Jackson Free Press

The American Family Association won’t accept mail using the new Harvey Milk postage stamp—not even donations. AFA released a statement late May urging their supporters not only to refuse to buy postage donning the face of the late gay California politician, but also to reject mail received with that postage.

Experiments conducted by other bloggers show that the AFA will hold true to their incessant boycotts: each sender got his money back.

Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, promoted gay rights legislation and was assassinated in 1978. He is still an icon for gay activism and “gave hope and confidence to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in the United States and elsewhere at a time when the community was encountering widespread hostility and discrimination,” according to a USPS statement released after the reveal of the new Milk stamp.

The AFA, however, believes the commemoration of Milk is “disturbing to say the least,” touching on the fact that the stamp was introduced after seven years of lobbying by the drag queen (they leave out prominent LGBT-rights activist and San Diego Human Rights Commissioner) Nicole Murray-Ramirez.

The AFA cites Milk’s biography The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk to claim he was a pedophile. Milk, according to the source, had a relationship with a 16-year-old while in his thirties. “This is not diversity; this is perversity,” Tim Wildmon, AFA president, said in a press release.

Either way, AFA is missing out on a few $5 to $10 checks (and one $100 one) from some hilarious Internet trolls.

Unknown Hinson & Billy Joe Shaver

June 18 concluded the first eight cycles of the USA International Ballet Competition. Round one, which included 91 dancers, ended with 54 dancers moving to round two.

Eighteen senior male dancers have moved to round two, along with 14 senior female dancers, seven junior male dancers and 15 junior female dancers. The countries with the most dancers entering the round are Japan, the U.S., the Republic of Korea and Brazil.

Here are the competitors.

Senior Males

Aaron Smyth (Australia)

Andile Ndlovu (South Africa)

Byul Yun (Republic of Korea)

Dae Han Na (Republic of Korea)

Gantsooj Otgonbyamba (Mongolia)

Ilya Artamonov (Russia)

Ivan Duarte (Brazil)

Jeong Hansol (Republic of Korea)

Ji-Seok Ha (Republic of Korea)

Jun Tanabe (Japan)

Kota Fujishima (Japan)

Mengjun Chen (Peoples Republic of China)

Mozart Mizuyama (Brazil)

Nayon Rangel Iovino (Brazil)

Rodrigo Almarales (Cuba)

Sebastian Vinet (Chile)

Steven Loch (USA) Telmo Moreira (Portugal)

Senior Females

Arianni Martin (Cuba)

Ga-Yeon Jung (Republic of Korea)

Heewon Cho (Republic of Korea)

Hitomi Nakamura (Japan)

Irina Sapozhnikova (Russia)

Jessica Assef (Brazil)

Kaori Fukui (Japan)

Melissa Gelfin (USA)

Olga Marchenkova (Russia)

Shiori Kase (Japan)

Sirui Liu (Peoples Republic of China)

Tamako Miyazaki (Japan)

Ye Lim Choi (Republic of Korea)

Yui Sugawara (Japan)

Junior Males

Aran Bell (USA)

Blake Kessler (USA)

Daniel Alejandro McCormick-Quintero (Mexico)

Gustavo Carvalho (Brazil)

Jinsol Eum (Republic of Korea)

Taiyu He (Peoples Republic of China)

Yue Shi (Peoples Republic of China)

Junior Females

Ami Naito (Japan)

Gabrielle Chock (USA)

Gisele Bethea (USA)

Katherine Barkman (USA)

Mackenzie Richter (USA)

Mizuho Nagata (Japan)

Olivia Gusti (USA)

Paula Alves (Brazil)

Paulina Guraieb Abella (Mexico)

Rieko Hatato (Japan)

Romina Contreras (Chile)

So Jung Lee (Republic of Korea)

Victoria Wong (USA)

Yasmin Lomondo (Brazil)

Yoshiko Kamikusa (Japan)

"The dancers competing in the 2014 USA IBC are presenting a high caliber of artistic performance and skill,"USA IBC Executive Director Sue Lobrano said in a press release. "Anticipation is high moving into the Contemporary Round II."

The competition hits the pause button tonight, June 19, though, as the Trey McIntyre Project gets ready for a performance at 7:30 p.m. Lobrano said at a press conference that this will be one of the group's last performances. Round two begins June 20 at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, visit usaibc.com

The American Family Association Action Voter Guide has made its Internet rounds this election season, prompting Christian voters to prioritize conservative ideologies at the polls.

Live music and new releases...

Tyrone Hendrix and Dennis Sweet IV will be heading for the Ward 6 City Council Election, which is scheduled for July 1.

In yesterday's election, Hendrix came out on top with 546 votes. Sweet was only nine votes behind with 537 votes total. Rashaad Crisler came in third place with 429 votes. The polling results can be viewed in its entirety on the city's website at http://www.jacksonms.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=79.

Hendrix was born and raised in Jackson. He is a longtime Democratic Party operative who helped manage Jonathan Lee's campaign for mayor in 2013 and worked with Regina Quinn during the recent special election for mayor. Before working for Lee last year, Hendrix—who runs a political consulting firm with his wife, Ercilla—was deputy campaign manager for Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree's 2011 gubernatorial bid.

He was also state director for Organizing for America, a grassroots advocacy group affiliated with the Democratic National Committee, and other community-organizing groups. During the 2009 Jackson mayor's race, Hendrix worked on the campaigns for state Sen. John Horhn in the Democratic primary and Harvey Johnson in the runoff and general election. In 2008, Hendrix worked on Barack Obama's first presidential campaign.

In a recent interview with Jackson Free Press, Hendrix explained what his top priorities would be if he obtained the Ward 6 seat.

"Hands down, in the first few weeks I’ll be going to the residents of Ward 6," Hendrix said. "I think that we can’t get so caught up in what we think the issues are, and I think we have a pretty good sense of what they are because I, personally, go knock on doors and make phone calls every day to residents of Ward 6. But at that particular time I think we’ll have to reinforce what we think the biggest issues are.

"…We also have problems with our children not having a place to go so they walk the street, they stay at home, they get in trouble. They say an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. The saying is often used, but it also applies particularly in Ward 6 because a lot of places have closed down, particularly the parks. The park areas that we have in the ward, if they are open, they are unsightly. It’s not inviting for people to want to come and spend time in that green space, which would be a great place for kids to go."

Sweet works with his father at Sweet & Associates, where the younger Sweet specializes in civil litigation, civil rights, personal injury, medical malpractice, premises liability and criminal defense.

Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Chicago, Sweet has practiced law in Mississippi since 2008. He has also worked as an adjunct professor and volunteer pre-law adviser for Tougaloo College, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 2004. Sweet attended Thurgood Marshall School of Law, and he received a Master of Laws from the George Washington University Law School in 2011.

In a recent interview with JFP, Sweet talked …

Before now, I had hardly watched any ballets. I saw "The Nutcracker" live once when I was in elementary school and again at after a pep rally in high school. I own that soundtrack plus a couple more ballet scores, but other than that, the world of dance is a mystery to me.

But one of the perks of my job at the Jackson Free Press is receiving opportunities to cover events such as the USA International Ballet Competition. After the coverage we did in preparation for the event, I wanted a chance to see how it all came together and exactly what the big deal was about surrounding this event.

The USA International Ballet Competition began in 1979, with ballet dancer, author and educator Thalia Mara and a host of others spearheading it. People always wonder why the competition is here out of all of the incredible cities in the nation. The answer? Mara saw a need for more arts and a bigger dance community in the south. The USA IBC is one of only four ballet competitions that International Theater Institute of UNESCO has sanctioned in the world. The others are in Moscow, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; and Varna, Bulgaria. Like the Olympics, USA IBC occurs every four years, and this is its 10th cycle and 35th year.

The committee's organizers seem to have pulled out all the stops for this year's competition. On opening night June 14, a succession of speakers, including Mayor Tony Yarber and USA IBC Director Sue Lobrano, took the stage, delivering speeches on how proud Jackson is to see so many faces from so many places. Audience members watched an inspiring film about the USA IBC's history and then dancers from all around the world walked down Thalia Mara Hall's long aisles, a member of each group carrying the flag of their native country. 2002 USA IBC junior gold medalist Joseph Phillips, who is from the U.S., lit the competition's torch and stood in the middle of the 91 dancers who hail from 20 different countries.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet performed "Innervisions," a modern dance work set to Stevie Wonder songs. In leaps and bounds and turns, the troupe sent the audience to a place of love, heartbreak, self-fulfillment, beauty and the fullness of a life well-lived.

June 16, I headed to Thalia Mara Hall to cover session four of round one. Competitors included American dancers Megan Wilcox, Savannah Louis, and Olivia Gusti; Japanese dancer Mizuho Nagata; senior Korean dancers Ga-yeon Jung and Ji-Seok Ha; Mexican dancer Daniel A McCormick; Chinese dancer Mengjun Chen; Brazilian dancer Mozart Mizuyama; Phillipine dancer Jayson Sarino Pescascio; and Russian dancer Olga Marchenkova.

The dancers performed variations from ballets such as "Flames of Paris," "Sleeping Beauty" and "Swan Lake." The most impressive performances,—at least to a inexpert ballet spectator like me—were the pas de deux. Such grace and strength seem to be required, and the crowd cheered loudest at the end of those performances.

Mizuho Nagata performed the …

The International Gumbo Festival returns to downtown Jackson.