Jackson Free Press

As we approach the mayoral runoff, which will most surely decide Jackson's next mayor, the rumors are flying fast and furious. One we heard yesterday is that Chokwe Lumumba "killed an FBI agent and got away with it." This is a false assertion. But it surely morphed out of his history as a young organizer with the Republic of New Afrika (RNA), based in Jackson in the early 1970s. As we explain in this article in 2005, the then-racist police department essentially had an angry stand-off with the militant Republic of New Afrika, headed by Imari Obadele, that culminated in an early-morning Waco-esque raid on the group's heavily armed headquarters in west Jackson. (JPD even brought the Thompson tank.)

The resulting gunfight left a police officer dead and an FBI officer injured. The legal battle that followed was complicated, in no small part because Obadele was not present, but local authorities wanted him punished for the crime. There were also state-federal jurisdictional hurdles to scale, but ultimately eight of the "RNA 11" ultimately served time, ironically because lawyers used the precedent set in the federal trial of Klansmen in Neshoba County who conspired to kill three civil rights workers. In the 1960s, a state court wouldn't convict them, but several went to prison for a time under a federal civil-rights conspiracy charge.

RNA member Chokwe Lumumba was not present, did not shoot anyone and did not serve time.

Read Obadele's 2010 obituary here.

A couple of musical tidbits...

• Downtown Jackson Partners is proud to announce it is partnering with the Town Creek Arts Festival to host Downtown on Display, an open house event for downtown Jackson businesses. It'll be held on October 5, 2013. From 2 - 5 PM, visitors will have the opportunity to take architectural tours, get access to magnificent views, eat, shop, and listen to live music. Read more here.

• We really enjoyed putting together the "Good" issue of the Jackson Free Press last week. If you missed it, be sure to check out the latest PDF edition on the main page. There are always so many solid ideas in it, and some of them are even feasible.

• I'm gearing up today for a tour of the James Eastland Federal Building with architect Roy Decker, who is going to show JFP photographer Trip Burns and me his plans for transforming the downtown landmark into a new mixed-use building to house residents and some commercial businesses. For more information on the Eastland Building, go here.

• In other news, and in case you're a sports fan, the Jackson State football Tigers improved to 2-0 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play with a 35-7 whipping of Texas Southern last Thursday at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Tigers (2-2) are tied atop the SWAC East standings with rival Alcorn State, which defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 21-16 on Saturday.

The much-anticipated Senate bill that would change the governing authority of the Jackson airport has attracted most of the attention in the airport "takeover" fight between Republican lawmakers and Jackson city officials and citizens, but Rep. Mark Baker, R-Brandon, filed a second airport bill earlier this week in the House of Representatives.

The House bill would dissolve the "municipal airport authority located in a municipality with a population of 173,514 according the 2010 federal decennial census" by June 2017. The only city in the state with that population is Jackson. Rep. Baker's bill goes on to describe a nine-member commission that would replace the municipal airport authority. The new "municipal-regional airport authority" would be made up of a representatives from 9 municipalities.

Rep. Baker's bill does not name municipalities; instead it uses 2010 Census figures to describe each separate municipality that would get representation on his proposed commission. Using 2010 Census numbers, the"municipal-regional airport authority" would be made up of one representative each from Jackson, Madison, Ridgeland, Flowood, Pearl and Brandon. There would be one Hinds County Board of Supervisors commissioner and two Rankin County Board of Supervisors commissioners if Baker's bill passes.

The bill was referred to the House Judiciary A Committee (which Rep. Baker chairs) and the House Ports, Harbors and Airports Committee.

The Mississippi Department of Education said Friday that they would adhere to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as well as the joint guidance issued that day by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice to curb discrimination against trans students in order to "provide a safe and caring school environment" for Mississippi's students. A May 18 statement from state superintendent Dr. Carey Wright, however, is now directing the state's Department of Education to take no action.

"Pending a discussion with the Mississippi State Board of Education, I am instructing the Mississippi Department of Education to follow the lead of state leadership and take no action at this time regarding the non-regulatory guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education," Wright said in the press release.

This is a day after a letter from Mississippi House Republicans yesterday called for Wright to step down from her position if MDE honored the White House directive to protect transgender students, claiming that the "policy of allowing boys or men into bathrooms and locker rooms with girls poses a threat to the safety and well being of every school-aged girl in this state."

Gov. Phil Bryant also asked MDE Friday not to follow the directive, calling it the “president’s social experiment.

Sierra Mannie is an education reporting fellow for the Jackson Free Press and The Hechinger Report. Read more at jfp.ms/education.