JFP Blogs (http://blogs.jacksonfreepress.com/page/6/)
JFP Reporter Ashton Pittman sits down with Marcus Williams, candidate for State Senate from District 26. Williams, who is in his early 30s, is running for the seat long held by State Senator John Horhn. The seat represents parts of North Jackson, southern Madison County and Hinds County to the West, reaching parts of Clinton and Edwards, Miss.
Former JPD Chief Lee Vance sat down with Donna Ladd to discuss his run for Hinds County Sheriff. Vance is probably Sheriff Victor Mason’s best-known challenger, Vance spent 30 years with the Jackson Police Department after growing up on Wood Street. “I started school when schools were still segregated, went to Mary C. Jones Elementary School.” Although he retired just months into the Chokwe Antar Lumumba mayoral administration, he’s been endorsed by the major in the sheriff’s race. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Continue Reading
In episode 7×09, Donna Ladd talks with Maisie Brown, a 17-year-old Murrah High School student whom Donna met when she was 14 and an 8th grader at Bailey Middle School. Since that time, Maisie has become a leader in the Youth Media Project, hosting the first YMP Mayoral Forum and mentoring writing students. She was a TEDxJacksonWomen speaker in 2016 (at age 15) and is a strong proponent of public education, changing the Mississippi flag and women’s rights. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Join at jfp.ms/VIP and help support JFP programming such as Let’s Talk Jackson. Continue Reading
Jackson-native David Lewis is the Interim Deputy Director of Cultural Services with the City of Jackson, where he oversees assets such as Thalia Mara Hall, the Mississippi Art Center and the Municipal Art Gallery. A graduate of Mississippi State University and Jackson State University, David is a huge booster for the City of Jackson and the ways in which public art can lead to quality of life and economic development.
Managing editor Amber Helsel sits down to talk with Emad Al-Turk, co-founder of the International Museum of Muslim Cultures based right here in Jackson. The only museum of its kind in the United States, it opened in 2001 with an exhibit called “Moorish Spain: Its Legacy to Europe” at the same time that the international exhibition The Majesty of Spain was on display in downtown Jackson. The now-permanent museum has a new traveling exhibition called “Muslims, Christians and Jews An Exhibition of Covenants & Coexistence.” The exhibition will start in downtown Jackson, but will travel to cities around the country. This episode is brought to you by the members of the JFP VIP Club. Continue Reading
In this episode of Let’s Talk Jackson, Editor Donna Ladd sits down with Rukia Lumumba for a wide-ranging discussion on criminal justice and solutions to crime and violence. Perhaps best known locally for her work on her brother’s successful mayoral campaign, Rukia Lumumba is a Howard-educated attorney and executive director of the People’s Advocacy Institute, a non profit dedicated to finding community-driven solutions to crime.
The following is a verbatim press release from Visit Jackson:
The Mississippi Blues Commission will recognize the blues contributions of H.C. Speir with the 10 a.m. unveiling Thursday, May 23, of a Mississippi Blues Trail marker. “The seeds of the blues may have taken root in the Mississippi Delta, but they grew in part because of the efforts of individuals like H.C. Speir on Farish Street,” said Visit Mississippi Director Craig Ray. “This historic area was fertile ground for the genre to flourish into an art form consumed by the masses.” Henry Columbus (H.C.) Speir played a crucial role in the recording of dozens of blues, country and gospel artists in the 1920s and ’30s. In his position as owner of Speir Phonograph Company, founded at 225 N. Farish St., he located, recommended or auditioned talent for various record labels and supervised recording sessions in Jackson and Hattiesburg. Continue Reading