Jackson Free Press

It could be very easy for me to walk away from everything political. I could very well be frustrated enough with the fickleness of the process to take my marbles and go home. However, if I did that, it would go against the very principles that got me into politics in the first place: serving mankind.

I recently went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to observe their efforts to solve their juvenile justice issues. What I found was a recommitment to the political process. To see individuals, who have never been elected to anything, giving of their time and talents to provide artistic, educational and self-affirming outlets to troubled youth in their communities was invigorating.

Hopefully, some of those ideas will come to life in Mississippi as we seek to handle our business in providing hope for all of our youth, regardless of background and economic status. Understand that the highest rated show in Philadelphia is the City Council meetings broadcast on their local public access cable channel, similar to Jackson, so I am not talking about a utopian process. But it was good to see the efforts of those, despite the political in-fighting, producing positive results for the constituents they seek to help.

It was also good to know that some of the battles I have fought here in Mississippi are being admired and even emulated in other parts of the country. One such issue was allowing our children who have served time at our youth detention centers to return to their home school. In Pennsylvania, once a youth is adjudicated to the detention facility, they cannot return to their home school. One official even asked, “Is Mississippi more progressive than we are when it comes to our children?”

I smiled.

Truth is Mississippi has been in the forefront of a number of issues, before they even hit the national mainstream. The juvenile justice issue is just one example. Addressing issues concerning the disease of asthma has drawn national attention, with our Statewide Asthma Plan considered the model for the rest of the nation. Another national model has been our Faith-Based Coalition for Community Renewal, the first established after President Bush created the initiative.

Books have been written by aspiring political scientists about the significance of our Legislative Black Caucus and people around the country are praising us (the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance specifically) for our initiative to establish political relationships between the African-American and Latino communities, especially in the Deep South.

I am honored that I have had the opportunity to play a role in a lot of those accomplishments. Even more so, I am enthused that these efforts are not just dealing with short-term issues, but also instilling hope in a state where too many of our citizens look at hope as a luxury rather than an expectation.

Because of my constitution, I believe we are all entitled to dream big and expect hopes to be fulfilled. Therefore, I won’t let personal frustrations and setbacks diminish my entitlement to believe in the promise of hope. I will not go gentle into that good night. I will not surrender to despair. Instead, I will remain steadfast in the faith, for that is the only way to be victorious in the struggle for progress. It is the only way for hope to overcome and triumph over frustration.