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[Spann] Breaking through the Ice
So Vanilla Ice is a rock star these days? I heard that he even played a set at a club in the Jackson area not so long ago. Perhaps a heavy-metal version of "Ice Ice Baby" was at the core of his set. Well, maybe he's finally found his place in the music world. Sorry … was that too cold, too cold? White fans of hiphop and artists like Eminem have had to contend with comparisons and jokes since the dark days when Vanilla Ice donned those baggy Hammer pants and did that annoying neck-jerking dance on the Arsenio Hall Show. But a whole new generation of rappers and rap aficionados with a lot of heart and no pretensions of ghetto hardship has cropped up in the white community.
[Casey's Note] The Bubble Isn't Enough
My parents wouldn't let me have a car my freshman year of college. It only bothered me the first week. After that, I quickly found that college campuses are pretty autonomous. Even now, I hear the phrase "Millsaps bubble" tossed around more frequently than "homework" or "essay," but back then it didn't bother me. Seniors complain about getting trapped in this so-called bubble. They worry about never leaving and feeling too provincial.
[Jacobson] Free Higher Education for All
For the past two decades, the cost of college has skyrocketed to heights most lower- and many middle-income families cannot afford. In Mississippi, and all over the country, financial aid (both state and federal) and scholarships are not meeting the costs of college. Every year, some part of the cost of higher education increases, whether it's a state school or private school, and yet, no legislature, or governor or even really the president, has made any significant change in this growing problem. With a post-secondary education becoming mandatory for almost every career field, it is time the government stepped up before the American people fall behind.
[Taylor] Giving Our Forefathers the Finger
Last year in the hot August sun, I stood at a five-way intersection in Yazoo City, passing out push cards for my mother. She was running for justice court judge in Yazoo County. As the day progressed, so did the traffic. As I busily distributed cards and bellowed, "Vote for Alva Payton Taylor," most of the response was superb. So many people gave me their word that they would take a stand and go to the polls. Some of them even put the icing on the cake saying that they would vote for Mama when they got there.
[Hightower] Fleecing America's Soldiers
It's been said that you don't know what hell is until you've had an insurance salesman in your living room, prattling on eternally about term life annuities.
[Stiggers] What You Talkin' About?
"I'm sick and tired of hearin' your song tellin' us how you're gonna change right from wrong. Well, if you really want to hear my view, you haven't done nothin' "
You Own This Doghouse
However, if you're a Mississippian between the ages of 18 and 29, you are part of a powerful new voting constituency in the state—in this election, you turned out, and as a group, you made choices independent of the fogies in your lives. You thought independently and, according to CNN exit polls, you led the South and much of the U.S. in the percentage of you who voted for Kerry over Bush. Most of you also voted for the gay-marriage amendment.
[Ladd] Gentlemen, Tone It Down
Every day of the past week I've heard someone, usually a white progressive, ridicule City Councilman Kenneth I. Stokes. "He's crazy." "He's a lunatic." "He's a racist." The outspoken Ward 3 representative is disliked pretty much universally in the white community. In fact, moderates and liberals probably dislike him more than conservatives do; his brand of outrageous race-baiting gives some conservatives what they want: a reason to bash black leaders. It's counter-productive at best.
Life Lessons at the Honky Tonk
"Let's go to the redneck bar," Blondie exclaimed from the backseat of my car. Three of us had just enjoyed a girls' day out after feeding the cows and touring my friend's farm in Canton. A little window-shopping and some fine dining on the Square had rounded out the day when we decided to hightail it over to the honky-tonk on Highway 43. We threw inhibition to the wind as I accelerated and made a hard right toward the bar.
Runnin' with the Big Dawgs
We were sitting in the office around 7 p.m. last Friday anticipating another "press weekend." Stephen and I were in a heated discussion about some aspect of the upcoming issue when Donna, sitting at one of the computers in our office, let loose with a scream. "It's up!" She backed away from the computer screen as if sudden movements might cause it to lunge at her. "I can't read it."
[Chick] Monkey See, Monkey Do
It's true that all those horrible things you did to your mother will come back to haunt you. I hate it as much as you, believe me. There is nothing more obnoxious than a sanctimonious mother telling a daughter, or son, all the horrible things said mother endured for her child and how all those things will very soon come to pass as some type of divine, maternal retribution to tell the daughter, or son, "I told you so!"
[Taylor] Isn't It Ironic?
"And I want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there's not enough troops in the Army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the negro race into our theatres, into our swimming pools, into our homes and into our churches."
[Stiggers] Comb Yo' Head, Wear a Weave, Iron Yo' Clothes
Ladies and gentlemen! The Ghetto Science Team's Get Out and Vote Initiative presents Grandma Pookie's motivational pep talk.
[Parks] Keep the Gum and Buttons
We hear it often. We 18- to 24-year-olds hold the future in our hands. We have the power to swing elections and change America. And come November, when we do this, we'll be armed with hip slogans, slick gimmicks and absolutely no clue about the issues.
[Fry] Why Is It?
A few months ago, the rapper Jadakiss released a great song called "Why." The lyrics of the song really hit a special spot in my mind and my heart—and motivated me to write my own version.
[Wiggs] For the Rest of Your Life?
The winner of the presidential election of 2004 is almost certain to define the composition and direction of the U.S. Supreme Court for at least the next 20 years. And lest you believe that won't make much difference, reconsider the fact that among the issues that the Supreme Court took upon itself to decide in 2000 was who would be our current president. Given the way Election 2004 is shaping up, perhaps the current Supreme Court will be determining who will be our next.
[Fry] Dear Mr. President
Dear Mr. President, Saddam is right here in my neighborhood. He is in the third house on the right. Yeah, the one that is all boarded up. So please send the planes, tanks and military to blow up my neighborhood. He has been in this area for quite some time now and quite frankly he is getting on my nerves. After all, my neighborhood could use a remodeling job just like the one Iraq is going to get.
To Live and Die in Dixie
Sometimes the light comes from unexpected places. Last week, I sat down in front of my monitor and my e-mail blooped in. There was one from Jill Conner Browne, the Sweet Potato Queen author. I figured it was about her brand-new funny book, out next week. It wasn't.
[Ladd] ‘Say These Words With Me'
"How is everybody?" Bob Moses asked the congregation in his famous whisper. He paused and then added, "Say these words with me."
[Stiggers] Poor Health and Bad Credit
Now that the political season is over, the Stop the Hamhock Decrease the Pork Grease Coalition wants to enlighten the public about Chitterling ("Chitlin") Season, a time during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year holidays when varieties of pork products—especially chitlins—are bought and consumed.