v18n22 - Losing Queenyanna by Jackson Free Press Magazine

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Losing Queenyanna Could She Still Be Alive? Crown, pp 14-17

Goodbye, Electoral College? Judin, pp 7-8

The Violinist Uzo Jackson, p 19

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courtesy Ariss King

Ariss King

contents June 24 - July 7, 2020 Vol. 18 No. 22

ON THE COVER Queenyanna Davis Photo courtesy Davis family

4 Editor’s Note 7 Talks

9 Causing a Stink Kayode Crown reports on a Black family’s struggle with sewage lines collapsing near their Sage Street home.

hen Ariss King was a little girl, her parents took her to art museums and enrolled her in art camps to encourage her creativity. They wanted her to feel that anything was possible, particularly regarding her future as an artist, and she transformed what she learned in those long museum hallways and at paint-splattered art tables into a career. Today, the 34-year-old King works as an artist and graphic designer with the Clinton Chamber of Commerce and with Wolfe Studio. Although her parents, Lee and Gloria King, started Ariss on her artistic path, she credits several other sources for her creativity. “My time at Murrah High School was a great experience. I actually miss high school,” she says, remarking that several of her peers at the local public school went on to become her coworkers and noting that she was still friends with many of her classmates. “I think it’s a marker that you’re on the right path when you’re able to work with people you know and still make new connections.” King continued her educational career at Mississippi College, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and a minor in theater in 2014. During her time at the Clinton-based university, King took advantage of two unique opportunities: working as an intern at the Jackson Free Press and getting involved with the college’s theater department.

In between directing and acting in campus productions such as Steve Martin’s colorfully titled “The Underpants” and the short “Kitty the Waitress,” the artist worked closely with the JFP’s Donna Ladd, the editor who guided King to her love for event planning. She found herself closely involved in organizing the JFP Chick Ball in 2012 and 2014 and assembling the Best of Jackson issue in 2013, 2014 and 2015. “Those were the best years,” King recalled. “My time at the JFP helped me learn to communicate with small businesses and help those businesses further their visions.” The small businesses that King serves now are the same businesses she was raised around as a native to the area. Through her work, she helps clients bring their goals to fruition through graphic design and other artistic mediums. “Jackson businesses want to be progressive, especially in this pivotal time, and build something new for the younger people while still speaking to older people,” King says. The finished products help the businesses “tell their stories well,” she says, which King believes is the lifeblood of her work— and of the Jackson business scene as a whole. Visit arissking.com or follow her on Instagram at @space_icarus. —Taylor McKay Hathorn

14 cover story

18 The Garden Farmacy The local whole-foods farm delivers fresh produce as it harvests its summer season’s goods.

19 Music 20 Best of Jackson 23 Arts 23 Events 24 Puzzle 24 Sorensen 25 astro 25 Classifieds

26 A Real Page-Turner Learn about Jacksonnative freelance writer Carlton McGrone, who specializes in book reviews.

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JACKSONIAN

12 op/ed

editor’s note

by Donna Ladd, Editor-in-Chief

ust a few months ago, I found myself in rural northwest Louisiana near Haynesville crawling through barbed-wire fences to see the remains of an old mill my great-great-great grandma Piety Sansing Adkins had run successfully for decades after her husband died. In fact, she was known as quite the businesswoman in those parts as she worked with her sons—one was my great-great grandfather Jefferson Adkins on my Ladd side—with her sister’s help. They also had assistance from a small number of enslaved Black people they had inherited from her father Charles Sansing, who at one time had owned a decent-sized plantation in South Carolina, powered by slave labor. She was the second grandma, in fact, that I had discovered who had become a successful businesswoman for decades after her husband died. My great-great-great

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

I am a bona fide daughter of the Confederacy.

grandmother (on both sides; it’s complicated) Elizabeth Steen Earnest had herself descended from slave owners (likely the ones who founded Florence, Miss., then called Steen’s Creek). She managed slaves running a Neshoba County farm for decades after her husband Isham died in Jackson at the old Insane Asylum—on the site of the University of Mississippi Medical Center—and was buried there in an unmarked grave. This woman-powered slaveholding phenomenon was the just the latest jolting revelation for this white woman who grew up the child of illiterate parents in Neshoba County who picked up metal at the county dump to sell for groceries. Like probably most white people in Mississippi, it was drilled into me that “we were too poor to own slaves,” but it turns out that the “we” back then often owned at least one or two. I come from plenty of folks who did own some people and who probably aspired to purchase more. Enabling white people such upward mobility was a stated goal of the Confederacy, which built into its constitution that the hideous practice would never end. I am a bona fide daughter of the Confederacy: my list of rebel grandpas and uncles grows the more I look. Let me be clear: I am not proud.

Descending from people who knew they were fighting to own and extend slavery ad infinitum is not an honor. Last night, I watched an aging, successful white man inform the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors that the Civil War wasn’t fought over slavery; it was about economics because Mississippi was the richest then, and the North was jealous. There’s truth there: We were wealthy as hell due to free labor, and the New York Stock Exchange still benefited from the slave trade as did northern investors. Union men fought for the U.S. for various reasons, not always to free slaves. It took a war to get to where the U.S. made that decision, but it did. The South did not decide to emancipate. Ever. It fought against it with every excuse and weapon, then against Reconstruction, with Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, KKK terrorism, poll taxes and tests into my own childhood—and with a vigorous campaign to rewrite history to convince descendants like me that those soldiers fought for an honorable cause. They did not. I’ll also hear that “well, our family treated slaves well.” Huh. I have no idea how my grannies treated the humans they owned, but it does not matter one whit. They still owned them. It was that “way of life” that Mississippi’s perennial “Confederate Heritage Month” celebrates. The former Confederacy has had numerous chances to turn this corner, confront and decidedly leave the ugly history of white supremacy and apartheid behind. But powerful forces who benefit from ongoing racism erect blockades that caused Reconstruction to fail, eventually making many white southerners richer as they morphed their plantations into vicious sharecropping, keeping families of former slaves

Donna Ladd

Stop Glamorizing the Cruelty of Racist Ancestors

Confederate memorabilia dots northeast Louisiana around where Donna Ladd’s Adkins ancestors owned slaves. This Confederate statue is in nearby Homer, La.

mired in poverty even until now. Then in the “progressive” early 20th century, lostcausers blanketed us with ugly statues, dictated what our history books could say about the Confederacy and doubled down on fake white-supremacist “science” as an excuse for ongoing racism. Then, of course, as the Civil Rights Movement ended, conniving neo-Republican southern strategists lured angry Dixiecrats into the GOP to ensure that it was OK to hate again just like in the old Confederacy, as long as you talked about crime, welfare and single moms rather than openly use the n-word or wear a pointy hood. This time makes me the angriest; I was alive and watched how the trickery devastated this state and nation, eventually leading to President Trump’s open racism. I know that leadership then by men like Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes would have helped white southerners turn the corner.

contributors

Kayode Crown

Michele D. Baker

Torsheta Jackson

City Reporter Kayode Crown recently came to Mississippi from Nigeria where he earned a post-graduate diploma in Journalism and was a journalist for 10 years. He likes rock music and has fallen in love with the beautiful landscapes in Jackson. He wrote the cover story on Queenyanna.

When not whipping up a loaf of fresh bread from scratch, writing grants or creating websites, published author and hobby photographer Michele D. Baker can be found gallivanting the globe or sipping tea at the Pyramids Overlook Inn in Egypt. She wrote the food story on The Garden Farmacy.

Freelance writer Torsheta Jackson is originally from Shuqualak, Miss. A wife and mother of four, she freelances and is a certified lactation counselor. She wrote the music story on local violinist, John Uzodinma II.

Instead, they were fed more decades of a dog-whistling diet of Lee Atwater’s Willie Horton ads and Haley Barbour taking a break from corporate lobbying long enough to joke about (Black) Head Start kids sitting on piano benches in whorehouses as he ran for governor here. Then, of course, was the messy effort to change the Mississippi flag in 2001 where Black people put themselves on the line in public meetings, and white racists ripped them apart, and then the electorate voted to keep it, along race lines. That, we’re told now even by the governor, means The People spoke, so he can’t override that. That is utter bullshit. The Legislature put up this flag as a stated symbol of white supremacy in 1894 as all those hideous soldier statues were popping up with their sappy remembrances, and it can take this putridly racist flag down in 2020. The problem, of course, is that the brilliant 1990s strategists built a house of race cards that means that too many politicians (and strategists) of both parties have crawled after the white vote like a starving hound dog gobbling down table scraps. One of the sickest moves in U.S. history was turning white supremacy into a partisan wedge issue to benefit corporations and lobbying clients, and now legislators believe they won’t be re-elected if they act right. Why be in public service in the first place if all you’re doing is prolonging a heritage of cruelty? Changing the flag is merely a symbol, but an urgent one. Then maybe we can start turning the corner into a transformed place we can all proudly call home. There is tremendous honor in that—not in glamorizing the cruelty of our ancestors.

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In compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX, Education Amendments of 1972 of the Higher Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and other applicable Federal and State Acts, Hinds Community College offers equal education and employment opportunities and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability or veteran status in its educational programs and activities. The following have been designated to handle inquiries regarding these policies: EEOC Compliance: Sherry Franklin, Vice President for Utica Campus and Administrative Services, Box 1003, Utica, MS 39175; Phone: 601.885.7002 or Email: EEOC@hindscc.edu. Title IX: Randall Harris, Vice President for Advancement and Student Services, Title IX Coordinator, Box 1100 Raymond MS 39154; Phone: 601.857.3889 or Email: TitleIX@hindscc.edu.

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

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Discover something incredible. View thousands of documents, photographs, and newspapers when you visit the Mississippi Department of Archives & History website. From genealogy to archaeology, Mississippi’s stories are yours to explore as we stay well, stay safe, and stay curious. Visit mdah.ms.gov today. FOR MORE CONTENT AND UPDATES, FOLLOW US @MDAH_OFFICIAL.

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“They say we’ll be there tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes.”

@jxnfreepress

@jacksonfreepress

— Sarah Pittman, 84, on her frustration with the City of Jackson for not showing up to help solve her sewage problem (page 9)

@jxnfreepress

ce eren rev

Legislature In Overtime, Criminal Justice Reform Top Priority by Nick Judin

change to the flag through the Legislature continue. Democratic leadership held a press conference outside the Capitol building on June 23, in the fading days of the coronavirus-extended 2020 session. “Before we leave here, we’ll be in a position to take a vote on the flag, up or down on some measure that will be able to get rid of the flag,” the House Democratic leader, Rep. Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez, stated. The coronavirus sent legislators home to shelter in place on March 18, delayed the session into the summer months and likely beyond, and obliterated state revenues, putting a pall over ambitious plans for funding initiatives like state employee pay raises. A Chance For Parole At the heart of the legislative push

for criminal-justice reform is a combined bill containing many changes to the state’s parole system, which legislative efforts in the “tough on crime” era of the 1990s heavily restricted. Senate Minority Leader Derrick Simmons, D-Greenville, stressed that the parole reforms would provide the opportunity for more than half of Mississippi’s 19,000 prisoners to seek parole. The bill would create two categories for parole: in the case of nonviolent offenders, incarcerated Mississippians would be eligible for parole after serving 25% of their sentence or 10 years, whichever is less. For violent offenses, parole eligibility would begin after the individual serves 50% of the sentence or 20 years in prison, whichever is less. The legislation, if successful, would also mandate prompt timelines for the

completion of parole case plans. The bill “returns our statutes to a time in Mississippi where inmates had incentives to behave,” Simmons said, adding that “this does not guarantee any release. This creates an environment of hope. It creates an environment where people are encouraged to behave in a good manner.” The criminal-justice reform omnibus bill addresses more than parole eligibility, Simmons said. “It also addresses habitual-offender reform. It looks at ways to increase access to credit reductions for good behavior. (It) tries to guarantee that a parole eligible person has their parole hearing within a reasonable time.” The Mississippi Correctional Safety and Rehabilitation Act will be the primary vehicle for the changes. SenOVERTIME, p 8

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

Rep. Willie Bailey, D-Greenville, speaks to the Mississippi House of Representatives to call for an end to the state’s electoral college system, which has racist roots.

AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

ep. Willie Bailey, D-Greenville, rose to the podium above the Mississippi House of Representatives at the end of a long Tuesday on June 16. The topic of discussion was a resolution to do away with the state’s “electoral college,” adopted in 1890. The system requires candidates for statewide offices to win both the popular vote and a majority of counties in the state, a barrier erected to, in the words of Mississippi Gov. James K. Vardaman, “eliminate the n*gger from politics,” much as the U.S. electoral college was adopted to appease southern slave owners. “This whole electoral-college thing started way back after the 1890s,” Bailey said. “And it was started to prevent a Black person from ever serving in a statewide position. So it was put into law for a racial reason. We don’t want to apply a racial reason now.” Bailey advised caution to those unsure about their vote. The bill’s intent was to change statewide elections to a simple popular vote. “Don’t vote against it because you think we’re taking something from the people,” he said. Not much fanfare followed. House Speaker Philip Gunn, RClinton, took the tally: 141 for, 5 against. The resolution, which is expected to pass, is one small step toward the purging of systemic racism in Mississippi law. But changes to another relic of Mississippi’s past have been harder to come by. Efforts to change the Mississippi flag first appeared stalled out: Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann condemned the effort to a committee, which showed no intention of calling it up. “We should’ve done that years ago. That flag doesn’t represent anybody,” Bailey told the Jackson Free Press in an interview. But his faith in a legislative solution was slim. “Mark my words on that. They’re scared. There’s not gonna be change, there’s gonna be lip service. They want to get out of town,” he said. As of press time, efforts to push a

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legislature in overtime, from page 7

ate Corrections Committee chairman Sen. Juan Barnett, D-Heidelberg, is the primary author of the bill. Senate Bill 2123 will be the primary vehicle for the parole reforms. House Corrections Committee

ficking in Mississippi. The creation of the fund follows House Bill 571, last’s year broad-reaching anti-sex trafficking initiative, which prevents charging minors with prostitution, in order to shift criminal punishNick Judin

Chairman Rep. Kevin Horan, D-Grenada, who authored a similar omnibus bill, is a part of the conference that is scheduled to reconcile the two bills. The “ban the box bill,” Senate Bill 2112, is also in conference. The bill would remove the presence of a prior criminal record as a “preliminary bar” to employment, giving job applicants the ability to present their credentials before employers wholesale discard them from consideration. Senate Bill 2464 includes a provision that would increase access to the trusty program, a work program that allows inmates to earn time reductions to their sentences through good behavior. SB 2464 provides access to that program to all incarcerated Mississippians except for habitual offenders, sex offenders and those sentenced to life imprisonment. House Speaker Philip Gunn, RClinton, aims to disburse funds to shelters assisting victims of human trafficking in Mississippi. House Bill 1559 would create the “Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation Fund,” a Department of Finance and Administration-managed entity that would distribute funds to shelters assisting victims of human traf-

ment onto the adults responsible for trafficking them. Session Drags, Bills Drop The session’s first planned teacher pay raise, Senate Bill 2001, began as one of the top priorities of this year’s legislative session. Now, it is another victim of COVID-19. The bill perished in the House Education and Appropriation committees. Its sponsor, Sen. Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, told the Jackson Free Press that the bill’s death was the

NOAA

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

The Mississippi Legislature plans to finish its session with reduced expectations for funding initiatives but much progress on criminal justice.

unfortunate consequence of the revenue contraction coronavirus caused. “Obviously, it’s very unfortunate that it didn’t come out. ... But assuming the economy is coming back, and there are no budgetary concerns about the pay raise, I anticipate it will come back next year,” the Leakesville Republican said. The Education Committee chairman insisted that better teacher pay was still a top priority for legislative leadership, including Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann. Before COVID-19, a swift teacher pay raise seemed all but inevitable, with every single senator in the Legislature endorsing it. DeBar said in February and confirmed again last week that the plan for his committee was to bring forward teacher pay raises repeatedly in the term ahead, “not just in election years.” The year’s many catastrophes have claimed a number of bills, some of which lawmakers previously expected to pass quickly. The Gang Act Revision bill, Senate Bill 2459, which, if signed, would have created steep criminal penalties for “gang-related activities,” died in the Judiciary B Committee on June 9, stopped dead in its tracks for the third time. In an interview with the Jackson Free Press, Judiciary B Chairman Nick Bain, RCorinth, said the bill was “overwhelmingly” voted down in a voice vote. SB 2459 included enhanced fines and much longer prison sentences for crimes committed in the context of a “gang,” a loosely defined term that could apply to a broad range of social cliques and identifiers. And, as under federal RICO law when used against street gangs, opponents raised concerns of race-based disparities in the application of the law. Timing and scope were the key is-

H u r r i c an e P r e pa r e d n e s s Ch e c kl i s t

sues that thwarted the bill’s passage, Bain said. Those issues extend far beyond the present conversation over reform in the justice system. “With our corrections issues, and the pandemic …, timing was a big issue.” The Jud B Chairman acknowledged that sponsor Brice Wiggins, RPascagoula, was “passionate” about the gang-law revision, as he has been as the sponsor of failed gang-bill expansions in recent years, and expressed willingness to work on the language in the future. “(We might) tighten it down or narrow it, but at this point right now, with the way it’s written, I don’t see it ever getting out of debate. The committee members just were not having it,” Bain said. Bain himself has a bill that hit a roadblock with the committee deadline. House Bill 1407 intended to put additional restrictions on “alternative nicotine products” including vaping products. The bill’s contents included raising the age required to purchase vaping goods from 18 to 21, stiffening the penalties for selling vaping products to minors and taxation of the products on the same level as tobacco. The question of increased taxation sunk the bill in the end, Bain said. It died in the Finance Committee in the Senate on June 9. Bain intends to use another bill to push the heightened age and the sharpened penalties this session. “I want to get it through without a tax mechanism this year,” Bain said. The Centers for Disease Control report that vaping is highly dangerous for children, listing concerns that nicotine usage can harm developing brains. Email state reporter Nick Judin at nick@jacksonfreepress.com and follow him @nickjudin.

• Three-day supply of water (one gallon per person, per day) • Three-day supply of non-perishable food • Flashlight • Portable radio and NOAA weather radio • Extra batteries • Phone chargers • First-aid kit with prescription medications

With the start of June came the start of this year’s hurricane season. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency advises a number of measures you can take to help your family weather the storm. To the right, we have listed the organization’s emergency supply kit. For the full resource, visit msema.org.

• Multi-purpose tool • Sanitation and personal hygiene items • Copies of important documents • Extra cash

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city

Smelling Sewage on Sage Street by Kayode Crown code 101A and describes the work: “ran cable toward street about 70 ft and ran into mud. (Indistinct) is only 30ft and couldn’t unstop line.” The Jackson Free Press reached out to Roto-rooter who confirmed that the Pittmans were their clients but declined to give further details of their work or specific reasons they concluded that the courtesy Jesse and Sarah Pittman

Jesse and Sarah Pittman have had to live with the smell of sewer for a long time. They call it racist that the City of Jackson hasn’t stepped up to help.

great-great-grandchildren, believes she should not have to live with the awful smell of sewage. They hired Roto-Rooter, a plumbing and drain service, to fix the problem. The receipt shows that the Pittmans paid $264.60 and got zero results, because Roto-Rooter found it is in the purview of the City of Jackson to fix. The receipt is dated May 18, 2020, for repair

problem is the local government’s responsibility. The Pittmans said someone came from the City and said the couple had to privately fix the problem but then came back saying sorry, the City does need to fix it. They showed the Jackson Free Press a name with the number 601-9601875 they wrote on the back of a book, as the person they reached out to in the

City of Jackson to get some relief. This reporter dialed the number, which was to the sewer-management department of the City of Jackson, and was directed to the utility manager and eventually to the constituent services division of the Office of the Mayor. After the Jackson Free press provided the Pittmans’ address asking for clarification, Constituent Services Manager Keyshia Sanders promised to report back, pledging that someone would go to the Pittmans’ home to fix the sewage problem. That was June 10. On June 11, this reporter called again, with the same promise repeated. The Pittmans say the City always promises to come the next day, but they do not show up. Jackson Free Press visited the family on June 19 and at that time, nothing had been done about their problem. The Pittmans own the three-bedroom, two-bathroom single-family residential house, where they want to live their old age with some ease, not imagining that they would be dealing with the smell of raw sewage regularly assailing their nostrils. Charging City with ‘Racism’ In all the 45 years she has lived in the house and raised her kids (now age 66, 64 and 62) and sending them to a school across the street, Sarah Pittman never had this problem. After trying their best to get the attention of the City of Jackson, the couple concluded that the lack of response was because they live on the “wrong” side of Jackson. Nothing, it appears, can change Sarah’s conviction that nothing she does will ever work to get the attention needed. The impression they have is that because they are in a poor neighborhood, the City “acts like you don’t exist,” she said. She believes the City would have acted within 24 hours if the problem was in a more affluent neighborhood. “If it is in a white area, it won’t take more than one day to get it fixed. If they have this problem, there is no way it wouldn’t have been fixed. That is the way I feel,” she said. “They won’t let it go for this long in the white neighborhood. I don’t think that is fair.”

The neighbors have started complaining, Sarah said, because of all the smell, and she had to explain to them that it is not her fault, but the City’s responsibility. “The one at the back is already complaining,” she said. “As long as it was not really hot, they could not smell it so bad because my husband was putting things on it. But now it is hot, and the smell is awful. I don’t know what else to do.” Her husband recently bought cleaning materials like bleach to pour on the sewer flowing beside their house to reduce the smell. “He bought $40 in cleaning stuff and poured it back there so that we can breathe better,” she said. That is, they are paying for the air that they breathe. “He went to Home Depot and got two bags of lime and sprinkled it all around the house. It’s powdery and keeps down some of the germs. He got about six different things to put out there,” Sarah Pittman said. Turn Up the AC or Not? Sarah Pittman retired 20 years ago, when she was 64, from her work for Bernard Clothing where she worked as a seamstress after 11 years. “Because of my back, I cannot sit for a long time,” she said, referring to a back injury. However, once a seamstress, always a seamstress. She is constantly sewing different clothes to keep busy as this reporter witnessed in her sitting room on two visits. The house has window air conditioners, which suck in the sewage smell from outside. So they have to compromise between getting cooled, which comes with smelling other people’s decomposing waste lying around your house, and suffering the heat of summer as the temperature gets into the 90s. “Once I turned the air conditioner in the bedroom on, I had to turn it off quickly,” she said. “Then it got so hot. When I woke up, I was soaking wet. The fan does not give much air. I put the fan on, but I could not turn the air back on because the smell was just too bad.” The website healthfully.com reports that breathing in raw sewage fumes is described as both unpleasant and physimore sewage, p 10

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

he smell hits you in the nose, as the scent of open sewer flows around Sarah Pittman’s house at 3151 Sage St., in Jackson, and it stays with you. Sarah and her husband, Jesse, have been dealing with the smell for about a year. Sarah Pittman, who is 84 and has three daughters, 14 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren and three

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SEWAGE ON SAGE STREET, FROM PAGE 9

‘Tomorrow Never Comes’ Jesse Pittman told Jackson Free Press that he found out that the City’s machine to investigate the sewer problem had broken down. This reporter saw

The sewer ﬂows and stinks next to Sarah and Jesse Pittman’s home on Sage Street in Jackson.

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

1. “June 13: Mississippi Averaging 330 COVID-19 Cases Per Day, a New High” by Todd Stauffer 2. “Family Seeks Justice for Black Man Found Hanging From Scott County Tree” by Ko Bragg 3. “Resolution Drops to Change Mississippi Flag, Interfaith Leaders Call For Change” by Nick Judin 4. “PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The Stennis Flag Is the Best Choice Now for Mississippi” by Kimberly Grifﬁn 5. “OPINION: No ‘Free Kills’ Unless We Are Black in Jackson” by Adofo Minka

cil documents, come from “Fund 173 1% Sales Tax.” the machine on Atley Street, near Sage Street, with a maintenance hole full of sewer opened on the street with pipes running into it and no one in sight. Hydra Services Inc. is the company name displayed on the equipment. A quick online check revealed that the company is headquartered in Alabama, but the equipment has a Jackson number on it. The reporter called the number and the management said they hire machines out to the City, and if there is any problem with any of them, they expect the City to give them that information. “They told my husband that someKAYODE CROWN

KAYODE CROWN

ologically damaging. “Raw sewage produces a melee of gaseous compounds. Common colorless gases encountered in sewage systems include hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia. High levels of these gases become toxic, and high concentrations of methane and carbon dioxide, in particular, displace oxygen in the air. Additionally, industrial solvents and biological contaminants in sewage may become airborne and cause adverse health effects,” it noted. The Pittmans are at their wit’s end. After paying Roto-Rooter with no solution in sight, Jesse Pittman went to the City to show what they have spent. “They told him that we might get our money back,” she said. But the money is not her biggest concern. “I want them to come out here and find out what the problem is and correct it, so we can quit smelling the ‘germs,’ because it is raw sewage. It does not matter if we don’t get the money back. They should do what needs to be done so I can get peace of mind.”

MOST VIRAL STORIES AT JFP.MS:

The City of Jackson rented this equipment from Hydra Services Inc. for sewage work. It sits on Atley Street, having reportedly broken down.

body stole the battery with the machine out there, and they have to get another battery, and then something else broke down in it,” Sarah Pittman said. “My husband said he is getting tired of calling, and they tell us they are coming, and (City workers) never show up. They say we’ll be there tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes.” She said someone at city hall told them that the problem is all over Jackson, which means people are exposed to unhygienic conditions because of sewage spilling—a public-health emergency, if that is indeed tree true. Sarah Pittman said the next thing she plans to do is to reach out to the health department. In February, the City’s Public Works Director Bob Miller said 135 sewer lines had collapsed across the city. “There are all sorts of pathogens in what comes out of a sanitary sewer system,” Miller said, as WAPT reported then. “It’s our intent to keep all of that inside the pipe until it gets to our wastewater-treatment plant.” Miller said then the problem is from a combination of age and soils here in Jackson that can expand and contract rapidly based on the amount of groundwater. “Based on the amount of rainfall that we had gotten in October and January, we’re seeing a number of these issues,” Miller said. On Feb. 4, the Jackson City Council approved contracts for sewer repairs. Areas covered in the contract are Forest Hill Road (Ward 6), Kings Highway and Warrior Trail and on Old Canton Road near St. Andrew’s Lower School (Ward 7). The council awarded the repair work on Forest road to Hemphill Construction company for $36,000 and the remainder to Utility Construction Inc. for $90,000. The funds, according to coun-

No Solution in Sight The Pittmans’ house is located in Ward 3, represented on the city council by Kenneth I. Stokes. He expressed profound displeasure at what they are going through. He said that it is inhumane to treat citizens in Jackson with disregard for their health, safety and welfare. “These elderly tax-paying citizens deserve to be treated with respect and admiration, he told the Jackson Free Press. “But now, they are being treated as though they are second-class citizens.” Ward 2 Councilman Melvin V. Priester Jr. said people in his ward are dealing with a similar issue, and it is a big problem across the city. “There is one we are dealing with in the intersection of Watkins Drive and Forest Avenue that has been going on and off for almost two years,” he said in a telephone interview. “The problem is that a lot of the sewage lines are old and need to be replaced. The other problem is that we have soil that moves around a lot. A lot of the city has what you can call Yazoo clay which shifts more than other soils. That causes a lot of breaks.” Priester said the sewage problems are expensive to fix, involving digging up roads and replacing the pipes. “You also have the problem with people putting things down their toilet that are not supposed to be there, clogging up the line and causing breakages,” Priester said. With the City of Jackson’s problems collecting water-sewer bills, which piled up dramatically during its ill-fated contract with Siemens Inc., Priester said the budget to address the issue has been “dramatically” reduced. Email story tips to city/county reporter Kayode Crown at kayode@jacksonfreepress. com. You can also follow him on Twitter at @kayodecrown.

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Duvalier Malone

What Side Are You On?

his election year will force America to choose between two very different ideas. What side are you on? Yes, America, there are two sides. We have arrived at the inevitable clash of different ideas and visions for this country’s future. You’re not surprised, are you? I think we all knew this was coming eventually. The past four years have forced the monster that we know as racism to resurface, and it has created a deep chasm in America. It has divided us along the line of morality. On one side of the line, there are people who are so afraid to lose power that they will champion outdated rhetoric to try to keep control. They have fashioned their party after Nazism, brandishing images, and speaking hateful, divisive language. They cling to the Confederate symbol even though it’s a symbol of bigotry, racism and hatred. They proudly wave the Mississippi State Flag as one final act of rebellion, and they buck against nationwide norms that have told them it is impossible for the state to progress under that symbol. They tell us that we should stay in our place. They shout that we don’t have the right to speak out against the inequality that we face from police. They hold us down figuratively and literally, as in the case of George Floyd. With their knees on our necks, they ignore us as we ask for justice. They beat us, choke us with gas, and

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

They ignore us as we ask for justice.

they shoot rubber at us to make us stay silent. They bring out soldiers to rob us of our right to protest against the inequality that we face. On the other side of the line, we see a multiracial coalition that is willing to put themselves at risk for Black Americans. They speak, they shout, they chant, they march. They kneel in solidarity with us and with our champions such as Colin Kaepernick, a man who has sacrificed everything to fight for justice. They walk with us, regardless of facing backlash from police and political leaders who are trying to keep us trapped in a societal prison because they are afraid of our advancement. They join us as allies, willing

Kristin Brenemen

Racism Is Dividing Nation Along Line of Morality

Editor-in-Chief and CEO Donna Ladd Publisher & President Todd Stauffer Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin Creative Director Kristin Brenemen REPORTERS AND WRITERS City Reporter Kayode Crown State Reporter Nick Judin State Intern Julian Mills Contributing Writers Dustin Cardon, Bryan Flynn, Alex Forbes, Jenna Gibson, Tunga Otis Torsheta Jackson, Mike McDonald, Anne B. Mckee, EDITORS AND OPERATIONS Deputy Editor Nate Schumann JFPDaily.com Editor Dustin Cardon Executive Assistant Azia Wiggins Consulting Editor JoAnne Prichard Morris ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY Senior Designer Zilpha Young Contributing Photographers Seyma Bayram, Acacia Clark, Nick Judin, Imani Khayyam, Ashton Pittman, Brandon Smith

Duvalier Malone on multiracial Black Lives Matter coalitions: “When we put our fist in the air, it’s not to threaten anyone. It’s to celebrate Black people, our pride and where we came from to get to where we are now.”

to listen and learn the Black struggle, and what it means to be Black in America. Our current political and societal climate has drawn a very clear line and separated us into these two sides. One side is fighting for justice and equality for Black Americans, and the other side is trying to take away the rights of Black Americans for no reason other than the color of our skin. Sixty-five years after the death of Emmett Till, we still face injustice and inequality, even though we have contributed so much to this country. Black culture is an actual gold mine for American society. We have defined America from the beginning. At its inception, America was known for the transatlantic slave trade that built the country into a financial superpower. Then the country was nearly torn apart during the Civil War that led to freeing the slaves. (Yes, there were financial reasons, but that war still led to the end of chattel slavery.) Later, the country went through radical changes during the Civil Rights Movement, which led to sweeping racial reform in the country. Our music has been the soundtrack to America’s rich history, from jazz to rock to pop. We have been a constant underclass and yet, our soul still shines bright because we have never ever been defeated. And yet, with everything that we have contributed to America, we still aren’t treated fairly. When we put our fist in the air, it’s not to threaten anyone. It’s to celebrate Black people, our pride and where we came from to get to where we are now. When we kneel, we are accused of dis-

respecting the flag. But it’s not disrespectful. We kneel because it’s hard for us to stand for a flag that still doesn’t represent freedom and justice for all. And if we want to talk about flags, then why is the Confederate symbol allowed to remain in the Mississippi flag? The Confederate flag has been used time and again by hate groups to victimize Black people. Even the United States Marine Corps has banned symbols of the Confederacy from their ranks. So here we are at an unprecedented time in American history, where we have two clear ideas that are battling for the soul of this country. I honestly can’t think of a better time for this. What better time to champion and gather support for ideas than in an election year? We will have the opportunity to solve our crisis at the ballot box. We will have a chance to pick which side we’re going to be on. It’s time for us all to stand up and be counted. I’ll tell you where you can find me. I’m going to be on the side that believes that every human being deserves to have justice and equality. What side will you be on? Duvalier Malone is an author, a motivational speaker, a community activist who has organized numerous of rallies to attempt to bring down the Confederate flag in Mississippi, and CEO of Duvalier Malone Enterprises, a global consulting firm. He lives in Washington, D.C. This column does not necessarily reflect the views of the JFP.

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Losing Queenyanna Could 5-Year-Old Still Be Alive? by Kayode Crown Courtesy Davis Family

Queenyanna Davis would have been 6 years old on June 23, but she was murdered. She attended Watkins Elementary School in Jackson.

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

t was 9:30 p.m. on April 15, and Lukeitha Davis was getting ready to sleep in Wood Village Apartments in south Jackson. It was like any other night. She made a joke about her grandbaby, wore her night cloth and used the bathroom. As she was leaving the sparsely furnished living room for her bedroom in her low-income apartment complex, suddenly all hell broke loose. “The next thing I heard gunshots. My brother was sitting right here, and my sister was lying down. I ducked and crawled right up to my room and laid on

the floor,” Davis told the Jackson Free Press later. The gunshots startled her niece, 5-year-old Queenyanna Davis, who was there visiting with her mother, Elizabeth Davis. The little girl was sleeping on the living-room floor but jumped up at the sound of the booming sounds of the gunshots. A bullet struck Queenyanna’s head. But she was still breathing for some time afterward. Two medical emergency personnel came soon after Lukeitha’s daughter called 911. An ambulance took Lukeitha’s brother and another boy, also hit by bullets, away but left

Queenyanna on the floor, bleeding, her aunt said. Another ambulance did not come for at least 90 minutes, Lukeitha Davis later told the Jackson Free Press. “The ambulance came in about 11:30 p.m. or even midnight, and then they still waited. They didn’t bring her out until the last minute,” the aunt said. “They said they could not move her, that they had to wait. I said ‘wait for what?’ That’s my niece, take her to the hospital! So why do you have to wait one hour and 30 minutes to get my niece off the floor? She was bleeding, she was still alive,” Davis said.

Kayode Crown

Flowers lay in memory of Queenyanna Davis in front of her aunt’s home in the Wood Village Apartments, Jackson, Miss., where she was hit by a bullet coming from outside the house on April 15. Her aunt believes her little niece might’ve lived with faster emergency response.

Lukeitha Davis shared the program for her niece’s Homegoing Celebration on April 25, 2020.

also owns Rural Metro Fire, Air Evac Lifeteam, REACH Air Medical Services, Med-Trans Corporation, AirMed International and Guardian Flight. Even as the company provides services to many urban and majority-Black cities like Jackson, the website indicates

that GMR’s leadership is all white. AMR Central Mississippi serves the nine municipalities of Hinds County with a total population of 231,840, 16,002 in Smith County, 26,658 in Simpson, as well as 20,758 in Grenada County—more than 100 miles north of Jackson in north Mississippi. Pollard informed the Jackson Free Press that the company operates 58 ambulances, and employs 128 emergency medical technicians and 97 paramedics spread across those four counties. It responded to 71,000 calls for ambulances in 2019. Global Medical Response owns AMR, including AMR Central MIssissippi. Five different AMR companies operate in 19 counties in Mississippi. Under its contract with Hinds County, Pollard said ambulances must arrive within eight minutes, for 85 percent of priority-one calls—the ones judged to be related to the imminent loss of lives or disability—in Jackson and Clinton. The time increases to 12 minutes for Byram and 18 minutes for other locations in Hinds County, with fines leveled for noncompliance as indicated in the contract. “When we entered into a new contract with the Hinds County government in 2016, we voluntarily increased the fine from $1,000 per whole percentage point below standard to $2,500 per whole percentage point below standard (85 percent),” Pollard wrote in a followup email to the Jackson Free Press. “We made that offer to the County, and the County accepted the offer.” Pollard points to exceptions to this rule. For example, if the company receives seven simultaneous priorityone calls, the eighth is viewed as outside its control. He said that the number of ambulances on the streets of Hinds

County at any given time ranges from seven between midnight and 4 a.m. and 30 between 4 p.m and 5 p.m. None is dedicated to Jackson alone. Pollard said drivers respond to different needs as they occur across Hinds County. They are not all situated in one place, but are spread out based on the prevalence of 911 medical emergency calls in different areas for previous weeks. Scary billing The Better Business Bureau, with the stated goal of engendering trust between companies and people, did not accredit AMR as a national company. The bureau’s website indicates that AMR has a pattern of complaints across the country, concerning billing or collection issues, and customer-service issues. “Regarding billing or collection issues, consumers allege that the business continues to bill consumers, although the consumer or insurance has paid the bill,” the BBB website states. “Consumers also allege that the business sends late billing notices, or are delayed, and that the business does not work with the insurance that is provided to resolve billing issues. Lastly, consumers allege that the business does not provide efficient customer service when consumers contact the business to request information. That includes information that is inconsistent, and requested documentation is not provided.” AMR told BBB in response that “EMS has many processes that are challenging to understand that often can lead to consumer confusion and misinterpretations.” The company has a one-star rating on the BBB website, which is the average from 55 customer reviews and riffed more Queenyanna p 16

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

An Ambulance Monopoly Hinds County contracts with American Medical Response as its sole contractor for ambulance services. Jim Pollard, public affairs manager for AMR Central Mississippi, declined to provide the time that an AMR ambulance picked up Queenyanna Davis. Instead, he emailed a statement to the Jackson Free Press stating: “We do not discuss matters under law enforcement investigation. Further, federal privacy laws prohibit our sharing patient condition or treatment. Our hearts are with all families who have lost loved ones to acts of violence. We prioritize trauma patients according to physician-approved protocols. When there are multiple patients, we send multiple ambulances.” JPD also declined to provide an incident report by press time. Pollard did provide further information on AMR’s services in Hinds County, saying it receives remuneration not from the county but from patients it serves, with the most significant portion

of its income coming from Medicare and Medicaid clients with transportation needs. AMR operates in more than 40 states and the District of Columbia. “It is the largest company providing ground transport in the U.S.,” Pollard said. AMR is the largest ambulance provider in the country with outposts in most U.S. states. The company has changed ownership many times since its creation as a business to consolidate ambulance services in 1991. It is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colo., and its current owner is privately held Global Medical Response, which Courtesy of Lukeitha Davis

Queenyanna died in a pool of her blood right in the living room, her aunt told the Jackson Free Press. That jump from the bed that night would be the last for the Watkins Elementary School kindergarten student. The school-loving girl left behind one sister and two brothers. “That’s my niece; she did nothing, why shoot her up, shoot my apartment when everybody was sleeping?” Lukeitha lamented. Her own son Glen also told the Jackson Free Press that emergency workers delayed taking Queenyanna to the hospital. “She was still breathing,” he said. “If they made it on time, they could have saved her.”

Losing Queenyanna, with complaints of surprise billing. One customer wrote on June 1: “Once you are ‘helped’ by them, the harassment begins. First, they may not contact your insurance provider but send you emails that the insurance was declined. The invoice would be outrageous—for a 20 minute (10 miles) ride for a non-serious condition (where I did not need support other than for saline water), I was charged over $1,100. And then they may quickly send the case to a collection agency (can they legally do that?!) after just ONE bill! Imagine riding on a vulture!” Another customer complimented the emergency workers, but blasted the billing practices. “AMR EMTs were very

from page 15

patient and the insurance company to over-collect money, presumably thinking they will repay at some point down the line. Felt incredibly hostile, unprofessional and potentially illegal.” The size of the bill for an ambulance ride depends on the distance traveled and medical services rendered, Bruce Baxter, who runs a different EMS service, New Britain EMS, told courant.com in Hartford, Conn., which is only 13% white and has a 30.5% poverty rate, which is only slightly higher than Jackson’s at 28.9%. Baxter said the cost for people who can pay jumps up to make up for the losses incurred on calls from patients who cannot. Medicaid reimburses only a fraction of the cost of an ambulance ride,

performance benchmarks. In DeKalb County, Ga., in 2018, “AMR agreed to pay almost $600,000 in fines and nearly $1.3 million to increase service to help alleviate slow response times,” 11alive.com reported. The company paid fines and damages of $168,780 in 2014 and $212,200 in 2015 to the City of Spokane, Wash., where ambulance providers are allowed 10 minutes to respond. “For every minute beyond 10 minutes, the fine is $60 per minute. For nonemergency calls, AMR has 20 minutes to respond, and the same late fees apply. AMR also faces fines if their on-time arrival rate for the month dips below 90 percent,” KREM.com reported. Kayode Crown

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

Jim Pollard, public affairs manager for AMR Central Mississippi, said they try their best to quickly respond to 911 calls.

good,” the person wrote on May 18. “Billing appears fraudulent, inaccurate arithmetic, indecipherable billing layout, payments not delineated. Awful. I will contact our local hospital and ask them NOT to use their services.” Still another addressed billing on May 7: “The experience felt very much like they are systematically misrepresenting the payment situation from the

he said. At press time, the Jackson Free Press is unclear the status of fines AMR might have paid in recent years for missing performance benchmarks. This reporter filed a public-record request with the county, and has not received a response. However, AMR has been in the news in recent years across the county for fines it has paid for not meeting specific

In its home state of Colorado, AMR paid $300,000 in penalties in 2017 to Colorado Springs and El Paso County for more than 4,200 instances in which ambulance crews failed to meet their required response times under separate contracts with the two governments. “In February 2017, one crew surpassed the city’s 12-minute limit by more than 43 minutes,” The Gazette reported.

“In addition to the $300,000 in penalties, under its new contract, AMR has reimbursed the city $1.17 million each year for fire crews’ time waiting for an ambulance.” Colorado Springs was one of the places that saw a bitter fight over privatizing ambulance services in the mid-1990s rather than keeping emergency transport as part of municipal services run through the local fire department. Privatization of ambulances there was a political battle over shrinking local government. At the time, AMR was headquartered in Colorado, but owned by Laidlaw, the Canadian school-bus company, which later sold it. Detractors then accused the company then of cutting costs and increasing profits by reduced services and even sending pickup trucks out instead of ambulances in some cases. Need for Speedy EMS Bobby Gray, who lives on Holmes Avenue in northwest Jackson, said her nephew almost died because AMR did not show up when he went into a seizure. It was a few days after Queenyanna Davis died. “We called them, and the fire truck came. He (nephew) was just flat out,” Gray told the Jackson Free Press. “They told the mother, ‘well, just put him in your car and drive him to the hospital. We don’t know whether the AMR is going to come or not.’ They never did. He almost died.” An emergency doctor who has been working in Jackson for four years but prefers not to have his name in print told the Jackson Free Press that a true emergency is time-sensitive. “So if you have a heart attack, you want to be seen, evaluated quickly, the same thing with stroke and gunshots,” he said. “All those are very time-sensitive.” He said it is a big problem if a child is shot in the head, and there is any delay in the ambulance response. He posited that this happens because sometimes the hospitals are full. “You have patients on a stretcher that cannot get into a room, and ambulances can’t go on 911 calls. A lot of times that is the case. Those services are not available because they are spread so thin,” the doctor said. He revealed that such situations are frustrating and that a lot of times, people who do not need to call 911 do so. “They are taking services away from people that do need timely responses,” he said. “For a sprained ankle, don’t call

KAYODE CROWN

Queenyanna Davis died from gunﬁre outside her aunt’s home in the Wood Village Apartments in south Jackson.

and out of a crime scene,” he said. Even though the rate of survival for someone with a gunshot to the head is 1 percent, he said, some people can be talking afterward. Journal JAMA Surgery, a publication of the American Medical Association, reported in October 2017 that emergency-medical service units average seven minutes from the time of a 911 call to arrival on the scene. That median time increases to more than 14 minutes in rural settings, with nearly one of 10 encounters waiting for almost a halfhour for the arrival of EMS personnel. “Longer EMS response times have been associated with worse outcomes in trauma patients. In some, albeit rare, emergent conditions (cardiopulmonary arrest, severe bleeding, and airway occlusion), even modest delays can be lifethreatening,” the journal says. Would Queenyanna have survived with a better ambulance response? It is impossible to know. But she will not be resuming this fall with her classmates at Watkins Elementary School. A message about her death is on the school’s Facebook page. “WE love you, Queenyanna Davis,” it says. She would have turned 6 on June 23, but her life and the promise it holds was cut short. Email city/county reporter Kayode Crown at kayode@jacksonfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @kayodecrown. Donna Ladd contributed historic information about the ambulance controversy in Colorado Springs in the 1990s.

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June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

911. But it is a hard thing to navigate because a lot of people don’t have rides to the hospital, and if they just want to come up to the hospital and be evaluated for their cough or something, then, how are they going to get up here? They just call the ambulance. “I don’t know. There is no easy fix to the problem, unfortunately.” The phenomenon of people calling ambulances because they have no other way is relevant when it comes to response times of ambulance services. Courant. com in Hartford, Conn., reports that for many, a visit to the emergency room by calling 911 is the only means of getting to hospitals for something like an ear ache in a city where one of every 3.3 residents live in poverty. The estimate is that between 25 and 45 percent of the people who call 911 for an ambulance have no other way to get to treatment for minor needs. An increased number of non-emergency calls bogs down the system and puts those who need the service in danger as there is a delay in their emergency assistance. As the number of calls has increased, it affects response times, making it longer to arrive at a call, Steve Hansen, fire service chief in Racine, Wis., told the Journal Times. The Jackson-based emergency doctor reacted to Queenyanna Davis’ aunt’s description of the event of her death and especially the delay in emergency response, saying that the emergency personnel might have treated it like a crime scene. “You don’t want to disturb any evidence with people who are coming in

food&drink

The Garden Farmacy: Local Eco-Farmers Offer Seasonal Staples and Medicinal Herbs by Michele D. Baker

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

courtesy The Garden Farmacy

hree days a week, the farmers of The Garden Farmacy climb out of bed early in the morning and step through the fields, knives in hand, to harvest the produce scheduled to be delivered to Jacksonians the same day. Marbury Jacobs and Taylor Yowell co-own and operate The Garden Farmacy, a locally owned, whole-foods farm that sells “naturally grown” produce. It is part of a growing trend toward eco-farming, which aims to combine modern food science with a respect for nature and biodiversity with a goal of ensuring healthy farming and healthy food, soil, water and climate. A native of Madison, Yowell studied organic farming across the U.S. before purchasing 6 acres of land in western Hinds County, and in 2015, The Garden Farmacy sprouted. Jacobs and Yowell own and work the farm full-time. “Marbury and I start everything from seed in our greenhouse in Bolton,” Yowell says. “This is our land. We are the farmers, the harvesters, the sellers.” Although The Garden Farmacy does not classify itself as an organic farm—the term is strictly regulated, and Yowell doesn’t hold organic certification—Yowell believes that the farm’s processes are “beyond organic.” The Garden Farmacy uses neither fertilizer sprays nor pesticides; in fact, they use no chemicals of any kind. “It’s a belief system,” Yowell says. “We wanted to connect with our food. We’re not trying to attract customers with fancy words; we take the concept to heart. We’re eco-farmers.” Yowell and Jacobs use only hand tools (no tractor) and natural earthworm castings

Marbury Jacobs and Taylot Yowell co-own and operate The Garden Farmacy, a Jackson-based eco-farm that delivers produce the day it’s harvested.

to enrich the soil rather than fertilizer. “We are so intent on what we’re doing, and ‘eco’ is an overall word for how we grow things and how our setup works,” Yowell explains about their process. The first harvest of 2020 unfortunately coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 shutdown and social-distancing measures. The Garden Farmacy’s main produce clients, farmers markets and chef Derek Emerson’s restaurants—CAET, Local 463 and Walker’s Drive-In—were closing their doors. “We had a lot of fresh produce, and far fewer clients, so we tried to come up with a safe way to sell it,” Yowell says. “We decided

to let people order and pay online, and offer pickup just like a grocery store.” Since The Garden Farmacy services a large metro area, they added another pickup location, Fondren Farmacy. Husband and wife team David Prichard and Bridgette Auger help manage the Fondren branch—which is located on Hawthorn Drive and provides curbside pickup services—and even grow some vegetables and flowers of their own as they apprentice under Yowell and Jacobs. In addition to selling seasonal vegetables and medicinal herbs, The Garden Farmacy also offers fruit-tree, vegetable and medicinal-herb plant starts, dried herbs and

medicinal teas such as peppermint and yarrow. The bulk of their produce sales comes from the Vegetable Share program, a weekly subscription to fresh seasonal foods for 16 weeks of the year—10 in the spring and six in the fall. Jacobs and Yowell hand-pack every box and deliver them to locations in Ridgeland, Madison and Jackson (including Fondren Farmacy). A typical week’s Veggie Share contains one pound each of yellow squash, lemon cucumbers, green slicing cucumbers, whole garlic and Shishito peppers; two large bunches of Swiss chard; a handful of lemon balm; and a generous bunch of holy basil, a popular herb heralded as sacred in India that grows well in Mississippi’s hot climate. “Very few people have ever heard of holy basil, but it’s so delicious. We include some to introduce people to it,” Yowell says. A Veggie Share subscription is eight or 10 weeks (depending on the season) and costs $30 per week. Veggie Shares for the fall are now available through the farm’s website. Fondren Farmacy not only acts as a pickup point for weekly subscribers but also receives all the extra produce and sells it farmers market-style and through curbside pickup. Tomatoes have recently become available, and in July and August, even more pepper varieties will be available. “Our produce represents what’s available in Mississippi and what we can grow here sustainably. It’s harvested day-of, inseason, nutrient-dense and chemical-free,” Yowell says. “Our clients know and appreciate the absolute freshness of our produce.” For more information on The Garden Farmacy, visit thegardenfarmacy.online.

MEDITERRANEAN GRILL

We’ll be closed on the 4th of July to spend time with our friends and family. We hope you have a good holiday and we look forward to seeing you for lunch and dinner on July 5th. 730 Lakeland Dr. Jackson, MS | 601-366-6033 Sun-Thurs: 11am - 10pm, Fri-Sat: 11am - 11pm WE DELIVER FOR CATERING ORDERS | Fondren / Belhaven / UMC area

MUSIC

John Uzodinma II, Breaking Barriers Four Strings at a Time by torsheta Jackson

D’ArtAgnAn WinforD AnD CAnDACe HArris

hen the pandemic cancelled most of his scheduled events, violinist John Uzodinma II sought a way to stay connected to the public. He already had a thriving social-media presence where he released covers of gospel, R&B and hip-hop hits, so taking a page from DJs across the country, the 25-year-old decided to use the platforms to bring his music into people’s homes. “I decided to go on Facebook Live. I would basically give you a concert from home,” he says. “People would Cash App or Venmo me as if I was there giving a live performance.” Joining his school’s group stringinstrument lessons at 8 years old piqued Uzodinma’s interest in violin. A year later, he had progressed so far that his teacher suggested he study privately. Uzodinma began performing at church with the Farish Street Baptist Church String Ensemble. Soon after, he was playing for weddings and other events. His notoriety grew, and soon he was travel-

John Uzodinma II regularly performs in the Jackson metro and beyond.

ing across the country performing for national events, including the 2013 Medgar Evers 50th Anniversary Celebration at the National Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C., and the Aspen Summer Music Festival and School in Colorado.

He has competed both nationally and internationally, traveling to places such as British Columbia, Canada and Sydney— all opportunities that Uzodinma credits to his instrument. “The violin has acted like a passport for me,” he says. “I’ve been to a lot of places and met a lot of people because of it.” The Madison native gained international recognition after his performance at the opening ceremonies of the 2019 Mississippi House of Representatives legislative session. Several major news stations aired his rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” with one video gaining more than 6.5 million views. Uzodinma holds a bachelor’s degree in violin performance from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Master of Music degree in violin performance from Louisiana State University, obtained in 2017 and 2019, respectively. In May, he completed his first year of the doctorate program in violin performance at USM. Due to COVID-19, he

completed his first doctoral solo recital in April via YouTube, receiving high marks. Of his accolades, Uzodinma is most proud that he has served as concertmaster at both LSU and USM, as his professors told him that he is the first African American violin performance student to be concertmaster at their respective schools. Uzodinma says that people have often told him throughout his musical journey that he was the “first” or the “only” African American to be achieving the accomplishments he had accumulated. He hopes to change that. “I want to inspire a young Black boy or girl to pick up a violin, or cello, violin or viola. I want them to know they can be successful with (string instruments),” he says. “I would love to start an orchestra program at an HBCU and recruit students to come to that college to study music.” To view John Uzodinma’s virtual performances, follow him on Facebook or on Instagram @the_violinistuzo. For more information, visit johnuzodinmaviolin.com.

Angeline Pinot Noir California 91 points - James Suckling | $14.79 This is very clean and bright with aromas and flavors of sliced plums and lemons. Hint of watermelon. Medium body, fine tannins and a crisp and dry finish. A vivid and

COVID-19: Our hours are unchanged. We are sanitizing and have social distancing plans in place.

921 East Fortification Street (601) 983-5287 www.katswine.com/tasting-team @KatsWine

Good food feeds the soul! 1491 Canton Mart Rd. • Jackson, Mississippi • 601.956.7079

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

easy pinot noir. Drink now.

BEST OF

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Please vote for us for Best Roofer and Best Contractor in Best of Jackson 2020.

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June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

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What’s a Virtual Trash Dash? A Virtual Trash Dash is just like a regular plogging (picking up trash while walking/running) event except you walk, jog or run your 5K wherever you want. Imagine how much we can get done in one day with everyone cleaning a 3.1 mile stretch of Jackson! All proceeds from the Trash Dash go to support the work of Keep Jackson Beautiful as we work to make Jackson a cleaner, greener, more beautiful place.

Race Swag

Litter Hater (Adult) -$25 5K Trash Dash t-shirt Plogging kit

Litter Hater (Child) - $15 5K Trash Dash t-shirt Plogging Kit

Litter Eliminator (Adult) - $30 5K Trash Dash t-shirt KJB Neck Gaiter Plogging Kit

Litter Eliminator (Child) -$25 5K Trash Dash t-shirt KJB Neck Gaiter Plogging Kit

www.keepjacksonbeautiful.com/5k-virtual-trash-dash 601.353.4681 • www.environmentmasters.com

arts & crafts

Soap-Maker Cleans Up with Nerd Appeal by Sherry Lucas miniature Stormtrooper and Darth Vader helmets inside the soaps. “I’m big into the cosplay/nerd scene,” says Martin, whose purple hair and rainbow glasses convey a flair for color. “I can make some for myself and my daughter and sell them to other nerds who want them as well.” “We try to get a lot of the different fandoms out there,” she says, including “Star Trek,” “Star Wars,” “Spaced Invaders,” Pac-Man, LEGO Minifigures, “Pokémon,” “My Little Pony” and anime characters. “So, if someone goes, ‘I want 17 ‘Minecraft soaps’ for my son’s birthday party,’ I can probably do that.” Martin keeps her eye on directions in pop culture, too, timing soaps with Marvel Comics, DC Comics and “Pokémon” movie releases. Her favorite to date was a glow-in-the-dark dice soap that was a hit with gamers and the Dungeons & Dragons sect. Daughter Allie, now 14, remains “my creative guru,” Martin says. Martin sells Lady Helen’s Soaps through her Etsy shop and at conventions and can take requests through her Facebook page. By day, Martin works as a paralegal. She’s also the executive director of the women’s charity, Jackson Homeless Women’s Outreach Project. To place an order, call 601-201-4024 or find Lady Helen’s Soaps on Facebook or Etsy.

courtesy Anisa Max Martin

Lady Helen’s Soaps hold toys that feature characters from various “nerdy” franchises.

“It’s like the Happy Meal of cleanliness. … Kids have to get clean to get the prize in the middle,” she says. Toys such as “My Little Pony” and LEGO Minifigures sit in full-size, brightly hued, glycerin-based soaps that range from $1 to $7. Martin also does “geeky molds,” such as “Star Wars”’ Han Solo in carbonite, a Dalek from “Doctor Who,” and

Looking for something great to do in Jackson? Visit JFPEVENTS.COM for more.

JFP SPONSORED The Fireworks 5k Run And Walk July 3-5, Virtual. The Capital Area Sunset Rotary Club hosts the Fourth of July-themed virtual 5k run/ walk fundraising event. Donations go toward the rotary club’s community service initiatives. Participants are encouraged to complete a 5k (3.1 miles) anytime, anywhere over the weekend. Finisher medals mailed to virtual attendees. $25 requested donation; call 601-441-1889.

HOLIDAY City of Pearl 4th of July Fireworks Show July 4, 9:30 p.m., at Trustmark Park (1 Braves Blvd., Pearl). The City of Pearl hosts a fireworks show for the Fourth of July. Attendees may choose to view the show in the stadium or drive-in style in the parking lot. Stadium gates open at 6:30 p.m. for the first 2,000 people. Guests may bring lawn chairs or blankets or otherwise sit in the outfield grass or in the stadium chair-back seats. Games and concessions available, as well as entertainment on the big screen. Social distancing regulated. Tailgaters in the parking lot can tune into 104.5 FM, or “The Pirate,” which will simulcast the music set to the fireworks. Free admission, concession prices vary.

50 balloons in competitions, balloon glows and a race for top prize money. Friday features vendors and live music around the square. Saturday includes the balloon events and the fireworks show. Free admission, vendor prices vary; call 601-859-4830; festivalnet.com.

CONCERTS & FESTIVALS The District Green LIVE June 25,July 2, 7-9 p.m., at The District at Eastover (1250 Eastover Drive). The District opens its central community green space for people to bring their lawn chairs or blankets and view the live performances held weekly by different artists. Social distancing required. Food available for purchase from nearby restaurants. Free admission, food and drink prices vary; call 601-914-0800; www. facebook.com. Swinging Bridge Festival June 26-27, 4-10 p.m., at Jackson Dragway (7557 S. Siwell Road, Byram). The annual festival features arts, crafts and food vendors; live music from Jason Miller Band, Miles Flatt, Mike Robb and The 601 Band, and Jarekus Singletoon; a classic car show; a barbecue cook-off; a beer tent; a corn hole tournament; and fireworks shows closing both nights. Free admission, vendor prices vary; call 601-372-7791; www.facebook.com.

COMMUNITY

LITERARY

Mississippi Championship Hot Air Balloon Fest July 3-4, 6-9 p.m., at Canton/Madison Co. Multipurpose Complex (501 Soldiers Colony Road, Canton). The oldest balloon race in Mississippi celebrates its 35th year and features over

Welty at Home | A Virtual Book Club June 24, July 1, noon-1 p.m., via Zoom. Eudora Welty House & Garden and Mississippi Department of Archives & History host Virtual Book Club to explore Eudora Welty’s novel “Losing Battles”

over a period of 10 weeks, an average of 45 pages per week with live book club discussion on Zoom led by Welty’s friend and biographer Dr. Suzanne Marrs. Those unable to make the Zoom video call can follow on Facebook and Instagram. For more information email info@ eudoraweltyhouse.com. Free to the public. Free admission; call 601-353-7762; email info@eudoraweltyhouse.com; www.facebook.com. “Living Between Worlds” Discussion June 26, noon, via Facebook Live. Author James Hollis, Ph.D, holds a discussion on his book alongside John Evans through Lemuria’s Facebook page. Signed, hardcover copies of the book available for purchase. Free admission, $22.99 signed copy; call 601-366-7619; email info@lemuriabooks. com; www.lemuriabooks.com. “Goddess in the Machine” Discussion July 1, 5 p.m., via Instagram Live. Sci-fi author Lora Beth Johnson discusses her debut teen novel on Square Books, Jr.’s Instagram page. Copies available for purchase. Free admission, $18.99 copy; call 662236-2262; www.squarebooks.com.

PROFESSIONAL & BIZ Quick Bite: Student Loans and Nonprofits, The More You Know June 26, 12:15-12:45 p.m., Virtual. Angela Howze leads a webinar that gives an overview of student loan literacy, the benefits of having a nonprofit with student-loan debt, and how COVID-19 affects student loans. Alliance training sessions are $25 for one, $20 apiece for two, and $15 apiece for three or more. $25 single training; call 601-968-0061; email connect@alliancems.org; alliancems.org.

National Principles & Standards: An Overview of Excellence in Action June 30, 9:30-11:30 a.m., Virtual. Mary Ellen Calvert leads the webinar to help nonprofit and philanthropy leaders, staff, board members and volunteers evaluate and improve their operations, governance, organizational culture, human resources, advocacy, financial management, fundraising and program delivery. $25 single training; call 601-968-0061; email connect@alliancems.org; alliancems.org. Leadership Through Crisis July 1, 9-10:30 a.m., Virtual. Christie Lawrence leads a webinar on the practical tactics nonprofits can use to help themselves maneuver through difficult times. $25 single training; call 601-968-0061; email connect@alliancems.org; alliancems.org. Quick Bite: GuideStar Advanced July 3, 12:1512:45 p.m., Virtual. Nancy Perret leads a webinar to help participants strengthen their GuideStar profiles in ways that appeal to funders and donors. $25 single training; call 601-968-0061; email connect@alliancems.org; alliancems.org.

BE THE CHANGE Golf Ball Drop July 4, 6-10 p.m., at Canton Multipurpose Complex (501 Soldier Colony Road, Canton). In conjunction with Canton’s Balloon Fest 2020. Participants purchase numbered golf balls that are dropped from a hot air balloon onto the festival field. The numbered ball closest to the target wins the $5,000 grand prize. Proceeds benefit The Good Samaritan Center and its community efforts. $20 ticket (single golf ball); call 601-355-6276; ballooncanton.com.

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

EVENTS

Sherry Lucas

emories of her grandmother, Maxine Towner, first nudged Anisa “Max” Martin into soapmaking. But, a question from her daughter set the hobby in a playful direction that dabbles into nerd culture. Lady Helen’s Soaps is Martin’s home-based sideline. The name is a nod to her first high-school email address and “the dainty, crafty person inside of my head,” she says, picturing a 1950s-era housewife. “It’s weird, I know.” Her glycerin-based soaps hold tiny toys and salute sci-fi films, comic books, video games and more. Martin, who was Born in Indiana, has lived in Jackson since middle school, when her family moved to Mississippi. She started the soap-making hobby in 2015, focusing on fragrant, dainty soaps at first—the kind her grandmother collected on her travels. “They’d always smell so pretty, and as a small child, that kind of connected me to her,” she says. Then came her daughter Allie’s query: “Can you take (characters from) ‘My Little Pony’ and put them in soap for birthday parties?” Martin’s comeback: “Of course I can?” She gave it a try. Toy soaps proved more popular, and Martin, wrapping her mother and her daughter into the production, started selling them as a vendor at the annual Mississippi Comic Con and Mississippi Anime Festival events.

Last Week’s Answers 43 Revamp 44 Old movie holders 45 “Mr.” in “Elmo’s World” segments 47 Practice 49 Circulatory system components 51 Hunk of gum 52 Iowa State University town 54 John who appears in a 2019 episode of “The Twilight Zone” 56 Balkan capital 61 Boggs of the Red Sox 62 Relinquished 64 Dumpster emanation 65 Go on stage 66 “SNL” segment? 67 Got out 68 Loads cargo 69 Poetic tributes

BY MATT JONES

Down

“A Few Good Turns” --cycling through. Across

1 Baked, so to speak 5 Cocoa substitute 10 Talk show host who’s somehow board-certified 14 Cookie with a “Game of Thrones” variety in 2019 15 “Battlestar Galactica” commander 16 Become entangled 17 Luxury SUV manufactured in the U.K. 19 Singer Burl 20 Playground equipment 21 Avgolemono ingredient

22 Peregrine falcon place 23 Gooey stuff seen on Nickelodeon 25 Jousting outfit 27 Hurdle for a doctoral student 32 Freshen, in a way 35 “Three’s Company” landlord 36 Grates harshly 38 2 + 1, in Italy 39 Troublemakers 40 Fielder’s feat 41 Neologism for an extreme enthusiast (just added to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary) 42 “___ the ramparts ...”

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

Now taking July 4th Weekend Catering Orders

1 ___ d’oeuvres 2 “Dies ___” (Latin hymn) 3 Wilder who played Willy Wonka 4 Sty occupants 5 Paint job protectant 6 “And now, without further ___ ...” 7 Type of party chronicled in Mixmag 8 Psi follower 9 Pie chart alternative 10 Key of Beethoven’s Ninth 11 Semi-aquatic mammal with webbed feet 12 Quarry deposits 13 Lemon peel part 18 Pumped up 24 Jeweler’s measurement 26 Prefix trickily paired with “spelled” 27 Betelgeuse constellation 28 Shakespearean character in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet 29 Gave a thumbs-up to 30 Guitar maker Paul

31 He gets knighted in “Cars 2” 33 Asia-Europe border range 34 Nerve-wracking 37 Phillips-head hardware 40 Strong holds 41 Galilee, e.g. 43 “Aladdin” song “Prince ___” 44 Decorated again 46 Negev, e.g. 48 They’re gonna ... do what they do 50 Obsolescent contraction 52 Off-base, unofficially 53 Crafted

55 Unfooled by 57 Caramel-filled Hershey’s brand 58 Like many fans 59 “Scream 4” and “Party of Five” actress Campbell 60 Olympian war god 63 Mtn ___ ©2019 Jonesin’ Crosswords (jonesincrosswords@gmail.com) For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800 655-6548. Reference puzzle #935

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

Qabalistic teacher Ann Davies asked, “If you stick your finger in the fire, do you then complain that it is unfair when your finger gets burned? Do you call the fire bad?” I offer you this caution, Leo, because I want to encourage you not to stick your fingers or toes or any other parts of you into the fire during the coming weeks. And I’m happy to inform you that there are better approaches to finding out what’s important to learn about the fire. The preferred way is to watch the fire keenly and patiently from a modest distance. If you do so long enough, you’ll get all you need.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

In accordance with upcoming astrological portents, I urge you to engage in a vigorous redefinition of the term “miracle.” That will open you up to the full range of miraculous phenomena that are potentially available in the coming weeks. For inspiration, read this passage by Faith Baldwin: “Miracles are everyday things. Not only sudden great fortune wafting in on a new wind. They are almost routine, yet miracles just the same. Every time something hard becomes easier; every time you adjust to a situation which, last week, you didn’t know existed; every time a kindness falls as softly as the dew; or someone you love who was ill grows better; every time a blessing comes, not with trumpet and fanfare, but silently as night, you have witnessed a miracle.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

When Libras become authoritative enough to wield clout in their own sphere of influence, it’s often due to three factors: 1. the attractive force of their empathy; 2. their abilities to listen well and ask good questions, which help enable them to accurately read people’s emotional energy; 3. their knack for knowing specific tricks that promote harmony and a common sense of purpose. If you possess any of these talents, dear Libra, the next eight weeks will be a favorable time to employ them with maximum intensity and ingenuity and integrity. You’re primed to acquire and wield more leverage.

There is only one kind of erotic intimacy between consenting adults that can truly be called “unnatural”: an act that is physically impossible to perform. Everything else is potentially vitalizing and holy. No one knows this better than you Scorpios. You’re the champions of exotic pleasure; the connoisseurs of blissful marvels; the masters of curious delight and extraordinary exultation. And from an astrological perspective, the coming weeks will be a time when these aspects of your character could be especially vivid. But wait a minute. What about the pandemic? What about social-distancing? What about being cautious in seeking intimate connection? If anyone can work around these constraints so as to have sexual fun, it’s your tribe. Use your imagination!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

When he was 22 years old, Sagittarian-born Werner Heisenberg received his doctorate in physics and mathematics from a German university—even though he got a grade of C on his final exams. Nine years later, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics because of his pioneering work on quantum mechanics. What happened in between? One key development: He was mentored by physicists Niels Bohr and Max Born, both of whom also garnered Nobel Prizes. Another factor in his success was his association with other brilliant colleagues working in his field. I hope this story inspires you Sagittarians to be on the lookout for catalytic teachers and colleagues who can expedite your evolution. The planetary omens are favorable for such an eventuality.

You Capricorns aren’t renowned for causing controversy. For the most part you’re skillful at managing your reputation and keeping it orderly. But there may soon be a departure from this norm. A bit of a hubbub could arise in regards to the impressions you’re making and the effects you’re generating. I’m reminded of Capricorn author J. D. Salinger, whose book *Catcher in the Rye* was for a time widely taught in American schools but also widely banned because of its allegedly controversial elements. These days the book is regarded as a beloved classic, and I suspect you will weather your commotion with similar panache.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

Novelist Tom Robbins articulated a vision of what it means to be bold and brave. He said, “Real courage is risking something that might force you to rethink your thoughts and suffer change and stretch consciousness.” I’m hoping you will make that formula your keynote in the coming weeks. The time is right for you to summon extra amounts of fortitude, determination, and audacity. What new possibilities are you ready to flesh out in ways that might prod you to revise your beliefs and welcome transformation and expand your awareness?

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

Joan of Arc performed her heroic and magical feats in 1430 and 1431. But she wasn’t canonized as a saint until 1920—almost five centuries later. It took a while to garner the full appreciation she deserved. I’m sure you won’t have to wait as long to be acknowledged for your good deeds and fine creations, Pisces. In fact, from what I can tell, there’ll be a significant honor, enhancement, or reward coming your way sometime in the next four months. Start visualizing what you’d like it to be, and set your intention to claim it.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

In addition to being a magnificent storyteller, Aries author Barbara Kingsolver raises chickens at her home. “There are days when I am envious of my hens,” she writes, “when I hunger for a purpose as perfect and sure as a single daily egg.” Do you ever experience that delightful rush of assurance, Aries? I suspect that you’re likely to do so on multiple occasions in the coming weeks. And if you are indeed visited by visions of a perfect and sure purpose, your next task will be to initiate practical action to manifest it in the real world.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

Nobel Prize-winning Taurus physicist Richard Feynman got his undergraduate degree from prestigious MIT and his PhD from prestigious Princeton University. Later he taught at prestigious Caltech. But his approach to education had a maverick quality. “Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent, and original manner possible,” he advised his students. I think his strategy will work well for you in the coming weeks, which will be a favorable time to gather valuable information and polish your existing aptitudes.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

You’re entering a phase when you’ll have the potential to upgrade and fine-tune your relationship with money. In the hope of encouraging that prospect, I offer you the counsel of author Katharine Butler Hathaway. “To me, money is alive,” she wrote. “It is almost human. If you treat it with real sympathy and kindness and consideration, it will be a good servant and work hard for you, and stay with you and take care of you.” I hope you’ll consider cultivating that approach, dear Gemini: expressing benevolence and love toward money, and pledging to be benevolent and loving as you use the money you acquire.

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E RE N

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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

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444 Bounds St. Jackson MS | 601-718-7665

June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

“Who would deduce the dragonfly from the larva, the iris from the bud, the lawyer from the infant?” Author Diane Ackerman asks her readers that question, and now I pose the same inquiry to you—just in time for your Season of Transformation. “We are all shape-shifters and magical reinventors,” Ackerman says. I will add that you Cancerians now have the potential to be *exceptional* shape-shifters and magical reinventors. What new amazements might you incorporate into your life? What dazzling twists and twinkles would you like to add to your character? What will the Future You be like?

MISSISSIPPI BAPTIST MEDICAL CENTER AT 1225 N. STATE ST., JACKSON MS 39202 SEEKS NEUROHOSPITALIST TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT AND HELP PREVENT DISEASES AND DISORDERS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, PROVIDE CARE TO PATIENTS COMING OUT OF THE ICU WHO REQUIRE COMPLEX MEDICAL AND NEUROLOGICAL MANAGEMENT, AND OVERSEE CARE OF THE CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS IN A HOSPITAL SETTING AT 12225 N. STATE ST., JACKSON MS 39202. THE APPLICANT MUST HAVE COMPLETED A RESIDENCY IN NEUROLOGY, AND MUST BE ELIGIBLE TO OBTAIN A MISSISSIPPI MEDICAL LICENSE.

E TH G

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

JFP SPOTLIGHT

5 THINGS TO KNOW

about

Carlton McGrone

COURTESY CARLTON MCGRONE

I was born and raised in Jackson. I’m an only child, so I grew up among my many cousins. Each year, my mother signed me up with some sort of sports organization to further socialize with children. I even managed to get a black belt in taekwondo during my freshman year at Terry High School. I later attended and graduated from The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg in 2019. Although I was a natural storyteller, I never knew I wanted to write until I applied for Southern Miss’ student-run newspaper, The Student Printz. Since then, I’ve wanted my life to contain some form of writing, whether that be fiction or some type of journalistic pursuit.

Deputy Editor Nate Schumann informed me of a freelance-writing position with the Jackson Free Press last fall. He and I met while we both worked on USM’s newspaper, and he reached out to me after I’d graduated about the opportunity. Because I was fond of reviewing media and entertainment, Nate asked if I would like to write reviews for him at the Jackson Free Press. 4 pg Block 4.375x5.5).pdf

Freelance Writer

Mostly, I write book reviews of works by Jackson-native authors. I’ve also interviewed an author for a Q&A. I love that I’m able to publish articles that allow me to employ the critical eye that I acquired as an English major. I’m regularly able to write for an audience, and I challenge myself to produce better work each time.

In terms of hobbies and interests, I love to exercise, though I could never join a CrossFit gym or anything intense like that. Leisure activities such as hiking or running are more my speed. I love music and listen to at least one album a day without interruption. As a calming, mindful habit, I like to cook simple, quick meals. Lastly, I guess it goes without saying, but I’m never without a book on my nightstand.

Not-so-fun-fact, during my first experience with flying, the pilot slept in, and a thunderstorm caused the flight’s cancellation, so I slept, alone, in a Chicago airport with my luggage flown somewhere in the country, as it never arrived in Jackson. Looking back, the 1 6/9/20 5:39 PM ordeal was more harrowing than it sounds.

Fireworks 5k Virtual Run/Walk July 3-July 5 Feel good and do some good! June 24 - July 7, 2020 • jfp.ms

Help raise funds to support education and food insecurity.

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Every runner or walker receives an inaugural finisher medal.

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v18n22 - Losing Queenyanna

Articles inside

5 Things to Know about Carlton McGrone Freelance Writer

Soap-Maker Cleans Up with Nerd Appeal

John Uzodinma II, Breaking Barriers Four Strings at a Time

The Garden Farmacy: Local Eco-Farmers Offer Seasonal Staples and Medicinal Herbs

Losing Queenyanna: Could 5-Year-Old Still Be Alive?

What Side Are You On? Racism Is Dividing Nation Along Line of Morality

Smelling Sewage on Sage Street

Legislature In Overtime, Criminal Justice Reform Top Priority

Stop Glamorizing the Cruelty of Racist Ancestors

Jacksonian