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Community members protest the Byhalia Connection Pipeline

MFP Voices

From Memphis to North Mississippi, Ida B. Wells’ Words Hit Mark on Byhalia Pipeline

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” said Wells, in whose honor a statue will be unveiled Friday morning July 23, 2021 on Beale Street. The vigilance she speaks of doesn’t assume every act is sinister, but it does implore us—especially journalists—to listen when disenfranchised people speak out, to be relentless in pursuit of truth in any issue, and never dismiss the plight of historically overlooked people.

Carrington J. Tatum July 21, 2021

MFP Voices

From WLBT ‘Lynching’ Photo to Critical Race Theory, Honest Dialogue About Racism Urgent

The issue is not about who posted the photo. It has more to do with a lack of understanding about race and how patterns of systemic racism and other injustices toward ADOS communities amplify the need to think critically about race in America. The misinformation that exists in regards to ADOS extends well beyond our online media outlets.

Leo Carney July 1, 2021

MFP Voices

What Black America Needs to Know about COVID-19, Variants and Vaccines

Despite a growing concern about the COVID-19 vaccine, especially among Black women, the consensus still remains that the risks associated with contracting the COVID-19 virus far outweigh the risks of taking a vaccine.

Josephine Reid and Darryl Sellers June 11, 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

MFP Voices

A Dream Deferred: The Lasting Legacy of Racist Redlining in Mississippi and the Deep South

A region marked by a history of racial violence and targeted exclusionary policies like redlining continues to see widening racial homeownership disparities. The U.S. government agency, Home Owners Loan Corporation introduced redlining in 1935, when it drew literal red lines on maps to delineate the perceived riskiness of making mortgage loans, and in fact directed lenders to “refuse to make loans in these areas [or] only on a conservative basis.”

Calandra Davis and Sara Miller April 8, 2021

MFP Voices

Bring Mississippi Into the 21st Century—Overturn Its Jim Crow-era Voting Laws

When it comes to voting, there is no denying a simple fact about Mississippi: our state has refused to eliminate antiquated laws that disproportionately silence Black and young voters. In drafting the state’s constitution in 1890, white lawmakers with mal intent sought to limit the voting power of Black Freedmen by permanently disenfranchising those convicted of a specific set of felony offenses. Black Mississippians are still disproportionately harmed by these measures.

Nsombi Lambright and Arekia Bennett March 24, 2021

MFP Voices

The Ugly Truth of Rideshare During COVID-19: Viewing Systemic Racism from the Front Seat

Since March 2020, rideshare driver Greg Pigott, a teacher by day, has done 1,733 rides—approximately 80% for African Americans, with 40% of them Black women, most who needed transportation to get to essential jobs. That percentage was rarely above 50% before the pandemic.

Greg Pigott February 10, 2021

MFP Voices

‘This Vote Must Really Be About Something’: Unita Blackwell’s Story of Voter Suppression

Unita Blackwell was one of the heroes who joined SNCC and brought the vote to Mississippi, courtesy of the Voting Rights Act. Its passage by Congress in 1965 was bought with the blood of martyrs and the untold suffering of thousands more.

Kent Moorhead October 23, 2020