‘Almost Numbing’: Mayor Tony Yarber on Growing Up Amid Violent Crime
Mayor Tony Yarber (Jackson, Miss.) reflects on how growing up amid violent crime affected his outlook on crime, poverty, friendships and drugs. Yarber uses his experiences as a way to help create opportunities for youth in Jackson. Photo by Kelsee Ford by Amber Taylor, Aja Purvis, Asia Mangum and Maisie Brown [gdlr_video url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17CRwgIBWOs” ] Tony Tarzel […]
Genesis Be: Rapping for Change
From Biloxi, Miss. to Brooklyn and back to Mississippi, Genesis Be, a rapper and activist, always makes her way back home. She uses her music to challenge historic and ongoing racial issues that govern politics in her home state. Photo Courtesy Genesis Be by Darryn Price The first time Genesis Be rapped in public, the […]
Opportunities for All Youth, Regardless of Background
Two miles is not a far distance, but it depends on who you ask in Jackson, Miss. To some, it is a world of difference marked by an imaginary line between families from affluent neighborhoods and those in low-income housing. Poverty, education, crime and opportunity are all issues at the forefront when you don’t have accessibility to resources, […]
GO Time! The Dangers and Thrills of Pokémon GO
Pokémon GO has become an international sensation, bridging the generational gap between first-generation Pokémon gamers in their 20s and 30s with teenagers. Although the smart phone application has received international praise and adoration, Pokémon GO has also developed an infamous reputation for distracting its users from their surroundings. Read more about Pokémon team rivalry, dangers and experiences below. Illustration by Zeakyy Harrington […]
Staring Down the ‘Beast of White Supremacy,’ Then and Now
Four marchers who participated in the “March Against Fear” in 1966 returned to Tougaloo College to talk about black freedom, then and now. (From left: Annie Pearl Avery, Dorie Ladner, Charles McLaurin and Robert Smith) Photo Courtesty Imani Khayyam by Jordan Mahoney The rain had stopped pouring earlier on the morning of June 7, 1966. […]
Solutions to ‘Heartbreaking Violence’: How to Stop the Cycle
by Maisie Brown and Donna Ladd It was the middle of the summer, and the Westside Early Childhood Development Center was packed with little people. Children were in the halls; they were in the gym; they were in the classrooms. Adults were sprinkled in, directing and teaching curriculum such as Project Read that makes literacy […]
Regina Briggs: Advice from a Former Gang Girl
After getting kicked out of her mom’s house when she chose her new husband over her, Regina Briggs met Eric, the “general” of the Black Ganster Disciples. She was a good student and never wanted to be in a gang, but soon after was in charge of cleaning, reloading and storing weapons for them. Photo […]
Past and Present Meet at Home of Medgar Evers
Reena Evers-Everette speaks to Operation Understanding D.C., a group of black and Jewish teens from the nation’s capital on a civil-rights tour of the South, at the site of her father’s, Medgar Evers, death at her childhood home in Jackson, Miss. by Jennifer Shields Little Reena Denise Evers, her mother Myrlie and her two brothers were all […]
