Recent Commentary
The Executioner’s Hood
America has a schizophrenic relationship with the death penalty. Many of us want to eliminate those who commit egregious, heinous crimes, but most don't want the personal or social guilt …
Politics
Pledge Aligns Childers with Hate Groups
Travis Childers' stance has consistently been anti-immigration, so his opposing amnesty for "dreamers," young people whose parents brought them into this country without authorization when they were too young to …
Politics
Hosemann Twists Voter ID Facts, Again
At last July's Neshoba County Fair, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann upped the ante on the usual GOP talking points of "business good, government bad"; state's rights; Obama's failures.
Health Care
Righting Our Grand Failure
Mississippi's wellness buckets are full of stagnant swamp water. Most of us are familiar with the dismal statistics. Take your pick: teen pregnancy, obesity, diabetes, smoking, heart disease—our rates lead …
Investigate the Hayne Cases, Gen. Hood
Reading journalist Radley Balko's May 15 piece on Steven Hayne in The Washington Post reminded me, again, of our broken justice system.
Hobby Lobby Wages War on Birth Control
The Green family is headed to Washington, D.C., for its day in court—the U.S. Supreme Court.
Hopes and Dreams
Last Friday was the first of the weekly Jackson Free Press summer intern workshops. With more than a dozen people stuffed into our classroom around the long stretch of tables, …
Deep as My Bones
Mama froze. She was holding something, a towel I think it was, and her hand stopped in mid air. Her incessant motion on pause for a moment, she looked at …
The Lies We Tell
Last Friday's email brought this little gem to my inbox: Super PACs spent $23 million on deceptive or misleading advertising in GOP primary races, more than half of all advertising …
Recent Stories
Education
Analysis: Democrats Disappointed for the Children
Whether this past session of the Mississippi Legislature was successful depends largely on which party a lawmaker belonged to.
Politics
Obamacare: Five Years and Counting
With Bryant's vow to undermine the ACA, the feds concluded that a state-run exchange was untenable. In January 2013, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius turned down Mississippi's …
Civil Rights
Engage to Change
Given what most black youth face—from lack of opportunity to lack of self-esteem—they have an uphill climb with little mainstream support.
State
‘Little Birds’: Families Sex Trafficking Own Kids
Most reported child sex trafficking in central Mississippi happens within families. In a report filled with difficult realities, this was the most shocking finding for researcher Wendy Bradford.
Theater
‘One Man, Two Guvnors’: Controlled Mayhem
Before the actors hit the boards for an early "stumble-through" rehearsal of "One Man, Two Guvnors" at New Stage Theatre, Joe Frost straps on knee and elbow pads and uses …
Art
The Art of Happiness
Whenever the Mississippi Museum of Art is open during January and February, you might find as many as 25 people of all ages playing with photo prints, scissors, glue, stamps …
Theater
The Magic of ‘Peter Pan’
Even with its G-rated '50s songs and eternally optimistic story line, people of all ages get caught up in "Peter Pan"—even the cynics.
Theater
‘Tartuffe’: Wit’s Timeless Sting
Moliere, the stage name of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, made a career out of writing plays that poked fun at the ills of the French high bourgeoisie—greed, hypochondria, philandering, pretension. "Tartuffe" takes …
Maher: In His Own Words
"To me, a real patriot is like a real friend. Who's your real friend? It's the person who tells you the truth. That's who my real friends are. So, you …
Cover
Mr. Opinionated: Bill Maher Skewers the Right and the Left
Love him or hate him, Bill Maher is informed. Between having a network news editor for a father and a double-major bachelor's degree in English and history from Cornell University, …
