All results / Stories / Ronni Mott
Empowering and Strengthening Kids
Operation Shoestring provides a safe place for children and parents in its west Jackson neighborhood, empowering them and strengthening the bonds of family and community.
Support Arts in School
Ask for More Arts brings artists into classrooms to integrate arts with other subjects. In four years, AFMA has exposed thousands of students to creative writing, theater, song writing and visual arts, expanding horizons and improving academics.
Two Faces of Opera
Jackson hosts diverse operas from two different continents Saturday, April 21.
Mayor Refutes Business Challenges
In announcing their candidacies for mayor of Jackson, Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba and Ward 4 Councilman Frank Bluntson made changing the city's business practices front and center in their campaigns.
Deep as My Bones
Mama froze. She was holding something, a towel I think it was, and her hand stopped in mid air. Her incessant motion on pause for a moment, she looked at me in disbelief, her brown eyes sad and soft.
The Best Defense
When it comes to supporting breast-cancer research, even professional football players are getting in on the act. If you're a fan, no doubt you've seen all the pink out there on the field.
‘Obamacare' and Mississippi: What's In It For Us?
Shortly after Congress passed the Affordable Care Act—known as ACA to supporters and "Obamacare" to detractors—Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour joined a multi-state lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.
Resolution Tango
When I was younger, I would annually trot out the usual suspects when it came time to make my new year's resolutions. You know the ones: lose weight; quit smoking; improve my relationships; get a boyfriend; re-connect with people I lost touch with.
Jesus the Radical
It's easy to imagine historical events in the context of our own time, place and worldview. It can be highly deceptive, however, to separate a person, his or her words and works from their historical context. It tends to skew meaning and motive, and both tend to become more biased and distorted over time.
Ring a Bell
At the end of September, I took my vacation in Batesville. Unbeknownst to many--including the majority of Mississippians, I imagine--Batesville is the home to the Magnolia Grove Buddhist Monastery and mindfulness meditation practice center. For five days, 850 participants shared living quarters, meals and the teachings--dharma talks--of Vietnamese Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh. The subject was cultivating the mind of love.
Finding What's Right
It's easy to criticize. I know this intimately. In fact, I'm considering hiring a private detective to search for that half-full glass.
[Mott] I Surrender
My sister Inga was a Diet Coke junkie. She kept spare quart bottles of the stuff in reserve so she wouldn't run out. If you saw her out and about, chances are she had a Diet Coke in her hand; it was a fixture, like "Weeds" Nancy Botwin's ubiquitous Starbucks iced coffee.
Odyssey of Discovery
Back in July 2006, I found myself on the edge of a new life. Four months earlier, I'd been laid off from a job after nine years. I was at loose ends, not particularly thrilled about continuing in a profession I didn't love any more, but not knowing what else I could do to support myself.
[Mott] Shine On
In his classic work on creativity, "The Gift," Lewis Hyde likens artistic output to the gift giving of indigenous people. Creativity is a sacred thing to be shared and passed on, like a fine pipe of tobacco among some Native Americans, not something to be squirreled away or used up for personal gain. "Whatever we have been given is supposed to be given away again, not kept," he writes.
Ronni Mott Responds to Hood on Hayne
On March 12, 2010, Radley Balko, formerly of Reason Magazine, published an email from Hood to coroners and others urging them to get legislators to vote against H.B. 1456. The bill, signed March 19 by Gov. Haley Barbour, requires that anyone hired by a Mississippi county to do an autopsy be American Board of Pathology certified in forensic pathology.
Imam in the Middle
In June 2007, I took a once-in-a-lifetime 12-day trip to Turkey. During our stay, our group visited multiple historic and religious sites. What made this trip different from a typical tourist agenda was that we also visited schools, hospitals and businesses, and met with students, teachers, doctors and entrepreneurs.
Woman on a Mission
Standing an easy 6 feet tall in her fashionable beige wedge sandals, Sandy Middleton strode into the Copiah County sheriff's station. She breezed past the unmanned reception desk, barely pausing, pushing her sunglasses up into her blonde hair and out of the way.
Moving The Bad Stuff With Feng Shui
Feng (wind) Shui (water) is an ancient Chinese art that promotes peace and balance in your personal space by strategically placing items and omitting clutter. The Chinese believe that luck, when created, can enhance wealth and happiness in your life.
The Joy Of Washing Dishes
In one of Zen Buddhism's most famous stories, a new monk approaches his teacher after a meal.
Angel of the Court
When it comes to domestic violence, the best defense is an orchestrated, integrated justice system. That's the kind of system that earned the Clinton Municipal Court this year's Angel Award from The Center for Violence Prevention on Tuesday. The CVP is a Pearl non-profit that provides shelter and advocacy for domestic-violence victims and an offender-intervention program.