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Predatory Mortgage Lending to Minority Homebuyers

Let's say you want a better life for yourself and your children if you have any. Even though you work two or three jobs to pay the bills and have a strict budget, you are currently living in deplorable conditions and want to move ASAP. You want to own a home, but you cannot afford a $650,000 home in the 'burbs and you don't have enough saved to make a large down payment. You go house hunting anyway, hoping for a miracle. You run across a quaint little 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home near schools that you like. The sign in the yard says, "Just $500 down!" It's just what you were hoping for, right? Well, maybe - or maybe not if you're dealing with a shady lender.

Crossing The Aisles

<b>The JFP Interview with Chuck Espy</b>

State Rep. Chuck Espy comes from a long line of politicos. His father is former Clarksdale Mayor Henry Espy, and the Espy family has had dibs on the Second Congressional seat for many years. In 1987, Espy's uncle, Mike Espy, was the first African American sent to Congress from Mississippi since Reconstruction, before President Clinton later appointed him as the first black Secretary of Agriculture in 1993. Chuck's father, Henry, ran in the 1993 special election to fill Mike's vacated seat, but Thompson beat him.

ARTICLE: Slavery reparations gaining momentum

When the average American hears the term "slavery reparations", he or she may think of radicals who are only making noise to start trouble and get free government money. Well, the "radicals" of the 21st century are using a different approach, and some are from the place least expected: the church.

Delta Blues Update

SAMPLE OF FUTURE "LIVE" BLUES EVENTS IN THE DELTA (full list at http://www.cathead.biz/livemusic.html )...

[Kamikaze] Jackson Schools in Crisis

I am a proud product of Jackson Public Schools. I spent nine years in that system. My mother was a long-time educator in JPS. My brother currently teaches in JPS. And I count several friends, classmates and colleagues who are either in the classroom or in administrative roles in Jackson Public Schools.

Grant Me Justice: Two Women Killed in Two Weeks

Enjoying the slight drop in temperature on Monday, Sept. 17, Doris Shavers sat laughing with friends and family in her mother Ethel Sanders' front yard where the family liked to emerge from their nearby houses and fellowship. Their children played among them, riding bikes and jumping on the trampoline across Ludlow Avenue in Doris' front yard.

[Kamikaze] Heaven's Bus

Sometimes the hypocrisy in modern society troubles me. I've known for years that the playing field for African Americans has never been level. I've always known that those who disagree with that fact probably have a slightly skewed view of reality. But whatever those feelings are, I knew we could be assured that with death, there would come some semblance of peace. Whether you did good deeds or raised a little hell, you at least had the right to spend eternity where you saw fit. Ironically though, even in death, we've found a way to separate ourselves. The classism that exists even in the African-American community has found its way into the afterlife.

BREAKING: Invite Suggests Melton Fundraiser for Sheriff Candidate

A document (PDF, 40 KB) received via fax by the Jackson Free Press makes it appear that Jackson Mayor Frank Melton is planning a fundraiser at his home for Hinds County Sheriff candidate and city spokesman Tyrone Lewis.

Cochran and Lott AWOL on Lynching Resolution

[Originally posted June 14] In a highly publicized resolution last night, the United States Senate formally apologized for the body's failure over the years to pass a federal anti-lynching law that might have been used for intervene in lynchings that occurred in the past century. The entirely symbolic resolution, co-sponsored by 80 Senators, was passed last night by unanimous voice vote ("All in favor say 'Aye'"). A recorded vote was skipped to, presumably, avoid embarrassing the one Democratic and 19 Republican Senators who decided not to put their names on the resolution as a co-sponsor, including both Senators Trent Lott and Thad Cochran from Mississippi. Bloggers have noted that both Lott and Cochran voted against federal hate crimes legislation in 2002 as well.

Frank Melton to North Jackson: "It's Over!"

Mayoral hopeful Frank Melton has called his race against Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. before it ever began. "It's over!" he exclaimed to 35 wealthy women gathered at a breakfast meet-and-greet-and-fund-raise event Monday, March 14, at Bravo! restaurant in Highland Village. At the same event, he told them he needed to raise a half-million dollars for his campaign to unseat Johnson and needed their help.

JPS Board Stalls on ‘Larkin-Gate' Contract

Members of the Jackson Public School board and City Council are delaying crucial votes in connection with a contract dispute over the school board's $150 million bond.

Governor Commutes One Killer's Sentence, Not Another

In a move that illustrates the erratic nature of America's justice system, Gov. Haley Barbour commuted the sentence of Michael David Graham last Thursday, July 17. Graham, convicted for shooting his ex-wife, Adrienne Graham, in 1989, received a sentence of life in prison. Reportedly, Adrienne Graham was sitting at a stoplight in Pascagoula when Michael Graham pulled up beside her and shot her to death with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Barbour Approval Rating Only 37 Percent

May 12, 2005–SurveyUSA has released its approval rating survey results conducted in all 50 states for May 10, 2005. 600 Mississippians were asked "Do you approve or disapprove of the job that Haley Barbour is doing as governor?" In response, 37 percent said they approve, 55 percent said they disapprove, and 8 percent said they were unsure.

Eaves Launches Anti-Barbour Web site

The John Arthur Eaves campaign just e-mailed a link to a new Web site devoted to giving what they call the real story on Haley Barbour's record. The site opens with the following:

Bush ‘hatred'; Wilson Carroll Talks Back

Very compelling column by E. J. Dionne Jr. in the Washington Post: "Republicans won in 2002, but Bush lost most Democrats forever. Conservative critics of "Bush hatred" like to argue that opposition to the president is a weird psychological affliction. It is nothing of the sort. It is a rational response to getting burned. They are, as a friend once put it, biting the hand that slapped them in the face. No one understood this sense of betrayal better or earlier than Howard Dean. Dean's candidacy took off because many in the Democratic rank and file were furious that Washington Democrats allowed themselves to be taken to the cleaners. Many of Dean's current loyalists had been just as supportive of Bush after Sept. 11 because they, too, felt that doing so was patriotic. So Dean also spoke to their personal sense of grievance."

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