Jackson Free Press

Today, several southern Democratic Party heads, including Rickey Cole of Mississippi, signed a letter asking Bernie Sanders to stop characterizing southern voters as people who "distort reality":

The letter, posted on Politico, started in part:

We commend you on running a spirited campaign that has energized and mobilized a new generation of voters, but we are concerned about the way you and your campaign have characterized the South.

As you may recall in 2006, the Democratic National Committee chaired by former Vermont Governor Howard Dean took two historic steps towards diversity and inclusion. First, the DNC modified its Presidential Primary process and added South Carolina and Nevada (states with sizable minority populations) to join the historic early states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Governor Dean stated at the time that he “strongly believed in the importance of broadening participation in the nomination process to better reflect the rich racial, regional and economic diversity of the Democratic Party.” Second, Governor Dean initiated a 50-state strategy to strengthen the Democratic Party and amplify Democratic voices in all states and not just states traditionally dominated by Democrats.

The greatest asset we have as a party is our diversity—a diversity of cultures, religions, ethnicities, experiences, and backgrounds.

Yet over the course of this Democratic primary, you and your surrogates have sought to minimize Secretary Hillary Clinton’s victories throughout the South as a symptom of a region that, as you put it, “distorts reality.” You argue that the South is “the most conservative part” of America; implying states that traditionally vote Republican in a general election are not worth contesting in a Democratic Primary.

...

Southern Democrats already have to deal with Republicans refusing to expand Medicaid, deteriorating infrastructure, and the lack of adequate funding for our public schools. We need our national Democratic leaders to invest in our races and causes—to amplify our voices, not diminish them. In contrast, Hillary Clinton has spent her entire career trying to help people all across the South. She saw a region full of families and children of every color, and instead of diminishing them, she worked to build them up. She is committed to a long-term strategy of rebuilding our state Democratic parties, to assist candidates up and down the ballot, and to serve as a voice for the voiceless. She has not dismissed the importance of states that you have won, because she realizes s that to be President of the United States you have to be a champion for all of the states. To be leader of the Party, you have to be with Democrats in all states as well. That includes the ones you won and yes, even the ones you lose.

http://www.politicususa.com/2016/04/20/southern-democrats-revolt-demand-bernie-sanders-minimizing.html

WLBT is reporting that Rep. Mark Baker, R-Brandon, is "currently drafting legislation that would grant Governor Phil Bryant direct control over Jackson's city government," much as the Michigan state government did in Detroit and Flint.

“I’m working on it. This is something I’m looking at," Baker told WLBT.

The TV station, however, quotes Gov. Phil Bryant denying that he's part of such a plan: "I don't see any universe in which I would takeover responsibility for the City of Jackson."

Note, the Jackson Free Press has not confirmed any of this information, which WLBT is reporting tonight.

UPDATE: We're finding more information about this possibility. Rep. Mark Baker threatened to do this in a comment on Facebook: "Pete: if you think what we dos with the airport is so bad, you're going to really hate it when we pass a conservator law for municipalities like we have for school districts. Fair warning, they get it together or we will."

And then there is this screenshot of a Facebook exchange with Hinds County Republican Party leader Pete Perry (who is a member of the 1-percent sales-tax commission), so said he would help Baker with it, who responded: "I'm going to start drafting something this summer. I'll send you a draft for review."

See the longer exchange in the screenshot below.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2016/may/10/25667/

The Human Rights Campaign just released this verbatim statement:

JACKSON, Miss. -- Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Mississippi hailed the Jackson, Mississippi City Council for voting to advance city-wide non-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, public accommodations and employment. Passed by a 7-0 vote, the measure also expands the city’s hate crimes statute to include tougher penalties for perpetrators who commit crimes motivated by the victim's real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

“As the LGBTQ community grapples with the horrific massacre in Orlando, it is truly encouraging to see the Jackson City Council taking decisive action to protect and affirm the rights of all their citizens,” said HRC Mississippi State Director Rob Hill. “Discrimination and hate have no place in Jackson, and everyone, regardless of who they are, should have the legal right to feel safe in their community. We thank Councilman Tyrone Hendrix for his continued leadership on issues of equality, and are confident that the Council’s actions will serve as an example to communities across the country.”

Today’s vote comes just days after a tragic shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, claimed the lives of 49 people and injured more than 50 others. While that crime has not yet been labeled a hate crime, according to the most recent FBI statistics available, more than 20 percent of hate crimes reported nationally in 2014 targeted people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. As a recent investigation by the Associated Press uncovered, this reporting dramatically undercounts LGBTQ data, as it is based on local, non-mandatory reporting. Strong, fully-inclusive hate crimes legislation at the local level plays an important role in improving data collection and ultimately saving lives.

Mississippi is one of 20 states that do not have hate crimes laws explicitly protecting sexual orientation and gender identity, and one of 32 without fully-inclusive LGBTQ non-discrimination protections.

Jackson his been leading on the issue of LGBTQ equality. Earlier this year, the Jackson Public School District’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to extend fully-inclusive sexual orientation and gender identity workplace protections to their employees. With almost 30,000 students, the district is the second largest in the state and one of the first in the Mississippi Public School system o grant employment protections to LGBTQ staff members.

In 2014, HRC launched Project One America, an initiative geared towards advancing social, institutional and legal equality in Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas. HRC Mississippi continues to work to advance equality for LGBT Mississippians who have no state level protections in housing, workplace, or public accommodations. Through HRC Mississippi, we are working toward a future of fairness every day—changing hearts, minds and laws toward achieving full equality.

Verbatim release: A group of Mississippi ministers, community leaders, civic activists, and a Hattiesburg church who filed the first lawsuit challenging House Bill 1523 on the ground that it violates the principle of the separation of church and state, today applaud the decision of U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, who agreed with their arguments and issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the controversial law from taking effect on July 1.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant just emailed his supporters urging them to support Donald Trump as the Republican convention gets ready to launch in Cleveland, Ohio. Here is his email verbatim:

Dear Friend,

In just about every previous election, we’ve all heard people running for office say “this election is the most important one in history.” This year, I think we can all agree—that’s undeniably true.

As we prepare to begin the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio next week, I wanted to send you a brief note about the choice you and I face together in November. It’s a historic time for our Party and for the opportunity for a revival of America’s potential.

America faces massive challenges right now. From economic stagnation and financial uncertainty at home to increasing military challenges and terrorist threats abroad—the election this November will literally chart a new course for our country. The question for all of us is, which direction will we go?

When 17 Republican candidates run for President in the primary, obviously, there are a lot of different perspectives and allegiances. But one thing is now clear: if we don’t come together for the sake of our Party and our nation’s future, we will lose the election—and with Hillary Clinton, we could literally end up with a country that goes into an unrecoverable downhill slide. If we unite to support Donald Trump, we still have a chance to save our country for the future.

This election is not just between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. It’s about standing up for the issues we care about as Republicans including the right to life of the unborn, protecting our 2nd Amendment gun rights and appointments to the Supreme Court that will impact our laws now—and for future generations. That’s what’s at stake, and we can’t sit idly by in this election.

With Indiana Governor Mike Pence joining the ticket as the Vice President selection, he brings strong executive experience as a Governor, plus a good perspective from his previous service in Congress. This will make the ticket stronger and will bring a big boost to the campaign in key states.

Here’s what I hope you will consider doing this week to help us win in November:

Talk to your Republican friends about the incredibly clear choice in this election and the major differences between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Ask them to join you and me in supporting Donald Trump—and to get actively involved in the campaign.

Please make a donation to the Mississippi Republican Party today so we can run a strong campaign in our state. Your support can make the difference to help our Party.

Thank you for your longtime support of Republican candidates in our state. Because of your support, our Republican Party is in position to be well-organized to turn out a big vote in November—but we can’t do it without you. Please help today by donating to the Mississippi Republican Party.

Sincerely,

Governor Phil Bryant

Southern Living magazine has named Saltine in Fondren one of the South's best new restaurants. The write-up begins:

"You might not think Jackson, Mississippi, when you imagine robust oyster culture. And you might not expect to find a sleek eatery in a repurposed schoolhouse. But Jesse Houston has created such a spot, where he is wholeheartedly supporting a resurgence of American oystermen, such as Murder Point Oysters off Dauphin Island, Alabama. Inside a former elementary school that was built in 1927 in the city’s Fondren District, Houston has turned a series of classrooms into a nautical wonderland worthy of Jules Verne—complete with a massive octopus mural."

Congrats to Jesse and the crew! Hard work and creativity pay off.

The Republican nominee for president chose Mississippi's solidly Democratic and majority-black capital city tonight to call the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, a "bigot."

At a rally in the Mississippi Coliseum (with many empty seats) Donald Trump said Clinton is a "bigot who sees people of color only as votes, not as human beings. She's going to do nothing for African Americans and Hispanics."

Clinton has strong support among the nation's African American voters and, to date, Trump has very little. Polls routinely show black support for Trump in the single digits. And Trump has long offended many black voters, such as by pushing falsehoods and stereotypes against black Americans.

Trump is also struggling with Latino voters after calling for a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, and rhetoric about Mexicans being rapists and murderers.

Trump also told the audience—which appeared to be at least 95 percent white— that "the Democratic Party has taken votes of African Americans for granted, and they've done nothing to deserve it."

Pastor Mark Burns, who is African American, spoke early in the rally both pushing the rumor that Clinton is in bad health—which her doctor adamantly denies—and saying that "all lives matter" when it comes to race, as the crowd chanted, "USA! USA!."

At the rally, Trump also continued his fiery rhetoric against undocumented immigrants.

At the end of the rally, Trump walked out with Gov. Phil Bryant to the song, "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Bryant, who has endorsed Trump, is a staunch supporter of House Bill 1523, which many people consider anti-LGBT.

— Reporting at the Mississippi Coliseum by Arielle Dreher

The conservative Heritage Foundation came to Jackson last night for a shindig at Gov. Phil Bryant's mansion a block from the Jackson Free Press.

Apparently, at least one conversation happened there between a Crystal Springs, Miss., man and the former U.S. senator from South Carolina who now heads Heritage, which plays footsy with Donald Trump.

Afterward, Ford Crews, who lists himself on his Facebook page as a web developer, posted public comments about what he told DeMint at the mansion under a public post by Charles C. Johnson, a conservative and sometimes controversial journalist and pundit. Johnson had posted a FiveThirtyEight graphic showing that the vast majority of the country would go for Trump if women didn't vote, following a national trend on Twitter today to #repealthe19th (giving women the right to vote). "This would be a better world," Johnson wrote at the top.

Crews agreed, writing below: "I was at a The Heritage Foundation event at the Mississippi governors mansion, and one of the things I talked about with Jim DeMint was how we need to work to get more men out to vote, and encourage women to stay home, because of how overwhelmingly one sided women's support of regressive ideas is. Sadly when women stay home, conservatives win, when they get pissed off and go vote, they not only vote for democrats, they take their sons, daughters, mothers, fathers and try to push them to vote for democrats. This whole Trump tape dump was nothing more that a way to piss women of so they go vote against Trump."

Other commenters, male and female, unloaded on women's apparent stupidity underneath that post. "[W]ish I could disagree, but after seeing some of their comments—women who don't know the difference between men trash talking among themselves and actual rape are too stupid to vote," Jennifer Verner wrote.

James Flynn advised: "If she wins if a woman wants a favor. Tell them to ask Hillary."

Then this exchange. "Without the votes of women would FDR have been elected? All the suffering liberals have inflicted on this country can be traced back to women voting liberal," Scotty Collins offered.

"I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have been, Carter, Clinton and Obama sure wouldn't have been," Crews answered.

"Women are emotional creatures and most vote with their emotions and not logically," Nancy Bennett added.

Then Craig Kerr red-baited women, and slammed us for Prohibition. "First thing women voting gave us was Prohibition. Then they moved on to cultural Marxism," he said.

"I'm a woman and I totally agree. Women are destroying the west," Zita Norte added.

Susan Klassen agreed: "The majority of women vote based on emotion, not logic, and are grossly uninformed or misinformed. They look at govt as a charity. There are of course, exceptions. I am one of them. But before I educated myself via AM talk radio, starting with Rush, I thought I was a liberal. Studying the Bible at the same time gave …

Last year, the organizers of the boisterous and well-attended annual Mississippi Picnic in Central canceled it in the wake of House Bill 1523's passage.

"Any law such as HB 1523 that discriminates against even a single member of our community cannot be tolerated, and therefore we have decided to stand up for all Mississippians by canceling the 2016 picnic in the park," organizers wrote in a statement last year.

Now, the picnic that started in 1980 seems to be gone forever. The New York Mississippi Society, which runs the picnic, posted this today on its website: "The 36 years of the Mississippi Picnics has been wonderful and a positive thing for all those involved but with the competition of funding sources and the rising costs and complexity of putting this event together, The New York Society regrets to announce that there are no plans for any future picnics."

Read more about HB 1523 and its effects here.

The areas in pink are still experiencing icy, dangerous conditions on Jan. 7.

The demise of the Mississippi picnic in Central Park, news the Jackson Free Press broke early last week, is not the only economic and public-relations fallout of Mississippi's passage of the anti-LBGT House Bill 1523.

On Jan. 1, California's banned state-funded and state-sponsored travel to North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kansas due to anti-LGBT laws passed in all four states. Assemblyman Evan Low, who is gay, co-sponsored the legislation in response to discriminatory legislation in the four states, The Advocate, an LGBT-focused national publication, reports.

"Our state has clearly said our taxpayer dollars will not fund bigotry or hatred," Low told The Advocate. "If other states try to pass similar laws, we will do everything we can in our power to stop any type of discrimination from happening to Californians. As you know, our zero tolerance policy says there is no room for discrimination of any kind in California and this bill ensures discrimination will not be tolerated of any kind outside our borders."

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation moved a scheduled racial-healing retreat from Asheville, N.C., to Carlsbad, Calif., in December in response to passage of the anti-LGBT House Bill 2 in the Tarheel State.

We just received the following update about what venues will be open tonight for the marathon runners who came to Jackson for the Mississippi Blues Marathon that was cancelled due to the ice storm. Limited venues are open tonight for the scheduled Blues Crawl, but the shuttle will not run.

Verbatim from the organizers:

Due to the current street conditions, the Blues Crawl shuttle will not be running tonight. The weather has also impacted musicians and venues. As of this time, the following venues are scheduled to be open:

Hal & Mal’s (200 South Commerce Street, 601-948-0888);

Ole Tavern at George Street (416 George Street, 601-960-2700);

Martin’s (214 South State Street, 601-354-9712); One Block East (642 Tombigbee Street, 601-944-0203);

and Fenian’s (901 East Fortification Street, 601-948-0005).

If runners plan to get out tonight, we recommend calling the venues ahead of time.

Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin has been featured on Richard Prince's 'Journal-isms' website.

A dark storm is brewing in and near Natchez, Miss., after the publisher of MissLou Magazine, The Natchez Sun and Natchez Sun XPress made shocking statements about young black people on Jan. 11, 2017, apparently in jest.

Peter Rinaldi wrote in a MissLou Magazine column titled, "Bang, Bang, You're Dead": "Natchez has become increasingly dangerous in the last eight years. As the population becomes more demographically poor, uneducated, unskilled and dominantly African American, the number of shootings has gone through the roof."

Rinaldi then lists three shootings and two deaths since the year started. He then added: "This is not such a bad thing, as one cynic remarked. The more criminals who shoot each other and are 'taken out,' the safer it is for the rest of us, the logic goes. Three shootings, three bad guys eliminated. Fifty shootings, 50 bad guys eliminated."

Then, he turns to joking, it seems, saying that "we were glad to hear local officials have finally fashioned a new anti-violence plan, which will be advertised in print and on the airwaves shortly, with posters spread all over town." That plan, he wrote, is called the Natchez-Adams County Gangbangers' Rodeo, which will be held March 12 at 7 p.m. at Liberty Park (where Natchez's Klan rallies used to happen, but we'll get to that). It is open to those 13 and up.

Rinaldi then explains in detail how this "rodeo" will work: "Open to all gangbangers with a .45 or 9 mm handgun. Limited to 20 rounds per person. Entry fee $100. Must be paid in cash in advance. No checks." The participants will then get in a circle and start shooting each other when the referee fires the starter pistol. They all kill or maim each other, and the last one standing gets $10,000. Free hot dogs and beers will be served, as well as fireworks. DJ Mortem, he writes, will provide live rap music. (See images of his event description below.)

The Mississippi Rising Coalition on the Gulf Coast alerted me to the editorial. Lea Campbell of MRC sent me the following statement:

"This kind of blatantly racist and classist editorializing and commentary from the publisher of a magazine in the Natchez area is irresponsible and unacceptable. Widespread violence in a community is the symptom of underlying social problems like poverty, institutional and structural racism, underfunded and segregated educational systems, untreated mental illness among many, many others. Mr. Rinaldi fails to express an understanding of these factors and scapegoats the issue of increasing violence in a way that will only act to fuel further racial and class division in the community instead of bringing the various community members together to work on effective, sustainable solutions. Shame on him for using his power and platform in such a reckless, dehumanizing and negligent way."

She also sent this statement from an MRC member whose parents reside in Natchez: "There are a million reasons that these shootings are occurring, and not a single one of them is …

UPDATED Jan. 14: After a national firestorm and a No. 1 trend on Twitter, Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich said the Biloxi City Council on Tuesday, the day after the holiday, should change the city’s Code of Ordinances" to reflect the official federal name of the holiday, 'Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,' commonly known as 'Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.'”

“In my opinion,” Gilich said in a statement on the city's website, “that is the appropriate step to take, for the holiday to have the same name as the federal holiday.”

The statement also conflicts with what city workers put out in social media yesterday, blaming the State of Mississippi for making the city call King Day "Great American's Day."

"The name has since been traced back to a City Council on Dec. 23, 1985 to proclaim the third Monday of every January “to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as other great Americans who have made important contributions to the birth, growth and evolution of this country.”

Presumably, among the other "great Americans" is Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who the State of Mississippi also honors the same day.

Did the State of Mississippi Rename MLK Day 'Great Americans Day'? Short answer: Not that we can figure out. The City of Biloxi apparently did rename the holiday, however, with local ordinance 15-2-2 declaring the third Monday of January as "Great American's Day. No sign of a state law, yet, however.

Still, the City of Biloxi is claiming that the State of Mississippi made 'em do it on its Facebook page (see image below), even as social media is starting to blow up nationally criticizing Biloxi, and maybe the whole state, for quietly changing the name of Martin Luther King Jr. Day to "Great Americans Day." Considering that Biloxi is the home of Jefferson Davis' museum-home, run by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, this does not completely surprise. (SCV are major opponents of changing the Mississippi flag).

The City of Biloxi posted this Friday: "Non-emergency municipal offices in Biloxi will be closed on Monday in observance of Great Americans Day, a state-named holiday.""

When challenged under the post, the unnamed Biloxi employee double-downed that this name came down from above: "The City of Biloxi did not declare nor name this holiday. The holiday was declared and named by the state Legislature. The city, in fact, as it has done for years, touted our upcoming MLK celebration in a Bmail and on the city website this afternoon."

The problem is that, so far, we have not found evidence that the state Legislature officially changed the name of the holiday, and lawmakers we've reached say they have no idea about it, either. Rep. Jay Hughes, D-Oxford, said on the Facebook page of Lea Campbell of the Mississippi Rising Coalition that the "Great Americans" name applies to a different holiday altogether: "Great Americans Day is a combination of all presidents days, …