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Nikki Giovanni

Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. is a renowned writer and activist who prides herself on being "a Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English." A native of Knoxville, she now teaches in Virginia—in addition to traveling and lecturing to packed audiences. She is, quite simply, a superstar in the world of spoken-word poetry. The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection, a CD of her spoken-word performances, was nominated for a 2003 Grammy Award. She has received 21 honorary doctorates.

Firefighters Griping Over New Chief

After three months of grumbling among themselves, some Jackson firefighters have officially voiced concerns over Mayor Frank Melton's installation of former Jackson Fire Department Capt. Todd Chandler as interim fire chief.

Kerry Heralds Education and Good Deeds in Jackson

"Mr. Kerry, Please help save our democracy. Equal Rights for all!" In a sea of "Kerry for President" signs, these words were written on a homemade sign held up in the far back of the gym at Tougaloo College on Sunday, March 7. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee visited the campus as a part of a weekend political swing through Mississippi just two days before his party's primary here. Earlier in the day, he had visited the Greater Bethlehem Temple Pentecostal Church of the Apostolic Faith on Robinson Street, where he read from the Book of James about the need to shore up "important words," such as "compassionate conservatism," by actually doing good deeds: "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?" he quoted from the Bible.

No More Rotting Hulks

Every little acorn dreams of oak trees, the saying goes. Well, one little seed has come to Jackson, and is now looking to grow a virtual forest of a community.

Melton Supporters Get Defensive

Read blog thread here.

Et Tu, Kazoo?

What do kazoo-playing, pink umbrella-carrying women have in common with cave-dwellers, gypsies, cows, Hollywood stars, and toga-wearing females riding emus? They're all the same women—the Krewe of Kazoo. Since they first blew their kazoos in front of the Buckethead Judges 20 years ago, the Krewe of Kazoo has made their own brand of fun fit right in with the St. Paddy's Day Parade theme, and then some.

Playing Chicken With Education

When Gov. Haley Barbour called the special session into order, education supporters noted hotly that education funding was not among the original six issues to be voted on. Sam Bounds, executive director of the Mississippi Association of School Superintendents, joined education supporters last week in calling for the 2005 Mississippi special session to include public school funding.

Mayor, Chief Downplay Crime Stats

Jackson City Council President Marshand Crisler spoke out last week against the city police department's tight lips regarding crime figures, in contrast to Former Police Chief Robert Moore, who provided weekly reports on crime statistics. The computer-generated statistics, called COMSTAT reports, were used to pinpoint what crime was occurring where, and were provided to both City Council and the media.

A ‘Mixed Blessing'

Along with the history of segregation and inequality among elementary and secondary education in the state, the state's historically black state universities, called HBCUs, have endured a longstanding tradition of neglect. Historical discrimination has left them, in many cases, with not only less-competitive academic programs then the state's predominantly white institutions, but also inadequate housing, buildings and resources.

Nothing Is Static

"A secret turning in us makes the universe turn. Head unaware of feet, and feet head. Neither cares. They keep turning." – Rumi

Then I Got Mad

Click here to view a petition to recall Gov. Haley Barbour.

Low Turnout Paves Melton's Way

Read this story here.

Great Americans

Tamaya Daniels sat in the lobby of the new girl's dorm at Tougaloo College, watching the Lakers vs. Pistons game on television. A center for Nottingham High School in Syracuse. N.Y., she was routing for the Pistons because they were the underdog. Six feet tall, Daniels had to stand in the few higher portions of the ceiling in the basement of Slave Haven. She could not stand up straight in the room where thousands of slaves had waited to be taken through the Underground Railroad.

Love and Eros

Painted feet slap the stage, fingers curl smoke-like around air, eyes balloon and rise with the audience; the Indian ballet begins. However, this ballet contains no plie arched by a pink tutu, no sugarplum fairy, no synchronous pirouetting. Called kuchipudi, this ancient form originating in southern India will be dancing its way into the Cain Cochran Auditorium at Hinds Community College on June 26.

Home, My Home

Freddie Mac is guaranteeing up to $10 million in loans that SouthTrust Bank will be offering as mortgages to new homeowners in West Jackson, which can be used to buy or refurbish homes in the 1100 through 1300 blocks of Grand Avenue, south of West Capitol Street and parallel to Robinson Road. The loans, which require a lower down payment than standard mortgages, will be given to families identified by the Voice of Calvary Community Development Corp. as having completed classes on debt management and personal finance; once prepared, the new homeowner can borrow up to 120 percent of a home's value to be used for improvements or debt consolidation. The program is called "Catch the Dream Jackson."

‘Stepford Senators' Hold Education Hostage

Not one person at the Capitol can remember a Mississippi legislative session ending without a budget. Well, once again the 2005 Legislature might be producing another famous legislative first for the Magnolia state.

Burning Up the Highway

More than 40 years ago, a few dedicated people boarded buses and rode through the South to try and make life better for African Americans. They called themselves the Freedom Riders. This month it's happening again. Caravans of buses are leaving nine major cities across the country this month to try and improve the lives of immigrant workers. They will depart from Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Chicago, Houston and Miami. After stopping in cities along the way, including Jackson, the protesters will converge first in Washington to lobby Congress, and then they're moving on to New York for a rally in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens on Oct. 4.

[Talk] ‘You Don't Need No Ticket'

Hope was palpable in the new Union Station the evening of Aug. 26. Mayor Harvey Johnson had wisely chosen the almost-completed "multi-model transportation center" as the site of his annual State of the City address. The building itself is remarkable: the renovation keeps (or replaces) the retro styling of a train depot of the past, while avoiding the mistake of over-designing that so often makes new construction tacky and uninviting.

Mixing Up Musical Chemistry

"I just gotta get stuff in the right place," says Matt Pleasant jauntily, throwing his eyes around the room. With the cooler on the floor over here, the movie poster on the wall over there, you get the sense that you're in a perfectly viable Animal House, and that at any moment a squadron of fraternity jocks will swarm you. But you are, in fact, at a recording studio—The Laboratory—and the only animal around is Ringo the dog, who will lick your foot as soon as you walk in.

Nevada Barr

March 24 finds Nevada Barr back at Lemuria Books in Banner Hall signing her latest Anna Pigeon novel, "Hard Truth," at 5 p.m. Then she'll head over to Lemuriabooks.com to read from it at 6 p.m. This 13th book in the murder mystery series—always set in a national park—takes place in Rocky Mountain National Park, replete with natural beauty and wilderness. Park ranger Pigeon sometimes thinks that way too many people want to experience that natural beauty. And where people are, trouble is sure to follow. Barr's legions are fans won't be disappointed as she takes them along on Pigeon's latest trek through the vagaries of the human psyche.

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