackson With Old Statistics
"Jackson is one of the 10 most dangerous cities in America." How often are you hearing that jingle right now? From Haley Barbour. From Hinds County D.A. candidate Wilson Carroll. From The Clarion-Ledger. From your co-workers. From your Aunt Lula in Kemper County who won't visit you. Scared to death yet? Don't start packing your bags, though. Read the fine print first. With a little careful sleuthing, you'll discover that crime is dropping steadily and dramatically in the city since a spike early this year, and felonies are nearing their lowest level in over 20 years, despite what the challengers have to tell you.
Quote o' the Week
— Gov. Haley Barbour, Neshoba County Fair, July 29, 2004
"Mississippi taxpayers shouldn't pay for health care coverage that the federal government will pay for."
Take Me to Your Leader
Citizens of Jackson looking to strengthen their voices in the community are about to get the chance to learn how. The Pew Partnership of Civic Change, a civic research organization, has designed a program called LeadershipPlenty that helps to prepare citizens to address problems in their local communities and leadership challenges, including how to get people with different interests to work together. "Working together creatively and respectfully through honest acknowledgment of self-interests is a better strategy to address problems than an 'us' against 'them' approach," explains the project Web site.
A Child Of Peace
Mark Henderson's dark skin gleams in the green and white stage lights of the University Park Auditorium on the Jackson State University campus. The group of 20 or so performers in this weekend's "Black Nativity: (some of them members of the Mississippi Mass Choir), ranging in age 8 to mid-40s, start to congregate in the cavernous room to rehearse. Looking on, Henderson, 33, talks about his MADDRAMA (Making A Difference Doing Respectable And Meaningful Art) acting troupe that is presenting the play. The JSU alumnus and professor started the group in 1996 for students interested in developing their theatrical skills; it has now grown to encompass students and non-students alike.
Trolling for Alternatives
"We must find an alternative to war and bloodshed." Those words by the late, great Martin Luther King Jr. are helping drive thousands of America to organize against a preemptive war against Iraq. And after 30,000-plus protesters gathered in Washington and around the country two days before the holiday honoring Dr. King's birth, even the mainstream media are starting to pay attention. Here in Mississippi, The Clarion-Ledger ran two front-page articles, including one by James V. Walker, who accompanied 15 protesters from Jackson in two vans on their 2,000-mile round-trip journey to Washingon to protest the war.
Green Peace, Anyone?
We are proud to report that the JFP acknowledged the burgeoning peace movement in Jackson before other local media. Hopefully, they'll all keep reporting that not everyone in Mississippi is behind the current war efforts. And don't miss Claretta Hasberry's Free Press Facts about James O. Eastland that appear at the end of this story.
Radical Peace
It was one of those gatherings you don't see very often in Jackson. Three young international peace protesters—"radicals," you could call them—carried copies of "World War III," a radical New York comic zine, into First Christian Church, where they talked to a couple dozen rapt, and maybe radical, Jacksonians about why the U.S. should not support the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
In the Name of Human Decency
Ronald Chris Foster is still alive … for now. Amid rising dissent, on Jan. 6 Gov. Ronnie Musgrove temporarily stopped the execution of Foster, who was 17 when he attempted an unarmed robbery and caused the death of the store manager in a struggle over a store gun. As we go to press, this question still looms: Will the state of Mississippi execute a juvenile offender? A similar case from Oklahoma is being presented to the U.S. Supreme Court later this month, and Musgrove decided to wait for that outcome.
Let's Just Be Friends
Old Mississippi wouldn't have allowed them to be friends. Back in the 1960s, when Cornelius "C" Turner, a black man, was fighting for civil rights in the state, he could have been run out of town for playfully cavorting with a local white restaurateur. The White Citizens Council might have boycotted Malcolm White's business had it been around then and served the likes of Turner. Today, the two men eat, drink, laugh and try to continue healing racial wounds together.
Bobbie Johnson Needs a House
Read full story here.
NOT Annoyed, Thank You
We were interested to see that The Clarion-Ledger 'fessed up that a vote for Rep. Chip Pickering in the Third District would not annoy the newspaper. The Pickering campaign, or somebody darned close to it, had been trying to work up a frenzy about the reliable, old Clarion-Ledger being a—eek—liberal newspaper. We told you last issue that the GOP was handing out bumper stickers, proclaiming (wink, wink): "ANNOY The Clarion-Ledger: Vote for Chip Pickering."
A Dream Deferred
Thomas Moore got a dose of his home state that he could like last week. After the Jackson Free Press published a narrative of his visit back to Meadville and Jackson last week, his quest for justice for the Klan murders of his brother, Charles Moore, and friend Henry Dee, started gaining steam. JFP bloggers immediately began collecting money to buy new tombstones for both men's graves.
Shaking Hands
The last time I shook David Bowen's hand, he was a congressman, and I was a Stennis Scholar at Mississippi State. The scholarship generously provided a trip to Washington, D.C., the summer between my junior and senior years. My fellow scholar, Jim Young (now an attorney in Jackson), and I were sent north. It was my first time going anywhere near the Mason-Dixon Line.
Melton Walks Out of Mayoral Forum
Read full report here.
Statistics, and Damn Statistics
Read full story here.
A Dream Lost
"When America celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, students in schools named after Dr. King will be reciting the 'I have a dream' speech in auditoriums where there are no whites and almost everyone is poor enough to get a free lunch, the very kind of schools Dr. King fought to eliminate." Timed to honor the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the Harvard Civil Rights Project's new report, "A Multiracial Society with Segregated Schools: Are We Losing the Dream?," finds that "resegregation" of schools is at a level not seen in three decades.
[Media Talk] Students Blame Ledger
Fifteen-year-old Jonathan Minor was shocked when he saw his picture on the front page of the Sept. 16 Clarion-Ledger. "I thought I was a superstar. Then I read the caption," Minor said. The caption read: "Algebra Project teacher Peggy Quinn helps Jonathan Minor, 15, with an assignment at Lanier High School, one of 33 schools across the state performing at the lowest level, according to recently released state testing results." The large headline overhead was worse: "Students blame themselves." And the sub-head: "Parents, kids agree teachers not to blame for poor Level 1 rating."
Winona-Wannabes
"It was my first time, I promise," a tearful teenage girl says, as she shifts her eyes everywhere except on the guy sitting beside her. "I swear, I've never done anything like this before," she continues hopefully. He is unmoved by her display of remorse. This is the most common response; she's just been caught attempting to steal clothing from his store. He's heard the same excuses too many times, and he is fed up.