Opinion

OPINION: Watson’s Voting Views: Dressing Jim Crow Up in New Clothes"In the shadow of Mississippi’s incredibly fraught history with voting, (Mississippi Secretary of State Michael) Watson rails against the bogeyman of potential voter fraud with the clear intent to keep minorities from voting."
OPINION: Mayor Lumumba Remains Silent on Predatory Culture of Jackson PoliceRecently, at a press conference Mayor Chokwe Lumumba said that none of the “outside agitators” who opposed the disarming of Jackson’s overwhelming black population cared enough about the issue of innocent children’s lives being taken to say their names.
OPINION: Virologist on Vital COVID-19 Safety Changes, from Toothbrushes to Nose-PickingDr. Cedric O. Buckley, a virologist working with Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba, warns that the way we usually store our toothbrushes could result in COVID-19 infection.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: We’re All Living in Tate Reeves’ Pottery Barn NowAs Gov. Tate Reeves learned this past week, the most powerful public office in Mississippi isn't actually that of governor.
OPINION: Sick and Tired: What It Feels Like to Be Black in AmericaColumnist Duvalier Malone writes that well-intentioned white people must “step outside the bubble of your white privilege” to make a real difference for black Americans’ equality and safety.
OPINION: In 50 Years from Gibbs-Green Deaths to Ahmaud Arbery Killing, White Supremacy Still LivesInformed by the modern civil rights and Black Power movements, Jackson State University students organized in the 1960s to protest persistent white supremacy in the state and on their campus. Those demonstrations began annually in earnest in 1964.
OPINION: COVID-19 Recovery Plan Needs Bipartisan Oversight, Lessons from KatrinaMississippi is at a crossroads on our recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Our Legislature must be involved to ensure more balanced priorities and better financial accountability in the use of Mississippi’s CARES Act funds.
OPINION: Mayor Lumumba Attempts to Disarm ‘Our People’ in Jackson, Literally and Figuratively"During his tenure as mayor, Lumumba has presided over police killing and maiming of black toilers and has strengthened police’s capacity to brutalize and subjugate."
OPINION: Face It, White America: Mississippi Is Not Exceptional on RacismDelineating Mississippi as an exceptional site of racism and hatred the (Confederate) flag represents remains a common rhetorical gesture with an extensive cultural history.
EDITOR'S NOTE: ‘Essential’ Truths: Gov. Reeves Is Failing Many MississippiansThere is no such thing as a 'nonessential' Mississippian." When I saw Gov. Tate Reeves' tweet that on April 23, I stared at my screen. As a native Mississippian, I know that our leaders don't feel that way about every ...
MABUS: Moral Failure: The Incredible Cruelty of Refusing to Expand MedicaidCOVID-19 is far more deadly in minority, poor and rural communities, and some of that disparity was avoidable. By failing to expand Medicaid, states like Mississippi left millions with no access to quality and affordable health care.
OPINION: Teenagers, It’s OK to Feel Hurt By What We’ve Lost to COVID-19"Too often, adults undermine and discredit the hurt feelings of my age group simply because we haven’t lived long enough or worked hard enough to afford to feel the way that we do."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Gov. Tate Reeves Has Failed the COVID-19 Leadership TestTate Reeves’ leadership logic says it’s OK to endanger people’s lives to keep churches and guns stores open using a constitutional excuse, but then ignore constitutional precedent on a procedure Mississippi women have the legal right to choose.
OPINION: Abortion is Essential, Especially Now During COVID-19 CrisisIn a disingenuous move, politicians in Mississippi and several other southern states have sought to classify abortion as “non-essential,” attempting to make access difficult if not impossible.
OPINION: Governor, Rescind ‘Confederate Heritage’ Proclamation, Focus on Racial HealingAs many Mississippians are faced with the coronavirus in every county but two as of today, the Mississippi Sons of Confederate Veterans released a proclamation signed by Gov. Tates naming April as "Confederate Heritage Month”
OPINION: Suspending Housing Costs is a Moral and Economic ImperativeUniversity of Mississippi sociology professor and columnist James M. Thomas writes that Gov. Tate Reeves should do far more to help allay housing costs as workers are forced to stay home to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A Silver Lining to the COVID-19 Crisis"Be present in your feelings right now and take time to look within and unpack when you’re ready. It’s perfectly OK to slow down and not give into the perpetual pressure of always working to be better."
OPINION: Amid COVID-19 Crisis, U.S. Must Heal All the Wounds that Got Us HereAs the U.S. reels from the effects of COVID-19, we are faced with a stark reality: We were desperately and woefully unprepared for a crisis.
MABUS: Gov. Reeves Must Immediately Invoke Statewide Shelter-in-Place OrderCOVID19 is not a hoax. It doesn’t care if you are a Democrat or Republican or if you live in China or Italy or Mississippi.
EDITORIAL: Gov. Reeves Needs to Take ‘Essential’ Seriously for COVID-19 Social DistancingWhat (Gov. Tate) Reeves still has not done, is follow the lead of states near and far by truly ordering only essential businesses and services to remain open. What Reeves did instead this past Tuesday has been a bona fide ...
OPINION: Message from a COVID-19 Reporter: We Need Patience, Discipline, FortitudeJackson Free Press reporter Nick Judin, who is reporting the seriousness of the growing coronavirus epidemic, warns to not take this moment in history for granted.
OPINION: Black People: Vote Like Our Lives Depend on It"It doesn't require well-rehearsed promises and clever slogans to increase African American voting. The reality is the unfortunate truth that we should vote because our lives depend on it."
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Flatten The Curve, Think Local in Wake of COVID-19The Jackson Free Press team has done its damnedest to bring you the latest news on COVID-19 as it breaks here in the Jackson and throughout the state, as well as vital safety information.
EDITOR'S LETTER: Keep Calm, Stay Safe and Flatten the Curve"Flattening the curve" matters. We can all help limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in our own communities by social distancing, avoiding groups and staying home as much as possible. Do it.
OPINION: Sycophantic Dem Establishment Aligning Against Bernie SandersUniversity of Mississippi professor Joe Atkins, a Bernie Sanders supporter, argues that the Democratic "establishment" is working against the Vermont senator's chance at the presidency.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Challenges of a Baby-Faced Editor"Instead of burdening myself with unnecessary, self-imposed concerns that weigh me down, I have come to better realize that I should have more confidence in myself and more faith in others."
OPINION: Stop Talking About Corruption: The Nature of Ethnic Patronage Politics"Corruption implies dishonesty, sleaze and fraud. Historically, such corruption has taken the form of kickbacks and favoritism to supporters of electoral campaigns. ... Is Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba's regime thus 'corrupt?'"
OPINION: Reckoning the Right Leader for Jackson State University"I have no interest in being considered as the next president at Jackson State, but I do have some constructive suggestions and formative recommendations for the Jacksonians who will hopefully be ... actively engaged in selecting the next leader."
OPINION: Trump Presidency Shows 'Whiteness' Protects 'Whiteness' at All Costs"What we are witnessing now is the rise and solidification of an authoritarian president in the U.S. who has no respect for the fundamental values that the American Constitution holds dear."
OPINION: Hindsight 2020: Jackson Flooding and 40 years of Failed Solutions"The flooding of the Pearl River in early 2020 has led to high water moving into neighborhoods and businesses, while many simultaneously want a 'flood control' plan for Jackson. These calls have risen and fallen since the 1979 Easter Flood ...