Jackson Free Press

Whole, Fulfilled, Loved

Standing on the playground that day, it was clear I liked the little blonde girl who was playing in front of me. It wasn't in a "I want to be ...

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Safe in Our Own ‘Castles’

One of the last places I want to find myself when traveling with my family is on the side of dark stretch of freeway with flashing lights behind me.

OPINION: Domestic Violence is the Problem

Domestic abusers all over the country gun down family members they blame for their problems every day. They take children and bystanders with them.

Dear Pam: Stay in Your Lane

If a so-called activist organization doesn't have the analysis to look at how their suggestions play out for people across income, race, disability and regional lines, then I suggest they ...

OPINION: Justice Against Sexual Violence

My middle daughter has always been one of my most outgoing and ambitious children. She was so proud of her uniform and of getting this job all on her own.

Kingston’s Death: The Tragedy It Is

I can't speak for Kingston Frazier's mama, but I know what it's like to be a black single mama who's judged because your child was a victim of a crime.

The Myth of the Welfare Queen

I am old enough to remember the promise of welfare reform in the '90s. I recall quite well the nasty rhetoric used to shred our social safety net.

OPINION: Mississippi Women's Activist—Bernie Sanders Can't Come to the Cookout

"This town hall isn't special; they are taking the usual Bernie town hall and putting Martin Luther King's name on it. It's glaringly obvious, offensive and frankly it is just ...

Let's Clean House

As we move forward as a city and a state, it's time we discussed the difference between blame and accountability.

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Nothing New in 41

Mississippi does need more education around reproductive health. Most of us fighting "personhood round one" found that many people didn't have a good grasp on how reproduction and birth control ...

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The Swimsuit Body

I challenge myself to question the judgments I make about people, including what makes people attractive, and why I think someone should or shouldn't wear something.

Do Better, Jackson

When I became a feminist activist and a visible advocate for a woman's right to choose, I knew that I might lose a few friends in the process. Abortion has ...

Kuumba and Imani to You

My family and I have been celebrating Kwanzaa for 11 years as of this year. In 2003, I decided my family was going to have our first Kwanzaa after researching ...

Another Do-Nothing Legislature?

For the past four years, I have read almost every bill presented to the House and Senate, and most of them are complete and utter nonsense.

Gov. Phil Bryant’s Welfare-Queen Rhetoric

There are no simple fixes for poverty in our state. Yet, instead of coming up with a multifaceted comprehensive plan to help, Phil Bryant is feeding us bumper-sticker slogans and ...

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Rising and Falling

Navigating the tricky world of being The Black Person has been my life. I'm a biracial woman who was raised half her life in an almost all-white town and who ...

A Dangerous Game

Rarely does a two-day period go by that I don't get a Facebook message or email asking about how to apply for Medicaid or where to access free or low-cost ...

Who's Moral Now?

In my last column, I wrote about the importance of Medicaid expansion to our state--and specifically to me. Sometimes we pay a price for publicly sharing a story; my price ...

Help When It’s Needed

Recently, fast-food workers across the country went on strike. They asked for something fairly simple: a living wage. Make no mistake: The multinational companies that employ these workers can afford ...

Milking Our Emotions

With all that is going on with the government lately, people on all sides of the political spectrum seem to be on edge. Nothing will make people emotional faster than ...