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Education
Behind the Wall
The Mississippi Legislature voted last week to place an alternative to a citizen-driven initiative on the ballot this fall for the first time in Mississippi history under the state's initiative-process …
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Jacksonian
Charlotte Seals
Although she began as a pre-med major, Charlotte Seals found out when she graduated with a major in science education that her commitment to "never be an educator" might not …
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Editor's Note
Acknowledging Our ‘Best’ Once Again
You hold in your hands (or you're viewing online) the culmination of many months' worth of planning and effort—the 2015 Best of Jackson issue.
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Young Tea Partiers to LGBT Supporters: "Don't Tread on Me"
By AnnaWolfeArriving fashionably late, the boys stood in the parking lot by a jeep with the infamous snake flag draped over the windshield and expressed their disapproval of the groups desire to form the GSA at BHS.
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AP Analysis: Obama Barreling Into His Final Two Years with SOTU Speech
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's not just the State of the Union speech that President Barack Obama is turning on its head. It's the whole notion of a lame-duck president.
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LGBT
Brandon Gay-Straight Protest Planned Today
Despite fervent backlash from detractors, a demonstration against what LGBT activists call discrimination against a group of students who wanted to create a Gay-Straight Alliance at the school will continue …
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Civil Rights
James Meredith
It shouldn't be surprising that James Meredith, whose life and activism is the subject of a whole corner at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, has a plan to …
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Biz Roundup
HIV Services, Convention Center Award and the State Economy
The publishers and editors of ConventionSouth, a national multimedia resource for planning events in the South, recently presented the Jackson Convention Complex with a 2014 Readers' Choice Award.
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Theater Shooting Defendant in Court as Jury Selection Nears
Theater shooting defendant James Holmes sat quietly and rocked slightly back and forth in his chair on Tuesday just hours before the start of the arduous process of choosing a …
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Opening Round Iran Sanctions Fight Kicks Off in Senate
Congress and President Barack Obama are on a fast track toward confrontation over sanctions on Iran.
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New Privacy Concerns Over Government's Health Care Website
A little-known side to the government's health insurance website is prompting renewed concerns about privacy, just as the White House is calling for stronger cybersecurity protections for consumers.
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A Look at the Hostages Believed Held by Islamic State Group
A list of foreign hostages believed held by the Islamic State group and some of those who have been released, reportedly in exchange for ransom money:
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Islamic State Group Threatens to Kill 2 Japanese Hostages
The Islamic State group threatened to kill two Japanese hostages unless they receive $200 million in 72 hours, directly demanding the ransom Tuesday from Japan's premier during his visit to …
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Supreme Court Won't Hear Dispute Over Debit Card Fees
The Supreme Court has rejected a challenge from retailers who claim the Federal Reserve allows banks to charge businesses too much for handling debit card transactions.
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5 Chechens Arrested in France, Including 1 with Explosives
Five Russians have been arrested in southern France, including one with a cache of explosives, a local mayor said Tuesday as four other men appeared at a court in Paris, …
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Students Stand Up To School District
By AnnaWolfeLGBT activists will hold a demonstration tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. to oppose what they call discrimination against a group of students who wanted to create a gay-straight alliance at Brandon High School.
Instead of simply rejecting the students' request to form the group, Rankin County School District Superintendent Lynn Weathersby took a more nuanced approach. He passed a new requirement for students attempting to form or join a club: their parent's signature.
Brandon High School tenth-grader Michelle Brown said the new rule would make it near impossible for some students to participate in the club.
"Some parents might be homophobic or some kids might not have come out to their parents yet. So it would be really hard for them to ask their parents, 'Hey, can I go to this club at school?' without their parents questioning them," Brown said.
Brown said she thinks the requirement specifically targets the gay-straight alliance. "It wasn't put in place until we tried to have our club," Brown said.
A Facebook page created for the event states the protest will be held at the Rankin County School District's offices.
"Based on federal law, this is discriminatory in nature. Please join us in protesting an unlawful and bigoted change to their policy," the page reads.
The reaction that Brown said she has witnessed to attempts at creating a gay-straight alliance—which included students using slurs for the LGBT community—illustrates the need for groups like these.
"Going day after day ... (LGBT students) go through a lot of stuff," Brown said. "They're stuck in the shadows and they need to (be able to) come out."
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Education
Tate Reeves Proposes Changes to Tax Code, MAEP, Hospitals
Talk around the Capitol suggests that because it is an election year, nothing substantial will get done. But it's clear that the state leadership has a different idea.
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City & County
Tougaloo, Millsaps Spend MLK Day With Fun and Community
The MLK Day Play-n-Serve, sponsored by Tougaloo and Millsaps colleges, is a reminder of how our nation has changed.
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Civil Rights
Bayard Rustin
If Martin Luther King Jr. was the face and the voice of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and '60s, Bayard Rustin was the movement's conscience because he was …
