Jackson Free Press

COVID-19 in Mississippi, Indepth: A Primer

COVID-19 is here. And as the United States virtually shuts down amid fears of an overwhelmed health-care system and an unchecked pandemic, understanding the virus, its history, and how to …

Broadening the Tent: Lumumba Vows to Gain, Give Respect as Mayor

Chokwe Antar Lumumba says that addressing crime in a comprehensive way means getting to the core systemic issues that lead to many of Jackson's problems, including poverty and a lack …

Cruel & Unusual? The Death Penalty’s Trials in Mississippi

The State of Mississippi is litigating legal challenges to the state's lethal-injection law directly. Mississippi last executed a prisoner in June 2012, Mississippi Department of Corrections records posted online show.

2015 Crossroads Film Festival

This year, the Crossroads Film Festival celebrates 16 years of providing Jacksonians with a creative, cultural and cinematic outlet. The festival, held at the Malco Grandview Cinema, features films from …

Uneasy Riders: People with Disabilities Face ‘Layers of Discrimination’

On Sundays, Dr. Scott Crawford rides his power wheelchair down Meadowbrook Road to church, usually in the road and against the flow of traffic. The city's public-transit service, JATRAN, does …

War On The Poor

Congress Embraces a New Southern Strategy

It was 7:30 in the morning, and the smallest beneficiaries of the Richard Brandon Head Start Center at 5920 N. State St. followed their young parents into the mass of …

Fireman Goes Federal

Former Mobile Command Capt. Sidney Johnson filed an EEOC complaint against the city last week, citing suspicious demotions and transfers in the Jackson Fire Department.

Why I'm Pro-Choice

I'm beginning to believe that the pro-life movement is made up mainly of a tense alliance between very sincere, deeply religious people and very insincere, deeply cynical people. The people …

This Thing Called Cholesterol

When I casually mentioned to my brother that I was doing a column on cholesterol, his response was, "Oh! Cholesterol's delicious!"

Art Meets Politics

For the artist, these tense political times offer other perplexing questions: Do I stifle my creative voice to be politically correct? Can I provoke and titillate my audience without alienating …

[Spann] Breaking through the Ice

So Vanilla Ice is a rock star these days? I heard that he even played a set at a club in the Jackson area not so long ago. Perhaps a …

[Williams] Republican Ophelias

Thank you, Swift Boat Veterans, for chucking the blocks out of memory. It all comes back to me now: Vietnam, anti-war protests, Civil Rights struggles. But not at all in …

[Mimi] Hurl Rice, Not Brimstone

One day a guy wakes up and says, "You know what, today I am deciding to be gay. It will be so much fun. I'll tell my parents so they …

[Cohen] Beware the Writhing of a Starving Beast

When Haley Barbour was running for governor, the national GOP pulled out its heaviest hitters to canvass the state for his campaign. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Rudy Giuliani …

[Stiggers] Po' Folks And Their Spooky Stories

The Ghetto Science Team brings you The Financially Challenged Summer Camp, hosted by Grandma Pookie. It's time for po' folks and their spooky stories by the camp fire under the …

[Wilson] Santa's New Suit

As my half-completed degree from Reformed Theological Seminary can attest, I have a hearty sense for the true meaning of Christmas, but I'll let some other commentator discuss that.

Media Literacy Project: Editors Speak Up

With the conclusion of the research from the Media Literacy Project, editors from the Jackson Advocate, Northside Sun, and Madison County Journal respond.

[Hutchinson] The 100-Day Fixation

Then-Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama did a prescient thing last October. He told an interviewer from a Colorado radio station that he thought the first 1,000 days, not the first …

[Murphy] Breaking Out

I'm often struck by the way that many people live half-truthfully, editing out personal information that they deem unsavory to others. I'm not sure if this is a southern phenomenon, …

Supes Scrutinize Elections Employee

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors voted today to extend the contract of a county Elections Commission worker whose employment has stirred controversy. Supervisors voted 3-0 to extend voting-machine technician …