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LGBT
Mississippi Locals Celebrate SCOTUS Decision but Wait for Marriage Licenses
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in a 5-4 ruling on Friday. In Mississippi, small celebrations broke out on the steps of Hinds County Courthouse, as …
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Person of the Day
Jason Dottley
On June 26-28, the Mississippi Museum of Art will host the Mississippi Pride celebration, a gay rights event, with Jason Dottley as a musical performer and emcee.
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Beheading, Explosion at Factory in France; Suspects Captured
A man with suspected ties to French Islamic radicals rammed a car Friday into an American gas factory in southeastern France, triggering an explosion that injured two people, officials said. …
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Kurdish Fighters Battle IS Militants in Northern Syrian Town
Kurdish fighters in Syria besieged pockets of Islamic State extremists in the northern border town of Kobani on Friday, a day after the militants managed to push into the strategic …
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LGBT
Supreme Court Rules: Same-Sex Marriage Legal Nationwide
The Supreme Court declared Friday that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the United States.
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More than 75,000 in Mississippi Keep Insurance Subsidies
Gov. Phil Bryant was among several Mississippi Republican leaders who criticized the Supreme Court's decision Thursday upholding the tax subsidies underpinning President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, as he called …
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The Rest of Our Race Story
The real challenge today is to understand a point of view different from our own. Yes, we need a conversation about race, but we also need to prepare our hearts …
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Person of the Day
Dundrecous Nelson
Dundrecous Nelson hopes 85 percent is enough right now. After an ankle injury that ended his college career, he is currently 85 percent back to his old self and knows …
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EU Leader Urges Crackdown on 'Illegal Migration'
The European Union's president called Thursday for a crackdown on migrants who are only looking for jobs as opposed to those fleeing war or persecution, as migrants keep arriving on …
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First Funerals Begin for Church Shooting Victims
Police officers stood guard and checked bags as people filed into a church Thursday for the first funeral for victims of the massacre at a historic black church.
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US Capitol's Confederate Statues Prompt Renewed Debate
Alexander H. Stephens, onetime vice president of the Confederacy, sits memorialized in stone, right leg crossed over left, staring sternly into the distance as summer-clad tourists mill about him in …
Entry
Rev. C.J. Rhodes' Open Letter to Speaker Philip Gunn
By Todd StaufferCross-posted from CJ Rhodes' WordPress blog by permission:
Dear Mr. Speaker,
I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. My name is CJ Rhodes and I am a resident of our Capital City. I also pastor Mt Helm Baptist Church, Jackson’s oldest historically black congregation, which is situated within Downtown’s Farish Street Historic District. We are in the shadow of the State Capitol and this year we’re celebrating 180 years of ministry. Our establishment dates back to 1835 when our enslaved ancestors worshiped under watchful eyes in the basement of First Baptist Church, Jackson. We remained a part of First Baptist’s congregation until 1865. At that time we were delivered from bondage by the Almighty’s outstretched arm. With the benevolence of Thomas and Mary Helm, members of Jackson’s First Presbyterian Church, Mt Helm (named in their honor) was founded as an autonomous Baptist congregation and has played a vital role in religion and racial uplift ever since.
Brother Gunn, it was with great joy that I read your Facebook status about how your Christian convictions caused you to reconsider the Confederate flag following the tragic massacre that occurred at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC. I salute your courage and thank you for publicly sharing your change of heart. I know that you are a Southern Baptist elder and I assume that has something to do with your pastoral and political concerns for that flag’s offense to my people. I am blessed to see how the SBC is having a great awakening regarding race in the country. To God be the glory!
In recent days several members of your denomination have taken prophetic stands against the idolatry of white superiority and have called for the removal of the Confederate flag. Dr. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (where you serve as a Trustee), wrote, “Racial superiority is a sin as old as Genesis and as contemporary as the killings in Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. The ideology of racial superiority is not only sinful, it is deadly.”1 Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd prophesied at the 2015 Convention that now is the time to lead racial justice and reconciliation, decrying all racism as sin.[2] Dr. Russell Moore, Mississippi Gulf Coast native and President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, powerfully avers:
White Christians ought to think about what that flag says to our African-American brothers and sisters in Christ, especially in the aftermath of yet another act of white supremacist terrorism against them. The gospel frees us from scrapping for our “heritage” at the expense of others. As those in Christ, this descendant of Confederate veterans has more in common with a Nigerian Christian than I do with a non-Christian white Mississippian who knows the right use of “y’all” and how to make sweet tea.[3]
Before these public proclamations another great Southern Baptist was led of the Holy Spirit to respond once again to racial reconciliation. Dan Jones, the …
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Health Care
Mississippi Had Most to Lose in Obamacare Decision
Mississippi could experience the largest cost spike in health-care premiums in the country if the "Obamacare" premium tax credit becomes unavailable.
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City & County
Mayor Tony Yarber: "No need to display a Confederate emblem..."
In Mississippi, our legislative leaders have the power to rid this state of a vestige linked to one of our most shameful periods. Why hold on to it?
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Politics
Confederate Flag Divides Mississippi Politicians
In the wake of the Charleston massacre, the nation is questioning South Carolina's Confederate flag, and in turn, looking to Mississippi's state flag that features the symbol.
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Art
Unconventional Art: Creativity and Mississippi Comic Con
Some fans anxiously awaited Mississippi Comic Con even before its predecessor, last year's SOPOCU Con, wrapped up. But while founder Greg Hanks hoped to make it an annual event, he …
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Changing Flag Is Just a Step Toward Progress
While we applaud House Speaker Phillip Gunn's statement this week that the Confederate emblem should be removed from Mississippi's state flag, we would sound a note of (optimistic) caution.
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As SC Honors Church Victims, Alabama Lowers its Flags
The Confederate battle flag was still flying high atop a 30-foot pole outside the South Carolina Statehouse on Wednesday as lawmakers prepared to honor their beloved black colleague with a …
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State
Sen. Roger Wicker: 'I now believe our state flag should be put in a museum...'
One of Mississippi's Republican U.S. senators says the Confederate battle emblem should be removed from the state flag because it offends many people and gives a false impression of the …
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LGBT
Transgender Man Sues Tower Loan
On April 13, 2015, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Altshuler Berzon LLP, and Delaney & Robb filed suit against Tower Loan for discrimination on …
