Jackson Free Press

Good Ideas: Girl Power

If we continue to tell girls that it's not acceptable to be bossy, we are setting them up for failure. We are telling them it is not their place to …

Protect the Innocent: End the Death Penalty

Michelle Byrom is a textbook case of what is wrong with the state executions in Mississippi and the rest of the nation.

Miss. Supreme Court Reverses Michelle Byrom's Conviction, Delays Second Execution

The Mississippi Supreme Court today reversed the capital conviction of Michelle Byrom and ordered a new trial with a different circuit judge.

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Big, Bad Chef of the Week

We must believe in our own power—to change hateful laws and to vote out every single person who tries to keep us mired in a Jim Crow-type world. Stand up, …

As Shepard Lay Dying

Local theater man John Maxwell could not have known when he decided to stage "The Laramie Project" in downtown Jackson at Galloway Methodist Church just how impeccable his timing would …

Mayoral Campaigns, PACs Spending Big on Ads, Some Secretly

With two young candidates who are relatively unknown to big parts of Jackson, the airwaves were expected to be a major battleground in the capital city's mayor's race.

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Following the Money: More Shadowy Mayoral Backers Come to Light

Over the weekend, an unregistered political-action committee, Citizens for Decency, launched an all-out blitz with negative ads against Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber.

Discrimination Isn’t ‘Religious Freedom’

You do not have religious freedom if every single American doesn't have it, too, including those you believe are heathens and sinners.

Loving Beyond Fear

The twisting of religion to promote and excuse hate, separation and violence over love, togetherness and safety turned me off from organized faith for a long time, and I still …

Setting Up Women for Failure ... or Success

Too many people are still in denial about the way our culture treats even successful and educated women differently. So it makes a lot of sense that poor and less-educated …

Adria Walker

I am writing to enthusiastically support Adria Walker for the honor of MSPA Journalist of the Year. I have never worked with a high-school journalist who deserves such an honor …

Find Your Voice, Girl!

Many men don't like it when we speak up and talk back. Some will go to great lengths to silence our voices, and too often that gets sexual or physical …

Advice to a Young Woman

To thine own self be true. Be honest even when it feels hard. Represent yourself with confidence and dignity and never lose sight of what impact those two things, honesty …

David Rae Morris

In the time I've known him, David Rae Morris has turned himself into an accomplished filmmaker who makes places and people in our state come alive in a way I …

Creating Better People

It's hard to watch a grown man cry. It's even harder to see a distinguished judge break down in front of an audience decades after a white teacher lied about …

Nothing Personal, Walmart, But Local Is Better

We don't mean to brag, but the Jackson Free Press has long been a proponent of the concept of shopping local first starting nearly 13 years ago when we published …

Driving Old Dixie Down

It is long past time to declare independence from a "lost cause" that wasn't worth fighting for and from those who insist on keeping us stuck there. Mississippi now is …

Of Bill Cosby, Frank Melton and Public Moralizing

You'd think that Bill Cosby's targets would have had more power than Frank Melton's troubled "boys," as he called them, but women of any race have never had credibility when …

My Advice for Mississippi Politicians

Being inspired is pretty much the same whether you're trying to decide who to elect or to stay excited about your career.

Swift Kicks in the Game of Life

Sometimes we need a swift (verbal) kick to tell us we need to step up our game. Whether it's football or media, we have to work hard, really hard to …