Setting Up Women for Failure ... or Success
Too many people are still in denial about the way our culture treats even successful and educated women differently. So it makes a lot of sense that poor and less-educated women become the real dumping grounds for societal blame.
Loving Beyond Fear
The twisting of religion to promote and excuse hate, separation and violence over love, togetherness and safety turned me off from organized faith for a long time, and I still don't quite trust churches enough to attend any particular one regularly.
Every Single Life Matters
We're living through one of those difficult times in Jackson when fear and distrust of "the other" reach a fevered pitch due to a high-profile crime.
More to Lose If I Don’t
On the no-frills DASH diet, I have given up nothing that matters to me; cutting back sodium has been the hardest, because it's in so much more than just the saltshaker.
Wishes for Change in 2015
Gandhi's call for each of us to just go become the change we want to see around us is truly the first step to creating stronger communities and bridging the division we've recently seen come out of the woodwork, and scream at us from Facebook and Twitter.
Living and Loving in a Know-It-All Nation
I doubt I'm the only one who has struggled to find the holiday spirit this year. Mind you, I'm a holiday fanatic—decorate, give, wrap, deliver, entertain, even cook—but I've had to work hard this year to get to my happy Christmas place.
Revisiting the Kerner Report: How Much Has Changed Since the 1960s ‘Riots’?
To get at the causes of the riots, and potential ways to prevent them, President Lyndon Johnson assembled the 11-member National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders in July 1967 to explain the riots and compile recommendation for the future.
Why Don’t We Value Black Lives?
Young, black men are often killed because white people fear them, and they kill each other because society tells them their lives are worthless. But the most terrifying part is that white people still defend others killing black folks because we have been socialized for generations to accept it.
My Only Egg Bowl Regret
David Rae Morris and I both really wish our dads were here to witness this magical season—one in which both teams have helped take a lot of glory away from the usual football powerhouses and captured the country's imagination.
Of Charles Barbour, TEDx Jackson and Decent Role Models
Simple facts about what built today's inequality are not discussed by people like Charles Barbour. They still use the same old-school scare tactics that should offend white voters because they assume we're too dumb to see through the lies and reject them.
Mississippi: Clawing to the Top
As we've all been riding high in recent weeks over the Mississippi State football team's meteoric rise on the media radar, we've all seen those tweets. You know, the anti-Mississippi ones that we all know go deeper than football rivalries.
Hop on the ‘No More’ Bandwagon
In many ways, I believe tackling domestic abuse in the football arena is the exact right place to focus. It's hard to imagine a more macho sport where power is the goal.
Conceiving a Smarter Future
We're on an arc of history where too many of our lawmakers (and voters) aren't willing to address the disparities that our racist history created—unequal school funding due to forced, ingrained poverty—and aren't willing to say out loud what many of them actually know intellectually: that quality public education is key to Mississippi's future.
Why Do Children Stay?
It is time for all adults, with children or not, to reconsider traditions on corporal punishment and pay attention to both research on its harmfulness and expert advice on how to mete out smarter, non-physical discipline.
Learning Academies: Vital for Work Readiness
The Jackson Public Schools district is embracing a strategy that promises to make a huge difference in young people's lives, as well as improve their future success and earning potential with its new focus on freshman learning academies.
About Those Pesky ‘Soft Skills’
I want young Mississippians to have a shot at their full potential—and not have to leave their own damn state to do it.
Time to Reset, White Folks
What's happening in Ferguson isn't pretty, but it had to happen: Police and everyday people cannot keep killing black people for minor, or no, crimes and expect our citizens of color to just keep taking it.
It’s Time to Change ‘The Game’
In most every election, we just move around the chess pieces but no one ever really wins, certainly not the voters.
10 Years of Stopping Abuse: How and Why We Started the JFP Chick Ball
The JFP Chick Ball matters to people who don't usually get asked to help with fundraisers. It gets everyone involved. It raises awareness. It gives a way to talk about abuse, even as it's one of the best and most stylish parties in town.
The Beautiful and the Damned
The courageous young activists of Freedom Summer 1964 bestowed on us the ultimate gift: They freed us from our past. It's up to us now to build a very different future.
Love, Anyway
No, not all men abuse or hurt, but collectively we have condoned a society that excuses it too often when they do.
Mrs. Truth, Mr. Humanity
I first visited Battle Creek's monument to Sojourner Truth, an illiterate woman who shed her slave name and chose "Truth," saying "... and truth shall be my abiding name."
Discrimination Isn’t ‘Religious Freedom’
You do not have religious freedom if every single American doesn't have it, too, including those you believe are heathens and sinners.
Following the Money: More Shadowy Mayoral Backers Come to Light
Over the weekend, an unregistered political-action committee, Citizens for Decency, launched an all-out blitz with negative ads against Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber.
Republic Group Booked New Yarber Response Ads, Targets 'Historically Hostile' Districts
A "pro-business" politics firm has confirmed that it has placed all of Tony Yarber's TV ads this election cycle, including a number of ads tonight to respond to negative advertising against its client.
Mayoral Campaigns, PACs Spending Big on Ads, Some Secretly
With two young candidates who are relatively unknown to big parts of Jackson, the airwaves were expected to be a major battleground in the capital city's mayor's race.
Middleman Addresses Citizens for Decency's 'Duck Lips' Attack Ad on Yarber
The man who placed the "attack ad" on Tony Yarber says Chokwe A. Lumumba had nothing to do with it.
David Watkins Appeals Secretary of State Ruling Against Him
David Watkins has appealed a ruling that he violated state law in a bond money transfer from one development to another.
As Shepard Lay Dying
Local theater man John Maxwell could not have known when he decided to stage "The Laramie Project" in downtown Jackson at Galloway Methodist Church just how impeccable his timing would turn out to be.
Big, Bad Chef of the Week
We must believe in our own power—to change hateful laws and to vote out every single person who tries to keep us mired in a Jim Crow-type world. Stand up, Mississippi. We are better than this. Let's prove it.
Miss. Supreme Court Reverses Michelle Byrom's Conviction, Delays Second Execution
The Mississippi Supreme Court today reversed the capital conviction of Michelle Byrom and ordered a new trial with a different circuit judge.
Protect the Innocent: End the Death Penalty
Michelle Byrom is a textbook case of what is wrong with the state executions in Mississippi and the rest of the nation.
Secretary of State Kicks Watkins; Watkins Alleges Republican Politics
The secretary of state says David Watkins misused bond money; Watkins says it's all about politics.
Good Ideas: Girl Power
If we continue to tell girls that it's not acceptable to be bossy, we are setting them up for failure. We are telling them it is not their place to lead. So they step back.
Proud to Be the Boss
As a woman who became my own boss in no small part due to the sexism I encountered while working for other people, I know what lies ahead for many of them as they try to become leaders in their fields, if they even choose to.
Jackson Tragedy: The RNA, Revisited
It's hard to have a conversation with just about anyone about Chokwe Lumumba without hearing "RNA" at least once.
Lean In to Greatness, Jackson
Jackson is judged unfairly, it is called names and, when we stand up for ourselves to people who want us to shut up and comply (ahem, Legislature), the pushback gets even tougher. How dare we talk back, call them out and aspire for greatness?!?
The Truth About Today’s Youth
Today's generation of young people may be the safest, smartest and most resilient we've ever experienced. Yes, including here in Jackson and Mississippi.
Character: What Kids (Really) Need
The truth is that not all children have good parents, and giving birth or marrying a person of the opposite gender does not turn people into good parents. Not to mention, good parents don't guarantee perfect kids.
Digging up the Roots
When discussing the very difficult issue of violence, we find there are two types of people: those who don't care why criminals resort to violence, and those who get that preventing it can only come from attacking it at the roots.
Mentoring: A Friend for Life
The word "mentor" is incredibly common these days—a good sign that more and more people understand the need to help young people, especially those unfortunate enough not to have a strong family support bases.
Build an Army for Kids, Not Against Them
I was mortified, if not really surprised, to see some of the angry responses to R.L. Nave's excellent cover story last week about the killing of Quardious Thomas.
Alt. Wreaths
In search of the tackiest wreath I could come up, I decided to pay homage to Miss Donna Summer, Disco Queen. I glued the most scratched album I could find of hers behind a used pink wreath form, tied around a silver bead-garland and added disco-ball ornaments. Hint: Use this for inspiration to dress for the next Best of Jackson party.—D.L.
Mississippi’s Flag: A Blow at Civilization
The state flag tells the world that Mississippi hasn’t changed.
No Time to Fear
The grass isn’t greener, or safer, in another cow pasture or flood plain somebody wants to develop.
From Nothing to Something
When I moved back to Mississippi 12 years ago, it felt as if the majority of people I met, especially younger ones, constantly had one foot out the door in one way or the other.