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GOP Using Katrina Aftermath to Gut Anti-Poverty Efforts
The New York Times is reporting that conservatives in Washington are reacting in a very cynical way to the poverty exposed to the world by Hurricane Katrina:
Hob-Gate
Note: As the JFP went to press, the organizers of Hobstock cancelled the event altogether.
Bending History
The New Year brings a new play to New Stage Theatre: "Gee's Bend" is the story of a community of black quiltmakersall womenin Gee's Bend, Ala.
Charrette Leader: Make City 'Walkable'
Andrés Duany, the renowned "New Urbanism" architect, promised "no resolution tonight" as he gave the final presentation of the intensive planning charrette held this past week to discuss ideas for retooling the Pearl River for flood control and economic development. Instead, he told a large crowd in the Mississippi Telcom Center's third-floor theater on Monday evening that he was "clarifying the plot" by presenting the different plans that his firm, DPZ, will now study and draw in detail, including pros and cons of each plan. He will deliver the final report to the Levee Board, which will be available to the public at some point in the next few months.
LADD: Let the Music Play
I've never understood folks who listen to only one type of music. That's kind of like eating McDonald's for every meal; how can one live that way? I could have gone down that road, though. I grew up hearing nothing but country music in Neshoba County. It was the '60s for heaven's sake, and not a single Motown tune. Or Dylan. Or the Beatles. Basically no music that was remotely diverse or revolutionary. I knew Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner and Merle Haggard and Charlie Pride (OK, a bit of diversity) intimately, however. I'd sing their songs (horribly) at the top of my lungs in the back seat of my stepdad's Olds 98 on our car trips.
[Ladd] Rest In Peace
When Dr. Monique Guillory called me and said she wanted to bring the "Without Sanctuary" exhibit to Jackson, I swallowed hard. I knew about the horrifying and controversial exhibit of lynching photographs, the images that sear themselves into your psyche and refuse to let go. I hadn't seen the actual exhibit; I lived across Central Park from it for a while in New York, but never quite got up the courage to go. But since returning home, I had looked at the 81 photos posted online; I knew this would be rough.
Fresh and Local, Every Day
One night a few weeks ago, Todd and I left the office at our too-usual time of 8 or 9 p.m. We ran through McDade's to pick up dinner supplies.
[Wilkes] Dudettes Wearing Suits
Scene: Working husband, John Jones, walks in the door fresh from work, proverbial bacon in hand. Stay-at-home wife, Janet, cooks said bacon and puts what's left in a ROTH IRA for when their precious, unborn children, little Johnny Jr. and Jane, retire. End scene.
Carving Nature at Its Joints
People have called my obsession with snakes (and by extension cats) aberrant, cockamamie, campy and injudicious. It is all of these things. I am all of these things.
Reverence and the River
I love thunderstorms. From the safety of a covered porch, a nighttime thunderstorm can be a truly awe-inspiring natural light-and-sound show on par with the best July 4 fireworks. Just watching those jagged stabs of light streaking across a dark sky can produce visceral reactions.
Happiness Worth Celebrating
In my own relationship with an abusive man, "You're the best" turned fairly quickly into "I'm the only one who loves you," along with overt attempts to demonize my friends and isolate me.
Prowling for Sex
The chat begins innocently enough, with the man asking the girl's name. Then he asks what her hobbies are and tells her she's pretty or sexy. It is easy to see how a young girl might think the attention is flattering and innocent: It's just a chat. Then the questions get more personal: What color are your eyes? How old are you?
What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving?
OK, as we all anticipate a great Thanksgiving meal or two or three, let's take time to give thanks for what we have. What are *you* grateful for? Please share below.
BTW Birthdays
Yeah, you guessed it, my birthday's in December. It's on the 21st to be exact, which sometimes falls on the first day of winterthe shortest day of the year.
Out in Left Field
Last week, Mississippi sent three baseball teams to NCAA Regional tournaments and was fortunate enough to host two of them. I had the opportunity to attend the Starkville Regional at Mississippi State's Dudy Noble Field. Usually I sit above the third-base dugout, but this trip I had an invitation to the Left Field Lounge. On occasion I had walked through the outfield, but I had not hung out there since my college days. As I sat in the outfield on some sort of constructed contraption, I observed the ingenuity and creativity of the evolved fan and how they have contributed to the evolution of the Left Field Lounge.
The Wind in My Fro
Mississippi in July, ah. What joy the summer sun brings to us southerners!
Help ‘N the Hood
You may not have heard of the other CIA—Christians in Action. CIA is a children's advocacy group that sponsors an emergency shelter for abused or neglected children. Their facility is currently located in the Poindexter neighborhood west of downtown. It has been in existence since 1977 and provides residential care for children from birth through age 12. The shelter holds up to one dozen children.
Divided We Fall: The Killing of James Craig Anderson
Jordan Richardson was fishing at Cornerstone Lake in Brandon in 2009 when a pickup truck pulled up. Three teenagers got out of their trucks and started walking toward him, and he knew he was in trouble.
Festival Weekend
When I was in college, I was a music festival fanatic. Even though I'm older now, when I see the lineups for all the jam-packed music festivals in Mississippi, I still get giddy.
Making a Place
Author Lalita Tademy describes Mississippian Lynne Bryant's debut novel "Catfish Alley" (New American Library, 2011, $14) as being "In the tradition of 'The Help,'" by Kathryn Stockett. True, both Mississippi authors have white women as central characters and black women struggling against racial hatred. Both novels have multiple perspectives. That's where they diverge.