Jackson Free Press

I thought this would be a good time to write another reader's guide to my columns published in the Jackson Free Press. Since my last reader's guide, I continue to premiere new satirical characters that provide their opinions on the issues of the day. Along with my reoccurring characters such as Aunt Tee Tee, Brother Hustle, Jojo, Miss Doodle Mae, Chief Crazy Brotha and Kunta "Rahsheed X" Toby, I decided to add a new set of characters called The Unemployed, Underemployed and Part-time Dee Jays. I introduced these characters in a column titled "Hump Day Disco," published Aug. 31, 2011.

I wrote that column in response to a dilemma I personally faced five days before the column was published. I implied my unfortunate situation using this sentence: "Closing out the evening is the Hump Day Disco, featuring the Battle of the Unemployed Deejays." This sarcastic sentence implies that an unemployed worker must fight to live and survive in an uncertain and struggling economy.

In previous columns, I created stories about the "Unemployed Deejays" to express my personal frustrations and anxieties about being unemployed.

The muse for my opinions regarding unemployment and the economy came from Jonathan Swift's satirical essay titled "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick" published in 1729. Swift's "proposal" addressed the indifference to poor people in Ireland. As a satirist, my obligation is to address the indifference toward the unemployed individual's fight to maintain his or her dignity in a cold-hearted society.