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A Yankee Reporter in the Bible Belt
I drove 19 hours to get from New York to Mississippi. Nearly a dozen cans of Coke kept me from falling asleep and drifting into oncoming traffic. The only company in my Volkswagen was a bamboo plant sitting on the passenger seat. Each time I shifted gears, the plant's green leaves jolted forward.
Half a Decade Down
When I logged into our production server this week, something had changed—there was just a single "Issue 1" sub-folder in the working directory. It was an unceremonious symbol of a momentous occasion—Volume 6 had begun, the previous year's files moved to the archives. The Jackson Free Press has completed five years of publishing.
[Stiggers] Vicious Whack
Boneqweesha Jones: "Live from the new Hair Did University television studio, it's time for 'Qweesha Live: 2010 Edition.'
[Mott] Bearing Witness
I inherited my love of history from my dad, who had a passion for it. A genuine scholar, the true stories he told around the dinner table were more engaging than anything in school textbooks.
[Stauffer] America's Team
So I'm a Saints fan. I love watching Brees when he's in the groove, and I love watching the interceptions and Bush pylon leaps ... and I still dream about that strip-six by Meacham. All that talent combined with determination to alter the narrative both for their franchise and for their city makes 2009 the year that the New Orleans Saints' wonderful story inspires folks around the world.
Pseudopolitics Equals Pseudofailure
Recently the Mississippi Legislature passed legislation outlawing the sale of medical products containing pseudoephedrine without a prescription. The intent of this legislation is to reduce the rampant methamphetamine epidemic.
[Collier] Resolute Resolutions
A new decade has started, and I'm still trying to figure what that means for me. You're supposed to be excited about the start of a new year, but I can't say I am. Not yet, at least.
[Stiggers] Winter in America
Big Roscoe: "Welcome to the post-daylight-saving time edition of ‘Clubb Chicken Wing's Def Poetry Jam with Hot Sauce.' We have a virgin about to recite something to you. And he told me that he also brought a big ol' hot pot of food for the soul in the back of the Clubb Chicken Wing kitchen."
Crossing Neighborhood Lines
"There just isn't a sense of community here like there was back home," a Denver, Colo., transplant told me after moving to Jackson. In a city with almost three times the population of Jackson, residents there felt that city government and business owners had built up their cities to be inclusive of many people's needs. The lack of this trend in the city that I have called home for 21 years is becoming more and more clear as issues like crime and development become hot-topic items for discussion. Jackson has neighborhoods and associations that create community among a certain group of people, but the community of Jackson is vastly underserved and disjointed.
[Stiggers] Slow-Moving Targets
Qweem-O-Wheat: "For quite some time, with my faithful truck, a big old hot pot and plenty of Qweem-O-Wheat, I've fed thousands of senior citizens hot qweemy bowls of dee-wishious Qweem-O-Wheat through my 'meals-on-wheels' service. While delivering a hot, qweemy treat to Grandma Pookie, she whispered: 'Boy, nothing in life is free—even when you get old like me.' Her statement made me realize that our senior citizens have become vulnerable, slow-moving targets for folk who want to beat down elderly people and take their hard-earned money.
[Israel] State Needs Health Reform
Elizabeth, of Jackson, is a single mom and among the roughly 20 percent of Mississippians who are uninsured or 37 percent of Mississippians under age 65. She works at a small business that does not provide health insurance.
[Hill] Holy Ground
"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that, some have entertained angels without knowing it." (Hebrews 13:2).
[Queen] A New Underground Railroad
I was 5 years old when I first learned about Harriett Tubman and the Underground Railroad. I felt an immediate connection to her, and I've carried it with me all my years.
Livingston Lives
The $75 million Livingston Village project, which developers plan to build near the Jackson Medical Mall, is moving ahead since the Jackson City Council maneuvered a few bumps in the road last week. After a contentious battle with unwilling Ward 3 residents, the zoning committee voted 7-to-0 to approve a zone change transforming the site of the old Hood Furniture Factory from its industrial category to mixed use. The decision will allow developer Mike Smith, CEO of MPI Center, LLC, to move ahead with property demolition this year and begin construction on Ward 3's newest neighborhood.
[Balko] Pre-Crime Policing
To hear them tell it, the five police agencies who apprehended 39-year-old Oregonian David Pyles early on the morning of March 8 thwarted another lone-wolf mass murderer. The police "were able to successfully take a potentially volatile male subject into protective custody for a mental evaluation," announced a(Medford, Ore., police department.) press release. The department had recently placed the subject on administrative leave from his job, was "very disgruntled" and had recently purchased several firearms. "Local Law Enforcement agencies were extremely concerned that the subject was planning retaliation against his employers," the release said. Fortunately, Pyles "voluntarily" turned himself over to police custody, and the legally purchased firearms "were seized for safekeeping."
A Good Woman Lives Here
John followed me out of the bar, yelling as I crossed the street, yelling when I got into my car, yelling as I started the engine. I don't remember what he was yelling about anymore, but I'm sure it was about me being stupid, or incompetent, or a coward for walking away; maybe it was all three.
Mother Nature: First, Do No Harm
"Y'all are just against economic development." That ribbing came from a Levee Board member who shall remain anonymous due to drinks on the table (a pretty good rule for journalists, by the way).
Covering Our Oily Tracks
We humans forget a lot, especially when remembering means we have to change. And there is the crux of the problem: We've spent decades demanding that the rest of the world conform to what America wants. We gobble up a quarter of the world's energy with a mere 4.5 percent of the its population (both China and India have about four times the number of people). We have allowed amoral corporations to act in our name with impunity. We've stood by while politicians gutted our government in favor of private entities that increased spending and decreased responsibility. We can't sustain, and we can't understand why government isn't doing enough fast enough.
A ‘Local' Business Plan
The annual Best of Jackson reader's choice awards began in the very first issue of the Jackson Free Press.
[Eady] Our Students Deserve Better
Three young boys waited on a wooden bench in a brown-paneled office on the hot May day. Anton stretched his legs out and slouched back, his face blank and eyes flashing with anger. Next to him sat Reggie, whose brown eyes darted around the room nervously. The third boy, Derek, was crying.