State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs’ message is, as it so often has been, remarkably simple. Delta is different, categorically more virulent than any strain of COVID-19 that Mississippi has faced thus far.
For 126 years, a banner based upon the Confederacy’s first national flag and the Confederate battle flag waved atop poles and government buildings, reminding residents of the Blackest state in the nation that white supremacy still ruled in Mississippi.
On the penultimate day of the Confederate Heritage Month, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves made a bold declaration: “There is not systemic racism in America.” The announcement, if it were true, could come as a relief to the 38% of Mississippians who are Black. But around 16% of those residents will not have the opportunity to express their gratitude to the governor in the next election because they are systematically disenfranchised due to an 1890 Jim Crow felony voting law.
Soon after a jury convicted Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin today for his brother’s murder, Philonise Floyd’s voice cracked and tears welled in his eyes as he thought of a 13-year-old boy from Chicago whom two white men brutally murdered while he was visiting family in Mississippi 66 years ago.
Here is a recap of 2020, the stories that defined the year and this fledgling publication’s immense impact so far.
“[A]s the invaluable Mississippi Free Press tells us, the Lost Cause is still making mischief.” – Esquire Magazine MFP Impact, Awards and Media Coverage Since the
As of April 25, 2024, our team is up to 74 national and U.S. regional awards and finalist nods since we launched in late March 2020.
The first thing you see when starting a tour of the historic and regal Mississippi Governor’s Mansion is a lot of pink. Pink walls, rugs infused with salmon splashes, and antique magenta and gold chairs. A delicate pink chandelier glows overhead in the formal Front Rose Parlor in the oldest part of the mansion in downtown Jackson. Each room’s nickname in the older part of the mansion is its color.
The Black family of Harry Mitchell has waited 32 years for the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department to solve his 1991 cold case murder.
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