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contents

Taylor Dupree

May 5 - June 1, 2021 Vol. 19 No. 15

ON THE COVER Joseph Anthony Photo by Gary Davis/gshotspics see page 18

4 Editor’s Note 6 Talks

8 Rebel’s Waste

S

tudent-athlete Taylor Dupree has lived on the same street—and in the same house—all her life, so when the University of Tennessee at Martin offered her a chance to play basketball, she jumped at the chance. “I wanted to go explore somewhere different, and I felt like it was a good school for me,” Dupree says of her choice.

The Northwest Rankin High School senior also plans to take advantage of the Skyhawks’ ranking as the number-one nursing school in Tennessee to pursue her dream of becoming a pediatric nurse practitioner, a goal she set for herself as a member of her school’s health science academy. As someone who loves children, the field appealed to her.

NWR’s academy requires its students to obtain clinical hours in order to successfully complete the program, a fact that originally startled Dupree.

“At first, I didn’t want to be in the medical field,” Dupree recalls. “But my mom has a friend who is a pediatric nurse practitioner. She was able to get me to come shadow her, and I realized something it was something I actually liked doing.”

Dupree feels confident in her ability to manage the demands of Division-I conference athletics in addition to her

JACKSONIAN nursing coursework, as she often played two to three varsity sports at a time while managing a full slate of high school classes. “I try to get all my work done in class and stay on top of everything so that after-school is a time for me to focus on sports or go to work,” Dupree says.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic challenged Dupree’s sense of balance, though, and when her practice schedules became more irregular as a result, she prioritized her athletics and academics by quitting her part-time job at a local restaurant. “It’s honestly been kind of a process, and I had to balance that. My parents were in a good spot to be able to provide for me during that time,” she admits. “But when the season was over, I started a new job.”

Her teammates lauded her efforts at putting them first, voting her “Most Impactful Player” for the 2020-2021 school year. “I felt like I had a good impact on my team, so it means a lot to me,” Dupree says of the honor, which came alongside an accolade for Best Offensive Player. “Our teammates voted (on who should receive the award), so it meant a lot to me that my teammates thought that about me.”

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

10 14 20 26

Opinion Amazing Teens 2021 BOJ Healthcare Food

28 Tht Kid Ker Jackson State University student Parker DeLoach drops his first mixtape and prepares for his second.

30 Arts

31 All Businesses Prosper The new business allows vendors to set up pop-up shops in the Northpark Mall space on weekends.

32 33 34 36 36 37 37

Do Gooder Best Bets Local LIst Puzzle Sorensen astro Classifieds

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • boomjackson.com

officials bates photography

Andrew Walker of Rebel Velocity Sewer Services pleads guilty to illegally dumping waste into Jackson’s sewage system.

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editor’s note

Publisher & President Todd Stauffer Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin Managing Editor Nate Schumann Art Director Zilpha Young Online & JFPDaily.com Editor Dustin Cardon REPORTERS AND WRITERS City Reporter Kayode Crown Reporting Fellow Julian Mills Contributing Writers Dustin Cardon, Bryan Flynn, Taylor McKay Hathorn, Jenna Gibson, Tunga Otis, Richard Coupe,Torsheta Jackson, Michele D. Baker, Mike McDonald, Kyle Hamrick EDITORS AND OPERATIONS Founding Editor Donna Ladd Editorial Assistant Shaye Smith Consulting Editor JoAnne Prichard Morris

SALES, ONLINE & DIGITAL SERVICES Content Specialist Amber Cliett Marketing Consultant Chris Rudd Web Designer Montroe Headd Let’s Talk Jackson Editor Kourtney Moncure DISTRIBUTION Distribution Coordinator Ken Steere Distribution Team Yvonne Champion, Ruby Parks, Eddie Williams TALK TO US: Letters letters@jacksonfreepress.com Editorial editor@jacksonfreepress.com Queries submissions@jacksonfreepress.com Listings events@jacksonfreepress.com Advertising ads@jacksonfreepress.com Publisher todd@jacksonfreepress.com News tips news@jacksonfreepress.com

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The Jackson Free Press is the city’s award-winning, locally owned news magazine, reaching more than 35,000 readers per issue via more than 600 distribution locations in the Jackson metro area—and an average of over 35,000 visitors per week at www.jacksonfreepress. com. The Jackson Free Press is free for pick-up by readers; one copy per person, please. First-class subscriptions are available to “gold level” and higher members of the JFP VIP Club (jfp.ms/vip). The views expressed in this magazine and at jacksonfreepress.com are not necessarily those of the publisher or management of Jackson Free Press Inc. © Copyright 2021 Jackson Free Press Inc.

Email letters and opinion to letters@jacksonfreepress.com, fax to 601-510-9019 or mail to 125 South Congress St., Suite 1324, Jackson, Mississippi 39201. Include daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, as well as factchecked.

T

he teacher’s question was simple: “Is youth violence the fault of the family or the young person?”

The Wingfield High School teacher meant well when she posed that question symbolizing so much of what is wrong in the accusatory public narrative about young people caught in oftengenerational cycles of trauma and violence.

She was sitting with about a dozen teenagers in the Mississippi Youth Media Project newsroom, next door to this newspaper’s office downtown. The students were from the soon-defunct FAME program for young people who had school attendance issues, many of them I’d learn also suffering severe trauma from both experiencing and witnessing violence, which they seldom-if-ever had talked about.

They came to YMP every Friday to learn media skills and tell their stories.

The educator was thrilled as she told the room how the group had devoured my “Hunger to Live” story about young men facing hunger and violence in the Washington Addition. They wouldn’t stop reading, she said, beaming, and they enthusiastically circled the embedded causes and solutions for youth violence, as I had asked them to do as homework. So she had assigned a writing prompt: It crime the fault of the young person or the family?

I bit my lip, not wanting to dampen her enthusiasm while noting to myself that her question left the often-blamed public schools out of the mix. “Well,” I said, “I prefer more open-ended writing prompts rather than yes-or-no or either-or questions. So let’s do another free write!”

My prompt was “young people commit crime because ….” They started quietly scratching words into their journals.

They soon read out loud dozens of reasons for youth crime. They know exactly why young people commit violence, and each of them wants it to stop, but didn’t know how or believe that it is possible. They taught me through their eyes.

I then had them do a down-anddirty systems analysis like one we did when I was a W.K. Kellogg fellow. They put each cause on a sheet of paper on the big floor—a map of what research, indeed, also shows: police brutality, poverty, stress, struggle, “no parents,” self-defense, trauma, going hungry, no opportunity, hopelessness, peer pressure, underfunded schools, “need money,” and others.

They then brainstormed potential solutions for what became our traveling

// by Donna Ladd “crime wall” for youth-crime dialogues.

Among the FAME teenagers was a brilliant young man who was constantly on edge who told me he had watched his 11-year-old cousin shot next to him.

There was a young woman who had been sexually abused by a mom’s boyfriend and later beaten by a police officer and stabbed by her mom the same night. Another gregarious boy came up in a gang family and craved a different path, and he got himself to the Youth Mayoral Forum that YMP hosted at Provine High School to help move tables around because, by damn, he courtesy Donna LaDD

ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY Graphic Designer Kristin Brenemen Contributing Photographers Seyma Bayram, Acacia Clark, Nick Judin, Imani Khayyam, Ashton Pittman, Brandon Smith

Systemic Racism Created Jackson’s Violence; More Policing Cannot Stop It

Founding Editor Donna Ladd

was going to be there to help.

I loved these young people, with all their wit, honesty and imperfections (like all of us), and they taught me more than all of the violence research I’ve studied— especially how too many of our young people grow up in cycles they have no idea how to escape. They are marginalized, stereotyped and lectured by everyone in sight, but rarely listened to. They’re just

Blame won’t stop the violence, folks. supposed to “know better,” just like their parents should’ve, as the people wagging fingers and calling for more jail beds say.

Blame won’t stop the violence, folks.

These cycles started back with race violence—systematic horrifying lynchings and white mob violence against Black people, especially young men, to keep them in their place, not voting, not engaged in the civic discourse and decision-making, no

access to resources, education, power and opportunity that it takes to reverse such centuries-old systems. Those long-dead racists still win when we’re told that the answers are harsher policing and renting more jail beds for low-level offenders, who actually need opportunity instead.

You don’t destroy hope and safety of generations of young people with threats of being burned at a stake for flirting, with the state’s largest newspaper announcing it in advance to swell the crowds, without the trauma of that violence sinking in generationally until we as a society pivot together to stop it. That is science, folks.

I know that violence research can’t change the fear in Jackson of the violence that has continually spiked in the capital city since late 2017. As I’m writing this, the Jackson City Council plans to meet at New Horizon Church in South Jackson to, supposedly, address the violence.

Inevitably, some will pound the desk for more police and jail beds. I remember a panel discussion Councilman Banks hosted at Forest Hill High School around the time that the Wingfield teens did the systems analysis and not long before murders started spiking (coinciding with the antievidence-based Project Eject’s focus on mass incarceration of more Jacksonians).

A row of uniformed officers sat at a front table in the Forest Hill cafeteria.

Some commentary was thoughtful, but steeped in resignation. Few young people were there, just as those who need opportunities the most are least likely to get it.

This is difficult work, and it should’ve started in earnest and in an organized way a decade or decades ago, but the second best time is now. Make no mistake: More police officers will not reduce violence (they admit that in honest moments). And when not trained or managed well, law enforcement increases violence. When they’re disrespectful to Jackson’s young people, teenagers will respond in kind. When cops beat up, or kill, a mentally disturbed man they were called to help, they are increasing the culture of violence. Research proves that over-policing causes more violence.

What Jackson needs is an evidencebased safety net to wrap around our neediest young people at every stage. We can unite to fill in the holes, but we must stop finger-wagging blame-games and assuming that more cops are the answer rather than one of myriad causes. Seek real solutions, or we’ll be having the same meetings in the same churches 20 years from now.

contributors

Dustin Cardon

Mike McDonald

Online Editor Dustin Cardon is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi. He enjoys reading fantasy novels and wants to write them himself one day.

He wrote the Biz story on All Businesses Prosper for the issue.

Mike McDonald attended the University of Montana. He enjoys listening to rap music, writing short stories and reading books about American history. He wrote some Amazing Teens stories for the issue.

JFP VIPs are keeping the Free Press reporting.

Over 650 JFP VIPs have helped us to get through the COVID-19 slowdown.

Taylor McKay Hathorn

Torsheta Jackson

Taylor McKay Hathorn, an alumna of Mississippi College’s English program, wrote features for the Amazing Teens and Best of Jackson packages, along with a book review and the Jacksonian.

Freelance writer Torsheta Jackson is originally from Shuqualak, Miss.

A wife and mother of four, she writes and is a certified lactation counselor. She wrote the music story on Tht Kid Ker, as well as a Amazing Teens featurettes.

As a result of their generosity, we’ve been able to keep operations going while also successfully applying for the Payroll Protection Program and grants from Facebook and Google to help our team continue critical reporting on COVID-19 and other community challenges. We were one of three publications in Mississippi to receive the Facebook grant.

Kayode Crown

Shaye Smith

City Reporter Kayode Crown came to Mississippi from Nigeria where he earned a post-graduate diploma in journalism and was a journalist for 10 years. He has since fallen in love with the beautiful landscapes in Jackson.

He reported on illegal dumping and the 911 system.

Editorial Assistant Shaye Smith holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and English literature and master’s degrees in marriage counseling and religious education. She edits the event calendar, wrote Best of Jackson blurbs, assisted in fact-checking and editing for the issue.

CORRECTION: In the original version of last issue’s music story on the Twilight Concerts series, the Jackson Free Press mistakenly listed the wrong music group that goes by The Vamps. We have since updated the online version of the story as well as the digital flip book of the issue to reflect the proper music artist, and we apologize to Ardenland, Wratched Entertainment Group, The Vamps and our readers for this error.

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May 5 - June 1, 2021 • boomjackson.com

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news,

storytelling & re, ir tu

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TALK JXN

“What more does it do to be in emergency contact if y’all can’t pick up the phone?”

—Calvin McCalpin on trying to report a fire to 911, see page 7

@jxnfreepress

@jacksonfreepress

@jxnfreepress

ce eren rev

Massive Fires Show Weakness of 911 in Jackson

by Kayode Crown

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

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kayode crown

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s the smoke billowed from the raging fire at an apartment complex on O’Ferrell Avenue in Jackson on Friday, April 16, 2021, some of the people who lived there explained that the fire would not have been so ravaging had the Jackson Fire Department responded faster after they called 911.

“I don’t know how (the fire) started, all I know is smoke coming in, and everybody had to get out; everybody (was) helping everybody to get out of the apartment (complex). That was it.

The fire department took too long to come,” said Richard Champion, one of the apartment complex’s residents. He spoke to the Jackson Free Press at about 1 p.m., as the fire crew continued the battle to contain and quench the fire that had started about three hours before.

Champion said he had called 911, but “no one answered the phone.” But when his neighbor Elbert Williams called the number, he was told that help was on the way. But after waiting for about 30 minutes, Williams got in his car and drove to the nearest fire station located at the Jackson Zoo, within a mile from the apartment complex.

When he got there, what struck Williams was that the fire crew members were not in official clothing, getting ready to come to their rescue and that if he did not come, they would not have been aware of the fire outbreak nearby, regardless of the 911 call. “We (called) them about 30, 40 minutes before the fire got that bad. They could have come to put it out,” he said.

Another apartment-complex resident, Truy Bennet, said that the timeline of the fire department’s response was very slow “We saw a little smoke, and we think it’s something major, so we called (911) to say we saw a little smoke. (The fire department) didn’t come till about two hours later when the flame got all over the building,” Bennet said. “We called 911, and the line kept being busy, (even though) the fire department is right down the street.”

Patricia Nelson had left the apartment complex four months earlier due

Firefighters were still on the job at an apartment complex on O’Ferrell Avenue, Jackson, as seen in this picture taken at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, April 16, 2021. Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Armon said the fire started at 10 a.m.

to what she described as the deteriorating condition of her apartment there, but her son continues to stay there. She said the fire started from her friend Debbie Barnes’ apartment.

“The fault came from the wiring in the wall in her apartment,” she said sitting beside Barnes on a stone. They and others from around the area looked on as the fire continued to consume people’s properties

across the road, beyond the police’s do-notcross yellow tape. The apartment complex owner gave his name as Terry but declined to speak with the Jackson Free Press, saying he is busy trying to provide temporary

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Weakness of 911

Complaints About 911 Service

“In November 2019, the City of Jackson entered into an agreement with Tyler Technologies New World Public Safety System for software, hardware, training, and implementation services for a new Public Safety System for Police, Fire and 911,” the City of Jackson Director of Administration Lawanda Horton wrote in a March 16 memo to Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba, backing up a spending change in the city’s contract with the company.

Horton put that item on the agenda for the city council’s March 30 meeting, and Ward 7 Councilwoman Virgi Lindsay used the opportunity to inform the body of the inefficiency in the running of the 911 system in the city. “I’m getting phone calls, and I think we all are, about people, when they’re in a real emergency (not getting) a response from 911,” Lindsay said at the March 29 council work session.

Lindsay wanted to know when the 911 system will be working well to gain the confidence of Jacksonians. The mayor could not provide an answer, deferring to Deputy Police Chief Tyrone Buckley, who pointed to staffing issues. “Currently, we are budgeted for 47, (but) we have 31 employees (in the 911 system),” Buckley said.

He explained that there are six to nine 911 dispatchers on each of the three shifts.

The Jackson Free Press reached out to Buckley on Friday, April 30, with this reporter sending him two phone numbers to confirm what happened when the apartment residents called 911 on April 16. He did not pick up the call the reporter made to his phone on Sunday, May 2, and Monday, May 3, and did not reply to the voice messages as at press time.

The mayor, at the March 29 work session, indicated that new federal requirements are proving a burden to the staff, especially amid the pandemic. “We were under a deadline by the federal govern-

kayode crown

settlement to residents the inferno left without a home..

Mississippi Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, came to the scene shortly after 1 p.m. and started getting the names of those the fire affected to help get them assistance.

“I was watching the video as it was happening live, and I just felt so sorry for the families that have been displaced,” she told the Jackson Free Press. “This is a devastating, traumatic event, and I knew there wasn’t much I could do while the fire was going on, but I said, at least I can start to point some resources and organizations to help the folks that, you know, don’t have anywhere to go with this.”

Mississippi Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, on Friday, April 16, 2021, collected the names of those affected by the fire outbreak at the apartment complex on O’Ferrell Avenue to get them help.

ment to change to a new system; and so what has happened is that there are more fields to fill out for our 911 call takers,” he said. “And that has led to the delay in many of them being able to get to the calls as quickly as they were previously.”

“And so we want to see what fields we can eliminate and make sure that they become more acclimated to the system.”

Then-President Donald Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, which included the RAY BAUM’S Act, into law. “Section 506 of RAY BAUM’S Act requires the Commission to ‘conclude a proceeding to consider adopting rules to ensure that the dispatchable location is conveyed with a 9-1-1 call, regardless of the technological platform used and including with calls from multiline telephone systems’ by September 23, 2019,” the Federal Communications Commission said in its guidance on the law that it released on Aug. 2, 2019, where it stipulated a two-year adoption deadline.

Take Care of the Staff

“Nearly 660,000 calls are made to 911 each day. For many callers, that day may be the worst day of their lives.

They need to know that their call will go through and that help will soon be on the way,” Federal Communications Commission member Geoffrey Starks wrote in the FCC document.

Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote said that the inefficiencies in the running of the 911 system in the city might be due to staffing issues, and decried the “excessive time for the response to get through to the

citizens” in some of the cases brought to his attention.

“We’ve received some complaints in slow response to the 911 calls,” he said in a phone interview on Thursday, April 22.

“We need to address that and make sure that the 911 service is properly staffed so that we can be responsive to the needs of our citizens when they call.”

Ward 4 Councilman and District 66 House Rep. De’Keither Stamps pinned the problem to the need for better working conditions for dispatchers. “I’m not satisfied with where we are. We’ve got to work hard to get to a better place,” he said. “We have to take care of the people who work in the dispatch office better by giving them better working conditions, pay and a work culture so that they can deliver their best work to the citizens of Jackson.”

Cause of Fire Undetermined

Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Armon told reporters at the scene of the April 16 fire that it started around 10 a.m.

“Then someone walked to the fire station, which is located at the zoo, which is not far from here and reported the fire to the crew that were at that station,” he said.

“They responded and found, when they got here, that the fire had already broken through the roof and that they had a lot of flames showing when they got here.”

The initial attempt by the fire crew to contain the fire did not work as its power had grown before they got there.

They started with lines of fire hoses, then resorted to ladder trucks. At that time, Armon said the cause of the fire is un-

known, but an arson investigator will do an assessment.

“We know the origin, but we don’t know the cause; the origin was on the first floor in one of the apartments’ bedrooms.

What caused it, we don’t know, so it’s going to go as undetermined,” Armon told the Jackson Free Press in a phone interview on Thursday, April 22.

He said “as far as” he knows, the crew did not respond to a 911 call, but that someone came into the Livingston Park Fire Station to inform the crew. “That was how it was reported,” he said.

Saving Lives

Debbie Barnes said on April 16 that the fire started from her apartment. “The wire (in the wall) caught fire when I was laying in the bed,” she told the Jackson Free Press.

Another resident of the apartment, Calvin McCalpin, said that the first thing he noticed was the smoke that became heavier by the minute, and eventually he noted that the ensuing fire gutted eight apartments.

“We first thought that it was something behind the building, but once everybody recognized that the building was on fire, we tried to get everybody out as fast as we can to make sure everybody got away.

There was much stuff left behind; plenty of people lost their homes,” he said. “(The fire department) was almost 45 minutes to an hour late trying to get here anyway.”

“We (were) constantly calling, calling, and calling and ain’t nobody picking up the phone,” McCalpin added. “What more does it do to be in emergency contact if y’all can’t pick up the phone?”

He confirmed what Williams said about driving to the fire station to call the firemen to action.

“We even had people drive down there in their car just to go down and get them,” he said. “One person came back and said they are down there watching TV; I mean, come on, y’all supposed to be doing y’all job.”

McCalpin said he was the one who carried Barnes, an older woman, out of her apartment to safety.

“These elderly folks stay over here, the lady I rescued, I went and rescued, (that) I got out of the house, she was half paralyzed. So she can’t do nothing for herself. This don’t make no sense, the way the city of Jackson is going,” he said.

Email story tips to city/county reporter Kayode Crown at kayode@jacksonfreepress.com.

Follow him on Twitter at @kayodecrown.

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • boomjackson.com

TALK JXN

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TALK JXN

crime

‘Rebel’ Businessman Dumps Suburban Waste into Jackson Sewage System

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$500,000 fine and four years of supervised release after imprisonment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Cooperstein explained in open court that if the case had gone to trial, the government would have proven the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, using documents and testimony from Mississippi state government officials.

Walker declined to comment to this reporter at his company’s location on March 7, suggesting his attorney Micheal

in November 2016 with an unnamed president and part owner of a manufacturing company called “Company A” in the court, which has operated for decades in a Jackson suburb.

A month before that, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality officials detected high levels of contaminants in the Jackson sewer system, traced it to company A, and subsequently ordered the business to stop dumping waste with pollutants exceeding regulatory limits with-

rounding counties that struggle to function as it ought, court documents indicated.

“For many years, JWTS has suffered from increased input and inadequate maintenance and upgrades,” the document said.

“This caused thousands of sewage overflows throughout the Jackson area, and numerous bypasses of the treatment works. JWTS operated under a series of consent decrees with (the Environmental Protection Agency), requiring the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars to repair and improve kayode crown

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

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ndrew Walker, 71, may find himself in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring with others to wrongfully discharge 3 million gallons of industrial waste between December 2016 and October 2017 into the Jackson sewage system, court filings say.

The University of Mississippi Department of Business Administration graduate owns Walker Environmental Services operating under the name Rebel Velocity Sewer Services. Then-U.S Attorney Michael Hurst signed the charging document in August 2020 stating that the everyday business of Walker’s company consists of disposing of sewage, grease trap, clearing blocked sewer pipes and storm drains, and inspecting sewer-lines maintenance.

“Rebel transported customers’ waste to the Jackson sewage treatment plant and to landfills and other disposal sites, but its 333 Wilmington Street (Jackson) location was not a permitted waste disposal location,” the charging documents said.

In the Jan. 27, 2021, hearing, U.S. District Judge Kristi Haskins Johnson wanted to know if Walker was clear about the decision he would make that day before she accepted his guilty plea. She told him the length of possible jail time he is facing and the rights he would give up by pleading guilty to two felony offenses—conspiracy and illegal discharge of industrial waste into Jackson sewer system.

“Mr. Walker, do you understand that the felony, that the offense to which you’re pleading guilty is a felony offense,” the judge asked in the audio recording of the proceeding.

“I do,” Walker replied.

The judge then asked if he understood what the illegal dumping plea would cost him: “valuable civil rights, such as the right to vote, the right to hold public office, the right to serve on a jury, and the right to possess any kind of firearm?”

“I do,” he repeated.

The judge informed Walker that he may have to forfeit some of his properties to the government and that if sentenced to prison, he will not be eligible for parole. “Do you also understand that parole has been abolished and that if you are sentenced to prison, you will not be released on parole?” the judge asked.

Walker’s offenses draw a maximum penalty of eight years of incarceration,

by Kayode Crown

Walker Environmental Services operates from this building at 333 Wilmington St. in Jackson as Rebel High Velocity Sewer Services. On Jan. 25, 2017, owner Andrew Walker participated in digging up Jackson Sewer System pipes at this location to illegally dump industrial waste, court documents said. He has pled guilty to the criminal charges.

Dawkins of Baker Donelson. “Based on the status of this matter, it would not be appropriate for Andy Walker or me to make any comments,” Dawkins, whose practice at Baker Donelson focuses on white-collar criminal defense and environmental law, said in a March 8 statement.

Walker is out on bond. Johnson did not determine the date for sentencing in his last court appearance on Jan. 27.

How it All Started

Walker’s involvement in the felony crimes is traceable to a phone call he had

out adequate pre-treatment.

“The order notified the operators with company A that it could not discharge its industrial waste into the sewer system and indicated that the city would install monitoring devices in the sewer to detect any further discharges,” Cooperstein told the court.

Walker now admits to conspiring to circumvent that order.

Jackson Water Treatment System consisted of three wastewater-treatment facilities—Savanna, Trahon, Presidential Hills—that serve Jackson and parts of sur-

the collection and treatment systems.”

“To enable public wastewater treatment plants to comply with their Clean Water Act permits, industrial users of public wastewater systems could not discharge industrial waste into the system without a permit establishing pretreatment requirements and pollutant limits,” it added.

“Wastewater treatment systems were required to monitor the pollutants they accept in order to protect the systems from damage and to preserve their ability to treat the wastes they received.”

On Jan. 27, before Johnson

CRIME

accepted Walker’s guilty plea, she asked the prosecution to go over the facts of the case and explain how it would go about proving its case if Walker did not plead guilty.

COURTESY BAKER DONELSON

Conspiring on the Phone “The government would introduce its recordings of telephone conversations a few months (after the government’s order) between the defendant Walker and a company A owner in which they discussed the administrative order prohibiting company A from discharging industrial waste into the sewer in those conversations,” Cooperstein stated in court.

Company A’s president told Walker about his company’s order from MDEQ prohibiting industrial waste discharge into the sewer. “They agreed to discharge company A’s untreated industrial waste into the Jackson sewer system at the defendant’s business location, where it would not be detected,” the assistant U.S. attorney said.

“In those conversations, they agreed that if caught, they would claim that the waste was being processed at Rebel by an unused unit designed to separate fats in grease trap waste.” “[F]rom November 2016 through October 2017, Mr. Walker and his co-conspirators evaded (the government order), arranging for the illegal disposal of this untreated industrial waste, first by misrepresenting the industrial waste to be domestic waste and dumping it at Jackson’s treatment plant, and then by discharging hundreds of truckloads of industrial waste into a city sewer pipe, they excavated at Rebel,” a press statement from the U.S. Department of Justice stated.

On Jan. 25, 2017, employees of an unnamed industrial services company, called company B in court, which transported Company A’s industrial waste, joined Walker to excavate Jackson’s sewer line servicing his facility, court documents revealed. They inserted a pipe connected to a large storage tank, making the dumping faster. The industrial services company brought the tank.

The prosecution said it will introduce pictures of company B staff excavating the City of Jackson sewer pipe serving the defendant’s facility.

However, JWTS does not permit industrial waste discharge into its system without permission and pretreatment.

“Statements of company B employees would be introduced indicating that they excavated the sewer pipe in order to facilitate the discharge of company A’s industrial

waste into the Jackson sewer pipe at the defendant’s facility,” Cooperstein said.

“They agreed to discharge company A’s untreated industrial waste into the Jackson sewer system at the defendant’s business location, where it would not be detected in those conversations.”

“It was the purpose of the conspirators and the objective of their conspiracy to benefit financially by removing Company A’s industrial waste from its production facility and trucking it to locations in Jack-

Attorney Micheal Dawkins declined in a statement to the Jackson Free Press to comment after Walker Environmental Services owner Andrew Walker pled guilty and now awaits sentencing.

son where they discharged it into the sewer system of Jackson, Mississippi at unauthorized discharge points, thus avoiding the expense of the pretreatment required by law, sewer usage fees, and the cost of waste disposal at a permitted facility,” court documents stated. “The conspirators thereby sought to profit by evading the regulations that protect the infrastructure of Jackson’s sewer system and the efficacy of its treatment plant.”

Cooperstein said that company B employees would testify that between January and October 2017, the company transported hundreds of truckloads of company A’s industrial waste to Rebel’s facility in Jackson into a holding tank that drains to the excavated Jackson sewer pipe.

City Pursuing Own Lawsuit City of Jackson Communications Manager Michelle Atoa told the Jackson Free Press that the City is aware of the suit

and assisted the DOJ in the process.

“The City has also investigated the matter itself and is contemplating its own legal action against the individuals and companies responsible for the generation and disposal of the waste in the City’s wastewater collection and treatment system,” she said in a statement on March 9, adding that she could not give other information, yet.

On Tuesday, March 16, the Jackson City Council approved three law firms— Winston J. Thompson III, PLLC; Hawkins Law, P.C.; and Lightfoot, Franklin & White, LLC, to “pursue claims related to the illegal dumping of waste into the City of Jackson’s sewer system.” The list of companies allegedly involved in the violation included Walker Environmental Services.

The order indicated that “Gold Coast Commodities Inc., Partridge-Sibley Industrial Services, Inc., PSI-GA LLC, and Walker Environmental Services were the subject of investigations by state and federal authorities pertaining to the dumping and disposal of waste products contrary to state and federal law.” Gold Coast Commodities Inc. is a manufacturing firm based in Brandon, a suburb of Jackson, and has been a subject of State investigation into illegal industrial waste dumping in Pelahatchie, Brandon and Jackson.

Partridge-Sibley Industrial Services Inc. is an industrial contractor in Jackson.

It is not clear if the City’s action is a reference to the case to which Walker pleaded guilty and if Companies A and B in the federal complaint are among the organizations listed in the city council’s order.

The Jackson Free Press called the number for Gold Coast Commodities listed on its website on Tuesday, April 27, and again on Tuesday, May 4, speaking both times to a receptionist and asking for comments on the case. Due to no response, the reporter called again on May 4.

“If somebody decides to call you back, I’ve got your name and number,” the receptionist said that day.

This reporter called the number on Partridge-Sibley Industrial Services Inc.’s website on the morning of Tuesday, May 4, leaving a message with the receptionist for the company’s leaders to comment about being included in the council agenda; they did not reach back as of press time.

According to details on the Secretary of State’s website, PSI-GA LLC and Partridge-Sibley Industrial Services Inc. operate from the same north Jackson building.

City Council President and Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks declined further comments on either the dumping issue or

the reason for the companies being included on the council agenda and whether there was a connection between that list and the unnamed companies in the Walker case, which is unclear at press time.

This report will be updated as new information becomes available.

“If it’s pertaining to Gold Coast and the pending litigation, I (am) very limited to what I can and cannot say when it comes to that because we have ongoing litigation right now,” Banks told the Jackson Free Press on the phone on Monday, May 3.

In the Jan. 27 hearing, Cooperstein revealed that the prosecution has payment records for thousands of dollars that the defendant received to dispose of untreated waste from Company A illegally. After he finished telling the judge what he called a summary of the government’s case against Walker, the judge asked the defendant what he was pleading in the case.

“Mr. Walker; I’m going to ask you now. How do you plead to the charge contained in count one of the Information; guilty or not guilty?” Johnson asked.

“Guilty,” Walker said in response.

“And how do you plead to the charge contained in count two of the Information; guilty or not guilty?”

“Guilty,” he said.

Email story tips to city/county reporter Kayode Crown at kayode@jacksonfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @kayodecrown.

MOST VIRAL STORIES AT JFP.MS: 1. “After 16 Months Awaiting Trial, Suspect Found Hanging in Hinds County Jail” by Kayode Crown 2. “‘The New Southern Belle’ Latrice Rogers Demonstrates that Mississippi can be Fertile Ground for Entrepreneurial Success” by Aliyah Veal 3. “‘We Are Beat Down’: Citing Crime and Defying Mayor, Council Clears $500,000 for More Deputies” by Kayode Crown 4. “OPINION: What Is Wrong with America Is Us White People” by K. Jason Coker 5. “Hinds County Announces Rental Assistance Program”

by Kayode Crown

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • boomjackson.com

TALK JXN

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JENNIFER RILEY COLLINS

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott’s Speech—An Intended Target, A Repeated Harm COURTESY TIM SCOTT

L

ast week, with a tone toward unity and with accountability for this country apparent, President Biden delivered a poignant speech to the joint body of Congress. The landscape of this speech revealed where we are as a nation and where we can be.

As we sat in our homes watching and listening, we could see the chamber was not filled as the country continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. The implicit message, despite that more than 300,000 Americans have been vaccinated, was we must remain focused on this fight.

Two women sat behind the president for the first time ever in our nation’s history. Women sitting, not in folding chairs where we have had to demand our place at the table but sitting in seats of power. This image was both empowered and inspired. The president asked that we as people “act with courage” and “come together to heal the soul of this nation.”

I sat in my living room as this “dose of hope” settled in.

I sat, however, too long. As I was still sitting when U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, provided “the response” for his party. That response was a rhetorical SCUD missile. It was ballistic, targeted and explosive.

At one point in my career, I served as the intelligence officer for an Air Defense Artillery unit. I was responsible to know the capability and range, as well as recognize our enemy’s weaponry and tactics. I recognized his speech immediately; it was like a SCUD missile system designed to engage important targets. Those targets are his base who heard his whistle—and you and l who feel compelled to react, to respond word for word.

Jennifer O’Riley Collins writes that when Republican Sen. Tim Scott said “America is not a racist country,” he was both whistling to the GOP base and to those who know he is wrong. She urges people to join forces to face and respond to racism.

His statement that “America is not a racist country” sent shrapnel flying all over America, but it was intentional and targeted. He was speaking to his party’s base and at the same time he was scattering his party’s opponents. The news and

“That response was a rhetorical SCUD missile.” social media burned with constant repetition of this false narrative.

I want to remind us that we must be mindful of repeating someone else’s narrative. In the military, “repeat” means to fire again with the same force and at the same target. There clearly is an adjustment that needs to be made. We must recognize the harm we, unintentionally,

or maybe for some intentionally inflict when we “repeat.” We must instead adjust our fire and respond with a concentration of our power.

Our power lies not inside lies, but in facing the reality that America is us. If we do not want our country to be categorically “racist,” we must face the truth that racism built the systems that bind much of America. Here in our own home state, we need to examine the intent behind legislation that penalizes educators who wish to collectively bargain. We need to pull back the curtains and ask why this state would, while suffering from high rates of maternal mortality and other devastating diseases, perpetuate health-care disparity by refusing to expand Medicaid.

We need to challenge schemes that undermine the will of the people who voted for access to medical marijuana for

their loved one struggling to live with debilitating illnesses. When this state voted to maintain the other flag years ago, and people continued to call for its change, “the people have voted” was the mantra of those who wanted to hang on to supremacist ideologies it represented.

Why is that not their message today?

The people have spoken.

Let us not get angry when Madam Vice President “repeated.” Let us listen to what she said afterward. She said “but”—a conjunction that connects contrasting or opposing viewpoints.

Vice President Harris said “... but we also do have to speak the truth about the history of racism in our country and its existence today” For many of us, the truth of that history continues to have vestiges that impact our present and our future. So, I encourage each of us committed to democracy to shake off the dust of the targeted attack, join forces regardless of whether you identify as Black, White, Asian, Indian, Woman, Man, Lesbian, Gay, Straight, Transgender, abled or other abled.

Together, we can build our America.

Let us acknowledge the truth, both good and bad, and together we, like Langston Hughes, can declare: “America never was America to me. And yet I swear this oath—America will be!”

Jennifer Riley Collins is owner and principal consultant at J Riley Collins Consulting, LLC. She is an attorney and a retired Military Intelligence Colonel. In 2019, Jennifer was the Democratic nominee for Mississippi Attorney General.

This column does not necessarily reflect the views of the JFP.

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

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Teens

2021

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his year’s Amazing Teens have all accomplished something that not many can claim: They completed the entirety of the last school year in the midst of a pandemic. For their perseverance, the Jackson Free Press recognizes these students from the Jackson metro who embody excellence in all that they do, and we believe that their dedication in the face of hardship will propel them even further as they ponder the next stages of their lives.

Mauricsa Woods, who has operated Tootie’s Trendy Treats since she was 13, takes every lesson from her microeconomics and business-management classes to heart. “(Those classes) have been quite helpful with what I should expect when I open my storefront,” Woods says.

The Tougaloo Early College High School rising senior presently runs the confectionery out of her kitchen but hopes to establish a physical location for Tootie’s in the immediate future.

Juggling a homespun business with her other responsibilities, though, has taught Woods important lessons. “I have really good time-management skills,” she says. “I have to put aside time for each different thing that I do.”

One such time commitment includes her membership in the Disney Dreamer program, which Steve Harvey and Essence Magazine sponsor. Although Keila Adams Photography

Amazing

Mauricsa Woods

Samuel Wheat

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

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tors for inspiring him to finish out the program. “I’ve always felt comfortable with them,” he says. “It’s a loving community of people there, and there’s a lot to learn.”

His teachers also reminded him that he had many opportunities to learn outside of the studio, too, encouraging him to enroll in AP classes.

“Being in APAC, I felt like going to AP was the next step,” Wheat says of his choice to take on more challenging coursework.

“I wanted to work for a college credit and strive toward higher learning.”

Wheat hopes to use these college credits towards a degree in dance. He admits that he isn’t sure which college he is planning to attend, though USM, Belhaven and Hinds Community College are all in the running. “They’ve just got to give me a little more scholarship money,” he quips.

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

Mehm Ha

Mehm Ha’s freshman year at Cal- here, I didn’t know anybody, and I was in laway High School was his first year at a coach’s world geography class. He asked an American high school, as he and his me if I wanted to join the team, so I tried family had emigrated from Malaysia ear- out,” Ha says of his early involvement lier that same year. “It wasn’t easy. It was with the team. actually terrifying,” Ha says of the experi- Athletics opened the door for further ence. “But I had a lot opportunities at the of great teachers, and I Jackson high school, get a lot of help at my and he now serves as a peer tutor. “I do a lot house. I also do a lot of of subjects,” Ha states. self-study.”

“I’m good at science

His commitment and math, and I’ve to his schoolwork has improved in English. helped Ha broaden I tell (my classmates) his English vocabulary, that you’ve got to read with the high-school about what you like, so senior citing reading that helps them build books and listening to their vocabulary.” music as his favorite Ha did bring parts ways to learn his new of his old culture with country’s language.

Submitted by Ha in lieu of photo.

“Westlife is my favorite him, though, saying band,” Ha reflects. “But I’ll listen to any that he “learned a lot about computers” while living in Malaysia and plans to parmusic—it doesn’t matter.”

Music keeps him energized as he lay that knowledge into a career as a comscores goals on CHS’s varsity soccer team, puter data scientist. “I hope to work for where he’s been a member of the left-wing NASA someday,” Ha concludes.

—Taylor McKay Hathorn offense for four years. “When I first got courtesy Mehm Ha

TeMaK Photo

When Samuel Wheat crosses the stage to receive his high-school diploma from Murrah High School this May, he’ll mark the end of his time in the Jackson Public School District, where he has attended since kindergarten. JPS, however, will have given Wheat a parting gift in addition to his diploma: a love for dance.

“Back in fourth grade, I got into the Power APAC dance program,” Wheat recalls. “So (my senior year) marks the eighth year I’ve been in the program.”

During his eight-year tenure in the program that teaches ballet, jazz and modern dance techniques to area students, Wheat has gotten to see more of the country, travelling to Birmingham, Ala., to perform in the Alabama Dance Festival and visiting Cincinnati, Ohio, as part of a scholarship he earned through Power APAC.

Ultimately, Wheat credits his instruc-

the COVID-19 pandemic cut the 2020 program short, Disney transitioned its Dreamers to a four-month online mentorship program, allowing them to form relationships with experts in the students’ fields of interest. The program paired Woods with Chef Carla Hall, which she says was “definitely the highlight of the program.”

Hall has helped Woods keep a pulse on the nation’s baking and pastry scene, as she’s presently interested in attending classes offered by the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and NOCHI in New Orleans, La. College remains high on her priority list, though, evidenced by her recent application to the Mississippi University for Women, where she hopes to study at the Culinary Arts Institute and foster her love for writing and photography.

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

Priyadarshini “Priya” Ray

has been his favorite of the three.

“You’re having fun, but there’s still a serious feel to it,” Stephen says. “It also has some long trips involved.” Despite those long trips—many of which come with 5:30 a.m. arrival times at rival schools— the athlete says that his teammates make the bus rides fun. He has also enjoyed the travels he’s made with his bandmates, with whom he has played bass guitar, alto saxophone, tenor drum, bass drum and snare drum, noting with a laugh that he “hasn’t managed to play them all at the same time,” though.

When he isn’t representing the local parochial school at various athletic or musical events, Stephen enjoys volunteering with his local parish, St. Richard’s, which supports area soup kitchens through fundraising and by donating volunteer hours. He is also gearing up to start college at the University of Southern Mississippi this fall, where he hopes to follow his mother’s footsteps into the nursing profession.

“She really didn’t make me or pressure me into it,” Stephen reflects. “But she did tell me I would be a good nurse, and I also want to do something that will help people.”

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

While Priyadarshini “Priya” Ray’s already-packed résumé now boasts the title of valedictorian of her graduating class at Jackson Academy, the student asserts that earning the top-student position stems from her forward-thinking ambitions.

“Making good grades was the goal for me because it’a a big part of the college admissions process,” she says.

Nevertheless, Ray applauds her classmates for their commitment to collaboration in the pursuit of academic excellence. “I think teaching each other helped us achieve better understanding,” she says. “It allows you to look at every single concept with multiple perspectives.”

Ray had a knack for applying these concepts on standardized tests, qualifying to be a National Merit Finalist after scoring above Mississippi’s selection index on the PSAT and submitting additional qualifying materials, including a résumé, an essay and a letter of recommendation. “JA really helps you prepare for the PSAT,” Ray says. “I honestly didn’t even do too much studying on my own (because) JA really drilled the basic topics.”

She also credits Jackson Academy with sharpening her writing skills, citing her 10th grade honors English course as her favorite. “Ms. McKay was tough on us,” Ray recalls. “She had lots of rules:

We couldn’t use linking verbs or passive voice or the words ‘this’ or ‘that.’ It really challenged me and really transformed my writing.”

The high-school senior will undertake yet another challenge this fall when she attends Georgetown University, where she plans to study biology in regard to

global health. Although she’ll be nearly 15 hours from her alma mater, Ray believes she’ll find some commonalities between the two. “It’s a closed campus, so you have a really good, tight-knit community while still being in an urban center with lots of opportunities,” she says.

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

When competing for a Miss Mississippi Outstanding Teen crown last year, Lilly Noble chose what she thought would be the perfect platform: today a reader, tomorrow a leader. “Mississippi actually ranks last nationally in literacy,” she says of her choice to emphasize literacy. “We could do better, especially with all the amazing authors we have in the state.”

To combat this disparity, Noble planned to spend her year as a titleholder traveling around the state reading to elementary school students, but when the pandemic struck, the now high-school senior was forced to rethink her project. “I created a website with videos of me reading to students, and I’ve done Zoom readings,” Noble recalls.

“It’s inspiring to see kids get excited about reading.”

The Jackson Preparatory School student has experienced that excitement herself, meeting her favorite author,

Jacksonian Angie Thomas, at the Mississippi Book Festival two years ago. Thomas’s debut novel, “The Hate U Give,” is Noble’s favorite, and she says that it opened her eyes to society’s pervasive racism. “We can fix racism if we’re aware of the problem,” Noble claims. “We have to realize it’s real and that it’s around us.”

Remedying societal ills is a passion for Noble, who will attend the University of Alabama to study pre-law this fall, a decision she made after interning with the Mississippi Center for Justice. “I want to do criminal defense for people who go to jail for a long time for minimal crimes,” Noble says. “I want there to be people defending the people who need it most. Your jail time shouldn’t be affected by how much you make at your job.”

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • boomjackson.com

Lilly Noble courtesy Lilly Noble

blaylock photography

When the time came for the seniors at St. Joseph Catholic High School to vote on this year’s superlatives, Elliott Stephen’s classmates voted him “most talented,” which Stephen believes stems from his involvement in the school’s bowling league, swim team, golf team and marching band.

“I’ve done all of those things basically my whole time at St. Joe,” Stephen says, though he does acknowledge that bowling

courtesy Priyadarshini “Priya” Ray

Elliott Stephen

more AMAZING TEENS, see page 16 15

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Madison Temple people at every school in this district get so involved with you, and you can see that they actually care about what they’re doing,” Temple reflects. “It means a lot to see that, and it’s like we’re a big family.”

She plans to join a new family this fall, as she has been accepted into Jones College in Ellisville, Miss. where she will be a member of the “Touch of Gold” dance team while studying health-related professions in pursuit of her dream of being an oncology nurse.

The oncology ward already holds a special place in her heart, as her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was in second grade. “I’ve seen how the nurses and doctors have helped my family,” Temple says.

“I want to give back and help other families.”

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

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Devin Ard

Devin Ard has fond memories of attending Jackson State University games with his mother. There he would watch in awe as the band performed in the stands and on the field. He now hopes to soon be suiting up to join them.

Ard hasn’t always dreamed of being in the band.

The young athlete grew up playing sports. In fact, the summer before his freshman year of high school he made the Jim Hill High School basketball team. But when he went to play basketball in Georgia for the summer, he missed the team’s summer workouts and lost his spot on the roster. courtesy Devin Ard

courtesy Madison Temple

Madison Temple did something twice during her high-school career that many students never do once: win a state championship. “We had always gotten second place and had always lost by just a few points,” Temple says of her dance team’s early attempts at bringing home a state title. “But sitting on the floor and hearing them call your name— chills go down your back.

It’s crazy.”

The second time was just as special for the Pearl High School senior, who lamented the graduation of several “great seniors” between the first and second championships, saying, “It’s one thing to get to first place, but it’s harder to stay there. We were able to do it, though.”

Now that it’s her turn to graduate, Temple looks with fondness on her memories of the Pearl Public School District, where she’s attended since Kindergarten. “The

P A G E

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

Christopher Brown

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continue to positively represent his alma mater by attending college at Mississippi State University, where he courtesy Christopher Brown

When Christopher Brown was placed in a JROTC class as an elective his ninth grade year, he never expected to be named the school’s cadet of the year nearly three years later. “It started out as something simple,” Brown reflects. “But I was chosen as superior cadet my 10th grade year, and I was named cadet of the year this year.”

The title comes with a weighty responsibility, as Brown will take over the top post in the school’s JROTC program during his senior year. “I feel like they put a lot of trust in me as a leader,” Brown says of the position. “They know I’ll lead us the right way.”

The high-school junior is no stranger to leadership, having participated in a service-learning program at Wilkins Elementary School during his freshman and sophomore years. “We got to help the students in the class,” Brown recalls. “The students were getting to actually interact and have fun with what they were learning.”

Brown hopes that his cohort’s time at the elementary school will send a positive message about Wingfield High School to the local community. “I hope they see us as a giving school,” he says. “We want to participate in our community and support them, and we want them to support us, too. We invite the community to participate in everything we do.”

Once he graduates in May 2022, Brown plans to

says that he hopes to graduate debt-free with a degree in engineering.

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

“I had to do something because I couldn’t just sit at home after school every day, so I got into the band with my friend,” he says. “Ever since then, I’ve really found a passion for music.”

Ard joined the band as a freshman without having ever played an instrument. He knew nothing about marching in a band or reading music. With the help of band director Christopher Little, he learned to play the baritone within a school year. Soon after, he also learned to play the euphonium and became a leader in the brass section. After his sophomore year, his peers nominated for the position of drum major.

“It was something that became natural,” he says. “I was looked upon as a leader.”

In addition to leading the band, Ard is also a member of the National Honor Society. Going forward, he aims to become a doctor of sports medicine. He also aspires to one day help redevelop the West Jackson area by purchasing and redeveloping blighted properties.

—Torsheta Jackson more AMAZING TEENS, see page 17

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Reid Hewitt member and officer of numerous student organizations and serves as teen president for the Jackson, Miss., chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. Hewitt maintains a 4.02 GPA while enrolling in advancedplacement and dualcredit courses. She plans to attend an HBCU and major in business finance before moving on to law school. She hopes to one day work as a sports and entertainment lawyer.

Hewitt hopes her work shines a light on the injustices and inequalities in the criminal-justice system.

“I plan to take everything that I learned and created from my documentary and all the research that I’ve col-

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

Gary Davis/gshotspics

Since his early elementary school years, Joseph Anthony’s parents instilled in him the importance of education, which remains a priority to the Provine High School senior to this day. The National Honor Society at Powell Middle School inducted him into their ranks, and he earned the title of salutatorian during eighth grade. Now in his final year of high school, Anthony boasts a perfect GPA.

In addition to academic per formance, Anthony engages in extracurricular activities as well, playing the tuba as a head section leader in Provine’s marching and concert band while also serving on the school’s soccer and track teams. “This academic year (has been) totally different with the schools going virtual, but I managed alongside God. I prayed that He keep me focused so that I could stay on track,” he says.

His relationships with his class-

18

mates earned him the title of Mr. Provine this year. “I was so elated that my peers thought enough of me to be one of the faces of the school, and I thank them for that,” he says.

Anthony credits God for all of his accomplishments, such as his recent induction into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

In his church, Anthony serves as a youth Sunday school secretary, assistant Sunday school financial secretary and youth Sunday school superintendent. His openness toward giving himself to God coincides with his philanthropic passions. “I love to help the homeless. Prior to the pandemic, my brother and I would regularly go feed the homeless. We would also go to Matt’s House, a shelter for women and children where we’d clean and organize their pantry.”

—Mike McDonald

lected and really put that into action. I plan to use the positions that I am in and the roles that I will be in in the future to create some type of real change.”

—Torsheta Jackson

Jamarion Gipson

Jamarion Gipson sees himself as both a designer and an entrepreneur, creating graphic logos for businesses while simultaneously marketing his name. After a cousin’s friend commissioned him to create designs for a business’ break room, the Forest Hill High School junior began contemplating potential careers that would allow him to capitalize on his artistic gifts.

Initially, he pondered videogame design but reconsidered after learning more about the prerequisites for the field and deciding the path was not for him. Nevertheless, the possibility of seeing his creations displayed businesses’ advertisements excites him. He considers Eastern media, particularly Nintendo, as inspiration for his artworks, including indie comics and animated television series.

“I continue to want to get better as an artist and for people to identify me,” he says. He would like to expand his artistic repertoire so that he can also draw animals and landscapes.

When Forest Hill High School began teaching students through virtual means due to the pandemic, Gipson learned that he valued the human connection that comes with physical attendance at school.

“I thought I liked to be alone but I also crave the human connection,” he says.

The high-school junior stays busy in

a variety of ways. For one, he is involved in musical theater, fostered by a love for Disney songs. In addition, he serves as a band manager for the school band—keeping music files, taking instrument inventory,

courtesy Jamarion Gipson

Joseph Anthony

courtesy Reid Hewitt

Reid Hewitt is passionate about criminal-justice reform. The topic became personal to the 17-year-old after a family member found themselves in and out of the prison system.

“I was wondering, ‘It’s not necessarily for violent crimes, so why does it continue to happen?’ I started researching statistics and how many Black people make up the prison population in the United States,” she says. “It really started to hit me the more research that I did.”

Hewitt’s research revealed that Blacks were disproportionately arrested and jailed in comparison to other races.

She and a classmate produced a mini-documentary titled “Mass Incarceration” for their Advanced Placement Language and Composition class. They submitted the piece, which focused on mass incarceration, as an entry in the CSPAN’s StudentCam Competition. Hewitt also recently submitted an essay on the relationship between equality and justice for the Bill of Rights Institute’s “We the Students’’ essay contest and hosted a podcast discussing identity and race.

The Madison Central High School junior is a

cleaning the band hall, attending sporting events and preparing food before games.

He also utilizes his managerial and leadership skills on the soccer team, building his interest in the sport, as well as in the classroom during group activities and with the honor society of which he is a member.

—Mike McDonald

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A M A Z I N G

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Amiracle Johnson’s exposure to the sciences began in the JROTC program at Lanier High School. The subject appealed to her because she knew she could be a trailblazer in a male-dominated field. More specifically, she has considered career opportunities where a scientific mind could be put to greater utility. Factoring in a mom with high blood pressure and the public-health needs in the community, she landed on nursing.

Born and raised in Jackson and the youngest of five siblings, Johnson plans to be the first among them to serve in the military while also aspiring to attend a post-secondary institution to later enter the medical field. “I hope to build on the legacy of the veterans,” Johnson remarks when explaining her desire to enlist in the first place. While part of the program, she strives to be a role model for her cous-

ins, nieces and nephews—demonstrating that they can “do better” if they seek it, she says.

In addition to military-preparedness training, the JROTC program also introduced her to new people and ideas. “My oldest sister was a (JROTC) member, and I asked her about it,” she says. “At school I met people from all over who created an open-mindedness in me. It’s also helped me work on my attitude.”

Johnson displays her leadership skills through class debates, participation on the drill team and as a student representative for the school who meets with the Jackson Public Schools administration to discuss certain topics.

Looking forward, she hopes to see contention between peoples across the country improve.

—Mike McDonald

COURTESY AMIRACLE JOHNSON

Amiracle Johnson

Minton, who was adopted from China as a baby, believes that her study of the language—which included a schoolservice trip a few years back—has helped her form an important connection to her heritage. “I’m Chinese-American, but I don’t have Chinese family, so it was really cool to connect to my heritage in that way and be surrounded with people who look like me,” she says.

The senior expected to do additional travelling once she completed her high-school career, remarking that she “never imagined that she would be staying in-state to go to college.” A visit to the University of Mississippi, though, changed that vision, and Minton plans to move there this fall to major in integrated marketing and communications.

“I don’t think I saw it at first, but I truly do love Mississippi,” Minton concludes.

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

COURTESY CAMERON LEWIS

Cameron Lewis Cameron Lewis has spent much of the past year advocating for his fellow students as a member of a unique group: the State Superintendent of Education Carey Wright’s advisory board. “There’s a bunch of kids from a lot of different schools (on the board),” Lewis says. “We talk about things we think the state school board could do better and what they could implement to make things better for us and the upcoming generations.”

The high-school junior acknowledges that he’s been “blessed and privileged” during his time as a student at Clinton High School, and he hopes that his time on the board will help grant other students those same opportunities. Two such instances of good fortune are Lewis’s position as an outside back on the Arrow soccer team and his involvement in the Attache show choir, which is currently

ranked number one in the nation. “Getting to be involved (in those activities) is something I cherish, and it’s something that’s shaped me as a high-school student,” Lewis reflects.

He hopes to foster that love of music in college, though he says he also wants to study broadcast journalism. “I love watching the news,” Lewis remarks, citing CNN as his favorite television news outlet. “So I would want to be a political analyst. I think—and this probably goes not just for analysts but for all media—we’re the regular person’s information. We play an important role in educating people and keeping them informed, whether the news is good or bad.”

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • boomjackson.com

Xenia Minton’s senior year is almost finished, but she has been helping other seniors commemorate their final high-school milestones since she was a freshman, transforming her love for photography into a business that specializes in senior portraits. “More and more people heard about it,” Minton recalls. “So it took off from there. I’ve done 25 or 30 sessions this year.”

When she’s not behind the camera, the St. Andrew’s Episcopal School senior stays active on the cross-country team, serving as the team’s captain for the duration of her senior season. “It was a lot to balance with my photography business, but I like staying busy,” Minton says.

Despite her commitment to her extracurricular activities, Minton admits that her class schedule alone would have been enough to keep her occupied, as she’s presently enrolled in AP Literature, Government and Chinese, the latter of which is near to her heart.

DESTINY PERKINS

Xenia Minton

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BEST OF JACKSON // Healthcare

Best of Jackson: Healthcare 2021

W

hen it comes to maintaining our health, knowing that we are in capable hands assures us. Finding medical professsionals we trust gives us the piece of mind to pull through whatever comes our way. The Jackson Free Press eases the process by giving Jacksonians the chance to vote for their favorite physicians and health facilities. Here are this year’s results.

Best Chiropractor: Stanley Sims

Best Cosmetic Dentist: Deidra J. Snell

(Sims Chiropractic Clinic, 500 E. Woodrow Wilson Ave., 601-982-0988)

(Ridgewood Smiles Dentistry, 5800 Ridgewood Road, Suite 105, 601-398-2934, ridgewoodsmilesdentistry.com)

After getting two degrees from Alcorn State University, Deidra J. Snell knew that she wanted to be in the medical field, but she also knew that she didn’t want to be a physician.

“I’m hands-on,” she says of her eventual decision to go into dentistry. “And I believe a smile makes a person confident overall.”

Snell imbues that confidence into her patients, many of whom drive from her hometown of Port Gibson to visit her at her Jackson clinic, and she tries to make their visits worth the hour-long drive. “I try to make them Deidra J. Snell feel as comfortable as possible,” she remarks. “I have blankets and TVs and snacks and water.”

The UMMC graduate also works to keep her patients informed. “I love for my patients to be well-educated about what’s going on with them,” she says. “I give them all their options, whether it’s profitable for me or not. I try to put myself in their shoes.”

—Taylor McKay Hathorn Finalists: Danny O’Keefe (Family Dental Care, 996 Top St., Flowood, 601-202-8529, drdannyokeefe.com) / Doug Rummells (Integrity Dental Clinic, 201 E. Layfair Drive, Flowood, 601-487-2312, integritydentalclinic.com) / Mike Tramel (2525 Lakeward Drive, Suite 102, 601-982-7212, tramelandbrowndentistry.com) / Sarah Langston (The Dental Wellness Group, 14 Woodgate Drive, Brandon, 601-533-4788, drsarahlangston. com) / Seth Mosal (Mosal Dental Care, 5856 Ridgewood Road, 601-203-3608, mosaldentalcare.com) / Wendy Lewis (The Winning Smile Dental Group, multiple locations, thewinningsmile.com)

Best Cosmetic Surgeon: R. Scott Runnels

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R. Scott Runnels credits his undergraduate alma mater, Mississippi College, for setting him on the path that would later lead him to open Runnels and North Plastic Surgery, an outpatient surgery center in Flowood. “Going to medical school requires a lot of dedication and help,” Runnels reflects. “And there’s a lot of teachers there who are dedicated to getting you to the next level. All of the professors in the biology and chemistry departments took up extra time with me.”

Runnels now strives to give that same careful, individualized attention to each patient who visits his clinic, and he hopes

that the services he offers as a surgeon enables his fellow Jacksonians to”live their best lives,” he says.

“I’m originally from Jackson, so knowing that there are historically limited opportunities in Jackson, I thought it was important to be here and give people the opportunity to do and be whatever it is they want to do and be,” Runnels concludes.

—Taylor McKay Hathorn Finalists: Adair Blackledge (Blackledge Face Center, 1659 Lelia Drive,

Acacia Clark

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

(Runnels & North Outpatient Plastic Surgery Center, 1055 River Oaks Drive, Flowood, 601-348-7984, runnelscenter.com)

R. Scott Runnels

601-981-3033, blackledgefacecenter.com) / Emile Picarella (Mississippi Premier Plastic Surgery; 971 Lakeland Drive, Suite 315; 160 Fountains Blvd., Madison; 601981-2525, mspremierplasticsurgery.com) / Jeptha Cole (Cole Facial Clinic, 204 E. Layfair Drive, Flowood, 601-933-2004, colefacialclinic.com) / Michael Nichols (Oral & Facial Surgery of Mississippi, 266 Katherine Drive, Flowood, 601-420-3223, maxsurg.com) / William North (Runnels & North Outpatient Plastic Surgery Center, 1055 River Oaks Drive, Flowood, 601348-7984, runnelscenter.com)

Acacia Clark

Finalists: Chris Fowler (Fowler ProChiropractic and Wellness Center, 5230 Highway 80 E., Suite A, Pearl; 601-932-1070; drchrisfowler.com) / Clayton Pitts (Norville Chiropractic Clinic; 1000 Lakeland Square, Suite 400, Flowood; 601-398-9412; flowoodchiropracticcare.com) / Daniel Garvey (Garvey Wellness Clinic, 766 Lakeland Drive, 601982-8916, betterdisc.com) / Dominique Chagnon (Action Chiropractic, 6935 Old Canton Road, Suite A, Ridgeland; 601-956-6050; actionchiroinc.com) / Jeremy Coleman (Adjusted Life Chiropractic, 5295 Galaxie Drive, Suite C, 769-524-4735, adjustedlifejxn. com) / Laura Stubbs Wright (Body In Balance Healthcare, 5472 Watkins Drive, Suite C, 601-376-5636, bodyinbalancehealth.com)

Acacia Clark

When Stanley Sims first enrolled at the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, he says that he “didn’t have an idea” of what the holistic field was all about but learned quickly. “It opened up my mind and showed me that an adjustment or alignment of the human vertebrae could reset the core of your life,” Sims reflects.

Sims applies that belief daily at his practice on Woodrow Wilson Avenue in downtown Jackson, which he opened in 2003. “My home was in Vicksburg,” he says of his choice to open a clinic in the capital city. “I also felt that me going to school at Jackson State University in the early ’90s helped me realize Stanley Sims that there’s more of a need for chiropractors in this area.”

He maintains that Jacksonians who choose to visit his clinic to receive chiropractic care receive quality treatment. “I’m a very dedicated chiropractor, and I’m true to the core of what chiropractic was founded upon in 1885,” he says.

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

Best Doctor: Justin Turner (TurnerCare, 2135 Henry Hill Drive, 601-398-2335, turnercarems.com)

Before Justin Turner opened TurnerCare, his clinic in west Jackson, he says that he “prayed and fasted” about his vision for the health center: treating the whole person. “At TurnerCare, treating the whole person is about more than just refilling medications,” Turner reflects.

“It’s really about addressing education. In Mississippi—especially as it relates to health—there’s a huge disconnect between what people need to know and what they actually do know.”

This desire to treat each patient holistically while informing them about their bodies and the best ways to care for them is what drove Turner into the Justin Turner healthcare profession in the first place; he notes that he wanted to be “part of the solution and not part of the problem.” Turner equipped himself to do that, completing his studies at Jackson State University—becoming part of the community he would later care for, as his clinic is less than five miles away from his alma mater—before attending Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn.

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

Finalists: April Watson (Watson Family Dentistry, 2181 Henry Hill Drive, 601-922-1171, watsonfamilydental.com) / Carla Rushing (Rushing Family Dentistry, 3738 Flowood Drive, Flowood, 601-936-3430, facebook.com/ rushingfamilydentistry) / Chandler Pleasant (Pleasant Smiles Dentistry, 365 Crossgates Blvd., Brandon, 601-825-2411, pleasantsmilesdentistry.com) / Deidra J. Snell (Ridgewood Smiles Dentistry, 5800 Ridgewood Road, Suite 105, 601398-2934, ridgewoodsmilesdentistry.com) / Matthew Harris (Mississippi Smiles; 310 W. Woodrow Wilson Drive, Suite 400; 769-230-1940; 1189 E. County Line Road, Suite 1010; 601-308-2022; mississippismilesdentistry.com) / Peter Boswell (Boswell Family Dental Care, 1513 Lakeland Drive, 601-366-1242) / Terrance Ware (Terrance Ware Family Dental, 5800 Ridgewood Road, Suite 104, 769-251-5909, twaredds.com)

Finalists: Fred E. Kency (University Hospital, 2500 N. State St., 888-815-2005, umc.edu) / John Vanderloo (Vanderloo Family Medicine, 3000 Old Canton Road, Suite 240, 601228-5491, vanderloofamilymedicine.com) / Kimberly Smash (Prolific Health & Wellness, 2675 River Ridge Drive, 601-718-0308, prolifichwpa.com) / Meredith Travelsted (The Woman’s Clinic; 501 Marshall St., Suite 400; 401 Baptist Drive, Suite 402, Madison; 601-354-0869; twc-ms.com) / Rhonda Sullivan-Ford (Lakeland Premier Women’s Clinic; 2506 Lakeland Drive, Ste 600, Flowood; 601-939-2600; lakelandpremierwc. com) / Tim Chen (Baptist Medical Group - Madison Primary Care, 401 Baptist Drive, Suite 104, Madison, 601-605-2383, baptistmedicalclinic.org) / Timothy Quinn (Quinn Healthcare, 768 Avery Blvd. N., Ridgeland, 601-487-6482, quinntotalhealth.com)

Best Hospital: University of Mississippi Medical Center

Best Nurse Practitioner/Physician’s Assistant: Stacia Dunson

(UMMC, 2500 N. State St., 601-984-1000, umc.edu)

(Harmony House Calls & Medical Services, 7 Lakeland Circle W., Suite 500, 601-300-3935, harmonyhousecallsllc.com)

Licensed Family Nurse Practitioner Stacia Dunson, owner and CEO of Harmony House Calls and Medical Services, began her medical practice as a house call-based practice, providing medical services to homebound patients. It quickly grew, however, to include a walk-in medical clinic that sees patients of all ages, as well.

Dunson views her work as a ministry, and she is passionate about providing it, especially in light of the additional stress that the current pandemic has placed on many of her patients.

“We see so many people right now dealing with stress and anxiety and depression due to COVID19,” she says. “Just being able to vaccinate in my clinic, that has been a blessing for me, as well—to Stacia Dunson educate people about COVID-19, to care for people with COVID-19, and give the vaccines. … It’s just been awesome watching the numbers (of vaccines given) in our African American community go up, just by having someone that looks like them to give the vaccine.”

“It’s just an overall rewarding career,” Dunson says. “I wake up every morning ready to work. I don’t look at it as a job. I look at it as what I’m called to do.”

—Shaye Smith

acacia clark

Finalists: Baptist Medical Center (1225 N. State St., 601-968-1000, baptistonline.org) / Merit Health (Multiple Locations, mymerithealth.com) / St. Dominic (969 Lakeland Drive, 601-200-2000, stdom.com)

file photo

The state’s only teaching hospital, University of Mississippi Medical Center provides healthcare to families across the state while training the next generation of doctors, dentists, nurses, researchers, and health administrators in its bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral level programs.

The 256-bed facility also plays home to the state’s only children’s hospital, formerly known as Blair E. Batson and recently rechristened as Children’s of Mississippi, which has a level-four neonatal intensive-care unit and a pediatric emergency room located within its two towers, named for Batson and Kathy and Joe Sanderson.

UMMC provides necessary care for adults in the Magnolia State, too, hosting a level-one trauma center— the only one of its kind throughout the state’s 128 hospitals—and the Winifred L. Wiser Hospital for Wom- University of Mississippi Medical Center en, which serves female Mississippians through preventive screenings, routine medical treatment and maternal medicine.

The hospital is also the second-largest employer in the city of Jackson, with over 10,000 healthcare professionals working at the N. State Street edifice.

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

Courtesy Justin Turner

courtesy LaMonica Taylor

After graduating from Spelman College and the University of Mississippi Medical Center, LaMonica Taylor traveled to New York City to accept a residency in the Bronx. “It was a very different experience,” Taylor says of her time in the borough north of Manhattan, where she completed a one-year residency in general practice—which largely focused on oral surgery—followed by a two-year specialty in pediatrics at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital.

Eventually, though, the Mound Bayou, Miss., native longed to return home. “(My hometown) is LaMonica Taylor very small,” Taylor says. “The population is less than 2,500, but they’ve had some of the most successful people come through there.” Taylor joined the line of success stories hailing from the “Jewel of the Delta” when she began practicing at Smiles on Broadway in Jackson, Miss. “Mississippi patients appreciate the fact that they have someone from home treating them,” Taylor reflects. “They’re grateful for my contributions to the field.”

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • boomjackson.com

Best Dentist: LaMonica Davis Taylor (Smiles on Broadway Dental Care for Kids, 5442 Watkins Drive, 601-665-4996, smilesonbroadwaydental.com)

Finalists: Josie Bidwell (University Hospital, 2500 N. State St., 888-8152005, umc.edu) / Keila Brown-Jones (Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center; 3502 W. Northside Drive; 514 E. Woodrow Wilson Avenue, Suite A-B; 601-362-5321; jackson-hinds.com) / Marrion Harper (University Hospital, 2500 N. State St., 888-815-2005, umc.edu) / Melissa Minor (Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health, 3502 Northside Drive, 601-364-2600, jackson-hinds. com) / Melissa White (Mallory Community Health Center, 276 Nissan Parkway, Canton, 662-834-1857, mallorychc.org) 21

BEST OF JACKSON // Healthcare (Smile Design Orthodontics, 201 Riverwind Drive, Pearl, 601-965-9561, smiledesignorthoms.com)

When Tonyatta Hairston was a little girl, she had a self-proclaimed “fascination with eyeballs” that culminated in her first eye exam at the age of 6. “From that experience, I decided that it was a profession I wanted to consider,” Hairston recalls.

She doggedly followed those dreams of optometry throughout her educational career, finishing high school at JPS’ Callaway High School before attending Tougaloo College en route to Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tenn.

Tonyatta Hairston

After graduation, Hairston moved back to the city that raised her. “It was a simple decision to return and serve the people in the city who had molded me into the person that I’ve become,” Hairston reflects. “It was inviting to come back home.”

Hairston makes it her personal mission to give back to the metro area through her profession. “Being able to provide a service that ultimately enhances the lives of my patients is one of my favorite parts of my job,” Hairston says. “Our eyes literally allow us to enjoy life’s gifts—we can see the sunrise, we can see color. Vision is such an integral part of what makes life even more enjoyable.”

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

After a childhood spent in Hazlehurst, Miss., just south of Jackson, Chandra Minor attended Alcorn State University before going on to dental school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, later specializing in orthodontics during her postdoctoral residency at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Minor later opened her own practice, Smile Design Orthodontics, in Pearl, Miss., whose allwomen staff offers dental care to metro area residents, Chandra Minor including traditional braces, invisalign, headgear, palatal expanders, retainers and separators/spacers.

The clinic also assists its patients in caring for their oral health—offering water flossers, whitening devices and sonic toothbrushes.

The staff also strives to keep its services accessible to its clients, accepting several local insurance providers and offering online scheduling options. Smile Design Orthodontics also hosts a Saturday clinic from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. once a month for on-the-go patients who might struggle to keep a weekday appointment.

—Taylor McKay Hathorn Finalists: Eugene Brown (Smiles by Design; 5800 Ridgewood Road, Suite 103; 125 Jones St., Madison; 601-957-1711; dreugenebrown.com) / Jared Moffett (Moffett & Walley Orthodontics; 2174 Henry Hill Drive; 601-922-3888; 208 Key Drive, Madison; 601-898-1788; mwortho.com) / Jeff Gamblin (Gamblin Orthodontics; 325 W. Jackson St., Ridgeland; 601-707-5960; 240 N. Caldwell Drive, Hazlehurst; 601-894-4732; gamblinortho.net) / Priscilla Jolly (Jolly Orthodontics; 1000 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite 7201, Ridgeland; 601605-2400, jollyortho.com) / Richard Simpson (Simpson Orthodontics; 100 Luckney Station, Suite A, Flowood; 601-919-0310; simpsonortho.com)

Best Pediatrician: Yolanda Wilson (Jackson Pediatric Associates, 1824 Hospital Drive, 601-346-4586; 297 Highway 51, Suite B, Ridgeland; 601-707-5381; jacksonpediatricassociates.com)

Lifelong Brandon resident Jerrick Rose opened his private dental practice, The Pediatric Dental Studio in Pearl, in November 2014.

Rose practices all forms of office, general and surgical dentistry for children as well as special-needs adults of any age.

“It was my dream to open a private dental office for a long time, and I had a strong idea of how I wanted to practice,” Rose says. “I was born and raised in Brandon and wanted to work in a community close to where I grew up so that I could give something back to the place I’m from. I wanted to be able to specialize in growth and development for my patients Jerrick Rose from childhood to adulthood.”

In addition to his work at his practice, Rose volunteers with the Bridge Builders Leadership Institute in Pearl, which is a program at Bridge Church that offers after-school programs, job-prep courses, study aids, and mentoring for teenagers and preteens.

Rose’s wife, Erica Rose, also practices dentistry in the Jackson metro area. The Roses have a daughter named Riley-Paige Rose.

—Dustin Cardon, Shaye Smith

Yolanda Williamson Wilson well remembers moving into her new space at Jackson Pediatric Association in 2001, as she gave birth to her daughter shortly after moving the last box inside. “It makes it easy to remember,” Wilson laughs.

Two decades later, Wilson is still practicing pediatric medicine at the Hospital Drive structure, though she has recently transitioned to part-time. “When kids are sick, they’re down for the count,” Wilson says of her work. “When you make them feel better, they’re up and bouncing and running and playing, so there’s so much satisfaction in the result—to see that they’re Yolanda Wilson doing better. Kids are trying to be kids.”

Wilson says the clinic’s commitment to serving metro area children is owed in large part to her long-time staff. “Many of my employees have been with me from the beginning,” she reflects. “They’re the backbone of this clinic, and we couldn’t do what we do without them.”

—Taylor Hathorn Finalists: Adam Adcock (The Children’s Clinic, 2946 Layfair Drive, Flowood; 601-420-8233; thechildrensclinicms.com) / Amanda Cook (The Children’s Clinic, 2946 Layfair Drive, Flowood; 601-420-8233; thechildrensclinicms.com) / Anza Stanley (University Hospital, 2500 N. State St., 888-815-2005, umc. edu) / Audrey Robertson (Trinity Pediatric Clinic, 1860 Chadwick Drive, Suite 205, 601-376-2857, facebook.com/TrinityPediatricClinic) / Geraldine Chaney (Capital City Children & Adolescent Clinic, 2679 Crane Ridge Drive, Suite F, 601-362-7476, cccac.com) / Michelle Gibson (The Kidz Care Klinic, 5440 Watkins Drive, Suite B, 601-364-2726, thekidzcareklinic.com)

courtesy Yolanda Wilson

22

Best Pediatric Dentist: Jerrick Rose (The Pediatric Dental Studio, 201 Riverwind Drive, Pearl, 601-965-9549, thepediatricdentalstudio.com)

courtesy Jerrick Rose

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

Finalists: Arthur Dampier (Ridgeland Eyecare Center, 8 Professional Parkway, Ridgeland, 601-957-8444, ridgelandeyecare.com) / Elizabeth Mitchell (Eye Group, 501 Baptist Drive, Suite 220, Madison; 601-339-6370; eyegroupms.com) / Marjorie Lenoir (Reflections Vision Center, 101-C Lexington Drive, Madison, 601-605-4423, reflectionsvisioncenter.com) / Mark Kosko (Jackson Eye Associates; 1200 N. State St., Suite 330; 601343-2020; 102 Clinton Parkway; 601-924-9750; 401 Baptist Drive, Suite 201, Madison; 601-853-2020; jacksoneye.com) / Monique Carr (Eyeology Eyecare, 131 Handley Blvd., Byram, 601-346-7549, eyeologyeyecare.net)

Finalists: Emily Heitzmann (Magnolia Family Dental Care, 112 South Maple St., Ridgeland, 601-707-5585, magnoliafdc.com) / Erica Rose (Sunnybrook Dentistry, 4463 N. State St., 601-882-0566, mykoolsmiles.com) / Gayle Watters (Madison Pediatric Dental Group, 7728 Old Canton Road, Madison, 601-856-1511, madisonpediatricdentalgroup. com) / Henry Cook (Pediatric Dentistry of Brandon, 142 Gateway Drive, Brandon, 601824-1950, pediatricdentistryofbrandon.com) / Nathan Beavers (312 Fountains Drive, Madison, 601-856-5313, beaverspediatricdentistry.com) / Stephanie Dungey (Clinton Pediatric Dentistry, 739 Clinton Parkway, Clinton, 601-460-9140)

courtesy Chandra Minor

Best Orthodontist: Chandra Minor

(Envision Eye Care & Optical Boutique, 1316 N. State St., 601-987-3937, 987eyes.com) courtesy Tonyatta Hairston

Best Optometrist: Tonyatta Hairston

Sims Chiropractic Clinic Thank you for voting Dr. Stanley Sims Winner Best Chiropractor Best of Jackson 2021

500 E Woodrow Wilson Ave # F Jackson, MS 39216

We appreciate your support.

Dr. Justin Turner Winner Best Doctor Best of Jackson 2021

(601) 982-0988

Vanderloo Family Medicine

Find us in Fondren, at “The place where your doctor is family.”

Direct Primary Care Memberships: Monthly rate: $65 adult/$45 full-time student Includes unlimited office visits, texting, and telehealth visits with Dr. Vanderloo. No insurance is necessary. Space is limited, sign up today!

Voted Best Doctor Best of Jackson 2020 2135 Henry Hill Dr, Jackson | (601) 398-2335 @justinturnermd turnercarems@gmail.com | www.turnercarems.com Turner Care

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • boomjackson.com

601.228.549 | VanderlooFamilyMedicine.com

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BEST OF JACKSON // Healthcare

When Jasmine Smith was 10 years old, her grandfather suffered a stroke. “I saw how physical therapists and occupational therapists gave him his life back—they taught him how to compensate for a deficit and how to regain some skills,” Smith recalls. The experience set her on her current career path, as the then-elementary schooler told her parents that she wanted to be a physical therapist.

“They gave me the necessary mentors who guided me along my course, and here I am, all these years later,” Smith says of her journey toward the profession. Her original vision has since expanded, though, Jasmine Smith as she, her husband Robert J. Smith III and Brittany Flaggs own Healing Hands Rehabilitation Services.

“One of the things I love about owning this practice and seeing my patients is that I can be instrumental in the things I’m passionate about, one being early intervention,” Smith says.

The UMMC graduate’s commitment to treating children from birth to 3 years old has allowed the Madison clinic to expand its reach, as Mississippians in rural areas— most notably the Delta—benefit from such services. “I want to do my part to eradicate health disparities in my home state,” Smith says. “I want to have an impact on my city and my state.”

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

With an eye toward rising emergency-room costs, Mississippi Sports Medicine provides urgent orthopaedic care for metro area residents with musculoskeletal injuries, with both x-ray and MRI imaging capabilities at its clinic on E Fortification Street.

Patients with less emergent issues can visit Mississippi Sports Medi- Mississippi Sports Medicine staff cine’s clinics in Jackson, Flowood and Madison, with 20 specialized physicians on call to treat a host of injuries and dysfunctions. “They’re pioneers on the cutting edge,” Meredith Warf, administrator of MSM’s surgery center, says of MSM’s team of doctors. “They’ve really led the way in moving the standard of care.”

Mississippi Sports Medicine also pays particular attention to the treatment of area athletes, which Warf believes pays homage to the company’s beginnings in the early 1980’s.

“It started by standing on the sideline at athletic events,” she recalls. “They formed a band of athletic trainers across the state to provide medical care (for athletes) on game nights. All these decades later, they’re still out there.”

—Taylor McKay Hathorn

Best Women’s Health Clinic: Lakeland Premier Women’s Clinic

Best Urgent Care Clinic: TrustCare

(2506 Lakeland Drive, Suite 600, Flowood; 601939-1600; lakelandpremierwc.com)

(1645 W. Government St., Suite F, Brandon; 601-829-6600; 601 Highway 80, Clinton; 601-708-1480; 5352 Lakeland Drive, Suite 1650, Flowood; 601-487-4340; trustcarehealth.com)

Lakeland Premier Women’s Clinic in Flowood opened just two years ago, but its three physicians—Drs. Rhonda Sullivan-Ford, Natasha N. Hardeman and Temeka Johnson— have a combined total of 50 years of experience in the healthcare profession, a fact which office manager Catoscha McGee claims sets the clinic apart, saying, “We have three providers who have a great reputation, and their reputation has followed them here.”

The three physicians work together to ensure that their patients’ needs are met, offering standard gynecological care in addition to services geared toward expectant mothers and women struggling with infertility, but the doctors also seek to help women take control of their own healthcare. “It’s important that women be proactive about their health,” McGee says of the clinic’s commitment to patient education. “Our doctors take time with them. We push the importance of regular mammograms and Pap smears, but it’s also that they take care of their bodies.”

—Taylor McKay Hathorn Finalists: East Lakeland OBGYN (The Suites at River Oaks, 1020 River Oaks Drive, Suite 320, 601-936-1400, eastlakelandobgyn.com) / Jackson Healthcare for Women PA (291 E. Layfair Drive, Flowood, 601-936-9190, jhcfw.com) / Southern Women’s Health (1020 River Oaks Drive, Suite 310, 601-9325006, swhealth.net) / The Woman’s Clinic (501 Marshall St., Suite 400; 401 Baptist Drive, Suite 402, Madison; 601-354-0869; twc-ms.com) / Women’s Health Associates (1050 River Oaks Drive, Suite 200, Flowood, 601-4200134, whaobgyn.net) / Women’s Specialty Clinic UMMC (2925 Layfair Drive, Flowood, 601-984-6740, umc.edu)

TrustCare’s nine Jackson-Metro area locations provided necessary care to Jacksonians during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, offering testing for the infectious disease and managing an online portal for patients to receive their results and to acquire guidance for further care, if the patient tested positive. Now, over a year into the global epidemic, each site provides vaccinations for Mississippians, using its already-established online platform to allow patients to register digitally to receive the vaccine.

Although TrustCare has specialized in COVID care, each of its partner clinics offer pediatric urgent care, direct primary care for adults, physicals and other general wellness exams, digital x-rays, and allergy testing and treatment. All of these treatment plans are provided under the direct supervision of physicians Dr. Sanjib D. Shrestha and Dr. Catherine R. Phillippi and their team of nurse practitioners. The full staff of each location works to guarantee that patients can be treated and released within a single hour.

—Taylor McKay Hathorn Finalists: Baptist Northtown (6250 Old Canton Road, Suite 100, 601-9571015, baptistmedicalclinic.org/clinics) / Fast Pace (1621 W. Peace St., Canton; 601-391-2716; 907 US Highway 49, Richland; 601-374-5263; 533 Lake St., Hazlehurst; 601-552-5253; fastpacehealth.com) / MEA (Multiple locations, meamedicalclinics.com)

courtesy trustcare

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Finalists: Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) UMMC (Lakeland Medical - University Physicians; 764 Lakeland Drive; 601-984-6800; Cancer Center and Research Institute, 350 W. Woodrow Wilson Drive; 601-815-6700; Grants Ferry - University Physicians, 1010 Lakeland Place, Flowood; 601-815-0600; 601-984-5160; umc.edu) / Lifestyle Medicine Clinic UMMC (Lakeland Medical - University Physicians, 764 Lakeland Drive, 601-9842233, umc.edu) / Mississippi Asthma and Allergy Clinic (1513 Lakeland Drive, Suite 101; 601-354-4836; 680 Highway 51 N., Suite B, Ridgeland; 601-898-1877; msaac. com) / Positive Steps Fertility (149 Fountains Blvd., Madison, 1-833-POS-STEP, positivestepsfertility.com) / Right Weigh Clinic (309B Airport Road, Pearl; 105 Span Drive, Brandon; 888-6-LOSE-IT; rightweighclinic.com)

Horner Media

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

Finalists: Brittany Flaggs (Healing Hands Rehabilitation Services; 105 Lexington Drive, Suite H, Madison; 601-910-7300, hhrehab.com) / Dorothy Wofford (Results Physiotherapy; 1645 W. Government St., Suite D, Brandon; 769-233-5003; 300 Ridge Way, Flowood; 769-230-0605; 1000 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite 2002, Ridgeland; 769-300-1101; resultspt.com) / Jonathan Thomas (Capital Ortho; 104 Burney Drive, Flowood; 119 Highway 80 E., Clinton; 601-987-8200; capitalortho.com) / Marcus Harris (Visions Physical Therapy; 2475 Lakeland Drive, Suite A, Flowood; 601-664-1022, visionspt.com) / Wayne Jiminez (Performance Therapy; 464 Church Road, Suite 400, Madison; 601-707-5947; performancetherapy.info)

courtesy Mississippi Sports Medicine

Best Specialty Clinic: Mississippi Sports Medicine (1325 E. Fortification St.; 4506 Lakeland Drive, Flowood; 501 Baptist Drive, Suite120, Madison; 601-768-1167; mississippisportsmedicine.com)

courtesy Jasmine Smith

Best Physical Therapist: Jasmine Smith (Healing Hands Rehabilitation Services; 105 Lexington Drive, Suite H, Madison; 601-910-7300, hhrehab.com)

Thank you for your support.

Thank you!

We are so grateful for your support.

Dr. Chandra Minor

Winner Best Orthodontist Voted Best Orthodontist 2018-2021

201 Riverwind East Drive , Pearl, MS 39208 üõöĖÿüûĖÿûüöŘĆŘ222Ā.($' .$")*-/#*(.Ā *(

T hank you!

Dr. Tonyata Hairston Winner Best Optometrist Best VOTE of Jackson 2021

Dr. LaMonica Davis Taylor Best Dentist Best of Jackson 2021

M E D I C A L 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020

BEST OPTOMETRIST

1316 N State Street Jackson, MS 39202 601-987-EYES

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25

BITES & DRINKS // gaming

Dogmud Tavern: Gaming Bar Fosters Local Nerd Community

by Nate Schumann

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

26

courtesy Dogmud Tavern

S

ince Ridgeland-based gaming bar Dogmud Tavern opened on April 1, 2021, patrons have come far and wide to immerse themselves in the experience, with some guests traveling hundreds of miles. Jesse Labbé and Rick Moore, co-founders of local creative studio and board-game developer Certifiable Studios, opened the Pear Orchard Road locale to serve as a new venue for the First Friday gaming events that Certifiable Studios used to host on the first Friday of every month at the company’s headquarters.

Labbé and Moore had been toying around with the concept for a while, although the COVID-19 pandemic impeded their progress on the project. With vaccines available across the state and cases of the virus at significantly lower numbers than they were a short half-year ago, the two business partners decided that spring would be the right time to put their cards on the table, so to speak.

As a sibling-company of sorts to Certifiable Studios, Dogmud features iconic artwork from the studio’s various gaming properties, including “Endangered Orphans,” “Who Goes There?,” “Stuffed” and “D6”—most of which Labbé designed— along every wall, in addition to other gamecentric and fantasy-like adornments.

The name “Dogmud” actually stems from a running joke from Labbé’s college days, when he and friends used to spend the occasional evening in a bar. Labbé, not one for stiffer drinks, would normally order what he would call “fru fru drinks with umbrellas” and become the target of playful jesting. One night, Labbé asked the bartender serving them if the establishment had any “dogmud,” which he described as an earthy sort of adult beverage.

After checking around, the bartender said that they must be out. Labbé, who had invented the drink name on the spot, subsequently enjoyed a hearty laugh with his pals. Since then, “dogmud” became an inside joke, first among Labbé’s friends, and later with his colleagues at Certifiable Studios, with the developer including “dogmud” as a game mechanic

Dogmud Tavern, a Ridgeland-based gaming bar and restaurant connected to local game developer Certifiable Studios, allows guests to choose from the business’ vast collection of board or video games to play for free while they eat and drink. Walls are adorned with artwork from the aforementioned creative studios’ properties.

in a number of the company’s games, in one form or another.

Now, thanks to Dogmud Tavern, “dogmud” is no longer simply a fictional beverage, as the pub serves its own custommade brew that they have christened “Dogmud,” a dark lager available on draft. Other draftable beers guests can order from the bar include Colsons, Sopro Suzy B, Abita Andygator, Yuengling and Destihl Key Lime Go. The pub offers over two dozen other beers in either cans or bottles.

True to its label as a gaming bar, Dogmud Tavern houses a plethora of board games—both ones from Certifiable Studios and other popular selects like Catan, Splendor, Ticket to Ride, Betrayal at House on the Hill and dozens more—that the bar invites visitors to request and play at its various gaming tables, which double as dining tables. A full list of Dogmud’s available board games can be found in the Games tab of the business’ website.

Meanwhile, another seating area fea-

tures gaming consoles that allow guests to play a number of one- and two-player NES and SNES games, such as Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros. 3, Galaga, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong Country, Star Fox and many other classic 8-bit and 16-bit video games. The lounging area also showcases free-to-play arcade machines with fighting games so that customers can nostalgically button-mash their way to victory.

Each Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Dogmud Tavern hosts Trivia Night at the Tavern. Entry costs $5 per person. Winners receive cash prizes, and drink specials are held throughout the weekly event.

Frederick Roseman, a graphic artist in the area, has trekked through Dogmud Tavern’s doors a few times since the grand opening. “What I love most about the place is the atmosphere,” he says. “It’s a really chill environment for not just gaming but also for creativity. It is my new getaway from home when I want to just get out and create art somewhere.” His favorite dish is the

Bayou Dragon pizza, which is coated in a white sauce and topped with creole seasoning, a five-cheese blend, alligator sausage, caramelized onions and bell peppers.

“Most of what we serve is made inhouse,” Labbé says of Dogmud’s menu, which contains a list of options for appetizers, salads, “mud dogs,” pizzas, sandwiches, desserts and specialty cocktails—each with a similarly fun and punny name that ties back to the restaurant’s theme or to a Certifiable Studio product.

Those who want to take a piece of Dogmud Tavern home with them can browse the gift shop corner, which displays various board games, plushes, apparel and other merchandise available for purchase.

Dogmud Tavern (681 S. Pear Orchard Road, Ridgeland) is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to midnight. To learn more about the gaming bar, call 601-499-4932 or visit dogmudtavern.com.

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MELODIES // up-and-comers

Tht Kid Ker: Dropping Tapes and Making a Name for Himself // by torsheta Jackson

P

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

the murals

arker DeLoach grew up in a home hop and rap—reflective of the music he The album, which Wiz the Kid largely melodic album contained the catchy single filled with music. The preacher’s remembers hearing during his childhood. produced, has a sentimentality that reso- “Dolla,” which became the featured numson listened to his father’s favorite That sense of nostalgia has become a nates with listeners, DeLoach asserts. ber in DeLoach’s first music video. gospel tunes with his two brothers. central theme to his music. His first mix“When (people) would tell me that He also performed on “A Magnolia The brothers began a music group with tape, “1999,” which released on his birth- the songs touched them kind of how they Show,” a music platform that features artsome friends and sang at area churches day, Jan. 1, of this year, is a collection of touched me or (when) they would tell me ists across the state. In the video filmed in and events. Yet, when father Charles De- songs that focus on Parker’s experiences different lines, that’s how I knew that I re- front of a south Jackson mural with the Loach was not around, his oldest sons with love, music and coming of age. ally connected with the people and that I quote “You can win as long as you keep would crank the radio to the your head to sky,” he performs sounds of Kanye West or Lupe his first-ever released single Fiasco. Young Parker learned “Away.” He chose that particuthat music, too. On those days, lar piece because he felt that it he learned to appreciate hip-hop best reflected the message that and rap as much as the spiritual. the show’s producers were tryThose childhood musical experiing to convey. ences now influence DeLoach’s “I felt like they wanted to personal music style. connect a lot of different asThe artist, who goes by Tht pects and art forms. I found it Kid Ker, didn’t dream of a career pretty cool what they were doin music. At Chicago Heights ing and it was definitely a new Bloom Township High School, idea,” DeLoach says. “They told recruiters approached the standme the location that we were out athlete for both track and shooting at, and I thought the football. For most of his young perfect song was ‘Away,’ which life, he believed that he would atis about flying away from whattend college and play sports. ever barriers the world may set A flyer for his school’s drama for us as dreamers and to go club auditions, however, changed deeper—as Black people.” that trajectory.

DeLoach will release his “My junior year … somesecond full body of work called body said I should come to “No Love 2” in late May. The drama club,” he says. “They album will feature collaborawere doing ‘Shrek the Musical,’ tions with independent rappers, and that’s my jam. I was a little singers and producers such as conflicted, but then I ended up Jackson’s Nahveyeh and DJ CJ going, and that opened so many from Chicago. The business possibilities.” administration major plans to DeLoach began to indulge use the degree to get his foot in his creativity while performthe door at a major record laing in the club. There, the bel. His one surety: Music will usually quiet and reserved stube a part of his life no matter dent began to gravitate away what he does. from sports to his true passion: Parker DeLoach, a Jackson State University student who creates and performs music under the “I just keep making music music. Once he enrolled in handle Tht Kid Ker, released his first album, “1999,” on Jan. 1, 2021, his birthday. His second fullthat means something to me Jackson State University, he body album, titled “No Love 2,” will release in late May. and possibly means something joined the group “Outspoken,” to someone else, too,” DeLoach a student-led creative arts collective that “I think ‘1999’ is a mixtape that tells gave them the warmth I got from making it says. “If it takes me somewhere, it does. If offers students a chance to share their you kinda how I grew up and the things and the warmth that I got from my child- it doesn’t, it really doesn’t matter. I do it works and receive constructive feedback. that impacted me over my life and the dif- hood,” he says. “It really hit me that people because I love the music.”

DeLoach says that the group has been a ferent experiences that I’ve encountered,” felt something from it.”

Listen to Tht Kid Ker on Apple Music, key to his time at JSU and his music. he says. “It didn’t go too deep because it was The January music release was a Spotify and Youtube. To keep up with news Tht Kid Ker’s sound features melodies my first project, but it was more so of a fun- follow-up to the artist’s first EP album re- regarding the artist, follow DeLoach on Instathat span gospel, rhythm and blues, hip- loving mixtape.” lease on Soundcloud titled “No Love.” The gram @thtkidker.

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ARTS // book reviews

Two Sisters, Redemption and Regret: ‘The Gravedigger’s Guild’ // by taylor mckay Hathorn

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

Pete Farris

younger daughter, Quinn, is raising five children and has a husband with a secret that might wreck their marriage and their finances.

All of this suffering, however, is compounded by the fact that Quinn and Maggy haven’t spoken in 16 years, with each blaming the other for the shattering of the relationship. Alice has acted as the family’s glue for the better part of two decades, ferrying messages between the sisters and making sure both Quinn and Maggy felt that they had a champion in their mother.

The one thing she could not shield them from was the fallout from her death, which both sisters, despite being grown women with careers and families, seem illequipped to handle.

For me, this gave rise to the novel’s dual weakness and strength: the unlikeability of the two protagonists. Both Maggy and Quinn are emotionally inept, fumbling through their personal relationships with a seeming inability to manage their familial affairs without coming to blows (mostly verbal, though one sister did actually hit the other near the end of the novel). The two women are steeped in a selfish stew of their own brewing from which they seem unable to escape, even when the parishioners of the Chapel of the Cross (and its attractive priest, whom the author and the townspeople were quick to pair with the freshly single Maggy) look on in dismay.

The sheer unpalatability of Maggy and Quinn allows the reader to focus on the novel’s neatly structured plot and strong narration. At times, I felt like one of the clucking “church ladies” of the novel, shaking my head at the antics of the Matins sisters while still remaining wholly invested in their problems and how “The Gravedigger’s Guild” released on Feb. 28, 2021. In the novel, a family they intermingle. Maggy deals with their interpersonal issues following the death of its matriarch.

30

tom Beck

S

usan Farris’ debut novel, cleverly set over a period of three days, allows readers to witness the deaths and subsequent resurrections of the long-diseased relationships in the Matins family, which take center stage in “The Gravedigger’s Guild” following the death of its matriarch, Alice Matins.

The book opens on the evening of Alice’s wake, which causes quite the stir at the Chapel of the Cross in Madison, Miss. The titular gravedigger’s guild has realized that Alice’s burial plot is unsuitable for digging.

Alice’s older daughter, Maggy, is driving in from New York, full of sorrow over a recently ended relationship and her firing from her job as a fashion editor. Alice’s

Susan Farris, a Mississippi College graduate with an MFA in creative writing, lives in the metro area.

needs to overcome her resentment toward Quinn, who slept with Maggy’s boyfriend while the duo were still in college. Quinn needs to bridle her bitterness toward Maggy, who moved away to New York rather than confront her sister with her feelings when Quinn became pregnant with Maggy’s then-boyfriend’s child.

This is further complicated by the fact that Maggy’s old flame is still in the picture as Quinn’s now-husband.

He is as unlikeable as the sisters, refusing to confront his role in their feud while also scheming to cover up his mismanagement of the couple’s finances.

Farris, however, does not allow any of her characters to remain irredeemable, often leaning on the inherent religiosity of the novel to support the characters’ journey toward selflessness. None of them seem to ever totally arrive, which is satisfying in its own way, as readers are constantly reminded that there is too much “water under the bridge” for the characters and their relationships to emerge entirely unscathed.

Water is, after all, an important symbolic element in the novel, as the sky unleashes its fury throughout the weekend of Alice Matins’ funeral, beginning with a midnight windstorm and concluding with an afternoon tornado. As a former English major, I loved seeing this plot device used continually throughout the novel in order to communicate the state of affairs: The worse the weather got, the worse the state of the Matins family became. It combined seamlessly with the novel’s plot arc, and it strengthened the novel itself as it did so.

Despite this carefully structured narrative, Farris refuses any tidy endings, leaving readers with a message of the lasting regret imbued by words left unsaid and deeds left undone.

She also purposely fails to provide readers with clear answers, asking her audience to make an important and lasting judgment: What does forgiveness require you to mend, and what does it force you to let go?

“The Gravedigger’s Guild” is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other sources. Paperback copies cost $14.99, and digital copies cost $6.99.

Wherever you’re going...

BIZ // pop-up shops

All Businesses Prosper in Northpark Mall // by Dustin Cardon

Since opening, more than 300 businesses have used the space.

nesses Prosper lets them offer items that are different from what you’d normally find in Northpark, things you wouldn’t normally be able to find in a bigger store. \ “Initially I had planned for this to just be a one-day Christmas event, but after it took off, it turned into four days, then a week. By January (2021) I ended up coming back and setting up for good. I saw how beneficial this was for everyone, with so many small businesses doing so well in such a short amount of time, and it seemed crazy to let it go.”

Delvin’s Goal:

Music Education

You Can Get THERE From HERE! Register for Fall classes now!

hindscc.edu COURTESY TALYLA COGBILL

an organization called the All Businesses Prosper Group. She obtained a space in Northpark Mall that previously housed Hollister Co. to set up her business, which uses the space to host vendors from all across Mississippi and allows them to set up stands to sell their wares.

“When I started looking for a place that would be suited for local vendors, Northpark was ideal,” Cogbill says. “All Businesses Prosper is a great place for people to connect with local small businesses, and to give those businesses a chance to make a name for themselves.”

All Businesses Prosper is able to house roughly 30 vendors at a time, and Cogbill says at least 300 businesses have set up popup shops there since it opened. Some of the items customers can find include naturally made lotions, custom-crafted candles, accessories, plus-sized clothes and more.

COURTESY TALYLA COGBILL

COURTESY TALYLA COGBILL

Each weekend, roughly 30 vendors set up shop in the All Businesses Prosper space to sell their wares.

“Each vendor can have their own racks behind their stand to make them look like their own individual store,” Cogbill says. “This way they can make it their own space and bring it to life. All Busi-

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 of Instruction/Career & Technical Education, Box 1003, Utica, MS 39175; Phone: 601.885.7002 or Email: EEOC@hindscc.edu.

Title IX: DeAndre House, Associate Vice President Student Services, Title IX Coordinator, Box 1100 Raymond MS 39154; Phone: 601.857.3353 or Email: TitleIX@hindscc.edu.

TaLyla Cogbill founded her business, All Businesses Prosper Group, in December 2020 in Northpark Mall.

Do You Get the

All Businesses Prosper is currently open on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. By June 1, Cogbill plans to expand the store’s hours to also be open Monday through Thursday at the same times. For more information, call 601-203-9299.

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ome time after the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Jackson resident TaLyla Cogbill found herself out of work from her former position at the Xfinity cable company and in search of something she could do for the Jackson community. That March, she took a new job as an event coordinator for a restaurant called Arrow Grill in Clinton.

“I’ve always loved being involved in planning weddings and baby showers for small groups, whether it was my friends or people who knew them,” Cogbill says.

“My enjoyment for things like decorating and setting up event spaces took off after college, and that led me to think about going into business for myself on the side.”

By December 2020, Cogbill decided to use her experience setting up pop-up shops on behalf of Arrow Grill to found

31

DO-GOODERS // nonprofits

The Mustard Seed: 40 Years and Counting // by Michele d. Baker courtesy the Mustard seed

Sarah and Jerry are two of the nearly countless adults with developmental disabilities whom The Mustard Seed have helped over its now 40 years of operation, a milestone the nonprofit plans to celebrate this year.

T May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

he Mustard Seed in Brandon, a Christian community for adults with developmental disabilities, celebrates its 40th year of operation this year. Parents of adult children with special needs founded the organization in 1981 to provide a loving and protected environment that allows the 40 “Seedsters” aged 23 to 73 to fulfill their potential. The residential and day-camp facility, which is privately funded, takes its name from having “faith as big as a mustard seed” from Matthew 17:20.

To celebrate the milestone, the nonprofit has planned several projects, including sprucing up the 14-acre cam-

32

pus, as well as adding an outdoor café furnished by picnic tables with umbrellas.

“A large part of our budget comes from gift-shop sales, especially the 4,000 Christmas ornaments available each winter,” Community Relations Director Mandy Sisson says. “But for our anniversary this spring, we’ve partnered with Wyatt Waters to offer a limited-edition print, signed and numbered, as a fundraiser.”

The Mustard Seed encourages its Seedsters to be as independent as possible while keeping families involved.

“We have worked hard to create an environment that

is as far from an institution as possible,” Sisson says. “Day campers go home every evening and residential Seedsters go home for special occasions.” To encourage family time for both Seedsters and staff, The Mustard Seed observes Easter, Memorial Day weekend, Thanksgiving and two weeks at Christmas. During these times, the campus and group homes are closed.

A typical day for a Seedster includes “going to work” (painting ceramics and giving tours of the facility to visiting guests) and then free time for watching movies, attending Cooking Club, riding bikes and other exercise programs, or enjoying the gardens. The campus also houses Mustard Seed University, a learning hub offering classes in photography, history, American Sign Language, pottery and more.

Residents live in either the men’s or women’s group home, with house parents on-scene to lead the way, while day campers join in activities throughout the week. During the regular Fun Fridays events, Seedsters venture out in the community to see movies, to visit fairs and festivals, to shop, and to enjoy a myriad of other activities.

“We are so proud of our Seedsters,” Sisson says.

“These very special adults paint ceramics for sale in our gift shop and act as ambassadors out in the community.”

Musically inclined Seedsters can join Bells of Faith, a handbell choir that offers concerts year-round. Interested parties can book the group to perform patriotic songs or Christmas hymns. The more outgoing artists show off their skills by painting in coffee shops, the lobby of the YMCA and in the grand gallery at the Museum of Art. “This is an amazing place to work,” Sisson finishes.

“At first, most people only see the disability, and they want to do everything for (the residents). But after spending just a short time with the Seedsters, you realize they’re giving you much more in return.”

To learn more about The Mustard Seed and its plans for the nonprofit’s 40th anniversary, call 601-992-3556 or visit mustardseedms.org. Michele D. Baker lives in Belhaven in a restored 1920s bungalow with three cats and too many books.

She enjoys world travel, reading and anything chocolate.

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Foot Print Farms presents a curated market of products from local vendors.

events@

jacksonfreepress.com Daily updates at jfpevents.com

courtesy footprint farms

Events Calendar May 2021

by Shaye Smith

BEST BETS Silence the Stigmas: A Healing Discussion is from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Jackson Convention Complex (105 E. Pascagoula St.). House of Man, the New Orleans-based nonprofit dedicated to eliminating the stigma surrounding mental illness, sponsors the panel discussion of coping skills, suicide prevention, healing from grief and other challenges. Mental-health clinicians as well as health and wellness vendors will be onsite. Free event, vendors’ prices vary; call 281-961-1823; email walk2honor@ gmail.com; gregcwashington.com.

SATURDAY 5/8

Kristin Brenemen

The Bean Path | How to Launch a Career in Tech is from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. and is Virtual. The local nonprofit focused on tech literacy hosts a panel conversation

MONDAY 5/10

Welty at Home: A Virtual Book Club is from noon to 1 p.m. and is Virtual. The virtual book club discusses Eudora Welty’s short story collection “The Bride of the Innisfallen,” led by Welty scholar, author and professor at Millsaps College, Dr. Suzanne Marrs. Participation is free, but registration is required. Additional dates: May 17, May 24, May 31. Free event; call 601-353-7762; email info@eudoraweltyhouse.com; mdah. ms.gov.

FRIDAY 5/14

Fun-N-The Sun is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hinds Behavioral Health Services (3450 Highway 80 W.). Hinds Behavioral Health Services hosts the event promoting drug and alcohol abuse prevention. Offerings include food, live music, alcohol- and drug-prevention resources and a first-come, first-served clothing giveaway. Free event; call 601-321-2400; email hgreer@hbhs9. com; hbhs9.com.

SATURDAY 5/15

The Eudora Welty House hosts a virtual bookclub on May 10 to discuss “The Bride of the Innisfallen.”

featuring panelists from major players in the tech industry, such as Amazon and Hulu. Topics include how the panelists got their jobs, what skills are necessary, and how participants can prepare themselves for jobs in the industry. Participants who sign up for the event will subsequently be provided with a link to the virtual event. Free admission; email angelyn@thebeanpath.org.

“You Have Talent” Virtual Talent Show begins at 11:30 a.m. on Zoom. The Bolden/ Moore branch of the Jackson/Hinds Library System hosts a talent show for schoolaged children via Zoom. Participants are judged by points, and the winner receives a prize. Registration takes place May 1-14.

Free event; call 601-922-6076; email boldenmoore@jhlibrary.org; jhlibrary.org.

SUNDAY 5/16

Magnolia Sunset Markets is from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Foot Print Farms (4945 South Drive). The Jackson urban farm hosts the curated market featuring artisans, local produce, food and music. Market is the third Saturday of each month, weather permitting. Additional date: May 15. $5,

THURSDAY 5/6

Catholic Charities holds a 5k fundraiser benefiting local foster-care programs.

SATURDAY 5/15

The Mississippi Boychoir presents its annual spring concert, “Brothers, Sing On!”

FRIDAY 5/21

Olde Town Clinton projects the film “Onward” on the town’s brick streets at dusk.

TUESDAY 5/25

Lemuria Books holds a virtual discussion with author Maggie Shipstead on her new book, “Great Circle.” vendors’ prices vary; email magnoliamar ketsjxn@gmail.com; find it on Facebook.

THURSDAY 5/20

Food Truck Thursdays is from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Trustmark Park Stadium (1 Braves Blvd., Pearl). The City of Pearl hosts the event featuring local food trucks offering their wares. Free admission, vendors’ prices vary; call 601-374-1757; email jon. beard@crookedletterkitchen.com; find it on Facebook.

SATURDAY 5/22

Earth Colors Workshop is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (2148 Riverside Drive). Naturalist and artist Robin Whitfield leads the class for teens and adults in which participants learn to create a design with colors found

and made from nature. Participants should dress for the outdoors, including hat, longsleeved shirt, closed toe shoes and water bottle. No experience required. Pre-registration and masks required. $35 fee, includes museum admission and materials; call 601576-6000; find it on Facebook.

FRIDAY 5/28

Jon Pardi’s show begins at 7:30 p.m. at Brandon Amphitheater (8190 Rock Way, Brandon). The country-music recording artist performs live with special guest Niko Moon at the Brandon music venue. Masks are required and social distancing is encouraged. Doors open at 5 p.m. $49.50 ticket, prices vary by seat location; call 601-7242726; brandonamphitheater.com.

SATURDAY 5/29

Mo’Nique’s comedy show begins at 7:30 p.m. and again at 10 p.m. at Chuckles Comedy House (6479 Ridgewood Court Drive). Academy Award-winning actress and comedian Mo’Nique performs at the Jackson comedy club. Additional date: May 28, 7:30 p.m. & 10 p.m., May 30, 7:30 p.m. $40 general admission, $60 VIP; call 769-257-5467; jackson.chucklescomedyhouse.com.

TUESDAY 6/1

JPS A3 Summer Camp takes place each day from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Jackson Public Schools (662 S. President St.). Jackson Public Schools offer half- or whole-day summer camp at no charge to students enrolled for the 2021-22 school year. The camp focuses on academic acceleration, acclimation to the school to be attended in the fall, and affirmation in a supportive environment. Meals, snacks and transportation are provided.

Online options are also available. Additional dates: June 2-30. Free event; call 601-960-8700; jackson.k12.ms.us.

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • boomjackson.com

THURSDAY 5/6

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Top 10

Elizabeth Gibson

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

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courtesy Elizabeth Gibson; andrew Welch; courtesy Brents Drugs; courtesy MMA; file photo; courtesy Fairview inn; imani khayyam; trip burns; nick judin; MDAH; courtesy Mayflower Cafe

LOCAL LIST

9 10

lizabeth Gibson graduated summa cum laude from Mississippi College in 2019 and is presently enrolled at the University of Memphis while maintaining a teaching position at Clinton Junior High School. In her free time, she enjoys exploring Jackson and traveling through Mississippi with friends.

1. Saltine Restaurant (622 Duling Ave., 601-982-2899, jackson.saltinerestaurant.com) Saltine has my favorite oysters in the city, and its menu has other fun items as well.

6. Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (2148 Riverside Drive, 601-576-6000, mdwfp.com) Visiting this museum makes for a great COVID-friendly activity.

2. Brent’s Drugs (655 Duling Ave., 601-366-3427, brentsdrugs.com) The diner has delicious milkshakes, and I always get the patty melt.

7. New Stage Theatre (1100 Carlisle St., 601-948-3531, newstagetheatre.com) I love the arts, and New Stage always puts on the highest caliber of shows.

3. Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St., 601-960-1515, msmuseumart.org) The museum regularly has wonderful exhibitions, such as the Van Gogh, Monet and Degas gallery I visited with friends over the last year.

9. The Manship Wood Fired Kitchen (1200 N. State St., Suite 100, 601-398-4562, themanshipjackson.com) They have wonderful charcuterie boards.

4. Fenian’s Pub (901 E. Fortification St., 601-948-0055, fenianspub.com) I love and have been attending the bar’s trivia nights for three years now.

8. Mississippi Civil Rights Museum (222 North St., 601-576-6800, mcrm.mdah.gov) The museum provides a compelling telling of the “whole story” surrounding the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.

5. Fairview Inn (734 Fairview St., 601-948-3429, fairviewinn.com) I love strolling around the gardens, and it makes a great venue.

10. Mayflower Cafe (123 W. Capitol St., 601-355-4122, mayflowercafems.com) I love the “small-diner” aesthetic, and it’s a great spot for a date night!

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FITS YOUR

35

Last Week’s Answers

BY MATT JONES

46 Architect who passed in 2019 47 “Call of Duty: Black ___” 50 Most recent Summer Olympics host 51 Unwisely responding to an online troublemaker 55 Pageant prop 56 “Yup” 57 “Cantos” poet Pound 58 Intermediaries 62 Stack of paper 63 Map dot 64 Basketball Hall-of-Famer ___ Thomas 65 Concordes, e.g.

66 Egyptian canal 67 Really, really tiny

31 Homer’s outburst 32 Half of MCCII 33 Part of PBS, for short 35 Antique photo tone 36 Appearance 37 “Got it” 38 Entered with much pomp 41 Painting medium 42 D.C. figure 43 Dessert, in England 44 Confiscates

45 Pirate, in old slang 47 “That’s awkward” 48 Flippant 49 “Victory is mine!” character 52 Small units of liquor 53 Ping-pong surface 54 “Wild” star Witherspoon 58 “Saving Private Ryan” extras 59 Beavers’ sch.

For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 60 Rapper Lil ___ X cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit 61 Just short card, call: 1-800 655-6548. Reference puzzle #953

Down

“Evened Out” --following the sequence.

Across

26 Electrified particle 27 Moines intro 28 270 are required to win the White House (abbr.)

29 Nine of diamonds feature?

30 “American Pie” actress Tara 32 Some karaoke songs 34 Interstellar emissions studied by NASA 39 Former “America’s Got Talent” judge Klum 40 Word on a red sign 43 Pompous type

VEY GUL AR

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1 Enough, in Italy 6 Shortly, to Shakespeare 10 Gives in to gravity 14 Groove for a letter-shaped bolt 15 Setting for “The Music Man” 16 Paris’s ___ d’Orsay 17 Concerned question 19 “Back in the ___” (Beatles song) 20 Nixes, as a bill 21 Edit menu command 22 Where harmful skin exposure may originate

1 “Before I forget,” in texts 2 Cinders 3 Eastern European language, such as in Dvorak’s “Dances” 4 Sacred emblem 5 Like some retired racehorses 6 Broadcasters 7 Yogurt brand named after a Queensland beach town 8 Newman’s ___ 9 Old horse 10 Catcher’s position 11 Queensland resident, e.g.

12 “Beauty and the Beast” antagonist 13 Sounds in car chase scenes 18 Made on a loom 21 It may start out dry in a box 22 Tree with needles 23 Fish eggs 24 Pair, in Paris 25 Bon ___ (indie band with the 2019 album “i,i”)

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TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

The poet Anne Sexton wrote a letter to a Benedictine monk whose real identity she kept secret from the rest of us. She told him, “There are a few great souls in my life.

They are not many. They are few. You are one.” In this spirit, Leo, and in accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to take an inventory of the great souls in your life: the people you admire and respect and learn from and feel grateful for; people with high integrity and noble intentions; people who are generous with their precious gifts. When you’ve compiled your list, I encourage you to do as Sexton did: Express your appreciation; perhaps even send no-strings-attached gifts. Doing these things will have a profoundly healing effect on you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

As Scorpio author Margaret Atwood reminds us, “Water is not a solid wall; it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it.” According to my reading of the astrological

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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

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Aquarian author Toni Morrison described two varieties of loneliness. The first “is a loneliness that can be rocked.

Arms crossed, knees drawn up; holding, holding on, this motion smooths and contains the rocker.” The second “is a loneliness that roams. No rocking can hold it down.

It is alive, on its own.” Neither kind is better or worse, of course, and both are sometimes necessary as a strategy for self-renewal—as a means for deepening and fine-tuning one’s relationship with oneself. I recommend either or both for you in the coming weeks.

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

England’s Prince Charles requires his valet to iron his shoelaces and put toothpaste on his toothbrush and wash all of his clothes by hand. I could conceivably interpret the current astrological omens to mean that you should pursue similar behavior in the coming weeks. I could, but I won’t. Instead, I will suggest that you solicit help about truly important matters, not meaningless trivia like shoelace ironing. For example, I urge you to ask for the support you need as you build bridges, seek harmony, and make interesting connections.

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Science writer Sharman Apt Russell provides counsel that I think you should consider adopting in the coming days. The psychospiritual healing you require probably won’t be available through the normal means, so some version of her proposal may be useful: “We may need to be cured by flowers. We may need to strip naked and let the petals fall on our shoulders, down our bellies, against our thighs. We may need to lie naked in fields of wildflowers. We may need to walk naked through beauty.

We may need to walk naked through color. We may need to walk naked through scent.”

Now is a favorable time to celebrate both life’s changeableness and your own. The way we are all constantly called on to adjust to unceasing transformations can sometimes be a wearying chore, but I suspect it could be at least interesting and possibly even exhilarating for you in the coming weeks. For inspiration, study this message from the “Welcome to Night Vale” podcast: “You are never the same twice, and much of your unhappiness comes from trying to pretend that you are. Accept that you are different each day, and do so joyfully, recognizing it for the gift it is. Work within the desires and goals of the person you are currently, until you aren’t that person anymore.”

N

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

GU

“It’s a temptation for any intelligent person to try to murder the primitive, emotive, appetitive self,” writes author Donna Tartt. “But that is a mistake. Because it is dangerous to ignore the existence of the irrational.” I’m sending this message out to you, Virgo, because in the coming weeks it will be crucial for you to honor the parts of your life that can’t be managed through rational thought alone. I suggest you have sacred fun as you exult in the mysterious, welcome the numinous, explore the wildness within you, unrepress big feelings you’ve buried, and marvel adoringly about your deepest yearnings.

In a letter to a friend in 1856, Sagittarian poet Emily Dickinson confessed she was feeling discombobulated because of a recent move to a new home. She hoped she would soon regain her bearings. “I am out with lanterns, looking for myself,” she quipped, adding that she couldn’t help laughing at her disorientation. She signed the letter “From your mad Emilie,” intentionally misspelling her own name. I’d love it if you approached your current doubt and uncertainty with a similar light-heartedness and poise. (PS: Soon after writing this letter, Dickinson began her career as a poet in earnest, reading extensively and finishing an average of one poem every day for many years.)

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ARIES (March 21-April 19):

Created by Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century, the Mona Lisa is one of the world’s most famous paintings. It’s hanging in the Louvre museum in Paris. In that same museum is a less renowned version of the Mona Lisa. It depicts the same woman, but she’s unclothed. Made by da Vinci’s student, it was probably inspired by a now-lost nude Mona Lisa painted by the master himself. Renaissance artists commonly created “heavenly” and “vulgar” versions of the same subject. I suggest that in the coming weeks you opt for the “vulgar” Mona Lisa, not the “heavenly” one, as your metaphor of power. Favor what’s earthy, raw, and unadorned over what’s spectacular, idealized, and polished.

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“The universe conspires in your favor,” writes author Neale Donald Welsch. “It consistently places before you the right and perfect people, circumstances, and situations with which to answer life’s only question: ‘Who are you?’” In my book Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings, I say much the same thing, although I mention two further questions that life regularly asks, which are: 1. What can you do next to liberate yourself from some of your suffering?

2. What can you do next to reduce the suffering of others, even by a little? As you enter a phase when you’ll get ample cosmic help in diminishing suffering and defining who you are, I hope you meditate on these questions every day.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

2

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

omens, being like water will be an excellent strategy for you to embrace during the coming weeks. “Water is patient,” Atwood continues. “Dripping water wears away a stone.

Remember you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”

D

In indigenous cultures from West Africa to Finland to China, folklore describes foxes as crafty tricksters with magical powers. Sometimes they’re thought of as perpetrators of pranks, but more often they are considered helpful messengers or intelligent allies. I propose that you regard the fox as your spirit creature for the foreseeable future. I think you will benefit from the influence of your inner fox—the wild part of you that is ingenious, cunning, and resourceful.

R

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Taurus poet Vera Pavlova writes, “Why is the word yes so brief? It should be the longest, the hardest, so that you could not decide in an instant to say it, so that upon reflection you could stop in the middle of saying it.” I suppose it makes sense for her to express such an attitude, given the fact that she never had a happy experience until she was 20 years old, and that furthermore, this happiness was “unbearable.” (She confessed these sad truths in an interview.) But I hope you won’t adopt her hard-edged skepticism toward YES anytime soon, Taurus. In my view, it’s time for you to become a connoisseur of YES, a brave explorer of the bright mysteries of YES, an exuberant perpetrator of YES.

37

STAFF SPOTLIGHT

COURTESY MARQUISHA MATHIS

5 THINGS TO KNOW about Marquisha Mathis Freelance Writer

1 2 3 4 5

I was born in Mobile, Ala., but grew up in Baton Rouge, La., with my mom. I attended Crestworth Middle School and Mentorship Academy for high school. I’m 22 years old, and I currently attend Mississippi College where I’m majoring in mass media communications with minors in theatre and journalism.

A friend referred me to the Jackson Free Press when I was looking for an internship at the beginning of this semester, which led to me getting brought on as a freelance writer. I love to write, and I hope to receive opportunities to practice investigative reporting, which stems from my love of reading stories and watching shows that deal with true crime.

May 5 - June 1, 2021 • jfp.ms

I’m graduating in May, and my dream has been to attend graduate school at Columbia University in New York to study journalism. I have applied and am hoping to hear back within the next two weeks, fingers crossed. Once I have completed my master’s degree, I would like to work for NBC4 or The New York Times! I am also in the process of writing my first book, so I would love to do an overseas book tour one day with Amsterdam as one of my spots to visit.

38

During my senior year of high school, I had the chance to visit Los Angeles for a whole week, during which time I visited Warner Bros. Entertainment, Universal Studios and the Original Farmers Market. I learned a lot about myself during this trip, and I even took photos with some celebrities.

I love people, and I love talking to them. I believe there is something interesting about everyone in the world. Later in life, I dream of having my own talk show, where I would incorporate segments inspired by my favorite Disney Channel shows, favorite boy bands, my experiences during my 20s, and goings-on in the world including news, trends and opinions.

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