Jackson Free Press

There are few faces in his community that Virden Addition Association President Jimmy Robinson does not recognize. He is the epitome of what draws a neighborhood together: a talkative nature and the kind of ambient nosiness associated with Mayberry's Aunt B.

Robinson, 73, is an Army veteran and business owner who has been living in the city since he moved from rural Hinds County in 1947.

"I've seen my city grow and I've seen my city stand still and I'm interested in people, especially young people, because those are the leaders of tomorrow and we need to invest in them more time. Not money—time," Robinson said. "There's a big difference."

The longtime resident complains that neighborhoods all over the South started to lose interest in its young people after the 1960s.

"We got on the fast track after integration, and that wasn't always a good thing. … Young people—who know very little about parenting—started having babies, so we blame the community. We in the community should step in and say, 'There's a young lady who's made a mistake. We should pick her up and help her. If she needs to go to school we should teach her and help her along the way,'" Robinson said.

Robinson's interest extends to community policing. He knows firsthand that the police department is the most vulnerable minority in any neighborhood, and has no power without the backing of the larger community. Robinson helped form the Jackson Police Foundation in 1999, a program that raises money for training and equipping the Jackson Police Department.

"One of the most important things in community policing is for the police officer to know the people on his beat. He should be able to stop and get a drink of water and say, 'How are y'all doing?' … because people in the community are an officer's best resource for information. Also, people need to know their beat officer. If your beat officer passes by, make sure you know his name. You're paying him. Go introduce yourself."

Robinson also emphasizes a need to ease children's fear of the police.

"Parents need to stop threatening to call the police on their kids. They're messing up the children's minds about police officers," Robinson said.

Robinson vouches for community policing, claiming his connections in the neighborhood have kept his two businesses, Factory Liquidation Furniture and Sweet Fit Medical Supply, off the target lists of most burglars.

"I've only had one burglary in 15 years," Robinson said. "I attribute this to how you treat people and how many people you know in the community."

Previous Comments

ID

82613

Comment

Jimmy Robinson is an outstanding upright honest citizen. I hope he will consider running for the Council (against Stokes). We need good sound people in office to help clean up the mess that is going on now!

Author

maad

Date

2007-06-14T08:19:26-06:00

ID

82614

Comment

I'm a fan of Robinson, too. Not only is he in my mom's old stomping grounds, but I liked his response to the Ridgeway St. incident. To paraphrase, "Why are they punishing the house? The house didn't do anything." Right on!

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-06-14T08:40:28-06:00

ID

82615

Comment

Good piece, Adam. Mr. Robinson is someone worth knowing about.

Author

Izzy

Date

2007-06-14T11:35:26-06:00

ID

82616

Comment

Jimmie Robinson is blessed by God! I count him as one of my favorite Jacksonians, if not my very favorite! Thanks for publishing an article about this wonderful person who serves his community, his family, and his God.

Author

ChrisCavanaugh

Date

2007-06-14T13:15:14-06:00

ID

82617

Comment

Jimmie Robinson would make an excellent Councilman for his Ward. If you are reading this blog Jimmie, please consider running. You have always been straight forward and a person whose word people could depend on. Best of luck in all that you endeavor.

Author

justjess

Date

2007-07-09T14:39:46-06:00

ID

82618

Comment

Justjess, you're spelling his first name differently than Adam did. Did we get it wrong? Do you know?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-07-09T16:41:46-06:00

ID

82619

Comment

Jimmie Robinson would make an excellent Councilman for his Ward. Which reminds me... Did anyone see Kenneth Stokes' TV ad for Hinds County Supervisor? Poor lighting, poor editing, poor graphics, and they spelled "district" wrong. D-I-S-T-R-I-C. I wish I was kidding.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-07-09T21:02:43-06:00

ID

82620

Comment

They didn't spell "district" wrong in a campaign ad. Tell me no. Folks, we've got to raise the standards in this state. "Good enough" is not good enough. Why don't more people *care* about mistakes?!? Everyone makes them—we do—but every mistake pains me, and I strive to fix it and apologize for it. I just worry that too many of our young people are not being encouraged toward excellence. It's why I harp on the media so much. We have to set good examples about *caring* about accuracy and fixing our mistakes. Not to mention learning from them. *That* is the way we'll get this state off the bottom—with a culture of excellence, not lazy, half-assed work and a bunch of excuses.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-07-09T21:11:29-06:00

ID

82621

Comment

And, I will add, L.W., that one of the things I adore about you is your attention to detail and accuracy. I couldn't be more thrilled that you have created a job for yourself as our new online copy editor. ;-) Thank you.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-07-09T21:12:52-06:00

ID

82622

Comment

You're welcome, Donna. Don't get me wrong - I by no means consider myself perfect, and I've had my share of typos, but at least I care about making fewer of them and trying to fix them whenever possible. I admire anyone who does their best to use good spelling, punctuation, etc. I just get irritated when folks couldn't care less about it.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-07-09T21:23:31-06:00

ID

82623

Comment

Hear, hear, L.W. And who assume that the public shouldn't care, either. I mean, look at Shirlene's name misspelled in that rare press alert subject line. The taxpayers *paid* someone to send that out, and her office couldn't be bothered to make sure her name is spelled correctly in the subject line!?! Folks, this is a primary reason that Mississippi is on the bottom—the bigotry of low expectations, for ourselves.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-07-09T22:02:32-06:00

ID

82624

Comment

My TV production professor at USM wouldn't have ever accepted such an oversight like that. My high school English teacher wouldn't have allowed it either without a scolding and a goose egg on my paper.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-07-10T08:04:38-06:00

ID

82625

Comment

It's pretty much the same recycled TV ad that Kenny's used every election cycle, just with a few new faces. "Everyone get out and vote, And elect Kenny Stokes!" My cousin and I laugh that it's catchy in its simplicity. It has worked to keep him in office in Ward 3 for 16 years so why stop now?

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2007-07-10T08:11:06-06:00

ID

82626

Comment

Maybe it's me, but does anyone else think the Kenny Stokes commercial looks like something taken straight off of YouTube? I look at the quality of the production and it doesn't look like it was made for TV.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-07-10T10:45:41-06:00

ID

82627

Comment

To me, the commercial looks like someone said, "Y'all meet me after church to make this commercial. We'll go to Piccadilly afterwards. Dinner's on me!"

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-07-10T16:18:20-06:00