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Into The Unknown

For me, high school was awful. I felt like I was trapped in useless classes surrounded by immature and idiotic people. Then comes senior year, when everyone pretends they have always loved each other. People who have hardly spoken a word to you in three years suddenly want to be your best friend. And in my opinion, everyone becomes entirely too emotional. To finally be free of it all is a dream come true. "College" says to me that I will be able to see who I choose, learn about what I choose and be free of all that high school drama.

Be the Actors

I was running late and felt lost in the hallways of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C, last week, as I attempted to find Sen. Roger Wicker's office. My feet ached because I had bought into the "pain equals beauty" mantra and walked miles in heels. I was in D.C. after the CARE organization invited me to attend their conference. I followed two young Mississippi women as they lobbied on behalf of legislation to improve access to food, health and maternal care for women throughout the world.

[Young] Save Our Men

It is Friday morning. The rain is slowing from an overnight storm. The streets are wet, and the air is humid and cold. The gray skies and wet chill are no deterrent for concerned citizens silently gathering at the Medical Mall in Jackson to bring attention to an epidemic in Mississippi that kills—the spread of HIV.

[Letter To The Editor] Payday Loans Needed

Every American adult has experience in financial management. But despite the fact that we all manage our personal finances and make decisions every day about how to spend, save and invest, many of us remain baffled by the complicated systems behind our dollars.

[Stiggers] Dear Jackson Free Press Readership

As of today I am relocating to Atlanta to help take care of my mother, Mrs. Ruby Stiggers. This is something I must do because for many years "Miss Ruby" cared for me. She supported me in everything I ever did—high school, college, career choices and even living in Mississippi. She never judged or criticized me harshly; she just loved, prayed and encouraged me consistently.

Fend Off the Alligators

When hungry alligators surround you, so the joke goes, you might forget that your objective is to drain the swamp.

[Balko] SWAT Gone Wild

In pushing back against the abuse he suffered at the hands of the Prince George's County police department, Berwyn Heights, Md. Mayor Cheye Calvo is helping expose a more widespread pattern of law enforcement carelessness and callousness throughout the state of Maryland.

[Stiggers] Whooty Whoot Time

Mr. Whooty Whoot Man: "Good morning! And welcome to the 'Mr. Whooty Whoot' television show. This program is brought to you by a tiny grant from the Poor Ghetto Children's Television Network. Additional funding is brought to you by the Ghetto Science Team's Community Stimulus and the Let Me Hold Five Dollars National Bank (L.M.H.F.D.N.B.).

[Greggs] Missing The Window

I first heard the phrase "missing the window" in my youth. It quite possibly was gleaned from one summer's obsession with the movie "Space Camp." You know the one, right? Kids go to Space Camp, kids accidentally get launched into space, Kate Capshaw was the "real" astronaut on the flight? Yes, it was extremely reality-based. I just recently discovered the cute valley girl in the film is Kelly Preston—John Travolta's Scientologist wife. For some reason, the very fact that she didn't know she would later marry "Danny Zuko" and completely lose her mind is very amusing to me. I often point to the screen and snicker at her references to space aliens in the movie—she has obviously been groomed since the early '80s for this dubious transformation into Scientologist alien queen.

Redefining Home

This is the first time I've talked about this. There have been many reasons I've kept my "secret" in the vault. There's a stigma that comes with it. It's one of those things that carries a lot of shame and guilt.

The 50-State Strategy Should Include Us

A poll recently conducted by the New York Times, CBS and MTV showed that Americans aged 17-29 lean toward the political left. The poll found that 54 percent of young Americans plan to vote for a Democrat for president in 2008, and, overall, that age group gives President Bush a 28 percent approval rating.

[Hutchinson] Was Dr. King A Republican?

Civil rights leaders, black Democrats and Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele went ballistic when the they heard a woman in a 60-second radio ad say that "Dr. King was a Republican." The ad, which is bankrolled by the National Black Republican Association, is purportedly running on several Baltimore radio stations.

Voter Shenanigans Could be Costly

A curious exchange took place between Rep. John Hines, D-Greenville, and Republican Speaker Philip Gunn of Clinton over the weekend, as the Legislature hammered a budget for state agencies.

Whose River Is it?

In the past weeks, the Jackson Free Press has spent some time looking into the Two Lakes plan for flood control and economic development on the Pearl River—a plan that's come back so many times from the grave that it makes "Night of the Living Dead" seem like a History Channel documentary.

[Grayson] Our Way Of Life

When I was 16 years old, my friends talked me into going to a local teen dance club. I begged my grandmother to approve, and we were off. I spent all evening getting dolled up for my first club appearance. When we pulled up to the club, I was nervous, but the music was blasting, the line was long, and I was ready to dance. When we finally made it inside, I was a little nervous but excited nonetheless.

[Saldaña] Keeping Seale Free

On Jan. 26, 2007, two days after a federal grand jury indicted former Klansman James Ford Seale with three counts of kidnapping and conspiracy, his defense attorneys moved to dismiss all charges on the grounds that the charges violated the statute of limitations.

The Best We Can Be

Last week, I attended one of those uniquely Jackson events that national media never seem to know about when they paint us with a broad brush. It was a performance of "Defamation," a play by a Chicago playwright that allows the audience to act as jury and decide whether a black woman or a Jewish man should win a defamation suit she brought against him because he assumed she stole a watch from him and then caused her to lose business as a result.

[Hutchinson] Katrina Lessons, One Year Later

For one week last September, the unthinkable happened: America's poor suddenly became the rage. The shocking and tormenting sight of thousands of poor blacks fleeing in headlong panic for their lives from Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters jolted the nation and the world. President Bush, reeling from the battering he took in the media for his initial comatose response to the Katrina victims, scrambled fast and talked tough about assailing poverty. In a televised speech in New Orleans' famed Jackson Square, Bush told the nation, "All of us saw on television, there is also some deep, persistent poverty in this region as well."

Free the Scott Sisters

Gov. Haley Barbour should pardon Jamie and Gladys Scott—and not because we believe beyond a shadow of doubt that they are innocent. He should pardon them because they have done the time for the crime they are accused of committing.

We Don't Need Another Hero

Ever since the mayor announced that the sheriff is going to moonlight as the police chief, it's as if fairy dust has been sprinkled on Jackson. It would seem that crimeדthe No. 1 issue!ԗwill be gone in a matter of weeks.