Jackson Free Press

Child Protection, Pro-Women Bills Pass Senate; House Roiled in Race Tension

Human trafficking, domestic-abuse and breastfeeding bills easily passed through the Mississippi Senate last week.

Execution Teams, Uber Access and Planned Parenthood

The Mississippi Legislature is one step closer to defunding Planned Parenthood services for Medicaid recipients, allowing Uber free rein in the state and guarding the identities of the state's execution …

Trafficking, Anti-Terrorism Bills Still Alive; LGBT Rights Under Fire, Again

Mississippi has a human-trafficking problem that gets far too little law-enforcement and medical attention, but a bill is still alive in the Mississippi Legislature that would provide more resources to …

HB 1523: Half ‘Redundant,’ Half ‘Unconstitutional’

The controversial House Bill 1523, with its long list of protections for people who discriminate against LGBT people and others, will become law in July unless one of two things …

Living and Loving in a Know-It-All Nation

I doubt I'm the only one who has struggled to find the holiday spirit this year. Mind you, I'm a holiday fanatic—decorate, give, wrap, deliver, entertain, even cook—but I've had …

Time to Reset, White Folks

What's happening in Ferguson isn't pretty, but it had to happen: Police and everyday people cannot keep killing black people for minor, or no, crimes and expect our citizens of …

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Candidates You May Not Know

As Election Day draws near to replace late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, many of the official mayoral candidates are doing their best to draw in more supporters, but what about the …

Mayoral Hopefuls Respond to Mural Flap, Plus Four Questions for #JxnMayor Special Election

Ever since the removal of a mural painted in tribute to late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba last Thursday, wide speculation has swirled about who pulled the trigger to have the painting …

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Lumumba: Advocate, Son

While canvassing door to door in south Jackson last week, mayoral hopeful Chokwe Antar Lumumba would take a few moments in between visiting with Ward 6 residents to talk about …

Bubble Tea, Telehealth Center and NAMI MS Coming to the Metro

Karen Gordon, owner of High Biscuits (7048 Old Canton Road, Ridgeland, 769-300-4948), a British-style tearoom that also has a contemporary southern atmosphere, wants to do something different for Jackson's neighborhood …

Setting Up Women for Failure ... or Success

Too many people are still in denial about the way our culture treats even successful and educated women differently. So it makes a lot of sense that poor and less-educated …

Report: Water Dept. Overhaul Needed

The City of Jackson is hemorrhaging cash at its Water and Sewer Business Administration. Detailed in a report completed by an independent consulting firm hired last fall, the losses are …

State Fights Execution Drug Disclosure While Compensating Wrongfully Convicted

At the same time the State of Mississippi continues fighting the release of details about where it gets drugs used in executions, Mississippi taxpayers will have to compensate people wrongfully …

What I Don’t Need from Men

What exactly is a "consciously awake woman," and why exactly do you want to be one? The writer, Kelly Marceau, says the key to being consciously awake is self-awareness.

SCOTUS Ruled on Marriage—Not Discrimination

While the U.S. Supreme Court's same-sex marriage ruling was monumental in American legal history and a cause for celebration by LGBT citizens, the reality is that the court ruled on …

Of Bill Cosby, Frank Melton and Public Moralizing

You'd think that Bill Cosby's targets would have had more power than Frank Melton's troubled "boys," as he called them, but women of any race have never had credibility when …

Budget Cuts or Scare Tactics?

Representatives for state workers are decrying proposed budget cuts to state agencies that House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Herb Frierson, R-Poplarville, asked for last week.

Archie: Poverty, Crime and the Middle Class

This year, David Archie is back on the campaign trail hoping that the votes—at least those that don't prove too apathetic—line up in his favor.

My Advice for Mississippi Politicians

Being inspired is pretty much the same whether you're trying to decide who to elect or to stay excited about your career.

A Time to Read

When political consultant and author Jere Nash met his friend Leila Salisbury, director of the University Press of Mississippi, for lunch at Hal & Mal's in the spring of 2013, …