Harvard and the Hole Principle
There’s a certain sense of accomplishment when your child’s taste in music mirrors yours. Even if it’s for just a moment. Even when they’re only five years old. The most […]
Social Justice
Public Safety Means Protection: Asia’s Jackson Story
I never knew Jackson was dangerous until I was told it was. I was severely sheltered, and my upbringing was characterized by a suburban HOA and the occasional visit to my grandmother’s house on Northside Drive. My neighborhood was predominantly white, and I rarely had to consider public safety.
Public Safety Means Protection: Sherri’s Jackson Story
When I think of public safety, the first question that comes to mind is: Who is actually responsible for it? And when I ask myself that question, my mind takes […]
Public Safety Means Protection: Delores’s Jackson Story
Growing up on the west side of Jackson, my view on public safety is shaped by every street I walked, every porch I sat on, and every face I recognized. […]
Public Safety Means Protection
What does it mean to protect something? Or someone?
The verb protect requires a subject and an object. For example, an umbrella can protect you from the rain. Simple. Or, as a father, I believe it’s my duty to protect my son from people, powers, or principalities that may wish him harm. Not so simple, especially when there are people, powers, and principalities that are actively angling to make the world and our community less safe.
Standing Up for Mississippi Families: A Call to Protect Federal Assistance Programs
From The Lighthouse: Did Kendrick Lamar Sell Out?
Note: We’re resharing this article from our good friends at The Lighthouse | Black Girl Projects, a revolutionary organization that steps beyond offering “leadership development for Black girls and women” […]
From Our Partners: Joint Statement on Medicaid Expansion
Today, four of our trusted partners and allies in the work to ensure everyone in Mississippi has access to the resources they need to thrive issued a joint statement urging […]
Farish Street: Jackson’s Diamond in the Rough
As a child growing up in Jackson, I never realized the importance of the Farish Street Historic District. My parents would advise me that it wasn’t a place for anyone […]
Daddy’s Home: A Father’s Right to Paternity Leave
As Father’s Day approaches, and we begin to notice and appreciate all the little things our fathers (or father figures) have added to our lives, it’s hard to ignore the […]
What, to the New American Negro, Is YOUR Juneteenth National Independence Day?
Emphasis on the word your. If you’re not familiar with Frederick Douglass’s speech entitled What, to a Slave, Is Your Fourth of July?, you should be. You can read the […]
Black Businesses in the Red | When Equity Meets History
It doesn’t take any real level of scholarship to understand Mississippi has struggled with equity since it was granted statehood more than two centuries ago. That trend has continued with […]
Why We Chose Not to Play the Mississippi Lottery
Let me start with a few disclaimers. As a leadership team, we chose not to accept an invitation from another agency to submit a joint bid to provide creative and […]
On Being a Human Being 1.1
Inspiration is the good friend who sends the unexpected but perfectly timed text message or DM. This morning I noticed a police car idling in the parking lot. My lived […]
Awake
What remains is contradiction: We must believe in the dream and we must accept that it is false—then, perhaps, we will be capable of building a land where it will […]
The Death of Context in the Sea of Cacaphonous Content
“…by always quoting works out of the context the public forgets that they have a context.” – Theodore Gioia Theodore Gioia makes a very salient point in this article about […]
A Persistent Truth about Inequality
It seems like a new study comes out every day about something. Theories are posited. Hypotheses are proven or disproven. Claims are made, then retracted. It can all be a […]
The Miseducation of the Americans
“And we appeal to the friends of progress and to our citizens of the several states to continue their efforts to the various legislatures until every state can boast of […]
The Classifieds
A few weeks ago, we had a brief discussion about the our moral obligation to people who work with us as employees or contractors. I had a similar conversation at […]
The Importance of Telling the Whole Truth
As I scrolled through my personal Twitter feed this past weekend, I scrolled upon a post of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. The post included the above picture of Bezos […]