Jackson Teens Need Mentors, OpportunityIf Reeves and other state GOP officials really want to see crime come down in the capital city, are they ready to allocate resources to both academic education, early-education and after-school programs, and to equitably encourage 21st-century extra-curricular programs such …
Keep Breaking the Glass CeilingA couple of weeks ago, I posted something to Facebook that I thought could possibly get some political backlash from my conservative friends and family: "Regardless of politics, the fact that a woman is a presidential candidate is incredibly inspiring …
Black, Gay and Christian: Balancing the Equality ScaleI am black, Christian, genderqueer and gay. I chose to be neither the former, nor the latter; it is a gift. None of my identities contradicts the other, despite which agenda society is currently pushing.
We Need Leadership, Organization, OpennessThe only mayor any of us should elect is one with a laser focus on getting our city organized to solve our problems together. We need real leadership now.
On Depression and SuicideLiving in a way in which I'm intending to solve my problems instead of succumbing to them puts me in a position to actually affect a positive turnout to the things I don't like about my life.
The Rights of Working PeopleA longstanding French tradition upholds the rights of working people—and it goes back as far as the 1789 revolution with the so-called "sans-culottes" who were too poor to afford the nobility's fashionable silk knee-pants.
Mr. Trump, We Are All ImmigrantsThis is a nation built on immigration. Unless you are Native American, you are not indigenous to this country.
Crossing Into EqualityRegardless of where it happens, when a cop kills an unarmed, unthreatening black man, the lives that action touches don't stop with his mother, wife or children. It affects all of us, even those of us sitting in a training …
The Road Less Traveled in JacksonYoung Jacksonians are literally the city's future. We must listen to them, take their advice, invite them into spaces where they've never been and introduce them to museums, restaurants and other cultures, as these teenagers were doing all summer.
Mindsets Must Change to Stop Juvenile CrimeAssumptions that a citizen execution is appropriate for a property crime and that certain young people can't be helped and should be locked up are at the crux of our juvenile-crime crisis.
Mississippi’s Relentless Pursuit of the LGBT Community"It feels like the state will never stop pursuing us," said Joce Pritchett as she testified under oath in a federal courtroom in Jackson recently. She was describing what it felt like to be a LGBT person living in Mississippi …
Police Killings: Action, ReactionI believe that everything doesn't happen for a reason. Sometimes, reason is thrown out the window, and one simply becomes afflicted with either fortunate or unfortunate luck.
Education and Lessons from the Game of ‘Life’Ask just about anyone, and they'll agree: Education is in a bizarre place. In most cases, though, the person you ask will follow up their answer with something about the federal or state government, or they'll say something about Jackson …
In ‘Trying Times,’ Demand Safer PolicingThe understanding that black (and brown) lives do matter even when it's someone doing something unpredictable in a poor neighborhood must break through all the noise.
I Have No WordsI was only 19 years old, headed to the mall with my girlfriend, and excited about attending a sorority party that night when police pulled me over for a traffic violation. Surrounded by two cops, I remember the moment he …
Wasting Resources on LiesThe state's leaders prioritize their conservative politicking above all else despite costs to the taxpayer that a federal lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood after Senate Bill 2238 took effect July 1 will inevitably have.
Fighting the SystemWhen America continuously witnesses the murder and harassment of black folks by those who are assigned to "protect and serve," one question pops up in my mind: Do they think we make this sh*t up?
The American Child’s Reality Of ViolenceTo be raised in America, no matter your ethnicity, is to be subjected to countless images of violence that our society presents to us as justifiable acts. Violence and force is what we know.
What the End of Bonding Really MeansWith the end of bonding for misdemeanor offenses in the Jackson Municipal Court, the cost of freedom for indigent offenders prior to their trial seems to be the death of the local bonding industry.
Freedom in Its Truest FormFreedom is an understanding that love is its counterpart. Therefore, any act of hatred is a controlled act. The homosexual attacked by the homophobe isn't the one who is without freedom. The homophobe is the one who is a slave …
Recognizing Privilege, Taking ResponsibilityIn this day and age, in this country, the color of your skin may very well determine how a police officer treats you, and what assumptions are made about your intentions, about your movements and even about whether you are …
Rebelling Against the RebellionNewt Knight is described as a "deserter, renegade and assassin" on the website of the local Sons of the Confederate Veterans chapter in Jones County, but Lew Smith in nearby Sumrall has a different view.
Mississippi PrideIt saddens me that so much hate has taken root in the state where I grew up, but I am also proud to have overcome it. I am proud of the brave LGBT people and allies in Mississippi who are …
Defending Our Blackness, UnapologeticallyI didn't watch the 2016 BET awards last Sunday, but I did partake in the Black Twitter awards watch party where I retweet, lurk from afar and pop some tweets off for the sake of humor. It's probably one of …
For the Love of Women, Kids, Everyone ElseThe Legislature is already in a financial bind—calling a special session with two days left in the fiscal year clearly means things are bad. So quit making them worse by wasting tax dollars on lawsuits that go nowhere except as …
Still Separate After Orlando MassacreWhere is our compassion, when because it happened at an LGBT nightclub and not a Presbyterian church, we choose whether to help or not? The idea is that although I am me and you are you, we share in each …
Jasper Died, But We Can’t Give UpI was ready to give up: the work, Mississippi, everything. Jasper had been killed in Parchman. They say suicide, but anyone who is familiar with death in prisons knows that even if he was killed with his own hands, it …
Both Donald and Melania Trump have access to a certain “freedom”: The freedom of being white in America.