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[Stiggers] A Transplant for a Brand-New Start
It's another episode of "All God's Churn Got Shoes!" This week Grandma Pookie, Dr. Peanut and the Ghetto Science Team attend a briefing at a stem cell research conference. When conference officials deny the group access to the briefing, filmmaker Michael Moore comes to the rescue. He helps Grandma Pookie and company (disguised as Moore's film production crew) sneak into the briefing.
[Fry] The 50 Cent Test
Lately, every time some politician is talking about education on the TV, on radio or in the newspaper, they're talking about testing. "Accountability." They act like standardized test scores are the only thing important about education. But we need to seriously question that logic. This looks like another case where the people who are making the decisions are not actually the ones doing the work.
[Aziz] Party With a Purpose
The most tragic outcome of the 2000 election debacle is that it added to a list of excuses that Generation Y already has on why they shouldn't bother to vote. When you look at the hang-ups of young voters, the same answers constantly arise. The most popular reason to evade elections seems to be because none of the issues debated at election time affect the young voter. Another reason is because politicians don't target young voters (outside of occasional appearances on MTV programs). However, I think there is a more evident reason: lack of education.
[Acker] My Church's Courage
The consent on Aug. 6, 2003, to the election of Canon Gene Robinson as Bishop Co-Adjutor of New Hampshire filled me with joy and hope. I am an Episcopalian and a member of the Cathedral parish of St. Andrew in Jackson. Many in my community, and some in my parish family, received the news of the decision to confirm an openly gay man as a leader of a diocese with great distress. They saw this as a negative for the Episcopal Church and for the future shape of the Christian community in the United States. I find it overwhelmingly positive—a move on the part of the leadership of the Episcopal Church that will produce both numerical and spiritual growth and will foster the spread of the kingdom of God on earth.
SPANN: Woman's Birthright
Mars, Venus or whatever, men will never understand women. Think about it. From the beginning, the enigma of woman has been shrouded from man in a cloak of mystery. Eve was created while Adam slept. Wouldn't you know? Important work always gets done while men are sleeping. And I don't think he's missed that rib, yet.
SPANN: Attitude Makes All the Difference
Somehow a white co-worker and I found ourselves talking about race relations. Sitting comfortably in my downtown Jackson office a year after the controversial state-flag vote, we joked about Mississippi rednecks and the Confederate flag-emblazoned halter tops we hoped to add to our wardrobes.
[Spann] Nothing Sacred?
I'm tired of being politically correct. I'm tired of tiptoeing around people's feelings and trying to make everyone comfortable. So I'll just say it: I'm very disturbed by the recent confirmation of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, an openly gay clergyman, by the Episcopal Church. The event has been heralded as a history-making moment and perhaps a divisive blow to the Episcopal Church. I'm sure Robinson is a nice guy, great father and even better partner to his longtime companion, but I don't believe he should be a leader in any Christian-based church. His confirmation demonstrates what is wrong with religion and specifically Christianity today.
[Fry] Why Young Minorities Barely Vote
OK, I am ready to vote. But for whom? Let me go through my process of personal questions. The first question is obvious: Which one is a person of color? That one's easy to answer. Which one supports issues relating to minority communities? Who can I identify with? Which one can identify with me? Who can I relate to? Which one can relate to me? Who is going to come to my neighborhood after the voting process is over to see about me? Which one is actually targeting issues that relate to either me or my generation? Who seems more in touch with reality? Which one seems like a real person instead of some perfect image? I can continue asking myself questions, but I already know the person that I am voting for. It has never been more obvious. My answer is none of them.
[Lynette's Note] Because They'll Thank You Later
What do you do when your sweet and sexy husband dies at the age of 36, leaving you to raise two cutie-pie sons, ages 7 and 4, all by yourself? Why, you come home to Mama, Daddy and your brother, right?
[Chick] If We Are the Body
I finally joined my Baptist church after two-and-a-half years of attendance. I can't believe that they would let such a slacker claim membership, but they are, and now I'm dreading the moment my mug is plastered on the jumbotrons to announce my arrival. Yes, we have jumbotrons. I don't know if Jesus would have them or not, but I do know that he's about the only person I would give up my vanity for. I'm telling you, this picture is hideous.
Marathon Woman
I'm doing a crazy thing this summer. It's a little bit self-serving, but mostly it could benefit a few million people that I will never meet. In January, I joined Team Diabetes, a fund-raising and awareness program sponsored by the American Diabetes Association for folks who want to train to run a full or half marathon while raising funds for the association. Yes, I'm gonna run a marathon. This time last year I believed that one should only run if being chased. Today, I'm already running nine miles. As I train over the next few months, my eyes are on one prize: the Kona Marathon in Hawaii. I am indeed traveling a great distance both physically and mentally to meet my destiny at the end of that finish line.
Me and Willie Hoyt
Willie Hoyt was a character. My mom met him when I was in the fourth grade. My father had died a couple years earlier after a long illness, she was lonely, and Willie Hoyt, an enlisted man, was on leave from Vietnam. He was a smooth talker, extremely funny, and a heavy drinker and smoker who had been in the Army since before the Korean War where he had been on the front lines and been awarded a Silver Star. He'd watched his best friend die in Korea by his side. He'd had a tough childhood, never married, and never had kids of his own.
WIGGS: Sweet Potato Power
<i>What one Jackson man gleans from the Sweet Potato madness. </i>
My mother and father each grew up with sisters and started off wanting some boys to balance the genealogical mix a bit. They wound up with four sons. "Be careful what you wish for," my mom was wont to say, especially stuck in the house late on a rainy afternoon with thrown objects whizzing through the air around her. With all those brothers around, my early years at home centered around sports (including our own fraternal version of studio wrestling in the living room), pranks on the unwary, eating everything in sight and other guy-type pursuits. Given these conditions, one might wonder where I first encountered any hint of feminine influence on my worldview. My mother was definitely outnumbered and, sad to admit, all of us guys ignored her good advice every once in a while.
WIGGS: From Contrails to Commitment
In the two days before the shuttle Columbia disintegrated and traced that awful sparkling arc across the Texas sky, I'd already been thinking about space. On Thursday, I'd read a Harper's article about the unthinkable catastrophe a relatively small asteroid hitting the Earth would cause. On Friday, I'd finished a National Geographic piece about the incomprehensible mystery of countless galaxies speeding throughout an expanding universe. The asteroid essay warned of the unavoidability of humankind's eventual extinction. The galaxy story spoke of humankind's daily discovery of additional star systems out at the edges of infinity. And then …
[Stiggers] Like a Wino Clutches his Bottle of Thunda Burd
The Cootie Creek Fair hosts representatives of S.O.A.C. (Society of Angry Caucasians ) handing out propaganda to people passing by. Some folk stare curiously at the controversial figures while other folk just walk away.
LOTT: The FCC's Mistake
The Federal Communications Commission has voted in favor of rules allowing more concentrated media ownership in which newspapers can own radio stations, TV stations or vice versa within the same market area. I think the FCC made a mistake. I know less concentrated ownership would better serve Mississippians, and I oppose these new rules.
The Convention Center Quandary
Although the JFP did its own feature story on the convention center a few weeks ago (Sept. 23-29, 2004), and I've talked to many of the players personally, I was still hoping that The Clarion-Ledger's recent package of stories and opinions would help me come to a conclusion about the convention center's viability. But what I read was just more of the same, and I'm not much closer to a decision on what makes the most sense. (Although I did get a giggle out of Sid Salter sounding off in support of new taxes and a big-government municipal project.) By next week, the JFP hopes to endorse one way or another. But we need a few more answers first.
[Silver] Notes from a Former Addict
Hi. My name is Lawrence, and I'm a recovering Republican. Addicted to the pachyderm's promise of smaller government, for years I voted a straight ticket. But, one day I realized that if Democrats wanted in my pocketbook, Republicans wanted in my bedroom. Enough was enough—I took freedom's pledge and became a Libertarian.
[Stiggers] So Why Are You Invisible, Man?
Greetings! My guest is one of the many street corner philosophers/intellectuals, handymen and jack-of-all-trades who cannot find a job as a black male. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome D. Invisible Mann.
‘Tis Time to Think and Drive
The JFP is joining Budweiser to present Alert Cab to offer Jacksonians free rides home this New Year's if you've had too much to drink. Please take advanage of this program. Click here to see a list of Jackson bars and restaurants participating in Alert Cab on New Year's Eve (you can also clip out the ad from page 29 of the current JFP.) Be sure to get your free voucher from a bartender at one of the participating establishments. Be safe out there, y'all, you hear? Oh, and have a wonderful time.