Let’s Talk Jackson: Virgi Lindsay 7×16

Jackson City Council President Virgi Lindsay speaks to Donna Ladd in this episode about massive challenges with the capital city’s infrastructure, budget, zoo and loss of residents. She also talks about growing up around rocket builders, being a woman leader (she’s the only woman on the council) and her time as a Clarion-Ledger reporter back when it won a Pulitzer Prize. Hear her address challenges of her ward, which extends from her neighborhood Belhaven into parts of west and south Jackson. 

Let’s Talk Jackson is sponsored by Mississippi Federal Credit Union; this episode also is brought to you by the Center for Art & Public Exchange at the Mississippi Museum of Art. More at http://museumcape.org/.  

This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Continue Reading

Judy and James Meredith - Let's Talk Jackson - courtesy Judy Meredith

Let’s Talk Jackson: Judy Meredith 7×15

 

In this episode, we spoke with Dr. Judy Meredith, a former TV and radio news reporter and anchor and also a former journalism professor at Jackson State University. Judy Meredith recently completed a documentary about her husband, called “Who is James Meredith” and she discussed the film, her husband, and her own life and career with Let’s Talk Jackson’s Donna Ladd. This episode is brought to you by the Center for Art & Public Exchange at the Mississippi Museum of Art. More at http://museumcape.org/. Let’s Talk Jackson is sponsored by Mississippi Federal Credit Union. Continue Reading

Let’s Talk Jackson Art 1×01: New Symphony of Time

In this special episode sponsored by the Mississippi Museum or Art, we recorded this podcast in front of a live audience at the Museum on Sept 10th, 2019 as a part of Art Nights, which is sponsored by Baker Donalson. Our host was Maisie Brown, a Murrah high school senior who recently took a position as Youth Program Director & Communications Associate for the Institute for Democratic Education in America. Maisie was joined on stage by the Museum’s curator of American art, ELIZABETH ABSTON, along with DR. RASHELL SMITH-SPEARS, an associate professor of English Literature at Jackson State University, and JEFFREY CALIEDO, also a senior at Murrah High School, who was crowned the ACT-SO National Champion of Written Poetry by the NAACP for his poem “Igneous.” He wrote and read a poem in response to the Margaret Walker poem, “This is My Century: Black Synthesis of Time” the poem that serves as inspiration for the museum’s new exhibition, title “New Symphony of Time.”

msmuseumart.org/index.php/exhibit…-symphony-of-time

Let’s Talk Jackson is sponsored by Mississippi Federal Credit Union; this episode also is brought to you by the Center for Art & Public Exchange at the Mississippi Museum of Art. More at http://museumcape.org/. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Continue Reading

Let’s Talk Jackson: Jordan Butler 7×14

On this episode of Let’s Talk Jackson, Todd Stauffer sits down with Jordan Butler, the vice president of education and training for the Refill Jackson Initiative. They talk about the opening of Refill Cafe, its mission in the community and how Jordan got involved in this training and economic development effort. This episode is brought to you by the Center for Art & Public Exchange at the Mississippi Museum of Art. More at http://museumcape.org/. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Continue Reading

Let’s Talk Jackson: Alana Willis 7×13

In this episode of Let’s Talk Jackson, JFP Editor-in-Chief Donna Ladd talks to Alana Willis, the younger sister of the late Cedric Willis. Alana talks about her brother’s 12-year false imprisonment from 1994 to 2006 and the effect that had on their family and her as a child. They also discuss Cedric’s recent murder after being free for 13 years. In this emotional podcast, Willis also talks about her own sexual assault as a child. She challenges Jackson residents to do more to prevent violence. Continue Reading

Sisters in Birth to Launch Jackson Teen Pregnancy Program in September

Sisters in Birth, a nonprofit charitable organization working to improve prenatal health and reduce premature births in Hinds County, plans to open a community-based teen pregnancy program in Jackson in September 2019.  The program will provide services such as home visitation, child birth education activities, structured physical activities, labor and delivery support, motivational counseling, patient advocacy and breastfeeding counseling for pregnant teens living in Hinds County. The organization will give teens who successfully complete the program a free crib and car seat, and will offer financial incentives to those who both have full-term, vaginal births and breastfeed, a release from Sisters in Birth says. Sisters in Birth plans to enroll a maximum of 50 Hinds County teens between the ages of 14 and 18 and in their 1st trimester each year and will support them throughout their pregnancies, births and after birth.  The program is free to teens who are eligible for Medicaid coverage, and whose parent or guardian is willing to be involved in the program.  The group will offer teens not eligible for Medicaid a sliding-scale fee based on their families’ incomes. For more information or to request an application for the program, email [email protected]. Continue Reading

Let’s Talk Jackson: Dr. Errick Greene 7×12

 

Dr. Errick Greene has been superintendent of the Jackson Public School district for less than a year. He previously served as the Chief of Schools of Tulsa Public Schools in Oklahoma. Dr. Greene has a doctoral degree in Educational and Organizational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania; two master’s degrees in Education — one from Trinity University and another from Howard University; and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Howard University.JPS recently released its strategic plan for improving the grades they receive as a district and working to improve the quality of education provided to what Dr. Greene calls “scholars,” and to avoid a state takeover. He spoke with JFP Editor-in-Chief Donna Ladd about the district’s new strategic plan, including for “joyful learning” and a new dedication to “excellence.”This episode is brought to you by the Center for Art & Public Exchange at the Mississippi Museum of Art. More at http://museumcape.org/. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Continue Reading