Jackson Free Press

JFP Interview: Myrlie Evers-Williams

Myrlie Evers-Williams, 72, and I talked long distance last Saturday at noon, separated by distance but connected by more than the telephone—both Mississippians, both widows, albeit by excruciatingly different circumstances, …

V-Mail Home: From Mississippi To Iraq And Back

He felt some jet lag his first day there, but not too much to keep him from sitting down at a computer and e-mailing his mother. Twenty-six-year-old Sgt. Vincent Thomas …

The Place To Be: Developers Catering More To City's ‘Creative Class'

Since the early 1970s, an outflow of businesses and residents to the suburbs has decimated downtown Jackson. Until recently, the lower taxes demanded of cow pastures and the cheap gas …

The World of Queendom: A Primer

So you wannabe a wannabe. Congratulations. By inviting the spirit of the Sweet Potato Queens into your heart, you have committed yourself to a lifetime of fun and laughter and …

Honoring Our Soldiers: Are Mississippi Lawmakers Doing Enough?

Mississippi is paying dearly with our soldiers' lives in the Iraqi War. Since the war began in March 2003, at least 37 servicemen from Mississippi have lost their lives. In …

Artist In Residence: Clay's Mixed Core

Most of the surface space in Clay Hardwick's room is covered with an image, be it his own or another's: shots of friends checker one wall, posters for bands and …

Crossroads Film Festival: Mississippi Filmmakers On Screen

We all know that Mississippi is the "crossroads" where the blues were born. But, of late, the state is coming into its creative own in many artistic areas. Film is …

An Answer In Baton Rouge?

Pulling into the parking lot of the Baton Rouge Marine Institute, you wouldn't think of it as a building that kids walk in and out of daily that changes their …

Music Street: Where Is the Studio Melton Promised?

During Frank Melton's mayoral campaign, he told an audience of young African American musicians at The Birdland that he would bring a world-class recording studio to them, to Farish Street, …

She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother

The responses vary on what makes a mother cool or wonderful. Whether it be because she always buys her kid ice cream (as Darryn Price says about her mama, Alisa) …

2005: Community

Best Elected Official and Most Under-Appreciated Jacksonian: Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.

Capitol Burning: The War Between the Branches

Mississippi is known for many things: great authors, beautiful antebellum plantations, Sweet Potato Queens, civil rights troubles and a ridiculously tight state budget. In the poorest state in the country, …

How To Help

AnySoldier.com's motto, "Freedom isn't free! Just ask any soldier …" speaks volumes. The next words on the Web site explain its purpose: "Want to send your support to a soldier …

2005: Urban Living

<b>Best Locally Owned Business: All of Chane's (Fondren)</b>

Think global. Shop local. It's emblazoned on one of the many bumper stickers on the back of my car. It's all over the JFP. It's on the lips of my …

Capitol Report: Will They Or Won't They?

The Legislature only has until Jan. 31 to decide whether it will reinstate the Medicaid benefits taken from 50,000 people characterized as Poverty Level, Aged and Disabled (PLADs) last session. …

A Blanket of Love: The JFP Interview With Tougaloo President Beverly Hogan

Tougaloo College's name is a Choctaw word that means where two streams cross, Dr. Beverly Hogan, 53, told me as we sat in her office, talking about her alma mater, …

Can Education Be Saved? More Cuts May Be Ahead.

Pontotoc County Superintendent John Simmons has been in his position for only two years, but already knows how strapped for money his county schools are. "Some of our history books …

Melton: A Cowboy Who Wants to Be Mayor

Please click here to read Donna Ladd's profile of Frank Melton.

Shelter In A Storm

Visit the Jackson Free Press' KatrinaBlog here.

Gospel and Good Feeling

For Hurstine Watts, gospel music is a narrative art.