Summer of ‘64: A Mississippi Freedom Fighter Remembers the Struggle
with JoAnne Prichard Morris
You never know when something's going to happen that will change your life completely. If I had stayed in Florida canning tomatoes, I wouldn't have been here when the civil …
[Ladd] Freedom is Just Another Word
When I was living in New York, we heard that the Klan was coming to march in Manhattan. This, predictably, caused an outrage in the city with folks screaming about …
'Mississippi Burning' and Other Tall Tales
In one of those bizarre twists of fate that keep happening to me since I returned to Mississippi, I ended up recently spending a Saturday afternoon in Neshoba County with …
[Hutchinson] What is ‘the Truth,' Mr. Cosby?
Comedian Bill Cosby's partial recant that his knock of allegedly bad behaving blacks was a call for action and not a broad brush stroke indictment of all poor blacks, came …
I Felt the Earth Move
It was like old home day in Neshoba County Sunday … with a few twists. The usual suspects—the people I've gotten to know in the struggle for justice and racial …
Down a Southern Road
Monday, June 21, is the 40th anniversary of the deaths of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.
Bigotry of Low Expectations
I was about to start my second year at Mississippi State when Ronald Reagan came to the Neshoba County Fair in 1980. My gut instincts told me one thing. "The …
Neshoba County Coalition Calls for Justice
The newly formed Philadelphia Coalition of blacks, whites and Choctaws released the following statement calling for justice and issuing a long-overdue apology for the tragic murders that happened there on …
The Next Generation
Those are six words I never expected to say. I grew up, like many restless kids, thinking my town was the most backward place on earth. That's normal. But when …
‘Philadelphia Coalition' Calls for Justice
The Neshoba Democrat is reporting that a multi-racial coalition of leader, business owners, newspaper editors and citizens in Neshoba County today issued a long-overdue statement, calling for justice for the …
[Irby] Trouble in Mind
I set foot back in Jackson on Feb. 10, 2004, after a year and a half of moving around. I had traveled to what I considered the most liberal parts …
Black Monday: Mississippi's Ugly Response to 'Brown v. Board' Decision
It was the late spring 1953, and Gov. Hugh White had called a crucial special session of the Mississippi Legislature. He needed to mobilize a group of moderate lawmakers. If …
[Ladd] Thin Line Between Love and Hate
I was talking to a young woman the other day who is in the family of a Jackson man who toiled and lobbied and prodded and threatened for many years …
‘Thurgood's Coming:' Tale of a Hero Lawyer
When Thurgood Marshall hung out his shingle in 1933 as an attorney in his hometown of Baltimore, he immediately became a very popular attorney among fellow African Americans. One problem, …
JPS, Then and Now
The 1957 Murrah High School yearbook is filled with happy white faces, and names like Hederman, Copeland and Mize. One photo shows the yearbook staffers cutting up and having a …
