Jackson Free Press

My whole life, all I've ever heard about Jackson is that it's a bad place. "It's not the same as it used to be," my mom would say, telling me how, when she was younger, she'd go to Metrocenter Mall all the time, but it's changed so much over the years that now she won't step foot on that side of Highway 80.

It's not just her, though. In places such as Rankin County, there's this major misconception that Jackson is this evil place where everyone robs everyone, and witches brew their sinister potions on street corners.

That line of thought was instilled in my brain to the point that when I first began work at Jackson Free Press when the office was in Fondren, I got so scared of going down State Street just to get lunch at the Belhaven Keifer's Restaurant that I just turned around and went to Quizno's. And going into midtown—a fairly docile place to be, actually—just to talk to Andy Young about a gift-guide item or to browse NUTS Midtown were just about the scariest things I could do.

Someone once broke into a friend's car in the Fondren Cups parking lot and stole her wallet and purse, so in my mind that confirmed what everyone says, although now I know that even in Flowood or Brandon, if you're dumb enough to leave your purse or wallet in plain sight, someone might also steal it there.

Now, I see the city as an entirely different place. Just the simple act of moving the Jackson Free Press office downtown has opened my eyes to just how beautiful and incredible this city is. I'm not afraid to go most places now, as I shouldn't be. As often as I can, I try to show people like my mom that they have nothing to worry about.

Easier said than done, though. Those who saw the city as slowly falling apart a long time ago now believe it's a terrible place. They hear of crime in Jackson and think, "Oh, what a terrible place." But crime happens everywhere, even in seemingly safe places such as Flowood.

I think the best tool to show the real Jackson is Scott Crawford's Lego Jackson, on display at the Arts Center of Mississippi—practically in the heart of downtown. Crawford decorates the exhibit with some familiar sites in the city, such as the Standard Life building that towers above everything and this year's newest edition, the Lego Jackson hospital, but he inserts idealistic elements, such as a beautiful city park and the usage of renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines.

The exhibit shows the city at its best. Granted, the Lego Jackson world is close to perfect, and ours isn't, but still. It's what people like my mother should believe about the city. We shouldn't look at Jackson as this place where bad things happen (not to mention the fact that bad things happen everywhere). We should look at it as the place where change in the state of Mississippi starts. Besides the fact that it's the capital and lots of lawmakery things start here, it's also, in my opinion, one of the most idealistic cities, more than Oxford, more than Tupelo, more than Hattiesburg, more than Starkville. We're the first city in Mississippi to become a Fiber City. People from around the country came to speak at our TEDx conference.

Now, that's not to say that incredible things aren't happening other places. Starkville was the first city to pass an equality resolution after Mississippi government passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and then cities such as Oxford followed suit. Jackson was slow to jump on that bandwagon, but eventually it did.

Jackson is a jumping point for change. It's the largest city in Mississippi with 175,000 people and more in the metropolitan area surrounding it. It's got one of the largest medical research campuses in the state. The mayor is fairly progressive, if at times I question whether he takes his job as leader of the city seriously enough.

The city has a prolific arts scene, with artists such as daniel johnson and Tony Davenport. The city's artistic community actively tries to change the creative culture in Jackson, whether it's through mural painting or hosting art classes for some of the city's most underprivileged children. Its citizens work hard to make the city better, whether it's reducing our carbon footprint by trying to make public transportation more accessible or contributing to the local economy by opening the small businesses that make the city so unique.

When people see Lego Jackson, they should think of it as a blueprint of the city's future. It's everything we want Jackson to be, from the renewable energy to the inclusion of superheroes such as Superman and Batman. If they headquartered themselves in the city, maybe those who live in the suburbs wouldn't see Jackson as such a bad place. Surely Batman and Superman can put their differences aside and help the city fight against crime, poor infrastructure and the inevitable brain drain (young people leaving for bigger and better jobs) that's happening.

Maybe if we had superheroes, those young people would stay. Maybe if we improve art programs in schools, the kids who get in trouble would have more ways to let out their frustration and anger. If we embraced health-care ideas such as telehealth, maybe more people could be treated for diseases such as diabetes. Lego Jackson makes you think about all these what-ifs.

What Crawford clearly wants to do is make you think about how you can help your fellow Jacksonians. You can use whatever you do, anything from art to accounting, even garbage disposal, to help the city of Jackson become one of the greatest cities in the world. After the time I've spent walking these streets and seeing the progress made, I can say that I believe we can do it. We just have to find a way.

I do what I can each day by getting out of my comfortable bed each morning and driving into Jackson to do the work we do here at Jackson Free Press, and that is highlighting the ways that local people are changing our world.

For more information on Crawford's Lego Jackson, see page 17.

Assistant Editor Amber Helsel graduated from Ole Miss in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She's one of the young people who chooses to stay and try to make a difference in Jackson and the rest of her world.