The Day That Emmett Died
Twelve-year-old Simeon Wright lay in his bed in his family's small house near Money, Miss., in the Mississippi Delta. It was Saturday night, Aug. 27, 1955, and Simeon was tired …
JFP Interview: Keith Beauchamp
Telling The Untold Story
Keith Beauchamp, 34, has spent the last 10 years of his life investigating the brutal murder of Emmett Louis Till in Money, Miss., in 1955. Till, 14, was visiting relatives …
Twin Failures
Film Review: "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till"
We live in a culture so driven by visual images that our eyes can't take them all in. From pop-up Internet ads to quick-cut TV commercials to high-tech billboards, we …
Jackson Less ‘Dangerous' In 2004
Ironically, a murder binge in the city—nine fatal shootings in 10 days—comes just as a national crime-rating outfit released good news for the city of Jackson, at least about its …
[Greggs] All In The Single Girl's Family
In honor of the holidays I was going to write an endearing column listing all the wonderful things in my life for which I have to be thankful. I scrapped …
Sensational ‘Suburban Legends'
Perhaps the biggest single flaw that The Clarion-Ledger has in its recent addition to its "Changing Face of Jackson" series is the fact that it doesn't include itself in the …
Melton's Honeymoon, Part III: Crime and Punishment, Melton Style
Frank Melton carried the May 2 mayoral primary in part because of a surly, take-no-prisoners attitude on crime. Melton used his 14-month tenure as head of the Mississippi Bureau of …
You Can Do That
I hadn't planned to write about the death, or the life, of Rosa Parks. I know she was an amazing hero, but I didn't think I had anything else to …
[Greggs] One Tiny Little Pink Line
On some rather innocuous Sunday eight years ago, I was a 21-year-old recent college graduate just back from a camping trip. I sat on the edge of a bathtub and …
Franklin Advocate Editorial and Thomas Moore Response
Franklin Advocate, July 28, 2005
This letter appeared in The Franklin Advocate, the weekly newspaper in Meadville, Miss, the week after Thomas Moore's story appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It is reprinted verbatim; below …
Damned If We Don't
The weekend Katrina hit, Kate Medley and I were in the Natchez area finishing research and art for the package of stories that you'll read in this issue. This time …
Evolution Of A Man: Lifting The Hood In South Mississippi
Read the JFP's full "Road to Meadville" blog/archive here
Daddy, Get Up: This Son of Natchez Wants Justice, Too
Photo of Wharlest Jackson Jr. by Kate Medley
When Wharlest Jackson Sr., 36, left his job at the Armstrong Rubber Co. in North Natchez the evening of Feb. 27, 1967, life was looking pretty good for him.
Dear Meadville: Thomas Moore Tries To Wake Up His Hometown
Photo of Mac Littleton by Kate Medley
On his July pilgrimage back to his native Mississippi, Thomas Moore got his hopes up. With the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and the Jackson Free Press documenting his effort, Moore went …
[Greggs] I Am Mississippi
I love this place. This state, I mean. I love the fact my neighbors showed up the day after Katrina with chainsaws in hand because they noticed a tree blocking …
