Managing Editor Amber Helsel is a Gemini, feminist, writer, artist and otaku. She loves travelling, petting cats, hoarding craft supplies and more. Email story ideas to amber@jacksonfreepress.com. She attended Hinds Community College and the University of Mississippi.
Recent Commentary
City & County
EDITOR'S NOTE: Making the Most of Jackson
If you look at a photo of downtown Jackson from 50 years ago, the neighborhood today is very different. Many of the businesses that used to be there are now ...
City & County
EDITOR'S NOTE: Pride, from Detroit to Jackson
Jackson needs people who are willing to do the hard work—to attend city council meetings to see what's happening, to push back when the city's government isn't sticking to their ...
Editor's Note
EDITOR'S NOTE: Move ... Because Your Life Depends On It
Running is an intense exercise, so while it may be amazing for some people, it may be tough for others. But find a thing you can do, and do it.
Editor's Note
EDITOR'S NOTE: Midterm Madness Comes to Mississippi
Editor-in-Chief Donna Ladd and Publisher Todd Stauffer started Best of Jackson almost 16 years ago to uplift the city because back then it was in a bad place, much worse ...
City & County
EDITOR'S NOTE: Jackson, Get Your Community Together
Sure, if you come from a bigger city, there may be less to do here in Jackson, but you have many options, even if it's just going to the Mississippi ...
Art
EDITOR'S NOTE: Simple Ideas for Effecting Change
A study from the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association shows that 45 minutes of visual art-making can lower stress levels in adults, and other studies show that for ...
Editor's Note
EDITOR'S NOTE: All Those Crazy Jackson Ideas
When Mississippi Arts Commission Executive Director Malcolm White first moved to Jackson in 1979, he said it was a fairly straight-laced city where people went to work, church, school and ...
Civil Rights
EDITOR'S NOTE: Creatives All In It Together
Artists need community. We need other people who will meet with us face to face, and give us helpful advice and tips, offer constructive criticism or answer our questions.
City & County
EDITOR'S NOTE: Fresh Eyes on the Capital City
When dancers in the USA International Ballet Competition refer to the competition in Jackson (which, by the way, is the only one of its kind in the U.S.), they simply ...
Editor's Note
EDITOR'S NOTE: #TIMESUP for Sexual Harassment
The women who wore black at the Golden Globes and called men out are right. It's time we stopped being OK with gender inequality and sexual harassment, and those micro-aggressions ...
Recent Stories
Art
DeVonn Armstrong
For his Inktober challenge, graphic designer DeVonn Armstrong took a specific approach to his sketches: He decided he would tell a story.
Abortion
Governor Calls Abortion ‘Black Genocide,’ Defends Hyde-Smith on ‘Hanging’ Tape
As state and national controversy swirls around U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s comment about a public hanging” in her race against an African American opponent, Gov. Phil Bryant opened a press ...
Domestic Violence
Carmen Hendrix
Members of the community such as Jackson State University English instructor C. Liegh McInnis, The Nest at Highlites co-owner Mac Epps and others will host an event tonight, Nov. 1, ...
Civil Rights
Jackson Organizations Respond to Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting
"At this time, it’s necessary for us to come together, for our institution leaders to come together, to support each other in light of what has happened
Art
Anne Frank: A Legacy of Hope
"The Diary of Anne Frank" is at New Stage Theatre from Oct. 23 to Nov. 4. Showtimes are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Jacksonian
Monique Davis
For most of her career, local artist Monique Davis has been centered at the intersection of art and social justice.
Music
Andrew Head
Mississippi Opera Chorusmaster Andrew Head likes that opera involves so many elements: singing technique, learning new languages, staging and an orchestra, among other elements.
Education
Holmes TYCAM Leadership Positions and National Science Foundation Grant
English professors from Holmes Community College recently accepted leadership positions in the Two-Year College English Association of Mississippi organization, and four Mississippi universities received a $20-million, five-year grant from the ...
