Jackson Free Press

Teachers Vent Frustrations and Share Ideas at Hughes Townhall

On the penultimate day of Mississippi's 2019 legislative session, state leadership dropped an amended version of an appropriations bill for state construction projects on lawmakers just 23 minutes before asking …

Truckin’ Downtown

On the first and fourth Friday of each month, the area around Smith Park is abuzz with activity. Downtown workers gather from the different offices, and some people outside of …

Mural Magic in West Jackson

As part of the Seven Days Community Arts Festival, Cooperation Jackson commissioned 10 artists to paint murals around the themes of "Afrofuturism" and indigenous people in two west Jackson locations.

Activist Who Was First Black Woman Mayor in Mississippi Dies

Unita Blackwell, a civil rights activist who was the first African American woman to win a mayor's race in Mississippi, has died.

Mississippi School Discriminated to Avoid White Flight, Lawsuit Claims

Nearly 50 years after federal courts ordered Cleveland High School desegregated, the Delta high school remains embroiled in battles over desegregation.

Joe Biden and the Dixiecrats Who Helped His Career

Vice President Joe Biden talked about his mentor James O. Eastland at a rally for Democrat Doug Jones in Birmingham, Ala., in 2017.

Democrats, Activists 'Infuriated' as Hood Defends Six-Week Abortion Ban

Abortion-rights activists and some Democratic leaders are unhappy with Mississippi's leading Democratic candidate for governor, state Attorney General Jim Hood, after his office filed a brief in defense of the …

Reeves Falsely Claims Hood Will Let 'Terrorists and Rapists' Vote

Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican candidate for governor this year, misled voters on Tuesday when he claimed that state Attorney General Jim Hood would allow "terrorists and rapists" …

New Stage Explores a De-Industrializing World With 'Sweat'

New Stage Theatre will perform Lynn Nottage's play "Sweat," a production about a group of people in a factory town who are dealing with the repercussions of a de-industrializing world, …

App Will Explain Slaying That Spurred Civil Rights Activism

A mobile app is being developed to explain places and events connected to a killing that galvanized the civil rights movement.

10 Local Stories of the Week

There's never a slow news week in Jackson, Miss., and last week was no exception. Here are the local stories JFP reporters brought you in case you missed them.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood took questions from audience members at a town hall in …

• April 18, 2019

Hood Takes Heat for Blackface Photos, Says Leave Trans Rights Up to Schools

A Hattiesburg woman confronted Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood on Tuesday over yearbook photos from the 1980s that show members of his college fraternity wearing blackface.

Bishop Gunn Brings Natchez Rock ‘n’ Roll to Europe and Back

In barely two years, Bishop Gunn has gone from playing local gigs around Natchez to performing before crowds of thousands around the nation, and garnering national and international acclaim.

A Dream Continued in the Mississippi Delta

To date, no political prowess has organized the force necessary to eliminate the Mississippi Delta region's systemic poverty and economic blight. Some, however, fought harder than others.

Mississippi Speaker Touts Rural Broadband Law, But Questions Remain

When Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn began looking at ways to solve the lack of high-speed broadband access that plagues much of rural Mississippi last summer, he turned to utility …

Edward Watson

Mississippi Business Journal recently named Edward Watson, general counsel at Jackson State University, as one of the top 40 attorneys in the state as part of its 2018 Leaders in …

Of Pirates and Zombies and Sherlock Holmes

When the zombie apocalypse came to small Mississippi town Ovett, people acted immediately, killing zombies and eventually throwing one of them off a bridge. As all this happened, Curtis Everitt …

Crossroads Film Festival 2019

The Crossroads Film Festival, which is in its 20th year, is April 11-13 at Malco Grandview Cinema in Madison, though some films will screen at Hal & Mal's. For more …

Aaron Pelch

Millsaps College named head football coach Aaron Pelch as interim athletics director on Dec. 20, 2018, and he assumed his duties on Jan. 1, 2019.