Jackson Free Press

Our peripatetic protagonist, a Terry native and graduate of Byram High School, abandons his theater studies at Hinds Community College in 2000 to crisscross the U.S. as a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines.

Two years later, a hit-and-run driver strikes Jackson as he walks across a McDonald's parking lot—a near fatal accident that induces him to abandon his career in the sky and pursue a political science degree at Austin's Huston-Tillotson University.

In between his studies, he works for the successful campaign of the Travis County Sheriff, and serves the city himself as a precinct chair. He graduates in 2004, and en route to accepting a job as a speechwriter in Seattle, Jackson makes what he intends to be a brief visit with his family back in Terry. He is so overcome with familial affection and excitement over the possibilities of life in Jackson that he declines the Seattle job and settles back home. It's not so much a happy ending as the beginning of an exciting new chapter.

Now that he's back home, Jackson, 30, is eager to share his experiences and skills with the community. At Rainbow, his job is to encourage communication with local residents. Last month he launched Rainbow's first "Dinner and a Movie." The inaugural installment of this bimonthly event featured a screening of "The 11th Hour" and a repast of grillades and grits. Future plans include hosting Fondren Theatre Workshop productions and summer programs for Jackson middle and high-school students.

As Jackson sees it, his most important task is to dispel the image of natural-food retailers such as Rainbow as a "niche" market that is out of reach for the average supermarket shopper. As he puts it: "You can eat healthy, and it tastes good, and it's affordable."

Jackson is most excited about a new non-profit he is starting that will expose local high-school students to fine dining, theater, opera and the arts. He sees it as a logical step after spending time away from Jackson, explaining, "I've worked with numerous non-profit organizations that all were interested in the betterment of youth, and it just invoked a passion in me to bring something back home."

He may have plenty to keep him busy for now, but this former flight attendant seems to have an inclination for flying high. Could a future in local politics lie ahead? "I'll put it this way, ... My background is political science for a reason," he says, "but my plate is beautiful right now."