MFP Voices Archives - Page 40 of 55 - Mississippi Free Press

MFP Voices

Governor Needs Reality Check: COVID-19 Is Not Over Yet In Mississippi

Gov. Tate Reeves is rushing to declare victory in the fight against COVID-19 in Mississippi for the third time. His apparent determination to lift the last social restrictions on April 30 runs the real risk of a Final Wave in May and June, which will likely prolong the pandemic well into the summer. That last 10% would mean another 30,000 new infections and approximately 750 deaths. Such should not be considered “acceptable” or merely “manageable.”

Douglas B. Chambers April 29, 2021

MFP Voices

Wake Up and Choose: Reflections on George Floyd and the Reconciliation of America

Since last week, the date has changed, but policing in America has not. Many organizations will continue to post compelling social-media statuses, touting justice, mourning George Floyd, chanting about small steps and accountability, but George will not applaud. He cannot. Ma’Khia Bryant will not cheer—she cannot. Daunte Wright will not celebrate—he cannot.

Sean Brown April 27, 2021

Facebook Journalism Project Accelerator Announcement

MFP Voices

‘Accelerating’ a Stronger Mississippi Through Deep Journalism

We love that our readers appreciate the groundbreaking work of our editorial team. You deserve meaningful, rich, and dare I say fun member experiences. Our supporters are a vital part of our team. That cup of coffee a reader gives up every week or the cost of one takeout lunch shores up MFP’s truth-telling journalism financially, but also mentally. When folks are willing to put skin in the game, it energizes us in ways that are hard to describe. Most days of reporting and growing nonprofit media in Mississippi are long and challenging.

Kimberly Griffin April 26, 2021

MFP Voices

‘To Hate Is to Lack’: Of Racism and Raw Sienna

My wife recreated the “Clark doll test” of the 1940s, with my daughter as her only participant. In the test, children,in this case my 6-year-old, are asked to answer several questions about a white doll and a Black doll. For context, the creators use their test in testimony during the historic Brown v. Board of Education battle over school integration. My baby said that the Black doll looked like her, and that the same Black doll was both bad and ugly.

Sean Brown April 22, 2021

Woman reacting to the news of the Derek Chauvin trial results

MFP Voices

Why This Trial Was Different: Experts React to Guilty Verdict for Derek Chauvin

Scholars analyze the guilty verdicts handed down to former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Outside the courthouse, crowds cheered and church bells sounded—a collective release in a city scarred by police killings. Minnesota’s attorney general, whose office led the prosecution, said he would not call the verdict “justice, however” because “justice implies restoration”—but he would call it “accountability.”

Alexis Karteron, Jeannine Bell, Rashad Shabazz and Ric Simmons April 21, 2021

MFP Voices

In Mississippi, Research Shows Economic and Racial Justice Begins with Affordable Housing

Across Mississippi, more than 41 percent of all renters are cost-burdened, defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as paying more than 30 percent of household income toward housing costs and, as a result, having “difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care.” More than one out of every five renter households in Mississippi is extremely cost-burdened, defined as paying more than 50 percent of household income toward housing costs.

Hallet DeMouy, Dr. Becky Marchiel and Dr. James M. Thomas April 20, 2021

MFP Voices

Banking Deserts Hinder Educational, Economic Growth in Black Mississippi Communities

The duplicitous nature of the relationship between policy makers and Wall Street opens the door to predatory lenders who prey on disenfranchised residents whose only access to banking is check cashing centers, payday-loan stores and ATMs. Major banking institutions like Wells Fargo and TD Bank have agreed to pay back hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution for illegal practices that targeted ADOS and other marginalized consumers.

Leo Carney April 20, 2021

A tall Confederate statue stands in a median in a highway through Brandon, Miss., the county seat of Rankin County

MFP Voices

‘Woke’ in Mississippi: Annual ‘Confederate Heritage Month’ Always a Rude Awakening

My studies of newspaper archives and primary sources, and some good learning from Dr. Manning Marable at Columbia both widened my understanding from the racism in my native South to what really happened across the country and it, well, awakened me. It also made me want to come on back home and face down, and report, demons I needed to confront as a white Mississippian.

Donna Ladd April 19, 2021

MFP Voices

Professors to Watson: Don’t Use ‘Tired, Political Dog Whistle’ to Disparage Students

Last week, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson made disparaging comments about college and university students and their capacity to exercise their constitutional right to vote. As Mississippi college professors and advocates for good government, we are disappointed by Secretary Watson’s statements and condemn them in no uncertain terms.

Robert Luckett, Nathan Shrader, Karen Aderer, Dick Conville and Michael Forster April 16, 2021