See what shadowy PACs can hide?
Donna Ladd, of the Jackson Free Press
' ...rapper/actor Common held a concert in Jackson, Mississippi...'
...to support Nissan workers in nearby Canton who are trying to organize and join a union. Common was joined at the concert by actor Danny Glover, and Sean (Diddy) Combs sent a video message of support, saying "my heart is with you, my spirit is with you and the workers at Nissan. Workers' rights are civil rights."
more, plus video message, here.
I see sisters rocking natural hair...while turning their noses up at me...I respect your choice to stand against a society that has mentally enslaved us. But don't assume that I haven't made the same vow. You look at me and see 18 inches of Remy in my hair and long eye lashes, and you think you know me.
Funmi Folayan Franklin, at Jackson Free Press
...we need to find an honest way to evaluate talents without prejudice or bias...We need to look more holistically at the way our systems and our society interact, and recognize that they affect each other, possibly far more than we have ever realized. We need to research what truly gives students an edge, and figure out how to share that edge with others...We have to think more radically about the opportunities we grant—or don't grant—our students...We can't let one person's snap judgment of a 4-year-old set that student on a course that will keep him or her just shy of reaching his or her potential. We have to find a way to give a student the same chance to succeed as a classmate with the same IQ but an additional $50,000 in his or her family income. Or one who was born in a different month. Or one who has a heritage other than the rest of the class. Or one whose quiet—or brash, or hyperactive—personality masks the intelligence within. Only once we redefine success will we see more people succeed.
Kathleen M. Mitchell, at the Jackson Free Press
The widow of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, who was killed by a white supremacist outside his Jackson, Miss., home in 1963, laments that her husband is remembered primarily as an assassination victim. This June, to mark the 50th anniversary of his slaying, a series of events will pay tribute to Evers’ work toward racial equality during his 37 years.
more.
In Detroit, I heard so much that I used to hear just about every day in Jackson, [Mississippi], from the (false) meme that you have to "cure" all the crime before redeveloping the city, to suburban dwellers talking about how it's not safe to even drive into the city. I also heard a lot of whining about Detroit's leaders--including from people who don't live in the city with the ability to run for office or vote for our elected officials. Sound familiar? I'm not naive enough to believe that Detroit's problems are easy to repair...Just as Jackson does, the city suffers from intense poverty (worse than ours, in fact) resulting from a very difficult history that has left deep wounds and immense anger, not to mention distrust between the races. And just as in Jackson a decade ago, its locally-owned media tend to display either nearly all black faces or all white faces (an archaic media approach that is about as dated as land lines and black-and-white TVs as this point). But from being involved with Jackson's effort to reinvent itself into a more inclusive, prosperous city, I know that it takes people willing to take chances, get to know people unlike them, be uncomfortable, and just get out and do cool stuff to convince others that it's worth their time to live in and invest in a city that other people love to put down.
Jackson Free Press Editor Donna Ladd
...now we seem to be going backward, not forward, on race and other bigotry issues. Ten years ago, maybe even four years ago, I thought the nation was farther along than we are on the road to racial understanding and acceptance. I remember going to a so-called Klan rally...
Donna Ladd, co-founder and editor, Jackson Free Press, the alternative newsweekly of Jackson, Mississippi
"I would want to ask the secretary, 'What's the acceptable number of people to disenfranchise? I think it's zero."
Bear Atwood, legal director of the Mississippi ACLU in Jackson.
more.
The dependency on slavery, which helped make Mississippi one of the wealthiest states in the Union by 1860, led to a deep racial divide across the South that saw little bridging for the first 100 years after the Civil War, until the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. Now, nearly 150 years after its abolition, slavery's effect can be seen, heard, felt, smelled and tasted throughout the Gulf South's heritage, history and culture. Some people, though, think it is time for that legacy to have an official home.
more.
The Advancement Project, a national civil-rights advocacy group, released a March 2010 report on zero-tolerance policies that made...observations about how unfairly schools treat blacks, Hispanics and poor kids. "Test, Punish and Push Out" also examined the connection between such policies and high-stakes testing, saying the two together funnel children from school to prison.
more.
[First—black—Family; at Woolworth's lunch counter, down South] what year is this? C'MON! see, this is why President Obama often doesn't connect. he's nudge-wink before baldfaced bombast. but this is a BIG nudge-wink. this is a kick to the ankle. this is his reminder to everyone. but does he know that many, many, many folks WILL NOT GET IT? What stubbornness allows him to refuse to believe that those who GET STUFF LIKE THIS are already on his side?
smh he's the smartest guy in the room—over-thinking, over-planning, always doing. WTDTA? Not in Washington DC.
top photo from Jez