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[Kamikaze] Hold The Beef

There is great joy in understanding. Simple communication doesn't get nearly as much hype as it should. Conflict managers through the ages have championed the benefits of true conversation, but in this age of beefs (real or perceived) people have yet to simply talk to one another.

[Greggs] Ali G's Magnificent 2006 Predictions

Last year on New Year's, I made a resolution against resolutions. My logic for this decision was knowing that if I truly wanted to change something about myself, I could wake up some random Tuesday in March and make the same promise with the same results. I guess this gives a pretty good idea how well my resolutions have previously been integrated into my life. Yes, like hurricane relief in the Senate. Empty. Freaking. Promises.

[Kamikaze] A Simple Plan

The equation seems simple. In order for society to create productive adults, it must first nurture them as children. Young people are the foundation of our future. Some will be our next teachers, doctors, lawyers, bus drivers, skilled laborers, star athletes and music moguls. Still some will run afoul of the law, becoming yet another crime statistic.

[Kamikaze] The New Racism

You guys should know me by now. I'm that radical, angry rapper-guy who seems to have an opinion on everything. The guy who likes to stir it up, make you think. So as par for the course, I simply must reply to a letter printed in the JFP last issue. Phillip Ley of Flowood obviously took some exception to my last column blasting Sens. Thad Cochran and Trent Lott for not co-sponsoring an anti-lynching resolution. While I have no problem with open dialogue (or criticism for that matter), I do have a problem with abject denial. And after obviously missing the point of my column, your response is, Mr. Ley, akin to your sticking your fingers in your ears, making annoying noises to tune out the truth.

Going Dr. Laura On Your Ass

Perhaps Asa Carter, a Klansman and the secretary of the North Alabama White Citizens Council, said it best in 1956:

August 4 - 10, 2005

What About Sex?

I found Ali Gregg's column "Why Not Just Turn Gay?" (July 28-Aug. 3, 2005) somewhat humorous. She listed her 10 reasons why she wouldn't make a good lesbian. Most of the reasons centered on her desire to be unconventional, defiant or just going against the grain of society. That's her opinion, and she's welcome to it. However, I would think that the enjoying sleeping with someone of the opposite sex better than someone of the same sex should be somewhere in that top 10. That reason would certainly make my top 10 list.

[Kamikaze] Bush's Report Card

My kids got their first report card of the year recently. As most parents know, it's that initial indicator that lets you know just where your child stands with his schoolwork or his behavior. It's those infamous letter grades that say either "good job" or "some improvement is needed." Either you're on your way to success or headed toward failure.

Damned If We Don't

The weekend Katrina hit, Kate Medley and I were in the Natchez area finishing research and art for the package of stories that you'll read in this issue. This time in Adams and Franklin counties, as Kate and I got to know people like Burl Jones, a Klan victim who had never been interviewed about the experience, and then watched burly Wharlest Jackson Jr. bawl like a baby describing his daddy's murder that has gotten so little attention over the years, I was still seething about a little ditty in The New York Times that belittled Southerners who are trying to confront our past.

[Greggs] Why Not Just Turn Gay?

The other day I was lying around with a friend discussing my less-than-stellar dating life and wondering what it would be like if I expended all that time doing something useful, like eating. At one point during the conversation she looked at me very knowingly and asked the question I have heard from more than one person on more than one occasion, "Why don't you just turn gay?" This is asked like sexual orientation is a knob on the stove that keeps the cookies from burning.

[Chick] Oh, Snap

"Oh, snap!" That's what Monkey said when he realized he was going to miss a barbecue while with his dad at the beach. I was both shocked and amused. "Did you just say snap?"

My So-Called Holiday Column

They say that during the holidays, you're supposed to stop and consider what you're thankful for. (OK, this is starting out cheesy, I know. Work with me here.) Combine that seasonal desire with the fact that Donna assigned me the Publisher's Note this week, and you get what you paid for—a Publisher's Note in which I offer up a laundry list of the things that have me smiling this season.

Oh, Say Can We See?

When Mazie Moore saw that picture in Jet Magazine in 1955, it terrified the Franklin County mother. Mamas across the South, black mamas, were hearing about the photo. They took it as a warning to protect their boys from the wrath of angry white men. She couldn't, though: One of her sons, Charles, would be brutally murdered in 1964, just because he stepped in the path of hateful white men out to terrorize young black men. And no one did anything about it. Her son's life didn't matter.

Oct. 27-Nov. 2, 2005

History in Books

As one born and raised in Mississippi, I am deeply interested in its history. A part of that history too little known and too readily forgotten in our time is slavery. By chance, I came upon two books on that subject in the same day. One, "I Was Born a Slave" by Yuval Taylor, is a massive two-volume anthology of major slave narratives; e.g., those of Frederick Douglass and Nat Turner. The other, "Mississippi Slaves, Tell It Like It Was," is specifically about and by those from right here in our own state. I would like to recommend both to all of your readers.

Sensational ‘Suburban Legends'

Perhaps the biggest single flaw that The Clarion-Ledger has in its recent addition to its "Changing Face of Jackson" series is the fact that it doesn't include itself in the litany of problems that the newspaper claims are holding back the city of Jackson.

[Mangum] Every Child, One Voice?

"Hey, FAGGOT!" Not exactly what you want to hear starting the school day, right? But I can't tell you the number of days of my Mississippi junior high school life that began with this greeting.

[Greggs] One Tiny Little Pink Line

On some rather innocuous Sunday eight years ago, I was a 21-year-old recent college graduate just back from a camping trip. I sat on the edge of a bathtub and anxiously awaited the results of a pregnancy test. It wasn't mine. The test belonged to my last official college roommate. She forced me to take the second test in the two-pack just to make her feel better. She then forced me to watch two white plastic sticks for the longest 300 seconds in my life and tell her the results. When she finally screamed "What does it say?", I could only answer, "Well, one of 'em ain't good, but it ain't mine."

[Stiggers] Tale Of Two Nations

We interrupt Oprah's Lexus from Texas Luxury Car Giveaway show to bring you a special holiday message from Rudy McBride, C.E.O. of the Let Me Hold Five Dollars National Bank.

Wanted: A Strong , Safe Jackson

The decision by Mayor Frank Melton and Chief Shirlene Anderson to eliminate the eight-member Crime Prevention Unit of the Jackson Police Department (along with approximately 10 other JPD positions) upset many Jacksonians. The crime prevention specialists in Precinct 4 were regular contributors to Community Oriented Policing (COPS), a citizens' crime prevention group whose meetings I help moderate.

Appeals Court Tosses David Archie Conviction

The Mississippi Court of Appeals threw out the convictions of David Archie and a dozen other people who were arrested at a March 2008 protest in Canton.

Jackson, Oxford, Tupelo Get High Econ Scores

Yes, Jackson, our economic strength is growing.

Ellington

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