[Stiggers] Sick as a DoggieCootie McBride: "Greetings! I'm here to represent the members of the Ghetto Science Team's Pet Owners Consortium. My clients and I have filed a class action suit against companies who make and sell contaminated and/or poisonous pet food. I was …
[Kamikaze] Over My Dead BodyWrap your brain around this one for a moment: America doesn't really know how it feels about a black man and a woman running for president.
[Gregory] Dreamin' Ain't Doin'For the past six months, I've been working in Hattiesburg, mainly because the job offer included enough money to allow me to embroider gold dollar signs on my socks right alongside my initials—righteous money. Following this money soon led me …
[Stiggers] God is FrowningBoneqweesha Jones: "Your favorite on-the-scene reporter is back for a special edition of 'Ghetto Dateline: Health Crisis in the 'Hood.' With me—live on location at Grandma Pookie's back porch via a camera phone, courtesy of Aunt Tee Tee and Brotha …
Crossroads: Telling Our Own StoriesI was privileged this year to serve as the president of the Crossroads Film Society's board of directors, which meant an opportunity to work with a wonderful group of creative folks. Mostly, I would tell them things like, "No, that's …
[Taylor] Rallying for 'Prisoners of War'March 30, 1973, was a clear, beautiful day, perhaps a blessing from heaven for the day's events. Thousands of Jacksonians and some out-of-town guests congregated on the Jackson State University campus. Exhilarated from the march to the campus from Lynch …
[Stiggers] Everything's a DollarMiss Doodle-Mae: "Greetings, Jo-Jo's Discount Dollar Store customers. You may know me as the store's part-time cashier and security guard. Jo-Jo, however, feels that I'm as articulate as Barack Obama, and he has commissioned me—Miss Doodle-Mae Jenkins—to be the official …
'Balance'or Pandering?The Clarion-Ledger's editorial director has asserted that when Molly Ivins was alive, he ran Ivins and Ann Coulter columns in rotation because they "balance" one another.
[Johnson] Charrette or Charade?"(The LeFleur Lakes) plan is really unpopular with everyone but you, John. It is a different world when you are not in the room. There is no question that this plan is unpopular." The collective gasp was audible.
[Stiggers] Hands Off My MowerSista Announcement: "Coming soon to A.T. & T. (i.e., Aunt Tee Tee) cable television is a fresh new chitlin' circuit gospel comedy called 'We Can Keep a Good Riding Lawnmower in the Ghetto.'
The First StepMy small group of friends and I spent the majority of last Saturday at Smith Robertson Museum. Our still nameless singing group and band performed at an art opening featuring many budding talents in our city. The exhibit's title: "Trapped …
[Grayson] Ready or NotWhen Donna Ladd called and told me that I had received the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies' Diversity Internship Grant, I was thrilled. I was excited that I was embarking on another journey in my life. When I told my mother …
[Stiggers] Gotta Bang, Bang the BoogieLifetime Sista Gurl Women's Television Network presents the Ghetto Chick Flick of the Week: "The Adventures of Nurse Tootie McBride: Medicine Woman, LPN, certified Tahitian Total Health Elixir distributor and part-time Tai Chi Instructor." In this episode ,Nurse Tootie diagnoses …
Frank's WorldWe're living through one of the worst D-movies one could imagine. In fact, this flick likely wouldn't get made in the first place because no one would buy it. Roll the videotape.
[Gregory] Am I Good Enough?The other night, I was watching the special on television about Oprah opening the school for future female leaders in South Africa. Other than being extremely embarrassed that I cried through most of the show, something in one part of …
[Stiggers] Poor Folks Gone WildBonqweesha Jones: "People in today's society enjoy looking at other people's misery, mistakes and foibles. Viewers of those police reality shows love the action and excitement of the pursuit, i.e. the nappy-headed black guy being chased and wrestled down to …
LeFleur Lakes Barreling Toward the FallsThe results are in from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study of the LeFleur Lakes project, and, according to a report in The Clarion-Ledger, the Corps says it isn't economically feasible. Estimating a price tag of $1.2 billion—which is …
[Collier] There's More to the StoryIt's done now. Elementary school teachers, if they haven't already, are taking down the laminated posters of Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall. Black History Month is over—time to make room for shamrocks and leprechauns. …
[Stiggers] Everything Must GoBig Head Fred: "During Black History Month, the corporate world has thrived on your impulsive buying habits. In spite of your overworked and underpaid status, they depend on you to spend your time on spending your hard-earned salary or tax-refund …
In a Sentimental MoodIt's Tuesday, and I'm sitting cross-legged on the floor in Baltimore's Southwest terminal after spending several days in Washington at an alternative-newspaper training conference. I love these gatherings: I teach, I learn, I build relationships—especially with the younger editors and …
[Gregory] You Call That Music?My friends often make smart-ass comments about my taste in music. I write this sentence as Babs wails "Moon River" in the background, and my cats look at me distastefully while hiding their tiny heads under their paws. For the …
[Stiggers] Watching You Watch UsKunta "Rahsheed X" Toby: "Welcome to 'Why Aggravate a Brother?' It's Ghetto Science Television's new reality series about racial profiling. This episode is sponsored by the law offices of Cootie McBride, Aunt Tee Tee Hustle's Mending the Digital Divide Project, …
[Kamikaze] The New IndependentsWe've come to yet another music issue, and that means as in years past, it's time for my annual state of the music address. It seems I've become the "mad rapper" for all my political ramblings and such, but the …
All for OneThere were some quiet days in Jackson while Mayor Frank Melton was recovering from surgery in Texas. I was in City Council covering the debate on digital billboards two weeks ago, and we journalists blinked at each other like it …
[Head] Legislation Promotes Dangerous AbortionsLast Wednesday, the Mississippi State Senate passed SB 2795. Promoted as a simple ban on abortion, the legislation actually takes a far more novel and dangerous approach. The right of a woman to terminate her own pregnancy is protected under …
[Stiggers] Butt Whippings for This?Mr. Announcement: "On this Black History episode of All God's Churn Got Shoes, Mr. Teacher makes his History and Ghetto Science class think."
[Chick] Hands Off My ‘You Know'As Eve Ensler, author of "The Vagina Monologues," would say, I come from "down there" people. Actually, I come from "you know" people. That was our whispered code for vagina, penis, uterus, buttocks and even pregnancy. When I was young, …
Real Love Can Be ToughLove is a funny thing. It too often earns its status as a four-letter word. It bites us in the ass. It keeps us awake and alive. It motivates us.