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Hello, and Goodbye
I've never been great at goodbyes. When I meet people I dig, I want them around. But I've learned that a life filled with interesting experiences and people does mean, sometimes, saying goodbye. Since I've been in the weekly newspaper business, I've figured out that putting out a dynamic, fresh newspaper means embracing change, even when it makes one a tad grumpy.
[Stiggers] Broke Folk
Brotha Hustle: "Ghetto Science Community: The Hustle family's Summer Jobs Initiative is ready to put people to work, thanks to some surplus funds from the Ghetto Science Community Stimulus Grant, or GSCSG. Special thanks go out to Congressman Smokey ‘Robinson' McBride for pulling strings to make the summer jobs initiative happen."
[Moore] My Life as a Tree
My life was as normal as it could be my first half-century.
[Mott] Happiness Worth Celebrating
For too long in Mississippi, the legal community--police, lawyers and judges--have seen domestic abuse as a problem best dealt with at home. Women bring violence on themselves, the thinking goes; they should just do what their men tell them to. That's changing in this state, albeit slowly, and only after a lot of work by smart and dedicated people.
[Stiggers] Sticks and Stones
Aunt Tee Tee Hustle: "The way I see things these days is that people live in critical times where critical people criticize with critically destructive words and actions.
[Gregory] Do-overs
I work with kids daily in my "grown up" job. Sometimes, these daily interactions cause the strongest desire for a glass of wine that I've ever had. Sometimes, these interactions amaze me in their ability to prove to me that kids under the age of 10 can be the most profound creatures in the world. This is only after you get past their annoying habit of asking "what" everything in the whole world is.
[Parks] Unity, Mississippi Style
In the mall, Columbia, Mo.: My girlfriend and I giggled over Dippin' Dots ice cream. We held hands. We looked at the table next to us, where a young girl and guy were holding hands, too. The guy stood up, and his girlfriend jerked on his baggy jean shorts a little. She pulled too hard, though, and his genitals flopped out.
[Stiggers] Year-End Financial Dilemma
Rudy McBride: "Now that Thanksgiving and Black Friday have passed, how do you feel today? You've spent your hard-earned money on a few days of happiness. The leftover food is gone. Money in your checking account is low, and you need to earn more money from a temporary, second job to help pay those nagging pre-holiday bills."
The Other Ridgeway Incident
This week, I will begin a journey across the hemispheres to Auckland, New Zealand. I am moving for reasons that begin with my parents' departure for Auckland nine months ago and end with a baby in California, but I'll spare you the several pages I would need to explain.
[Skipper] Being the Best
Craig's spirit extended to each person he encountered.
[Stiggers] Desperate Plea
Mr. Announcement: "G-SPAN (Ghetto Science Public Affairs Network) presents the ‘Lord Have Mercy I'm Still Unemployed Center Summer Jobs Summit.' Rev. Cletus, spiritual advisor and pastor of Rev. Cletus Car Sales Church, is the guest motivational speaker."
[Stiggers] Welcome to Silicon Ghetto
Boneqweesha Jones: "In the world of home entertainment, consumers pay $300 to $500 for a brand new Blue Ray or High Definition DVD player. In the ghetto, financially challenged consumers pay $300 to $500 a month for an entertainment center—complete with wide-screen TV, DVD/CD player, and 'Bumpin' Bass' speakers—from a 'Rent to Own with Your Own Money' store.
[Stiggers] Funky Vibes
Brotha Hustle: "Aunt Tee Tee and I are back on the scene with our refurbished mini-DVD camcorder, portable work light and high-powered parabolic boom mic.
Be a Good Samaritan
Many Jacksonians know about N.U.T.S. (Neat Used Things for Sale), but they don't know about the social organization behind the trendy thrift store, the Good Samaritan Center. When Good Samaritan Center was founded in 1972, their goal was to assist families in need by practical means. Often assisting with bill payments and social services, Good Sam, as it is affectionately called, has been a place for the down and out to find a helping hand.
[Greggs] As I Lay Tanning
Saturday afternoon I spent most of the day lying beside a pool, holding a pina colada and desperately wishing I was near a beach.
[Mott] What Would Jesus Drive?
My sister Lisa accused me of being a communist. She was kidding, I hope. Lisa is a die-hard Republican by her own admission; I'm fairly certain that she prays for my lefty-liberal soul. We have some "colorful" conversations because we disagree on many issues, including global warming. While she admits there might be a problem, Lisa believes that most of the science is "junk," and she simply doesn't think that humans have the power to threaten the well-being of the entire earth.
[Stiggers] Decoding the Code
Boneqweesha Jones: "Welcome to the early morning edition of ‘Good Morning Ghetto'. My guest is Brother Hustle, Ghetto Science Team senior business and economics consultant."
Will the Next Josh Hailey Stand Up?
I remember the first time I saw Josh Hailey. I was covering the City of Ridgeland Chamber of Commerce banquet for the Madison County Journal in 2009. At this suburban hobnob where conformity is king, Hailey was clad in a colorful ensemble and his hair was in dread-locked pigtails.
[Stiggers] You Are Making Us So Hot
Mr. Announcement: "Kunta 'Rahsheed X' Toby and the George Washington Carver Holistic Health Commission of Tuskeegee, Alabama, present 'Global Warming in the Ghetto,' a documentary film about climate changes in poor neighborhoods."
[johnson] Drowning Jackson
When you look at it abstractly, Two Lakes developer John McGowan makes an easy villain: an old, wealthy white landowner intent on taking public lands for private profit with the help of wrangling politicians. But when you meet this man, it's tough to place him in such a diabolical role.