The New American Myth
When I was 6 years old, the concept of zero made my brain hurt. "How can there be nothing?" I wailed in utter frustration. "Even when you take away all …
Grokking New Beginnings
With Jackson State University naming Carolyn Meyers as its new president within the past week (see Ward Schaefer's interview), my thoughts naturally turned to Mississippi's educational system and the subject …
An Ache in Our Souls
A few years ago, I made what was, for me, a radical step: joining the Unitarian Universalist Church of Jackson. For a minute or two, I was on the board …
Remember Sanity
When I was given the opportunity to go to Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity this past weekend, I jumped at the chance. I went to school in the Washington, …
Doing School
I was never a stellar student. It's not that I'm not bright; I always tested well, 98th and 99th percentile on standardized tests in everything but math. Most of my …
[Mott] ‘Bring On the Rest'
Driving away from Parchman Penitentiary on the night Mississippi executed Joseph Burns, I was having trouble putting my feelings into words. I had just watched a man die in front …