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Loosening My Grip
I knew she was gone the moment I laid eyes on her. The hands she had once so meticulously maintained were graying from the steady drip of medicine designed to shunt blood only to the most vital organs...
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Gifts for Long-Distance Relationships
The worst part about being away from each other is missing special days such as Valentine's Day and anniversaries. You just have to keep going, though. Plan around it. Celebrate it before or after. As...
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Who Loves Ya, Baby?
My dad favored intellectualizing over warmth. He kept his affections under tight control. A photo of my mother in her 30s, her hair in a lacquered twist, the satiny dress perfectly fitting her curves,...
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Cities and Places: A Love Story
We often think of love between parents, friends or lovers but as someone who has moved around a lot, I believe our relationships with places can be just like relationships with other people. I've lived...
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The Perfect Mix
I don't think I'm great at a lot of things, but I am confident I can do one thing well: make a mixtape or CD. I have spent most of my life learning as much as I can about music and different artists....
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The Journey of JSU Basketball Coach Wayne Brent
After following Jackson State University head basketball coach Wayne Brent up a spiraling staircase, we reached our destination—a door nearly disguised in what looked like a nook in a hallway. Brent...
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Brave Times at Burglund High
Setting the SceneGrowing up in McComb, Miss., David Ray, now 31, learned nothing about the dramatic and violent events of the Civil Rights Movement in his hometown—once called the "bombing capital of...
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Jackson's Grand Jeté
As a ballerina, Aynsley Taylor Inglis' body is her medium. She controls and manipulates every muscle, making graceful movements, jumping, turning and spinning.She makes it look easy.But, as she's quick...
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‘Baba’ Chokwe: Lumumba the Mentor
Sometimes, Adofo Minka, a 27-year-old law clerk with Lumumba, Freelon & Associates, would drive his boss, Chokwe Lumumba, to court appointments around the state. On those long car rides, the men...
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The Lumumba Legacy: What Happens Now?
The election of Chokwe Lumumba as mayor eight months ago was a big surprise to many people in Jackson—that is, unless you had an ear to the ground. In the neighborhoods, among the silent majority of...
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Jackson Tragedy: The RNA, Revisited
It's hard to have a conversation with just about anyone about Chokwe Lumumba without hearing "RNA" at least once. His detractors loved to use his alliance with the group against him, even accusing him...
View ArticleThe City-Focused Push
Christmas has come and gone, but Jackson leadership is hoping the Mississippi Legislature will find a little room to stuff a few more much-needed gifts in the city's stocking.To that end, the city has...
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The JFP Interview with Malcolm White: Director of Optimism
It took Malcolm White a few years to find the right place to anchor his St. Patrick's Day parade.The first year, 1983, White and his friends started at CS's and paraded to George Street. The second...
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The Southern Survivalist’s Guide to St. Paddy’s (Or, ‘Let’s Go Drinking,...
How would you prepare for a zombie apocalypse? The essentials, right?A backpack, filled with water and nutritious non-perishables. An emergency communication device. A map. Weaponry. A pair of sturdy...
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Girl About Town’s St. Paddy’s Plan
Mal's St. Paddy's Parade day is one of my favorite days in Jackson. To some, it's just an excuse to day drink, and that's fine (as long as you imbibe responsibly and don't drive home). But what makes...
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St Paddy's Parade New Route
Due to the construction on E. Capitol Street underway to make the street two-way, the St. Paddy's Parade route is changing this year. The parade will start at the corner of State and Court streets as...
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‘Personhood’ May Be Back
Keith Dalton, a Jackson-area landscape worker and local punk musician, had never involved himself with the anti-abortion movement. In fact, he hated seeing the people with signs outside the Jackson...
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Good Ideas: Girl Power
Confidence equals power.And right there is why so many girls, and then women, don't achieve the power to influence elections, start successful businesses, oust the philandering or abusive partners, or...
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Good Ideas: Leadership
Improving the lives of girls and young women is a vast and interconnected endeavor. But time and time again, studies show that when women's lives improve—economically, educationally, health-wise or...
View ArticleGood Ideas: Security
Women need security before they can begin to conquer the other demons in their lives. Until a woman feels both safe and financially secure, she often has a hard time working to move up the success...
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