- Mississippi Free Press

Mississippi Governor's Mansion seen from the front gates

MFP Voices

Will the Next Mississippi Governor Prioritize Black Mississippians’ Needs?

Duvalier Malone believes it is imperative for Mississippi voters to consider the disparities facing the Black population in the state during the upcoming election for governor in 2024. That should include tackling poverty and improving educational opportunities for Black students, and ensuring all citizens have equal access to high-quality health care, job opportunities and housing, he argues.

Duvalier Malone June 22, 2023

MFP Voices

Governor’s ‘Scars’ Pale Alongside Those Of Mississippi Women, Children

Author Karen Hinton responds to Gov. Tate Reeves’ statement on extending postpartum care for mothers, where he mentions his “scars” from fighting against Medicaid expansion. “Reeves’ so-called painful experience prevented around 300,000 Mississippians from receiving Medicaid coverage for health care,” she writes.

Karen Hinton March 31, 2023

A gathering of faith leaders and others standing outside of a church with signs that say Working Together MIssissippi

MFP Voices

Catholic Bishops to Gov. Reeves: Mothers, Children Deserve Postpartum Health Care

On March 7, 2023, Catholic Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III of Biloxi, Miss., and Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz of Jackson, Miss., celebrated the March 7, 2023, passage of Senate Bill 2212, which will give new mothers 12 months of postpartum Medicaid coverage, with Working Together Mississippi. It awaits Gov. Tate Reeves’ signature. “We believe that access to affordable health care is a fundamental human right, one that is necessary for the flourishing of families and communities,” the bishops write.

Louis F. Kihneman, III and Joseph R. Kopacz March 8, 2023

Several people stand in front of the Mississippi Capitol Building holding signs such as "Protect Trans Youth" and "No to HB 1125"

MFP Voices

Trans Care Bans, Voting Rights Case Dismissed, Capitol Takeover Evolves

“The Mississippi Legislature creates laws without input from any experts,” News Editor Ashton Pittman writes. “That held true last week, when, as Kayode Crown reported, lawmakers passed a ban on care for transgender minors without input from one transgender Mississippian or any medical professionals with expertise on the topic.”

Ashton Pittman February 27, 2023

MFP Voices

Address Jackson Water Crisis, Then All Existing Systems Failing Our Children

Rhea Williams-Bishop, director of Mississippi and New Orleans programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation writes that “together, we can be the ones who create the environments and communities that build up our children, rather than tear them down.” She encourages Mississippians to come together to solve the Jackson water crisis—and then to repair the systems that led to it.

Rhea Williams-Bishop September 2, 2022

Registered Nurse Taylor Curtis cares for patient Avery Mitchell in the PICU of the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Towers at Children's of Mississippi

MFP Voices

Gov. Tate Reeves’ Failure to Mandate Masks in K-12 Schools is Child Abuse

Gov. Tate Reeves is picking public fights with President Joe Biden to distract the people from his utter failure to properly manage the reopening of schools during the delta wave. Reeves seeks to distract Mississippians from the consequences of his refusal to enact a statewide school mask mandate. The fact is, our governor failed to protect our children when they needed it the most.

Douglas B. Chambers September 22, 2021

MFP Voices

The Vestiges of Jim Crow and the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission

The Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, a state-funded spy agency charged with resisting integration and civil-rights activity, actively surveilled these civil rights activists and allowed law enforcement agencies to openly violate their constitutional rights in Jim Crow Mississippi. Those were dangerous times that still affect my family today.

Leo Carney May 20, 2021

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

James Meredith in the March Against Fear

MFP Voices

‘The Joker Up There’: Meredith Marchers Confronted Unjust Confederate Statues in 1966

The protest against Confederate monuments as symbols of racial injustice is not new. It is also not new to Mississippi. As Karen Cox describes in her new book, “No Common Ground: Confederate Monuments and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice,” that protest was front and center in 1966 during the now infamous Meredith March in Mississippi. Here is an excerpt from her book about protests against statues in Grenada, Greenwood and Belzoni during James Meredith’s 1966 “March Against Fear.”

Karen L. Cox April 13, 2021

Will the Next Mississippi Governor Prioritize Black Mississippians’ Needs?

Governor’s ‘Scars’ Pale Alongside Those Of Mississippi Women, Children

Catholic Bishops to Gov. Reeves: Mothers, Children Deserve Postpartum Health Care

Trans Care Bans, Voting Rights Case Dismissed, Capitol Takeover Evolves

Address Jackson Water Crisis, Then All Existing Systems Failing Our Children

Gov. Tate Reeves’ Failure to Mandate Masks in K-12 Schools is Child Abuse

The Vestiges of Jim Crow and the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission

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

‘The Joker Up There’: Meredith Marchers Confronted Unjust Confederate Statues in 1966

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