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Domestic Violence
Mississippi Rep Charged With Punching Wife Could be Removed
The Mississippi House speaker said Friday that he is asking lawyers to research how to remove a lawmaker if it's true that the man punched his own wife and does …
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Men: Don’t Wait on Women to Act
Mississippi is only as strong as our women. And right now, by most economic and social indicators, Mississippi is not very strong.
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Business
Advocates, Lawmakers: Women's Rights Legislation Will Be Back
Women make 75 cents to every dollar a man makes in Mississippi, data from the Mississippi State Treasurer's office says.
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Honor the 2010 Chicks We Love at Chick-A-BOOM!
Every year, the Jackson Free Press chooses a delightful slate of Chicks We Love to spotlight, and each year we host the JFP Chick Ball to raise money to fight …
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chickball
Men of Character
Jed Oppenheim worked for the Southern Poverty Law Center for five years, and co-organized activities for the Freedom Summer Youth Congress this past summer.
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Politics
Barbour Gives Relief to 4 ‘Domestic' Killers, of 5 Total
Bobby Hays Clark murdered on-again, off-again girlfriend Veronica Conner in 1996 by shooting her in the neck with a 25-caliber automatic, hitting her carotid artery. Now, his record is clear, …
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Why We Do It
In just the past week or so, I've become a bit obsessed with the question of "Why?"
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Appropriations and Pole-Dancing
The House and Senate agreed on a major appropriation bill last week, when negotiators came to terms on appropriations bill SB 2495, which restores $82 million to the Fiscal Year …
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MySpace v. Domestic Abuse
Pussy for Peace is a married 25-year-old woman from Tehran. The MySpace page she manages is a sprawling hive of women's news and thoughts with a Middle East flavor. When …
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New Laws Help Abuse Victims, More
Judges can add an extra level of protection for victims of domestic abuse under House Bill 196, which Gov. Haley Barbour signed in March.
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[Purvis] Wasteland of Empty Promises
"Call—call the police!" I stammered through the phone tenuously gripped in my trembling hand. I was kneeling in my mother's living room in the midst of broken glass and a …
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Bryan's Rant
The SEC Leads the Way
A lot happened in the sports world in the last week. The NBA and NHL finals are now set, and the NCAA Baseball Tournament started May 29 and the Women's …
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CVP Gives Donna Ladd ‘Angel of the Year' Award
At its 2009 Christmas Gala last night, the Center for Violence Prevention surprised Jackson Free Press editor Donna Ladd with its "Angel of the Year" award. CVP Executive Director Sandy …
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ESPN Doc on O.J. Worth Watching
By bryanflynnAnytime there is a new ESPN “30 for 30” documentary, it is normally worth taking time to watch. But the latest entry, a five-part, almost-eight-hour-long series called “O.J.: Made In America” from director Ezra Edelman, might be the best documentary the network has done. If you haven’t watched “O.J.: Made In America,” don’t read any further, as this post contains spoilers.
Even 22 years after the murders of Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ron Goldman, this case still lives in infamy. The O.J. Simpson murder trial also brought up issues that we continue to struggle with as a society today, such as race and domestic violence.
Race and racism are where Edelman begins in parts one and two. He does a great job of showing the treatment of black people in Los Angeles as Simpson began his journey to fame on the gridiron and the Rodney King beating and trial spurred riots on the streets.
This look back at the rise and fall of Simpson provides some interesting tidbits in all five parts.
Simpson’s friend Joe Bell says the now infamous football player’s father was gay and tells how Simpson stole best friend Al Cowlings’ girlfriend, Marguerite Whitley. Simpson later married Whitley at age 19, and as the two stayed friends, Cowlings later drove the white bronco in the famous slow-speed chase.
Most of us at a certain age remember Simpson as the bumbling Nordberg from “The Naked Gun” film series, but in parts one and two of the documentary, you see the moves on the football field that made Simpson a Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Hall of Fame player.
One of the most interesting things in part one is that Simpson wanted nothing to do with the Civil Rights Movement. At one point, he told activist Harry Edwards, when approached about boycotting the 1968 Olympics, “I’m not black; I’m O.J.”
The documentary’s first episode touches on Simpson’s early struggles in Buffalo, as well as his first meeting with an 18-year-old Nicole, who was working at private L.A. nightclub The Daisy, and telling a friend that he would marry her.
The former NFL running back began dating Nicole while still married to Whitley.
Part two devotes some time to Simpson’s cheating on the golf course and his daughter drowning, but mainly, the focus is on his treatment of women. The documentary shows him as a womanizer and delves into how he mentally abused a pregnant Nicole by telling her his affairs were a result of her getting “fat.”
Domestic violence plays a major part in the second episode, as Simpson gets away with abuse because of his charm and celebrity. Even ESPN had a hand in the way the public viewed him.
In an ESPN show called “Sports Look,”host Roy Firestone makes excuses for Simpson’s 1988 attack on Nicole, who needed medical treatment as a result. Firestone was just one of the many people who made excuses for Simpson’s domestic violence. After one …
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Editor's Note
Why Do Children Stay?
It is time for all adults, with children or not, to reconsider traditions on corporal punishment and pay attention to both research on its harmfulness and expert advice on how …
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Do I hear 15? Yes, we can!
Thank you one and all for making this a very special Chick Ball, for helping to save lives.
Wow. The JFP Chick Ball raised $14,000 this year ... so far ... toward a new Freedom Van for the Center for Violence Prevention. Not to be greedy, but I …
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Person of the Day
Justice Ann H. Lamar
Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Ann H. Lamar of Senatobia received the Chief Justice Award on July 16 during the Mississippi Bar Convention in Destin, Fla.
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[Young] Cruelty Cuts Across Nationality, Gender Lines
Almost anything that can be said about the recently revealed abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American and British troops is going to be a cliché. It's horrifying and sickening; it's …
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Domestic Violence Bills Signed
Gov. Haley Barbour signed two bills addressing issues of domestic violence into law this session, both of which drafted by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood.
