by Ward Schaefer
Photo by Meredith Norwood
April 9, 2008
At the time of year when many high school seniors try to get by with the bare minimum, Matt Massingill, 18, does not seem to be suffering from “senior-itis.” As a service requirement for his senior project at Northwest Rankin High School, Massingill had to raise $500 for wetlands conservation, but he didn’t stop there. Massingill raised $1,100 through a charity golf tournament, and donated it to Ducks Unlimited, a wetlands and waterfowl conservation organization.
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by Greg Williamson
Photo by Greg Williamson
March 26, 2008
Michael Rubenstein’s office in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame is cluttered with sports awards and pictures, and a little plastic sumo wrestler stands on his desk. Born in Booneville, Miss., he moved to Jackson for a state job in 1974 after graduating from Vanderbilt University. How he ended up in sports broadcasting and working for a sports museum is serendipity.
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Don and Becky Potts’ backyard would be noticeable even without the horse. Behind their Fondren home, the couple maintains an elaborate garden and two greenhouses. Somehow, they also have room for Little River, their 7-year-old miniature horse.
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by Maggie Burks
Photo by Maggie Burks
March 5, 2008
Looking like a giant among the three-feet-tall first-graders pouring into the bright, sun-filled hallway of Clausell Elementary School, Principal Mitchell Shears steps into the main office where three students await his arrival. “I know it’s good,” he says, willing their presence to be one of praise instead of punishment. “Oh, it is,” one of them replies. No sooner are the words out of his mouth that a kindergarten student is attached to his navy blue pants leg. “Great morning, Mr. Shears,” she says, shaking her head and smiling, as the white beads hanging from her braided hair rattle. “Thank you,” he tells her.
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by Ari Glogower
Photo by Nate Glenn
February 27, 2008
During the day, he’s Mr. Golden, the mild-mannered school librarian who dispenses copies of “Tuck Everlasting” and “Because of Winn-Dixie” to the book-loving kids at Peeples Middle School in South Jackson. Mr. Golden’s library is a peaceful world of words, a refuge for literary-minded students from their hectic and often stressful school days. But on nights and weekends, he’s Bruce, a jazz percussionist who trades in his Dewey decimals for complex polyrhythm and syncopated beats.
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The pink-and-blue (Calvin Clown designed) striped arms disappear beneath the table, drawing forth a plain-looking hardcover black book. “You don’t mind if I read?” Inky asks casually, waiting a second for my surprised, affirmative nod before opening his book to unleash a flame blazing from the page. “Jeepers!” he cries, shutting it with a start. “Must have been a cookbook.”
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by Maggie Burks
Photo by Maggie Burks
February 13, 2008
After leading me through the maze of bookshelves and cataloguing drawers and into his office in the downtown Charlotte Capers building, archeologist Jayur Mehta motioned me to sit down and began rummaging through opaque rectangular boxes in a corner. Once he found the one he was looking for, he beckoned me to them, smiling.
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by Bailee Grissom
Photo by Maggie Burks
February 6, 2008
Some would say trivia is, well, trivial. True, except when your grasp of it lands you on “Teen Jeopardy.” Katie Gill, a 15-year-old Murrah High School student, earned the attention of Jackson when she landed a coveted spot on Alex Trebek’s knowledge challenge for young contestants. Through the Jeopardy e-mail list, officials made an all-call for teenagers in the area. Gill did well enough on the online test to qualify for the Nashville finals.
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by Margaret Cahoon
Photo by Maggie Burks
January 30, 2008
Bart Heath didn’t go to culinary school. He’s not vegan or vegetarian, and he admits, “I couldn’t even cook a grilled cheese when I was 18 and a senior in high school.” And yet, the Gulfport native is the new head chef at Jackson’s premier vegan and vegetarian-friendly restaurant, High Noon Café.
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by Shaketta Toins
Photo by Maggie Burks
January 23, 2008
Casually dressed in a black blazer, white dress shirt and blue jeans, Willie McKennis has a full schedule. However, he takes a break to tell the story of his life.
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by Ronni Mott
Photo by Ronni Mott
January 16, 2008
Sean Wade is a big guy. He could use his stature to threaten, but instead, he exudes tranquility to those in his presence. Wade, 32, speaks with clarity and precision, his voice steady and soft. His demeanor is welcoming and inclusive, and he tends to be almost self-effacing. His kindness and gentleness are evident in every move and word.
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by Maggie Burks
Photo by Kenya A. Hudson
January 9, 2008
Jackson Assistant Police Chief Lee Vance sits at a small table in his office, hands clasped together, as he precisely chooses the words to describe his Jackson upbringing and adulthood. Behind him on the walls are two 24-by-36-inch posters of Muhammad Ali, whom Vance considers a personal hero despite his flaws. He is cautious to not interrupt his story, but when JPD needs a representative at a city meeting, he pauses to find a replacement.
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by Greg Williamson
Photo by Greg Williamson
January 2, 2008
I met Karen Parker on a warm December afternoon with the sound of wind chimes drifting through the open door of New Vibrations, her Fondren book and gift store “for the evolving spirit.” She was unpacking necklaces when I arrived. “They have stone gems inside the vials, and each little stone represents an emotional benefit, like allowing you to de-stress or feeling like your energy is protected,” Parker explained.
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by Sarah Litvin
Photo by Charles Anthony Smith
December 26, 2007
“I shipped off a pig to Hot Springs earlier this week. I shipped off mermaids to Montgomery. … That was huge. I shipped off crosses to Biloxi,” Candy Cain. A prolific and versatile visual artist, Cain was born in Jackson 49 years ago, and has been gracing the walls of our offices and homes with her artwork for almost as long. And, yes, that is her real name.
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“Being a shooter,” Sgt. Tobie Tomlinson says, “allows for focus.” Tomlinson, 35, knows a thing or two about focus. A service rifle shooter with the Army Marksmanship Unit, based in Fort Benning, Ga., he spends half the year training for and competing in national shooting competitions, and the other half teaching marksmanship to new soldiers. He captained the AMU’s 2006 and 2007 championship rifle teams and, in 1995, won the individual National Service Rifle Championship.
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by Kelly Bryan Smith
Photo by Nate Glenn
December 12, 2007
Gwendolyn Magee, 64, first started making quilts in 1989 during a six-week quiltmaking class at a local Jackson quilt store that no longer exists. She only planned to make a quilt for each of her two daughters before they went to college, but by the time she finished their quilts, she was hooked. “Eventually, I really started becoming dissatisfied with just taking a pattern and following it, making things that were just pretty,” Magee says. She wanted to make quilts with more meaning, and she tapped into her roots as an African American growing up in segregated High Point, N.C., for her inspiration.
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by Sarah Litvin
Photo by Maggie Burks
November 28, 2007
“You feel it, and you live it!” Vanessa Barry says as she rises from the table at Borders to demonstrate. Barry and her best friend, Kembral Barrera, are coincidentally both wearing pink shirts, black pants and heels. They turn slowly to face each other, arms outstretched, hands working and feet stomping in time to imaginary castanets. Jackson’s only two flamenco dancers come from very different backgrounds, yet their passion for Spanish culture—and particularly this ancient dance—has brought them together.
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by Margaret Cahoon
Photo by Margaret Cahoon
November 21, 2007
At 10:30 on a Saturday morning, Don London, 62, is already hard at work in his basement office at Stewpot Community Services on Capitol Street. Volunteers and service recipients come and go through his office with friendly hellos and practical questions.
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by Sarah Litvin
Photo by Darren Schwindaman
November 14, 2007
“In my country,” Saidamirkhon Rakhimov begins, then stops himself, smiling. “My friends are always making fun of me for saying ‘in my country,’ he says, leaning back into his chair, momentarily distracted by the muted soccer game playing above my head. Said’s country is Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic just north of Afghanistan. Said grew up in Tashkent, the capital city, and earned a master’s degree in international law from Tashkent State University of Law.
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Fred Hammond understands changing careers; his call to church ministry is the third major shift in his life. At 51, “Reverend Fred” is the Unitarian Universalist Church of Jackson’s new minister, and a novice to the profession.
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by Maggie Burks
Photo by Maggie Burks
October 24, 2007
Ed “The Prezs” Blount, 38, wants to form a new type of neighborhood association. Working as a bartender at the Upper Level by night, and driving a Head Start school bus by day, Blount recognizes the need for direction and unity in neighborhoods. To jumpstart his community movement, he and the Dalton/Deerpark Neighborhood Association are holding the first Neighborhood Homecoming.
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by Maggie Burks
Photo by Maggie Burks
October 17, 2007
As I approach the industrial-looking Old House Depot on Monroe Street, I hear the robust sound of Ella Fitzgerald’s voice. Jim Kopernak, 61 (but looking 10 years younger), emerges from a small office and wipes away the sweat just above his salt-pepper-and-cinnamon eyebrows. Behind him are what seem like hundreds of vintage and antique pieces of architecture, which Kopernak and his wife, Ann, collect through deconstruction of old homes.
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by Maggie Burks Photo by Maggie Burks
October 10, 2007
After 14 years of driving trucks and training other people to drive trucks, Dexter Devon Morton left the road with a 46-inch waistline and weighing 360 pounds. Today, Morton, 38, is the wellness director for the downtown YMCA in Jackson, and at 6-feet-5-inches tall and 242 pounds, he has no problem fitting into his size 36 pants. With a small staff of trainers and fitness counselors, Morton helps members of the Jackson community reach their wellness goals and is an inspiration to those who know and love the “Rev.”
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by Kristen Phillips
Photo by Nate Glenn
October 3, 2007
Shortly after relocating to Jackson from South Carolina, Larry and Dee Nixon established the Cure Sickle Cell Foundation to raise awareness of SCD and support families affected by the disease.
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by Kristen Phillips
Photo by Roy Adkins
September 26, 2007
When Sabir Abdul-Haqq puts his story in digital format, the soundtrack will be hip-hop. Not the stuff that gives the genre a bad name, though. It will probably sound a lot like Jurassic 5. Bright young faces beaming with potential will surround him, and you’ll almost surely see his mother, Rosa Shareef, and 17-year-old brother, Ahmed Shareef—the two people he admires most. His digital story will leave viewers impressed: Abdul-Haqq is a man with passion and an inspiring sense of integrity.
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by Maggie Burks
Photo by Roy Adkins
September 19, 2007
Edited with correction
Terrell Lewis, 19, is a people person, he says, which is obvious when he takes to the field as Jackson State University’s mascot, Wavee Dave. The sophomore mass communication major says that JSU has been “in his blood” from an early age. Both his parents—Tyrone and Shelia Lewis— graduated from JSU, and Lewis was a “baby tiger” from the time he was 5 years old to when he outgrew his suit at age 12.
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Apr 04, 08 | 11:06 am Tarra Riggs L.W.: What a great comeback for Tarra. Congratulations to her!...
Apr 01, 08 | 9:32 pm Othor Cain ladd: Hmmm, could it be a ruse!?! The plot thickens....
Apr 01, 08 | 9:09 pm Othor Cain L.W.: Careful, y'all. Kevin Clash is the voice of Elmo, and he is featured on the cover of the Black EOE Jurnal, but he is not listed as an editor on the list of contacts. ...
Apr 01, 08 | 8:48 pm Othor Cain ladd: That's fascinating. I wonder if he's the puppeteer Kevin Clash!?!
The truth is that people need to learn that the Internet is a very large medium, for better or worse. People find you. And what...
Apr 01, 08 | 8:35 pm Othor Cain gipper: Hmmmm ... looks like Othor's high 'standards' are attracting a bit of national attention from business journalists ... check out this post over there before it disappears ...
Kevin Clash Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 7:28 pm
I am an editor of...
Apr 01, 08 | 7:29 am Othor Cain ladd: I should also add that I fear that the way Othor goes on about the "white power structure" is actually going to convince many people that there isn't one—kind of like the boy who cries "wolf" all the time. The truth is: there is, and it has long...
Apr 01, 08 | 7:23 am Othor Cain ladd: Maybe I shouldn't let what Othor and his posters say bother me (and it really doesn't), but what they've said about you was over the line.
I understand feeling that way, Othor. That's the way I felt when I saw his comments to hard-working...
Apr 01, 08 | 12:55 am Othor Cain golden eagle '97: Maybe I shouldn't let what Othor and his posters say bother me (and it really doesn't), but what they've said about you was over the line. I know you're more than capable of defending yourself, but I couldn't sit by and allow good people that I know...
Apr 01, 08 | 12:19 am Othor Cain ladd: Thanks, golden. Sadly, he seems to have missed the whole journalism lesson about not passing around unsubstantiated rumors. This habit has been brewing in the local blogosphere for a while now as a way to wage personal vendettas, and it's reaching...
Mar 31, 08 | 10:08 pm Othor Cain golden eagle '97: I went over to his blog and I must say that some of the stuff being posted there is among the most disgusting piece of trash anywhere on the Internet, or at least involving Jackson. I'm really upset about the things he's saying about Donna, the JFP...
Mar 31, 08 | 9:28 pm Othor Cain ladd: I assume you don't mean Webb? So sad what went down there, too.
Not to address Othor specifically, but it is not uncommon for media personalities to adjust their schtick in order to get more controversial and give their listeners/readers some red...
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by Ward Schaefer
by Kristen Phillips
by Greg Williamson
by Ward Schaeffer
by Kristen Phillips
by Maggie Burks
by Ari Glogower
by Sarah Litvin
by Maggie Burks
by Bailee Grissom
by Margaret Cahoon
by Shaketta Toins
by Ronni Mott
by Maggie Burks
by Greg Williamson
by Sarah Litvin
by Ward Schaefer
by Kelly Bryan Smith
by Kristen Phillips
by Sarah Litvin
by Margaret Cahoon
by Sarah Litvin
by Ronni Mott
by Kelly Bryan Smith
by Maggie Burks
by Maggie Burks
Photo by Maggie Burks
by Kristen Phillips
by Kristen Phillips
by Maggie Burks
