How Mississippi’s Jim Crow Laws Still Haunt Black Voters Today
After the U.S. Civil War, white supremacists used felony disenfranchisement to suppress the Black vote. Even now, restoring rights has hit a roadblock. By DAJA E. HENRY JA Guest Writer This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system, and Mississippi Today. Sign up for The Marshall Project’s Jackson newsletter (https://www.themarshallproject.org/newsletters/jackson), and follow them on Instagram, TikTok, Reddit and Facebook. Charles Caldwell was never meant to have a voice. Mississippi’s White ruling class made sure of it. He was part of Mississippi’s silenced majority in 1860 — 436,600 enslaved people to 354,000 White people, according to the Census — who would be granted full citizenship after the Civil War. By 1868, Caldwell was one of 16 Black delegates at the state’s post-war constitutional convention, which extended the right to vote to all men and created a framework for public
Eddie Glaude Jr. welcomed back home with open minds
New York Times bestselling author Eddie Glaude Jr. returned to his native Mississippi for more than a book signing of his latest offering, “We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For”. In a comfortable living room like setting at the Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, April 4, which marked the 56th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the preeminent scholar sat down with historian Pam Junior and engaged in an intimate conversation about how everyday people can become pivotal leaders in their communities. Glaude dove right in after getting the cue from Junior to share his thoughts on generational Black leadership. “At this point in my life I am looking back in order to look forward. I’m looking back to see how our grassroots leaders, organizers, politicians, and philosophers of our past have influenced me to the point of how they have influenced my thinking
Senate redistricting plan seen as a way to reduce Black voting strength
JANS – Thirty years ago, Mississippi legislators worked together to enact a judicial redistricting plan that increased the opportunities for Black voters to elect trial
Lawrence County NAACP asks Justice Department to halt Monticello police abuse
Monticello police officials have been accused of pulling three Black female high school students from a car on February 7 and roughly forcing them to
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Black Press Week galvanizes advocacy, celebrates legacy, and mobilizes voters
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent During Black Press Week the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) enshrined Zora Neale Hurston in the
Justice Department finds conditions at three Mississippi prisons violate the Constitution
JANS – On Feb. 28, 2024, the Justice Department announced its findings that conditions of confinement at three Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) facilities violate
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OPINION: Love for the outdoors is a gift that pays forward
By Ben Jealous Jackson Advocate Guest Writer When we see a 75-year-old white man out in the woods with a group of Black and Brown
A step in the right direction: Medicaid expansion
By Senator Rod Hickman Jackson Advocate Guest Writer Access to quality, affordable healthcare is not just a privilege, but it’s fundamentally right and every Mississippian
OPINION: Thoughts on Black college athletics
As children, many of us were taught to “let sleeping dogs lie.” Although that should be the case for most phenomenon, when it comes to