Jackson Free Press logo

This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

If you are interested in exploring and learning more about race in Mississippi and in America, here are a few resources to get started:

Everyday Democracy

111 Founders Plaza, Suite 1403, East Hartford, Conn., 06108

860-928-2616

everyday-democracy.org

Mission Mississippi

120 N. Congress St.

601-353-6477

missionmississippi.com

Tim Wise

Antiracist essayist, author and educator

timwise.org

William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation

University of Mississippi

P.O. Box 1848, University, Miss., 38677

662-915-6734

winterinstitute.org

U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service

950 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C., 20530

202-514-2000

justice.gov/crs/

The Frameworks Institute

1776 I St., N.W., 9th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20006

info@frameworksinstitute.org

frameworksinstitute.org

The Annie E. Casey Foundation

701 St. Paul St., Baltimore, Md., 21202

410-547-6600

aecf.org

Jackson 2000

bevelyn@jackson2000.org

jackson2000.org

Read More:

Let’s Talk About Race

Question It

Dialogue is not Debate

Putting a Toe in the Water of the Race Conversation

What Is Racism? Why Meanings Matter in Conversations About Race

Racism Affects Families from Generation to Generation

Crimes Against (Some) Americans

What Is White Privilege?

Facts Matter; So Do Stereotypes

Taking Jobs from Blacks? Not so Much

Case Study: False Equivalence

MFP Solutions Lab logo

The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.