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A s the first generation of his family to live in America and the presi-dent of his own company, Quincy Mukoro, 33, has had an interesting

journey to Mississippi. After his father, Dr. Saliba Mukoro, at-tempted to overthrow the Nigerian ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida, in 1990, the gov-ernment threw a young Mukoro, his mother, Dorah Mukoro, and his immediate family members into prison for roughly a year, though his father was able to flee. “That forced us to have to grow up at a young age very quickly,” Mukoro says. “Once you have been through that kind of adversity at a young age, you try to find out the person you are really supposed to be.” Three Nigerian presidencies later, a dis-tant cousin of Saliba became president and par-doned he and his family. Mukoro’s mother and father chose to live in Nigeria, but he decided to leave for the United States. A Huntsville, Texas, native, Mukoro at-tended the University of Mississippi, where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2004. After attending Ole Miss, Quincy at-tended Mississippi State University and earned a master’s degree in public policy and admin-istration in 2007, moving to the Jackson area later that year. From 2007 to 2014, Mukoro served as the director of government affairs for the Mis-sissippi Municipal League, a private nonprofit

organization that lobbies for municipalities with state, federal and private entities. Mu-koro says his employment there assisted him in forming his own business, The Octagon Group, which he began focusing on full-time in January 2014. Based in Jackson, The Octagon Group handles both business development and gov-ernment relations, concentrating on county and city governments. On the government-relations side, the company lobbies on behalf of associations, private interests and local gov-ernment entities for the protection of revenue. In business development, it represents private-sector clients that want to provide services to cities and towns. Mukoro says connections from Mississip-pi State have helped him maintain strong ties in local government, and The Octagon Group is always willing to work with businesses, even those that might not be as well funded. “We see the greater good in those issues,” he says. Mukoro and his wife, Christina, married in August 2014 and have an 8-year-old daugh-ter, Cayden, from his first marriage. His hob-bies are golfing, traveling and spending time with his family. He says that if an opportunity ever arose for him to run for a local political office, he would pursue it if his wife supported the decision. “My wife has really focused me,” he says. “… I feel now that I have a reason big-ger than myself to do what I do.” —Guy King

JUNE 17- 23 , 2015 | VOL. 13 NO. 41

4 ............................. EDITOR’S NOTE6 ............................................ TALKS12 ................................ EDITORIAL13 .................................... OPINION14 ............................ COVER STORY18 ......................................... FOOD20 ....................................... 8 DAYS22 ...................................... EVENTS23 .......................................... ARTS24 ....................................... BOOKS25 ....................................... MUSIC27 ....................... MUSIC LISTINGS28 ..................................... SPORTS31 .................................... PUZZLES33 ....................................... ASTRO

cover photo of Brandon Youngby Imani Khayyam C O N T E N T S

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6 Waiting on SCOTUSMississippi lesbians celebrate love in “L Word Mississippi” as the LGBT community awaits word from the nation’s highest court about the future of marriage equality.

24 Get ‘Caught’“I’ve learned that whatever is done in the dark is going to come to light, and I learned that doing illegal things, whatever they may be, is not worth it. Not only do you get a conviction behind your name, but you also do your time in prison, you come home, and you’re on probation, and you’re this felon.”

—Janice Singleton, “Learn from Getting ‘Caught’”

25 Self-Made SongstressElle Carpenter gets to do what she loves.

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W hen I was younger, Father’s Day was sort of a “non-hol-iday” for me, like Flag Day or Arbor Day. You may have

more reverence for those now, but when you’re a kid, those days sort of come and go without much thought. While I love my dad and get along well with him, I have always been a terrible gift-giver. Most years, my wife spends hours scouring the Internet for her dad’s gift, trying to hit that perfect mark of both functional and thoughtful, and I typically end up scratching my head for gift ideas, saying, “Well, was the gift card I got my dad last year from Best Buy or Barnes & Noble?” But before you grab the pitch-fork that you reserve for stabbing terrible sons, I should tell you a bit about my dad and why giving has always been about more than gifts for my family. My dad and I share many things, including an eerily similar speaking voice, but he, unlike me, is an excellent gift-giver. In fact, he specifically picked out the two possessions I value most in the world—my electric guitar and my acoustic guitar—because each time, he thought, “That’s something Micah would like.” I’m sure I’m not the only person to receive an electric guitar for Christmas. I’m willing to bet that more than a few Jacksonians have instruments currently collecting dust. But my acoustic guitar is a different story. Growing up, I had no shortage of instruments to piddle around on. My dad played drums all through college, so we had this great big set upstairs in what, at some point, transformed from a living room into my music room. Against one wall, we had a keyboard, which definitely hadn’t aged quite as well as the drums, and against another we had a collection

of guitars that my dad had amassed over the years. I played around on drums, an instru-ment at which I’m currently decent, and I spent hours playing bass guitar, which I’m much better at, and days and days playing my dad’s old Fender Mustang. I started my first band, which I won’t name here out of embarrassment, with that guitar, even though it didn’t sound particularly good. Or was it that I didn’t sound good?

I also wrote some of my first songs on that guitar, which eventually inspired my dad to buy me my acoustic, which I still own and play regularly. That guitar only made me want to write music more, so I would sprawl out paper and chord charts in the music room and write. My dad would walk up the stairs and ask me to play him something, and I would clam up and hide the yellow legal pad I’d been writing terrible lyrics on. And despite the fact that I would almost always turn him away without playing him my latest sure-fire hit, my dad would always walk up the stairs to hear what I was simultaneously proud and embarrassed about. “You’ll never have a bigger fan than me,” he would say.

Now that I’m older, practicing gui-tar in the music room at my own house and hopefully writing better songs than I did at 14, my dad still says that, and I believe it. For most of my life, if I’ve told him I had a show, he would be there. If I told him that I was going into the studio, he would try to give me money, even if he didn’t have that much to give. It’s one of the best qualities about my dad. Yes, he’s a good gift-giver. First and

foremost, though, he’s a giver. Whether it’s his time or his support, my dad has always been the first to give both at a moment’s notice. I can’t even tell you how many times he’s had to drop what he was doing to meet with someone struggling through a hard time. As I said, I’m terrible at giving gifts, which unfor-tunately is just how I’m wired, but that doesn’t mean that I’m terrible at giving. I appreciate the presents my dad has bought me in the past, of course, but when it comes down to it, I’d rather hang out with him. I’d rather thank him for showing me the kind of person I want to be. The kind that my family, my friends and my neighbors know they can rely on, whether they’re facing a personal crisis or

just need a couch moved from one room to the next. Flipping through this issue, you’ll find stories about “Guys We Love,” many of whom have won awards for their work, earned accolades for their art or are just generally cool people. But if you’ve picked up a copy of the Jackson Free Press in the past, you know what topic is constantly on our minds. Hint: It’s the first word of our name. At its core, “Guys We Love” has al-ways been a tribute to Jackson’s givers, whether it’s mixed martial arts trainer Marshall Thompson Jr. encouraging everyone who steps into his gym, gar-dener Felder Rushing cultivating a love of Mississippi’s natural beauty, or hair stylist Brandon Young improving a per-son’s day by improving their self-image. These men work toward enriching the lives of each Jacksonian they come in contact with in their treatment of and regard for others. I realize that I’m luckier than some. The staff at the Jackson Free Press really cares about our city and actively works to help our neighbors. I get to spend my working days at a business that fosters positive change, so it’s on my mind most of the day. Maybe you don’t feel like your job places you in a position that affects Jackson. But I encourage you to read the articles in this issue, each written with the hope that it will enrich someone’s life, and consider the ways that you can use your gifts to give back. We live in a great city, not because of what came before, but because of what the people here are doing here today. I guarantee that Jackson will never have bigger fans than Jacksonians. Micah Smith is the music editor of the Jackson Free Press. Email him at micah@jacksonfreepress.com.

CONTRIBUTORS

Givers We Love

Editorial Intern Joshua Clayton is the reincarnation of Junior Kimbrough. He loves to act like Stephen A. Smith when he’s questioned about the Pitts-burgh Steelers. He contributed to the cover package.

Editorial Intern Deja Harris is a senior at Alcorn State Uni-versity, where she is studying journalism. She is the editor-in-chief of The Campus Chronicle. She contributed to the cover package.

Editorial Intern Zachary Oren Smith comes from a long line of storytellers and decided he might as well make a dime off the family business. And no, he’s probably not related to those Smiths. He contributed to the cover package.

Editorial Intern Emerald Alexis Ware is a senior at the Uni-versity of Southern Mississippi. She has raging wanderlust and is obsessed with Pinterest and all things 20s. She contributed to the cover package.

Reporter Arielle Dreher is work-ing on finding some new hob-bies. She enjoys short walks that aren’t on beaches, and tea. Email her story ideas at arielle@jacksonfreepress.com or call her at 601-362-6121 ext. 20. She wrote news stories.

R.L. Nave, native Missourian and news editor, roots for St. Louis (and the Mizzou Tigers)—and for Jackson. Send him news tips at rlnave@jackson freepress.com or call him at 601-362-6121 ext. 12. He wrote a news story.

Editor Intern Brian Gordon was raised in upstate New York and moved to the South. He teaches social studies in Jack-son Public Schools and wishes printer paper cost the same as the Jackson Free Press. He wrote a food story.

Ad Designer Zilpha Young doesn’t know what the Internet is, but she assumes there are bees involved. She is just try-ing to escape the mistakes of her past life in which she was a competitive ice skater. She designed many ads.

by Micah Smith, Music EditorEDITOR’S note

“You’ll never have a bigger fan than me,” he would say.

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#ASKJXN

T he whole epi-sode of Rachel Donezal, the woman who

lived life as black before her parents outed her as white, kind of reminded us of people who live in the burbs but want to claim being from Jackson when it’s socially convenient. In the spirit of #AskRachel, we’re going to start vetting folks by asking them to answer questions that only real Jacksonians know the answers to.

C ameron Stewart and Amber Camer-on have been together five and a half years. About a year ago, the couple had a backyard wedding ceremony

with vows and commitments—but because they live in Mississippi they could not get a license. Now, however, the couple is antici-pating that the U.S. Supreme Court may le-galize same-sex marriage this month. “We’re going to camp out at the court-house,” Cameron said. The couple lives in the small town of Lumberton with their two kids, both from Amber’s previous relationships. Their story came to life in “L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin,” a film that first aired last August on Showtime. On Saturday night, Stewart and Cam-eron crammed together with other cast members and about 60 Mississippians in a ballroom in the Jackson Hilton penthouse. They were there to show their support for the film that displayed life of the LGBT community in the South—specifically lesbi-ans. GLAAD hosted the screening, and all four of the featured couples in the film came to watch and discuss LGBT progress since the documentary came out. The screening was more like a live the-ater production, as cast members reacted to themselves and their friends, laughing and sharing inside jokes or sneering at a pastor teaching congregants to “pray away the gay” in the film. The film itself is pretty serious, detail-ing how the church, family members, laws and communities can create hostile envi-

ronments, hindering these couples from living normal lives in Mississippi. The cast portrays their relationships and the con-sequences of living in Mississippi, where families often shun them and friends shame them on Facebook.

The event was a stop on GLAAD’s Southern Stories bus tour.

Accelerating Acceptance Sarah Kate Ellis, president of GLAAD, said the group scheduled the tour following

a Harris poll the organization conducted to gauge public opinion about the LGBT com-munity. The poll revolved around comfort levels, asking 2,300 Americans questions like “How comfortable do you feel attending a same-sex wedding?” and “How comfort-

able do you feel finding out that your kid’s teacher is LGBT?” “What we found was that pretty much one-third of America is still very uncomfortable with the LGBT com-munity,” Ellis said. “We found that

Wednesday, June 10 A GOP-controlled Senate panel blocks President Barack Obama’s request for $50 million for legal help for unac-companied immigrant children coming to the U.S. from Central America. … Pope Francis creates a new tribunal sec-tion inside the Vatican to hear cases of bishops accused of covering up for priests who raped and molested children. Thursday, June 11 An Ohio judge says there’s prob-able cause to charge two Cleveland po-lice officers with murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide or der-eliction of duty in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice last November. … More than 2,000 third-graders pass Mississippi’s reading test when they take it a second time, leaving about 3,400 stu-dents statewide at risk of failing. Friday, June 12 German prosecutors close their in-vestigation into the alleged tapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone, saying they have been unable to find evidence that would stand up in court. … Former University of Mississippi stu-dent Graeme Phillip Harris pleads guilty to charges related to hanging a noose around a statue of James Meredith. Saturday, June 13 International aid group Save the Children shuts down all its offices in Pakistan after the government shuttered its main office in the capital. Sunday, June 14 Thousands march in Hong Kong to urge lawmakers to vote down Beijing-backed election reforms that sparked street protests last year. … Italy warns retaliation against the European Union if govern-ments don’t make good on proposals to take in more asylum-seeking migrants. Monday, June 15 Rachel Dolezal resigns as president of the NAACP’s Spokane chapter just days after her parents said she is a white woman posing as black. Tuesday, June 16 Russian President Vladimir Putin announces that Russia’s military this year alone will receive more than 40 new in-tercontinental ballistic missiles capable of piercing any missile defenses. Breaking news at jfpdaily.com.6

A Long, Long LGBT Roadby Arielle Dreher

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1. D (FOR DOH!), 2. C, 3. A, 4. E, 5. DEPENDS ON WHO YOU ASK. 6. C AND D.

L egal advocates for prisoners in Mississippi say the state has failed to follow through on promises to create bet-ter conditions at Walnut Grove Correctional Facility and that attempts to address safety concerns at Walnut

Grove, which started out as a youth prison, have spurred vio-lence at other prisons. Jody Owens, managing attorney for the Southern Pov-erty Law Center’s Mississippi office, said Wilkinson County Correctional Facility in Woodville is now the most violent prison in the state. The problems at Wilkinson County are a direct result of the Mississippi Department of Corrections’ response to a 2012 federal court settlement at Walnut Grove that required MDOC to improve conditions and reduce violence at the facility. In response, MDOC slashed the population of Walnut Grove by one-third. Wilkinson County is one of the prisons where close-custody prisoners were sent in what Owens charac-terizes as a smoke-and-mirrors move to make MDOC appear as if the agency was complying with the Walnut Grove order. “When we look at this whack-a-mole, we have to ask ourselves what is the root the problems,” Owens said. In his opinion, the root is in the arrangement between MDOC and the private companies it hires to run the facili-ties. One of those companies, Centerville, Utah-based Man-agement & Training Corporation, holds four such contracts, including for Walnut Grove and Wilkinson County. MTC also runs prisons in Marshall and Lauderdale counties; Cor-rectional Corporation of America holds one contract, for Tal-lahatchie County Correctional Facility. Management & Training Corp., which manages the prison, said in a statement that the company and MDOC has made good-faith efforts to address issues raised in the consent decree, including removing children and seriously

mentally ill prisoners. MTC also said the facility is safe, se-cure, clean and accredited by the American Correctional As-sociation. In addition, the prison has eliminated long-term segregation and high-security-risk prisoners. In doing so, MDOC unsuccessfully asked a federal

judge this spring to lift the court order. In an ordered handed down last week, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves wrote that prisoners’ rights continued to be exposed to “current and ongoing violations.” Reeves heard arguments in April in a case over a federal consent decree at Walnut Grove, which a private prison com-pany manages on behalf of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

The judge’s order, issued June 10, leaves the consent de-cree in place. In its defense, MDOC argued that Walnut Grove has since cleaned up its act since the 2010 lawsuit was filed. “It’s not the same facility I found when I arrived,” Lepher Jenkins, who took over as warden at Walnut Grove after a July 2014 uprising that sent a number of prisoners to the hospital, testi-fied during the hearing. Attorneys for prisoners, from the ACLU National Prison Project and the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the conditions that first brought the lawsuit persist. Owens points to a number of “spice” (synthetic marijuana) overdoses at Walnut Grove in the weeks before hearing. During the hearing, two prisoners testified about what they called unsafe conditions at Walnut Grove and the mis-treatment of inmates by MDOC officials. This treatment continued during their time in custody at the Central Mis-sissippi Correctional Facility in early April, when plaintiffs argued their case. The defendant, MDOC, put on its case three weeks later. Judge Reeves, in his ruling, agreed with the plaintiffs. “We know that most prisoners do not die in prison; they serve their sentences and are subsequently released. How they are treated while in prison affects how they will reintegrate into society upon their release. As such, public confidence in our criminal justice and public safety sys-tems is vital,” he wrote. MDOC has not indicated whether the agency will ap-peal Reeves’ decision. With another SPLC lawsuit pending against East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian, Owens said it would be in the best interests of the agency to negotiate rather than fighting the lawsuits in court. “We want to find a way to avoid litigation we would hope the state would be responsible,” Owens said.

Private Prison ‘Whack-a-Mole’by R.L. Nave

those numbers rose to more like two out of three people in the South.”

GLAAD advocates for the LGBT community in the media. Part of GLAAD’s purpose in coming to the South was to engage the LGBT communities and listen to couples share their stories in order to “accelerate acceptance” where it is most needed. “We know that the way that you move acceptance forward is by meeting somebody who’s LGBT or hearing some-one’s personal story,” Ellis said. “L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin” does exactly that. The film won the GLAAD Media Award for “Outstanding Documentary” in 2015, and Jaimie Co-hen, the field producer on the project, ac-cepted the award Saturday night. After the screening, some cast mem-bers shared what has happened in their lives since filming—10 months later.

‘The Burden Is Lifted’ After the film came out, other lesbians in Lumberton and couples began to come out to Amber and Cameron. “It’s a good thing for our town,” Stew-art said. “We are asked a lot for advice from other couples.” One cast member, Brandiilyne Dear, said that while the LGBT community is winning, there is still work to be done. Even if the Supreme Court rules in favor of mar-riage equality, the battles will continue in Mississippi. “We run the risk of getting married then losing our job or losing our housing, or we still can’t adopt children,” Dear said. “We’ve just scratched the surface, and I hope people are not like ‘we won’—we’ve got to keep them educated and motivated.” Jana Haynes’ struggle in the documen-tary was coming out to her mother. Since the film aired, her secret was out, and Jana finally

had a long conversation with her mother. “Since the movie, there has been a transformation in my relationship that my mother and I have,” she said. “The burden is lifted.” Several members of the cast spoke on a panel following the screening, discussing the climate for the LGBT community in Mis-sissippi today. Dear started her own church since her old church community denounced her (after the pastor publicly outed her). Dear said that the cast is now a family. “My favorite thing from this documen-tary is the connections and the relationships we have (now),” she said. “We spend a lot of time together.” Some of the cast even flew out to Palm Springs for Dear’s marriage to her partner, Susan Mangum, earlier this year. The cou-ple lives in Laurel, and since filming, have continued to build the Dandelion Project, an advocacy and outreach organization that

provides resources to the LGBT community in Mississippi. Dear said the climate for the LGBT community in Mississippi seems to be changing rapidly. “I believe the new mindset is greater than the old—even in our churches,” Dear said. “The setbacks are becoming fewer. We’re winning.” A federal mandate legalizing same-sex marriage, which could be handed down as ear-ly as this week, would be one victory the state of Mississippi thus far has denied its citizens. Haynes said progress is slower because of people like her (or at least who she was in the film) who don’t come out. One bad ex-perience with a member of the LGBT com-munity can become the face of the whole movement, she said. “I think we’re winning, but it’s a long, long road.” Read more about the LGBT community in Mississippi at www.jfp.ms/lgbt.

7

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves recently ruled that the Mississippi Department of Corrections still has a ways to go in cleaning up Walnut Grove prison and left a consent decree in place so that a court could monitor MDOC’s progress.

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TALK | education

Initiative 42, the citizen-supported ballot measure to fully fund Mississippi’s public-school system, boasts of having a broad coalition of support. However, a vocal and

influential bloc—parents of special-needs children and groups advocating for them—aren’t fully convinced that the initiative will be good for their kids and, for the time be-ing, are remaining neutral as legal and politi-cal battle lines harden. Joy Hogge is the executive director of Families as Allies, a statewide organization that supports families with members who have mental-health challenges. Her group is not taking a public stance on Initiative 42, a constitutional ballot question that will be put to voters in the fall. Hogge said the initiative’s outcomes might affect families differently, depending on the school district in which they live and whether the district has a good track record on complying with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. With more information about what guaranteed funding will mean for IDEA families, Families as Allies could publicly support Initiative 42, Hogge said. “Our main goal is to make sure fami-lies have the information they need to make an informed choice for what’s going on for their child,” she told the Jackson Free Press. Last fall, a coalition of public-school advocates successfully filed 116,570 valid signatures to put Initiative 42 on the No-vember 2015 ballot. Their aim was to neu-tralize the Mississippi Legislature, which al-most never follows the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which lawmakers cre-ated in 1997 to establish a baseline of fund-ing for public education. If Initiative 42 is successful, the benefits will trickle down to all students, supporters say. Among those supporters is Oleta Fitzgerald, the southern-regional office di-rector of the Children’s Defense Fund, who said that ideally the Legislature would follow MAEP, but because they won’t, it seems that a constitutional amendment is necessary. “[P]ublic education is the only thing that can help lift hundreds of poor children out of poverty so that they will not have to be dependent on social services to survive,” Fitzgerald said. Fitzgerald acknowledges that Initiative 42 won’t be a cure-all and that there will be more work to be do in school districts to en-sure more funding translates into a higher quality of education. “It’s a juxtaposition because you can-not have enhancement without money, but money is not the whole answer,” she said. Special education has always been a challenge for school districts in the state,

even affluent ones. Matt Nalker is the ex-ecutive director of ARC Mississippi, which serves people with developmental and in-tellectual disabilities throughout the state. He points out that funding for special edu-cation has never been fully funded nation-ally since Congress passed the Rehabilita-tion Act in 1973.

Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 that was amended to become IDEA in 1997 to require public schools to develop Individu-alized Education Programs or IEPs for all eligible children with disabilities. “Our students that we care most deeply about have never been fully funded and are always in need of resources,” Nalker said. “Our concern is to fully fund special education as well. Don’t push us to the back burner.”

‘Who Is Going to Benefit?’ Funded mandate or not, public schools’ challenges complying with special education regulations and laws has brought about le-gal scrutiny in districts including Jackson Public Schools, Madison County, Quit-man and Holmes. The costs school districts have spent on attorneys to fight these cases is another cause for pause for special-needs families when it comes to getting behind Initiative 42.

By contrast, Wendell Hutchinson, an attorney at Disability Rights Mississippi said nonprofits such as his organization, the Mis-sissippi Center for Justice and the Southern Poverty Law Center are among the only or-ganizations that actively litigate IDEA cases in the state. Hutchinson said many cases can be

resolved without legal action and involve an advocate in on the IEP meeting with the family and informing families of their rights. (He has four advocates on his edu-cation team.) When this doesn’t resolve the issue, then Hutchinson will file a complaint or a request for a due-process hearing. “I think what would be great and more efficient is if the state provided funding to the nonprofit agencies to provide those ser-vices to parents,” Hutchinson said. “That would enable agencies to hire more attor-neys and advocates to do what they are al-ready doing.” With such limited options for families, even if a family could afford their own law-yer, few law firms in the state are well-versed enough or willing to represent these families. “We have not been able to find attorneys in private practice to do that kind of represen-tation, and we have diligently looked for it for three years,” Hogge said. It upsets Mandy Rogers that school districts can obtain outside counsel and pay

for their own legal representation, while groups like Disability Rights Mississippi are supporting families for free. Rogers lives in Madison County and raised two boys who went through special-education programs in private then public schools back in the 1990s and early 2000s. Her youngest son exited in 2008, but Rog-ers remains a vocal and influential champion for students with special needs, and opposes Initiative 42. Her reasoning stems from patterns she found after filing records requests with school districts to find out how much they were spending on litigation defense in IDEA cases. Rogers found that school dis-tricts were spending large amounts on legal fees—instead of just paying to provide the families with the educational programs they were asking for. She points to Jim Keith, the attorney representing an Oxford woman in a lawsuit over the Republican-crafted proposed alter-native to Initiative 42 known as 42A. After Hinds County Circuit Judge Winston Kidd rewrote 42A, Mississippi House of Rep-resentatives Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which is expected to rule any day on whether Kidd had the authority to rewrite the Legislature’s alternative. Rogers said fully funding MAEP will just mean school districts will spend more money on administrators and attorneys like Keith to fight special education lawsuits. “If this initiative passes, who is going to benefit?” Rogers said. “Will it be attorneys representing school districts?”

Political Influence That special-needs families are sitting on the sidelines in the Initiative 42 contro-versy is especially important given the po-litical influence these parents have gained in Mississippi over the years. One notable example came in the most recent legislative session, when advocates for special-education funding won a legislative battle with the passage of the Equal Op-portunity for Students with Special Needs Act. Under the law, which Gov. Phil Bryant signed in April and takes effect on July 1, allows families who have a student with an active IEP to apply for an Education Schol-arship Account. Sponsored by Sen. Nancy Collins, R-Tupelo, the program provides families $6,500 for the 2015-2016 school year to transfer their child to a “nonpublic school,” using the funds for tuition, textbooks and

Special Ed Groups on the Fence about Initiative 42by Arielle Dreher

James A. Keith presents the argument for Adrian Shipman to the Mississippi Supreme Court on Tuesday, June 9.

AR

IELLE DR

EHER

TALK | politics

I n “Godfather” parlance, Hinds County Sheriff Tyrone Lewis has gone to the mat-tresses. To aid in his re-election bid, Lewis, who is seeking a second term as sheriff,

recently invited actor Dan Aykroyd, whom Lewis deputized into the reserves in 2014, to town to help him campaign. Lewis, who has been under fire for problems at the Hinds County jail, is fighting off claims of poor management made by his chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Victor Mason. On June 9, Lewis invited the Jackson Free Press to his office to respond to Mason, explain his famous holiday-themed bill-boards and say why he deserves to remain the county’s top law-enforcement officer.

What’s your elevator pitch for a second term? We want to finish what we started. I made some commitments, and we’ve been able to fill those commitments that we made in 2011. Of course, you can’t complete ev-erything in four years, so we want to be able to finish what we started. That’s to be aggres-sive on crime. We think we’ve done a good job on that. I promised to be very visible in all four corners of Hinds County. I promised to be very transparent. We’ve done that. We’re committed to being good stew-ards of the taxpayers’ dollars, and I’ve done that so well that when we first took office we took a $2 million budget cut. And in that budget cut, we didn’t furlough. We didn’t lay people off. As a matter of fact, we were able to give the lowest-paid employees, which are our detention officers, a salary increase. Even with a budget cut, we were still able to bring the sheriff’s office up to the 21st century with technology. We’ve imple-mented new computers throughout our agency. We have implemented body cams without taxpayer money. We’ve implement-ed 233 cameras in the jail. We’ve been able to purchase 70 new vehicles to replace our old fleet, which was costing the taxpayers for service and repairs. We’ve made relationships

throughout this metro area that has never been formed. We have that relationship with the Rankin County sheriff’s office, the Mad-ison County sheriff’s office and the Jackson

Police Department. We thought that was important because crime has no boundaries.

What’s the status of the BRAVE (crime-fighting) program? Our program is called MACE. It’s mov-ing forward. We’re waiting on some funding to continue to move forward. We have been allotted some $100,000 from the lieutenant

governor’s office to help fund the MACE project. We are working on some external funding to go along with that process.

Are your billboards a part of your visibility effort? And are they paid for by campaign funds or taxpayer funds? Visibility means is the visibility of the deputies patrolling Hinds County, patrol-ling areas of the county that they never patrolled before like the city of Jackson. Being the chief law enforcement officer (in

the county), I have a responsibility to all the citizens of Hinds County. As far as my billboards, those are paid for by campaign funds and personal money.

You talked about the department being top-heavy, but I’ve also heard that there was a lot of institutional wisdom. When you streamlined the department, did you see any after-effects? There was little very training prior to this administration coming in. I can’t make anybody stay here, but I can advise people to the structures and the policies and pro-cedures. There are people who just didn’t want to adapt to change and follow the policies and procedures.

You said that the public perception of more problems is because you pulled the rug back on problems. I’m still going to remain transparent. I think being transparent helped in being able to expose the entire jail system and what makes it works, as well as educate the public. So again we uncovered a lot of stuff that the public didn’t know which we think was bad on one part and bad on the politi-cal part.

Chokwe Antar Lumumba is endorsing Victor Mason in part because of what he calls unfulfilled promises from your first campaign. Kamau Franklin, your former campaign manager, has made similar claims about your not fulfilling promises, such as forming a civilian review board. What’s your response? I didn’t make that promise. There was no need for us to implement a civil-ian review board. We have an internal-affairs (department) that does all of our investigations when it comes to officer or deputy misconduct. We’re very satis-fied with where we are with our

Sheriff: Crime Has No Boundariesby R.L. Nave

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It’s not exactly a mission from God, but actor Dan Aykroyd recently came to town to help Hinds County Sheriff Tyrone Lewis’ re-election bid.

other educational expenses. State Rep. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, attempted compromise with a bill that would have created a special-needs counsel positioned in the Mississippi Of-fice of Education to provide legal counsel and support to families in IDEA disputes. “The districts should be forced to comply with federal and state law, and

that’s what my bill was all about,” Bar-ia said. “It was to provide families with special-needs children what they need to do battle with a school district that is wrongfully denying a special needs stu-dent what the law provides for them.” The bill that passed also states that af-ter the first year, the amount of the scholar-ship will be pegged to MAEP even though the students may have left the traditional public-school system. Baria said that this is not quite the case. “My understanding is that it’s a sepa-

rate appropriation so MAEP is what it is, but we are going to have this other pot of money … to give grants to people who want to take their kids somewhere else,” Baria said. Baria was opposed to this bill because it pulls special-needs students out of the public-school system instead of forcing districts to comply with the law in the first place. He also said that $6,500 is not going to get most of these families what they need. Beyond the disputes surrounding the new bill, Baria said fully funding MAEP

is in these families’ best interest. While he understands why parents who have had bad experiences with school districts would be fearful that more money would go to pay lawyers, he thinks ultimately that argument is not well-founded. “We are all in this together in the public-school system, and more money allows for more teachers, better classroom instruction, more books and supplies—and more money to take care of special-needs children,” he said. Baria said special-needs education

internal-affairs division. … It’s been mentioned over the years, even in my tenure as the police chief. Even then it was looked at. It was presented to me, but I never promised anybody that I would implement a civilian review board.

Are the stories we’ve seen in the news about detention offi cers’ misconduct the result of internal-affairs investigations? Yes. Internal Affairs investigates any misconduct or policies alleged to be broken by employees. They also do criminal inves-tigations as well.

I’ve talked to a number of former jail employees who say, generally speaking, that you’ve fi red a lot of people, which may be to blame for some of the problems we see at the jail. What’s your response to that?

Here’s what we did: Prior to taking offi ce, we did an assessment of the entire sheriff ’s offi ce. We wanted to know how many employees we had. We wanted to know what positions were being held. What rank was being utilized in the de-partment and how was it being budget-ed. Then, we wanted to know where our strengths and weakness were. It was our intent to balance the entire department based on the qualifi cations, the skill sets and experience. In doing that, we found that this department was top-heavy with about 30 captains that had nobody to an-swer to them and were making big sala-ries. That included jail personnel. My thing was to streamline this department to make it more effi cient budget-wise, and that caused us to ask for individuals to reapply. When it came to personnel, the fi rst thing we wanted to do was fi nd out who our people were so we could place them in the positions that were more adequate fi ts for them and the department. Of course, some did not re-

apply, and that gave us the assumption that they no longer wanted to be em-ployed with the new administration. That’s where a lot of that comes from when you talk about people being fi red. We didn’t fi re a whole lot of people; a lot of people just didn’t reapply. When they didn’t reapply, that means they gave up their jobs. And left us the accessibility to streamline the department and replace individuals.

I’ve heard—I don’t know if this is something I’ve heard from you or others—is that you’d prefer to have nothing to do with the jail. Not true. That’s the sheriff ’s re-sponsibility. When I say (the campaign platform) didn’t include the jail, it didn’t include that I could be the (only) person that can fi x the jail. If anybody is saying that, they’re not being truthful. I needed to get here fi rst to do the overall assess-ment to see, number one, what were the issues in order to bring everyone to the table that makes that jail function.

Was there a sense that you needed to come in and change bad habits? I’ve never said things weren’t done the right way. I think there was a time for change to be able to build on what was al-ready in place and take it to the next level. That’s what we intended to do and that’s what we’re doing.

Did you feel like you needed to be hard on folks? I don’t necessarily think it’s being hard on folks. I think any time you have policies and procedures in places, there are conse-quences in not abiding by them. When you say fi re people, I don’t fi re people. People fi re themselves by not following the policy.

Comment and read more election news at www.jfp.ms/2015elections. Email R.L. Nave at rlnave@jacksonfreepress.com.

advocacy groups should support Initia-tive 42 for this reason. “It will result in better educational outcomes for all students, includ-ing special-needs students,” he said. Patsy Brumfi eld, communications director of Better Schools, Better Jobs, said families with children who need special education should support Initia-tive 42. Passing the measure will ensure that school districts fi nally have adequate money to have programs to support their children, Brumfi eld said. She adds that because school boards decide how MAEP

funds are spent, school-board members should be held accountable—after Ini-tiative 42 passes. “Right now any child isn’t getting what they need,” Brumfi eld said. “Regard-less of what your children’s needs are, we are all in the same boat because school dis-tricts are being shortchanged of the fund-ing they were promised.” Comment and read more about educa-tion funding in Mississippi at www.jfp.ms/maep. You can email reporter Arielle Dreher at arielle@jacksonfreepress.com. 11

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HalandMals.comfor a full menu and

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Visit HalandMals.comfor a full menu and

concert schedule

HalandMals.comfor a full menu and

concert schedule

OFFICIAL HOUSE VODKA

COMING UP

WEDNESDAY 6/17

Restaurant Open as Usual

THURSDAY 6/18 THURSDAY 6/18 THURSDAY

LEO MORIERARestaurant

FRIDAY 6/19

MUSTACHEBig Room - Doors 9pm - Show10pm - $10

SATURDAY 6/20

STARTISAN, HYDROGEN CHILD & EMPTY ATLAS

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Thursday, December 10

My Coming Out Story

Time to Rethink Local Policing Strategies

L ast year, Jackson police and the Hinds County Sheriff’s Offi ce deployed a Louisiana crime-prevention program, which calls for more community-based policing and was based on

the Ceasefi re model used in some 50 cities around the country of building relationships with residents and, sometimes, gang leaders. The B.R.A.V.E. program, adopted from Ba-ton Rouge, started in a section of west Jackson from West Capitol Street to Interstate 20. Our program, as law enforcement offi cials de-scribed it, was a little different from Baton Rouge’s. For one, it was renamed to the much more violent-sounding MACE, or Metro Area Crime Elimina-tion. Second, some citizens tell us that MACE is just as much about knocking heads as focusing on so-called quality-of-life issues. “Quality of life” became the centerpiece of the policing strategy in New York City under Po-lice Commissioner William Bratton. Bratton, who returned to lead the NYPD under Mayor Bill de Blasio, is an adherent of the “broken windows” the-ory of order maintenance, which academics George Kelling and James Wilson popularized. The NYPD started focusing on curtailing minor crimes—like misdemeanors like riding bikes on the sidewalk and public urination—in hopes that it would reduce se-rious criminal behavior. In so doing, they fi gured out that a low-level offense was a good reason to pull over someone suspected of being connected to a gang or violent crime. It became a way to get guns

off people in a city where fi rearms are illegal. The offi cials who oversaw MACE in Jackson claim it was a success, lowering crime stats over the last year. But stats are only part of the story. In New York City, quality-of life policing and, later under other commissioners, largely race-based stop-and-frisks, might have lowered the city’s crime rate but at tremendous costs. The practice violated civil liberties of mostly young men of color, and, as a result, city taxpayers are footing the bill for lawsuits (and settlements). We have heard similar complaints in west Jackson about MACE and the ubiquity of siren-fl ashing cop cars and the ramped-up frequency of interactions with law enforcement. This con-cerns us: The point of Ceasefi re programs is to get in front of crimes and prevent them, not to be a new brand of stop-and-frisk. There must be at least as much carrot in the deal for young people as there is stick. This week, Hinds County Sheriff Tyrone Lewis said he is awaiting funding before ratcheting MACE back up. Before that happens, Lewis and Jackson Police Chief Lee Vance should clearly iden-tify the goals and methods of the program and get input from community members. Above all, the next phase of MACE should follow with its original intent of a long-term part-nership between police, neighbors and young peo-ple. It’s the only way the program can lower crime without hurting those it’s designed to help.

12

T he LGBT community grows every year during National Coming Out Day. During this day of courage, “hidden” members of the LGBT com-munity have a chance to reveal their true selves to society and be proud of their sexual orientation. Mostly, this revelation is aimed at family and

friends, with the hope of not being judged by the people they care for the most. This action can provide a sense of weight being lifted from their shoulders. The older I become, the more I realize “coming out” isn’t exclusive to our LGBT brothers and sisters but can stretch to many sects of the population. One could use this logic to reveal that he or she identifi es with a different political party or religious affi liation. Most people hold religion close to their chests and don’t question it, displaying blind loyalty to that practice until death. That has never been my “style,” however. I, to the chagrin of the “powers” that be, always question authority. Religion has been no exception. Why am I a Christian? Are we to still take the Bible literally? What about texts that are clearly outdated? What religion were my ancestors practicing before they were forcibly shipped from West Africa to the United States? Why do most religions, includ-ing Christianity, have tyranny and oppression attached to its name? One may think of me as cantankerous, but that notion is far from the truth. Throughout my 30 years, I’ve managed to answer questions on my own. Religion is a beautiful concept. Religion has birthed a great amount of charitable deeds. However, the actions of men practicing said religions are deeply fl awed.

After much internal refl ection, I decid-ed to have my “coming out” moment in this very column. I can no longer identify myself as a Christian in the traditional sense. As I come to grips with this proclamation, I must ask myself, “Well, what the hell are you?” If I had to categorize my belief, I would say I am an agnostic deist, refusing to place God in one “box.” A “deist” believes in a single deity that created the universe but doesn’t interfere, thus allowing the laws of nature and physics run their course. However, the agnostic part

of me admits that there isn’t enough evidence to be sure about my belief. I am well aware of how bizarre this may sound to some, including myself at one point in my life. However, I found comfort in my beliefs because I am also aware of what led to this enlightenment. I am a big proponent of science. Sci-ence and religion can be a marriage at times; however, science has also refuted re-ligious dogma throughout the centuries. Religion once stated that the Earth was the center of the universe, fl at and 6,000 years old. All of these notions, which Christian traditions conceptualized, science has proven factually inaccurate. So, after establishing organized religion’s habit to sometimes “make stuff up,” I opened a Pandora’s Box of questions. Questions such as: What is a “bless-ing,” and why are some able to “receive” it while others aren’t. If I were to a miss a fl ight that crashed and killed everyone on board, is this a blessing? And if so, what about the others who didn’t suffer massive hangovers and responsibly made their fl ight on time? What is faith? If Jesus preached the idea of faith, which es-sentially means believing in the unknown, then why must he perform magic tricks (walking on water) in order to prove he is the son of God? I know, I know—I tend to go deep down the rabbit hole as it relates to religious traditions. However, my actions are not based on a nefarious motive to disprove religious beliefs. It is simply to ask questions that many of you have. I saw an article recently that detailed the astronomical rise of “non-Chris-tians” in this country, in large part due to generational changes. Millennials, such as myself, are not bound to tradition like the generations before us. We are non-traditional and proud of breaking away from whatever people tell us is right. Dissenters may contend that millennials are stubborn with no sense of tra-dition. I would counter by stating that we are championing a new era of enlight-enment. And by me sharing my story, I hope that my enlightenment serves as a motivation for your own “coming out” narrative. Trust me, it’s worth it. Leslie B. McLemore II is a Jackson native, now in Washington, D.C. He is a proud graduate of Jackson State University, North Carolina Central University School of Law (J.D.) and American University Washington College of Law (LL.M.).

We are championing a new era of enlightenment.

I n 1998, I met Rachel Dolezal at Voice of Calvary Fellowship, a church in Jackson. We are the same age, and we became friends. She was a direct and

serious person, and every aspect of her life seemed to embody deep expression. Her artwork is impeccable: obviously trained, passionate and personal to her. I recall one Christmas church ser-vice where Rachel’s dance performance of “Mary Did You Know” was breathtaking, an evocative expression of Mary’s sacrifice of her son, Jesus. If this were all America knew about Rachel, we might just ask her a simple question about ly-ing. However, there’s more to her life. Most if not all of Rachel’s artwork and style was and is centered on African or African American culture. If her breathtaking Christmas dance at church was stylistically Asian, or any of her artwork were European, or if she ever dabbled in Native American pottery, or if her hairstyles weren’t so “black,” we might be able to say she loves all cul-tures, that she’s balanced or impartial. That’s not the case. When Rachel’s story began trending this month, media outlets immediately began shucking the most symmetrical assumptions of race and ethnicity. The headlines ranged from “Hero” to “Hat-er.” Other headlines included: “Rachel Dolezal, Spokane NAACP leader outed as WHITE by her parents,” “Rachel Dolezal ‘Trans-Racial’ Controversy,” “The sur-prising ways Caitlyn Jenner and Rachel Dolezal are now linked” and “Passing for Black.” The media began scrutinizing the life of a woman whose asymmetric life has now created a national dialogue on race, ethnicity, identity, altering identity and integrity. Periodically, we hear about her public service or her artistic skill. When I saw the viral video of her interview, the one she walked out of say-ing, “I don’t understand your question,” I knew immediately that she hadn’t changed much over the years. It would be wrong for me to say she and I were “really close” or “best” friends or that we shared deep secrets. However, we have a lot in common. First, we both understand that race in America is anything but symmet-rical (i.e. one or the other, black or white, good or bad, right or wrong). My life is asymmetrical. I don’t free-ly offer explanations of the complexities of it, in the same way she does not jump

through hoops to explain hers. If I’m in a room full of strangers, all black folks (African American, if you prefer), I don’t jump for the first opportunity to tell ev-eryone, “Hey, I can relate.” In the same way, if I were in a room with all white folks (Anglo-Saxon/Eu-ropean American, if you prefer), I don’t share openly: “Hey nice to meet you. I’m married, and she’s black. How are you?” As a former salesman, I was in the business of offering investments and in-

surance, often earn-ing sales by gaining trust. In spite of the trust I earned from my clients, I offered very little information about myself. I re-sisted relational trans-parency with them because many people draw conclusions as quickly as possible, so the fewer questions

they can ask, the better. In sales, it’s pos-sible that I benefitted from the omission of my multi-cultural family. One former client was told about my wife, and she lamented, “Say it’s not so?” Rachel and I, among many others, were both submerged in the “Antioch Community” of Spencer Perkins (de-ceased) and Chris Rice of the Center for Reconciliation at Duke University. In this intentionally interracial community, breaking down social walls of hostility and pursuing authentic relationships was a common and decisive experience. Nei-ther of us had difficulty interacting with people of other cultures. From movies, media and social media—the platform my generation has relied on for our first introductions to life’s big ideas—it’s clear that we are not separating race from the discussion of Rachel’s integrity. We as Americans struggle more than ever to articulate the richness of our commitments, according to Robert Bellah in his book, “Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commit-ment in American Life.” Rachel is one of the casualties of this struggle. It’s not easy to explain how and why any of us make decisions in life, but as Elvis said, “Before you abuse, criticize and accuse, walk a mile in my shoes.” It’s wrong to expect such an easy ex-planation from Rachel. If she’s given the time, I’m certain she’ll share her heart. I bet it will be a beautiful thing to see.

Kass Welchlin lives in Jackson and has been married for 13 years to Cassandra Welchlin. They have three kids.

My Friend Rachel Dolezal: Walk in Her Shoes

KASS WELCHLIN

13

Editor-in-Chief Donna LaddPublisher Todd Stauffer

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Neither of us had difficulty

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Best Fried Chicken in Town

& Best Fried Chicken in the Country

-Best of Jackson 2003-2015--Food & Wine Magazine-

Each Father’s Day, we present the Guys We Love issue, which highlights men who are making a difference in the community. This year’s batch is no exception. In this issue, we have everything from the University

of Mississippi Medical Center’s anesthesiology director to a

mixed martial arts champion to a barber who wants to use his skill to help the youth of his community. Each of these men, father or not, makes a difference in our community just do-ing what they do, whether it’s helping people get fit to fight-ing for social justice or even offering Jacksonians something

as simple as coffee. They are only a few examples of the great men in the Jackson community, but are outstanding ones, nonetheless. Celebrate the important men in our lives this year by getting to know these gentleman.

F elder Rushing has an agenda; he just doesn’t want you to notice it. “Change the world, not fine-tune it,” says the host of Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s “The Gestalt Gar-

dener.” His yard is a spoil of floral riches: pink roses, old bur-gundy canna and assorted succulents, to name a few. Bottle trees—wooden-limbed structures garnished by empty glass bottles where leaves tend to be—spot the backyard. The space, which Rushing has cultivated over 32 years, is a physical testament to his philosophy of slow gardening, an approach he founded. Slow gardening implores gardeners to savor the basic holistic benefits of their time in the yard, like the smell of the flowers, the wonder of the colors and the idiosyncratic traits of each and every plant. “I push for garden-variety gardening,” Rushing says. He steers listeners to the wonders of slow gardening with his mellow disposition and convenient gardening sug-gestions, like, if you have to prune all the time, maybe switch to a more suitable plant, and try gardens that don’t require pesticides. For garden tips of greater magnitude, Rushing prac-tices deconstruction, though environmentally sensible tech-

niques such as slow-drip irrigation and composting can be tough sells to many Mississippians. Denouncing the prim gardening viewpoint is what Rushing has preached since he first moved to Jackson as an Extension Service urban horticulture specialist with Mississippi State University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in horticulture and a master’s of education. Both of Rushing’s parents were avid gardeners, but the retired horticulture professor, world-traveling lecturer and author of 18 gardening books, credits his great-grandmother with shaping his life’s passion. Growing up in Indianola, a young Rushing his grandmother made him smell the daf-fodils in her garden. “Now, each time I smell them, I become a kid again and think of home and her,” he says. The importance of smell, of enjoying the simple plea-sures of plants is a lesson Rushing passed on to his own two children, Ira and Zoë, in their youth. “I made my daughter smell a Magnolia tree every time we passed one,” Rushing says. “That way, no matter where she is, she’ll think of me; she’ll think of home.”

—Brian Gordon

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M arshall Thompson Jr. wants you to fight your way to a better life. At 34, the Jack-son native is the owner of

Marshall Arts Mixed Martial Arts Acad-emy (3565 Wheatley St., #5C), a MMA gym and fitness boot camp. Thompson graduated from Jackson State University in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. In the fall of this year, he plans to attend the university as a doctoral student of clinical psychology. (JSU’s program does not require a mas-ter’s degree). Thompson says he wants to use his background to help foster bet-ter mental health in his community. He believes that issues like obesity can be linked to poor mental health. “Not only do we need recreational things to do in the community; we have a lot of problems in the community be-

cause people are not getting the mental help they need,” he says. “A lot of the people who need it can’t afford it.” In 2006, Thompson moved to Washington, D.C., as a kickboxer and amateur mixed martial arts fighter. Thompson says he started fighting after graduating since he wasn’t eligible to play college basketball. He spent his college years working multiple jobs, such as night shifts at United Parcel Service from 2000 to 2007 (he also did them from 2012 to 2014), and he had his own barber business, Cuts on Wheels, on campus while in college. In 2007, he be-came the World Kickboxing Association amateur MMA champion. He also has a black belt in tai jitsu, which is a combat skill that doesn’t use weapons. In 2013, Thompson moved back to Mississippi and began a mentorship pro-

gram in south Jackson, coaching young men in his community. In December 2013, he opened his gym, which now has more than 100 members of all ages and physical ability. He hopes that one day, it will focus on more than just physical exercise. “I want it to be an active school of performing arts in Jackson, to not only have the box-ing, the kickboxing, and all those things, but all the other arts—the dance, acting, theater, everything,” he says. Thompson says he’s always been a helper and a motivator. He wants to encourage people to build new lives for themselves and to take control of their futures. When he isn’t training or coach-ing, Thompson likes to visit the Medi-terranean Grill (730 Lakeland Drive, 601-366-6033) and listen to live music, poetry and comedy. —Maya Miller

Marshall Lee Thompson Jr.

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R aymond “Ray” Horn says that while most people use hot water to make coffee, his mother’s way of making coffee was to keep it in the

refrigerator in an old whiskey bottle until it was cold. Now, it is the same process the New Orleans native uses to make his brand of coffee, Mississippi Cold Drip Coffee and Tea Company—minus the whiskey bottle, of course.

“Being from New Orleans, it gives me a love for both food and beverage, and we like our coffee very strong,” Horn says. Horn, 55, has been in the food busi-ness since he was 16 years old. He was a chef at Cowboy Way Barbecue in Palm Springs, Calif., and has owned a series of restaurants in places such as New Orleans. While living in California, Horn found it wasn’t the easiest place to find a good cup of joe. “… So I started making it,” he says. “I would let my friends and co-workers try it because they hadn’t really had cold brewed coffee, and they suggested I try selling it.”

The process of making the coffee in cold water lowers the acidity and allows it to retain more caffeine. Horn allows the coffee to steep in a large pot for about 24 hours before grinding the spices down and filtering it. It can be served either hot or cold, and his Chai tea has a blend of spices such as cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and clove, to name a few. Each spice is used to give the beverages a kick of flavor. Some of

his famous coffee and Chai blends are the Ray Au Lait, Mississippi Mocha, Mil St. Vanilla, Chai and Control Yourself, and Dirty Chai, which is a mix of coffee and Chai tea. His product can be found in farmers markets and at festivals in Livingston in Madison County, Madison, Clinton and Brandon as well. Horn says his next venture for Mississippi Cold Drip and Tea Company are drinkables that his customers can enjoy on the go. Horn says Cold Drip’s new loca-

tion in midtown offers a great place for him to start the growth of business and helps cater to his demographic of students, artists and lovers of coffee. He says the experience of getting started with a farmers market, Millsaps College and Midtown Partners has not only made him feel welcome in the Jackson business community, but that he is a part of something fresh. “It’s something that’s new and excit-ing that’ll continue to grow and inspire and motivate other entrepreneurs,” he says. “All it takes is to act on one idea.” —Deja Harris

T hinking of some of the difficulties he faced in com-ing to America, student Taha Merghani, 21, recalls his school days in Sudan. His English teachers never lived in an English-speaking country. Though his tu-

tors might have only known broken English and his family was reluctant, that did not stop Merghani from being brave enough to come to America to pursue higher education. “(My family) said, ‘You’re too young,’ (but) when they saw my determination they were like, ‘OK yeah, we really wish you the best we can support you and your dreams,’” Merghani says. He is a junior at Jackson State University, where he is studying to receive a bachelor’s degree in computer engineer-ing. At the start of his application process, Merghani sought help from the U.S. Embassy’s ambassadors in Sudan, who became mentors for him. After JSU offered him a full schol-arship, studying in Mississippi was the obvious choice. For Merghani, a full scholarship is not even his most prestigious achievement. Similar to the ACT or SAT, in Su-dan, the senior high-school students take a nationwide stan-dardized test called the National Board Examination.

“I was aiming for the highest I could get, and I worked hard for it,” Merghani says of the test. His hard work paid off. During his senior year, he received the highest score of

all the students who took the test that year. Merghani’s dedication to his academics extends past the classroom. In June, he will begin an internship at the Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology, where he will participate in MIT Summer Research Program. While there, he will have the opportunity to do research to help further develop the technology for computers to understand human language. For his career path, Merghani wants to work further with research either in the field or a school setting. As a second-language English speaker, his work could help others like him as he develops better computer-human interaction and machine learning, a field of study that aims to give com-puters the ability to learn without explicit programming. “Siri needs some work,” he says. “It should not only be English, but it should have endless dialects and better user perspective for someone who really needs the language.”

—Emerald Alexis Ware

Raymond Horn

Taha Merghani

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I n the third grade, Adofo Minka found a book in the library of his school, North-view Elementary School in Jennings, Mo. Susan Altman’s “Extraordinary Black

Americans: From Colonial to Contempo-rary Times” (Scholastic Library Publishing, 1989, $9) featured names of important African Americans that mainstream his-tory washes over: Marcus Garvey, Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner, Fannie Lou Hamer, So-journer Truth and Ida B. Wells. Minka says the book sparked his consciousness. Minka, whose birth name is Bryan Weaver, adopted his African name as an af-firmation of his cultural identity. “... I felt that it was culturally incorrect to have a European name when my ancestors did not originate from Europe,” he says. Through his studies of Malcolm X’s autobiography and speeches, he says he found a deeper understanding of the Afri-can people in America. He learned about

how names were imposed on Africans once they were enslaved and sold. In many in-stances, the names the African carried be-fore their enslavement were lost. “I figured although I may not be read-ily able to find out ... the name my ances-tors had before being brought to America, at least I can adopt a name from an African ethnic group that identifies attributes and characteristics that I would like to live up to,” he says. “Adofo Minka is a name from the Akan people in Ghana West Africa and literally means ‘a brave person who loves.’” After he graduated from ASU, in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in history, Minka attended law school at St. Louis Univer-sity and finished in 2012. That summer, he married Shanina Carmichael and moved to Jackson, where he worked as a clerk for Lumumba & Freelon Associates, the law practice of late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba. Minka has been practicing law for a little over a year. He works criminal cases and a few civil cases. Minka, 28, often misses St. Louis and worries about his 2-year-old son, Amari Chike Adisa Minka, who rarely gets to see his grandparents, but when he thinks about his mission, he remembers why he must stay in Jackson. “We continue to draw the conclu-sion,” Minka says, “that it is worth being here because of the work that needs to be done in Jackson and the type of oppression that is evident in (the state). We have seen in Missouri that the oppression is heavy there, but I believe that Mississippi is one of the places that the backbone of oppression can be broken.” —Zachary Oren Smith

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O ften, people do not figure out what their profession will be before they graduate from high school. That was not the case for barber Bran-

don Young. At 12 years old, he grew tired of the bowl cut his dad, Nathaniel Young, forced on him, so he got a pair of clip-pers and gave himself a new haircut. Young’s dad noticed his skill and began letting him cut people’s hair for extra money. Sixteen years later, the Chi-cago native has made a name for himself in Jackson. Young, 28, graduated from the Academy of Hair Design in 2014 and has spent the last year working as a barber at Uptown Hair Studio. For him, the atmo-sphere of the hair studio is like a family, but his clients may see his barber chair as more of a thera-pist’s couch. “Anytime I have a client in my chair, there’s always a story to tell an improvement on people’s lives, and they come back and tell me, ‘I took that advice you gave me and it worked,’” Young says. His workstation is not only thera-peutic for his clients but for himself, also. When it comes to cutting hair, Young steps behind the chair, puts on his headphones and “gets in the zone,” he says. He special-izes in designs, so when given the chance, he freestyles and gives his clients styles with details such as portraits or abstract designs. “I’ve always been an artist (doing art) like painting and (have always) been artisti-cally inclined,” Young says, “All of it is art-work to me.” Further into his career, he hopes to

open a chain of barbershops and use them to give back to the community. As the fa-ther of two boys, Ishmael, 10, and Mekhi, 7, he knows first-hand how important it is

to keep young people off the streets. His plan will help engage young peo-ple by allowing them to work in the barber-shop and by giving them a mentor. Some might think that saving youth is a tall order for a barbershop, but Young understands the power of a haircut. “There’s something about a haircut that just changes a person,” Young says. “They may not be in the best mood but, after a haircut, you see them walk off with a change in their attitude.”

—Emerald Alexis Ware 17

Brandon Young

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T hough he is humble, Dr. Mack Woo is a very interesting man. The director of medical stu-dents for anesthesiology at the

University of Mississippi Medical Center is a native of Belzoni, Miss. His mother, May Woo, and father, Ming Sam Woo, came to America from mainland China in the 1950s. His great-grandfather, Lin Yin Woo, owned a grocery store in Belzoni called Lin Yin Food Mart. After the Commu-nist Party of China took over in 1949, Woo’s grandfather, Jimmy Woo, decided

to bring the whole family to America. Mack came to Jackson in 1996 to go to pharmacy school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and fin-ished in 2005. He completed his resi-dency at UMMC in 2010. He says it was a challenge to complete all of his education. “The teachers here in Jackson in medical school and pharmacy school have inspired me to not give up,” Mack says. Although Jackson isn’t exactly as small as Belzoni, Woo says he still feels a sense of community in the capital city.

“I love the people; it’s a big family,” he says. “It’s a community and we look out for each other, just like the Delta.” He likes to know that he gives back to the city of Jackson, not only through anesthesiology, but also by training fu-ture physicians. The professor mentors high school and college student from all over Mississippi. Mack credits Jackson as a major part of his life because he met his wife, Saman-tha Woo, who owns Woo Couture. They have two children, Samuel and Matthew. Woo says he has given so much to the community of Jackson because the city has contributed to his life.

—Joshua C. Clayton

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F rom playing football and baseball to working as a news anchor and reporter for 16 WAPT News, Scott Simmons, 49, dedicates himself to Jackson.

Simmons, a Jackson native, attended Wilkins Elementary School and Peeples Junior High School. He played while at-tending Wingfield High School and played first baseman and outfielder while at Hinds Community College. After Hinds, he con-tinued his studies at the University of Missis-sippi, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis in radio and television. After graduating from college in 1988, Simmons began his journalistic career as a reporter for WCBI, in Columbus, Miss. In 1989, he moved to Lafayette, La., to work for KATC. After leaving Lafayette, he worked with WDSU in New Orleans for 11 years. While there, Simmons was one of the lead report-ers covering the investigation and court trials of former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards. He also covered Louisiana’s video-poker in-dustry and a federal sting into the Mafia. He moved back to Jackson in 2003 and imme-

diately began working with WAPT. Simmons, who has appeared on NBC News, MSNBC and CNN for his coverage of several hurricanes, is the father of two chil-dren, a 14-year-old daughter, Emilia, and a 10-year-old son, Evan. “My daughter Emilia has autism,” he says. “She reminds me everyday of what to be thankful for, and she is amazing.” In his non-working time, Simmons says he goes to the gym, attends Ole Miss games and raises his kids. “When you have two kids, there is not much time for any other hobbies,” the news anchor says. He has won four Emmys. One of his Emmys was awarded in 2005 for his cov-erage on Hurricane Katrina. Among his numerous other awards, he was Associated Press’ News Person of the Year in Mississippi in 2004, and he was a 2015 nominee for Associated Press Best TV News Anchor and Associated Press Best TV Reporter in Missis-sippi. But those don’t seem to faze him. “Awards make great paper weights,” Simmons says. —Guy King

Scott Simmons

I n many ways, craft beer’s boon mirrors Fondren. Both emphasize local support. As with craft breweries, the vast majority of

businesses in the neighborhood are small and local. “People in Fondren actually see that community and business can work to-gether,” says Jim Wilkirson, the executive director of the Fondren Renaissance Foun-dation, the group coordinating the inaugural Mississippi Craft Beer Festival, which will be in the neighborhood. He echoes a sentiment preached by local breweries like Lucky Town Brewing Co.—whose website says that its mis-sion includes breaking “bound-aries between the working men and women of Mississippi and their wish for locally produced premium craft beer.” Similar to Fondren, the craft-beer industry was not al-ways flourishing. In the 1980s, less than 100 breweries oper-ated in the United States. As the field of producers shrank, conformity rose. Light lagers from national brands were the standard. A shift in consumer preference in the past quarter-century fueled an American craft-beer revolution. By the 2000s, a younger generation of drinkers began choosing craft beer over national brands. Its sales rose 17 percent in 2014, while Fondren’s First Thursday has grown dramatically by the month since its rebirth from Fondren After Five earlier this year. While craft brews gained traction else-where, Mississippi provided inhospitable quarter to the industry. Before 2012, by law, no beer sold in the state could be more than 5 percent alcohol by volume, which shack-led startup breweries. At the start of 2012, there were 2,033 breweries in the United States, but only one—Lazy Magnolia—in Mississippi. That year, legislation brought the state’s ABV ceiling to 10.2 percent, giv-ing room for more craft beers with higher gravities and diverse tastes. Nine micro-breweries are now in Mississippi. “Beer’s becoming fun,” says Derek Nelson, the craft brand manager at Capital City Beverages. “Beer’s becoming local.” Matthew Jefferies, the craft brand manager at Southern Beverage Co., echoes that sentiment. “With people being more aware of what they put into their bodies, people have gotten used to the full flavors of craft brews,” he says. “Instead of a case of Natty Light, college kids are starting to buy six-packs of craft beer.”

The younger generation’s heightened consideration of food correlates with craft beer’s ascent. Beers such as Crooked Letter, which brews out of Ocean Springs, offers suggested food pairings on its six packs, such as the label of the brewery’s Hefew-eizen, which says you can enjoy chicken and crawfish with the active spices of the Italian-style lager.

Mississippi Craft Beer Festival organiz-ers are conscious of the marriage between craft beer and quality food. They encourage people to leave the event for a bite to eat in the area and re-enter without fret. A $60 VIP wristband gets you food from Babalu Tacos & Tapas (622 Duling Ave., CAET Wine Bar (3100 N. State St., Suite 102), Basil’s (2906 N. State St.; 120 N. Congress St., Suite L1), Saltine Oyster Bar (622 Duling Ave., Suite 201), and The Pig & Pint (3139 N. State St.), among other perks, such as a beer tasting an hour before opening. Of the brews Capital City will bring to the festival, Nelson is particularly keen on the Lazy Magnolia 10. To commemorate its 10th anniversary, the state’s oldest brew-ery will bring the Belgian quadruple, which consists of 10 ingredients and has 10 percent ABV. The dark ale is best served at 10 de-grees Celsius—50 degrees Fahrenheit—and will only be available until September. From Southern Beverage’s craft lineup, Jefferies is quick to trumpet Southern Prohi-bition’s 2015 IPA. The Mississippi Craft Beer Festival will be June 26 at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.). For $30, attendees receive a souvenir sampling glass and access to 100 craft beers. For $60, attendees will also get to taste beers during the VIP advance hour from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., and can eat food from local res-taurants. The Delta Mountain Boys will play from 7 to 10:p.m. Visit fondren.org.

The Boon of Fondrenand Craft Beer by Brian Gordon

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Capital City Beverages Craft Brand Manager Derek Nelson (pictured), along with Southern Beverage Co. Craft Brand Manager Matthew Jefferies, had to pick out 50 craft beers each for the Mississippi Craft Beer Festival.

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WEDNESDAY 6/17 J. Roddy Walston & The Business performs 8 p.m. at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.). The rock band from Baltimore performs to promote their album, “Essential Tremors.” Sleepwalkers also performs. Doors open at 7 p.m. $15 in advance, $20 at the door; call 601-292-7121; email arden@ardenland.net; ardenland.net. … History Is Lunch is noon at the William F. Winter Ar-chives and History Building (200 North St.). Author Ronald Borne talks about his book, “Troutmouth: The Two Careers of Hugh Clegg.” Sales and signing to fol-low. Free; call 601-576-6998; mdah.state.ms.us.

THURSDAY 6/18 ‘sipp Sourced with Chef Nick Wallace: Mississippi BBQ is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Mis-sissippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). Chef Wallace offers a themed meal each month for a limited time high-lighting products from local farmers. Includes beverages from Lucky Town Brewing Company. Food prices vary; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.org.

FRIDAY 6/19 Emancipation: A Juneteenth Celebration is 9 p.m. at The Yellow Scarf (741 Harris St., Suite E). Performers in-clude Rhonda Richmond, Cassandra Wilson and Lili Añel. BYOB. Ice and mixers provided. $35 in advance, $40 at the door; couples: $55 in advance, $60 at the door; students:

$15 in advance, $20 at the door; call 347-754-0668; email info@ojahmediagroup.com; yellowscarf-jackson.net. … Ju-neteenth JXN is 5 p.m. at Soul Wired Café (111 Millsaps Ave.) and Offbeat (151 Wesley Ave.). The two-stage event includes food truck vendors, giveaways and live music from Silas, Skipp Coon J Skyy and more. All ages. $5 two-stage only, $10 two-stage plus T-shirt, goodie bag and giveaway entry; gated parking: $1 or a non-perishable food item; email w.grantquincy@yahoo.com; call 601-573-0620.

SATURDAY 6/20 The “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” Film Screening is 10 a.m. to noon at Smith Rob-ertson Museum and Cultural Center (528 Bloom St.). Parents for Public Schools of Jackson is the host. The documentary is about women working toward peace in Liberia. Free; call 960-1457; ppsjackson.org. … The “Rita B. Is the New Black” Comedy Special is 8-11 p.m. at the Alamo Theater (333 N. Farish St.). Enjoy stand-up comedy from Jackson comedian Cherita Brent AKA Rita B. Doors open at 7 p.m. $10 in advance, $15 at the door, $20 VIP (includes DVD); call 601-951-5678; eventbrite.com.

SUNDAY 6/21 “Catch Me If You Can” is 2 p.m. at Black Rose Theatre (103 Black St., Brandon). The Broadway “who-dunit” is about an advertising executive whose bride disappears during their honeymoon. Reservations rec-

ommended. Additional dates: June 18-20, 7:30 p.m., June 21, 2 p.m., June 25-27, 7:30 p.m. and June 28, 2 p.m. $15, $10 children, students, military and seniors ages 55 and older (cash or check); call 601-825-1293; email brtreservations@gmail.com; blackrosetheatre.org.

MONDAY 6/22 Mississippi Opera Auditions are at the Belhaven Uni-versity Center for the Arts (835 Riverside Drive) in the re-cital room. Principal and secondary roles as well as spots for chorus members are available for the 2015-2016. Send an email with a bio and resume to schedule an appointment. Be prepared to sing two arias of your choice. Additional date: June 23. Free; call 601-960-2300; msopera.org.

TUESDAY 6/23 The Spanish Wine Tasting is 6 to 8 p.m. at Amerigo Italian Restaurant (6592 Old Canton Road). Sample four Spanish wines paired with bruschetta and tiramisu. RSVP. $21 per person plus tax and tip; call 601-977-0563; amerigo.net. … Project H2O—Africans in America Monthly Film Fest is 6:30-8 p.m. at Jackson Medical Mall (350 W. Wood-row Wilson Ave.) in the Community Meeting Room. See disc two of the documentary, “The Rise & Fall of Jim Crow.” Free; call 601-918-2698.

WEDNESDAY 6/24 History Is Lunch is noon at Old Capitol Museum (100 S. State St.). Architect Belinda Stewart discusses the restora-tion of the historic Tallahatchie County Courthouse. Free; call 601-576-6998; mdah.state.ms.us.

SATURDAY 6/20The Juneteenth Jackson Celebration is at Battlefield Park.

THURSDAY 6/18Screen on the Green: “Jaws” is at the Mississippi Museum of Art.

WEDNESDAY 6/24Old Crow Medicine Show performs at Thalia Mara Hall.

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ITA B.Jackson comedian Rita B.

performs her stand-up comedy special, “Rita B. Is the New Black,” Saturday, June 20, at the Alamo Theater.

BY MICAH SMITH

EVENTS@JACKSONFREEPRESS.COM

FAX: 601-510-9019DAILY UPDATES AT

JFPEVENTS.COM(Left to right) Billy Gordon, Logan Davis, Steve Colmus and J. Roddy Walston of J. Roddy Walston & The Business perform Wednesday, June 17, at Duling Hall.

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@MISSISSIPPI MUSEUM of ARTMISSISSIPPI BARBECUE

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History Is Lunch June 17, noon, at William F. Winter Archives and History Building (200 North St.). Author Ronald Borne talks about his book, “Troutmouth: The Two Careers of Hugh Clegg.” Sales and signing to follow. Free; call 601-576-6998; mdah.state.ms.us.

Hinds County Human Resource Agency Meet-ing June 17, 7 p.m., at Hinds County Human Resource Agency (258 Maddox Road). The board of directors meets on third Wednesdays. Open to the public; Hinds County residents are encouraged to attend. Free; call 601-923-1838; hchra.org.

Burn Survivor Family Home Groundbreak-ing June 18, 2 p.m., at Merit Health Central Hospital (1850 Chadwick Drive). The event takes place across the street from the hospital. The future facility will be a place for relatives and caregivers to reside while thweir loves ones are treated at the burn center. Free; call 601-540-2995; msburn.org.

Art Bar Pop Trivia June 18, 7 p.m., at Missis-sippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). daniel johnson, artist and MMA Director of Engage-ment and Learning, hosts. Teams are compete in art and pop culture trivia. Cash bar includ-ed. Free; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.org.

Juneteenth Celebration June 19-21, at Truelight M.B. Church (1120 School St., Walnut Grove). The Leake County Branch NAACP 5303 hosts the event at Truelight Fellowship Center and Truelight Park. Includes concerts, food for sale, speakers and softball games. Free; call 267-9965.

MPB’s Summer Learning Family Fun Day June 20, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., at Jackson Convention Com-plex (105 E. Pascagoula St.). The educational event includes entertainment, door prizes and more. Special guests include Super WHY, Ed Said, the Cat in the Hat and Sid the Science Kid. Reg-istration required. Free; call 960-2321; mpbonine.org/summerlearning.

Foster Care Informational Meeting June 23, 6-7:30 p.m., at Mississippi Children’s Home Services, Lakeland (1465 Lakeland Drive). In the Gertrude C. Ford Training Room. MCHS hosts the program to meet an urgent need for foster parents in the area. Free; call 601-352-7784; email lyndsey.hester@mchscares.org; mchscares.org.

History Is Lunch June 24, noon, at Old Capitol Museum (100 S. State St.). Architect Belinda Stewart discusses the restoration of the historic Tal-lahatchie County Courthouse. Free; call 601-576-6998; mdah.state.ms.us.

1 Million Cups Jackson Wednesdays, 9 a.m.-10 a.m. through June 24, at The Hatch (126 Keener Ave.). The purpose of the weekly program to engage, educate and connect local entrepreneurs. Free; jackson.sites.1millioncups.com.

Events at Jackson Zoo (2918 W. Capitol St.)

Dream Night June 17, 5:30 p.m. The event for children with special needs and chronic illnesses is held in conjunction with the Disability Mega Conference. Registration in advance required. Free; call 601-352-2580; jacksonzoo.org.

June 22, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Learn about the remarkable abilities of some animals in the one-week camp. For ages 6-8. Registration required. $185, $170 members, optional extended care and lunch sold separately; call 601-352-2580, ext. 240; jacksonzoo.org/camp.

June 22, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Learn about the remarkable abilities of some animals in the one-week camp. For ages 9-12. Registration required. $185, $170 members, optional extended care and lunch sold separately; call 601-352-2580, ext. 240; jacksonzoo.org/camp.

Storytime on the Porch June 18, 3-4 p.m., at Eudora Welty House and Museum (1119 Pine-hurst Place). Children grades pre-K through 2 hear a story and make a related craft. Free; call 601-353-7762; email info@eudoraweltyhouse.com.

Events at Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.)

June 19, 10:30 a.m. This educational opportunity ages 5 and under and their parents features a hands-on art activity and story time. Please dress for mess. Free; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.org.

C June 22, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Children ages 11-13 learn how to create 3D works of art using non-traditional materials. Runs through June 26. Registration required. $250; call 960-1515; msmuseumart.org.

-sissippi BBQ June 18, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., June 18, 5:30-8 p.m., at Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). Chef Wallace offers a themed meal each month for a limited time highlighting products from local farmers. Includes beverages from Lucky Town Brewing Company. Food prices vary; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.org.

Canton Craft Beer Festival June 20, 4 p.m., at Historic Canton Square (Courthouse Square, Canton). Enjoy beer tastings at several buildings on the square. More than 30 flavors available. For ages 21 and up. $25; call 800-745-3000; find Canton Craft Beer Festival on Facebook.

June 23, 6-8 p.m., at Amerigo Italian Restaurant (6592 Old Canton Road). Sample four Spanish wines paired with bruschetta and tiramisu. RSVP. $21 per person plus tax and tip; call 601-977-0563; amerigo.net.

Event June 20, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at Tougaloo College (500 W. County Line Road, Tougaloo). At the Owens Health and Wellnes Center. The Rho Lambda Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is the host. Includes fitness sessions, stroke screenings, elder care information and recognition of caregivers. Enjoy food, games and face paint-ing. Free, seasonal donations for local shelters welcome (umbrellas, rain coats, beach towels, flip flops, headwear, sunblock and sunglasses); call 601-624-3825; rloaka.org.

Screen on the Green June 18, 5:30 p.m., at Missis-sippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). Includes a cash bar, concessions and the movie “Jaws” at dusk. Free; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.org.

“Catch Me If You Can” June 18-20, 7:30 p.m., June 21, 2 p.m., June 25-27, 7:30 p.m., June 28, 2 p.m., at Black Rose Theatre (103 Black St., Brandon). The Broadway “whodunit” is about an advertising executive whose bride disappears dur-ing their honeymoon. $15, $10 children, students, military and seniors ages 55 and older (cash or check); call 601-825-1293; email brtreservations@gmail.com; blackrosetheatre.org.

“Pray the Devil Back to Hell” Film Screen-ing June 20, 10 a.m.-noon, at Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center (528 Bloom St.). Parents for Public Schools of Jackson hosts. The documentary is about women working for peace in Liberia. Free; call 960-1457; ppsjackson.org.

June 20, 8-11 p.m., at Alamo Theater (333 N. Far-ish St.). Enjoy stand-up comedy from Jackson comedienne A Rita B. Doors open at 7 p.m. $10 in advance, $15 at the door, $20 VIP (includes DVD); call 601-951-5678; eventbrite.com.

Film Fest June 23, 6:30-8 p.m., at Jackson Medi-cal Mall (350 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave.). In the Community Meeting Room. See disc two of the documentary, “The Rise & Fall of Jim Crow.” Free; call 601-918-2698.

J June 17, 8 p.m., at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.). The rock band from Baltimore performs. Sleep-walkers also performs. $15 in advance, $20 at the door; call 601-292-7121; email arden@ardenland.net; ardenland.net.

Juneteenth JXN June 19, 5 p.m., at Soul Wired Café (111 Millsaps Ave.) and Off-beat (151 Wesley Ave.). The two-stage event includes food truck vendors, giveaways and live music from Silas, Skipp Coon J Skyy and more. All ages. $5 two-stage only, $10 two-stage plus T-shirt, goodie bag and giveaway entry; gated parking: $1 or a non-perishable food item; email w.grantquincy@yahoo.com; call 601-573-0620.

-tion June 19, 9 p.m., at Yellow Scarf (741 Harris St., Suite E). Performers include Rhonda Richmond, Cassandra Wilson and Lili Añel. BYOB. Ice and mixers provided. $35 in advance, $40 at the door; couples: $55 in advance, $60 at the door; students: $15 in advance, $20 at the door; call 347-754-0668 or 866-590-4647; email info@ojahmedia-group.com; yellowscarf-jackson.net.

Junteenth Jackson Celebration June 20, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., at Battlefield Park (953 Porter St.). The family-friendly event is the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery dating back to 1865. Includes history presentations, music, dance,

spoken word, food vendors and children’s activi-ties. Free; call 601-405-4262 or 601-960-1537; email bfranklin@jacksonms.gov; jacksonms.gov.

Eagle Day Community Fun Festival June 20, noon-4 p.m., at Sykes Park (520 Sykes Road). The South Jackson Eagles Youth Football team and Jackson Freedom League are the hosts. The carnival-style event includes games, prizes and food. Free; call 601-960-2161; leaguelineup.com/sjeagles.

June 24, 8 p.m., at Thalia Mara Hall (255 E. Pascagoula St.). The Americana band from Nashville best known for the song “Wagon Wheel” performs. $24.5-$39.5; call 800-745-3000; ardenland.net.

Events at Lemuria Books (Banner Hall, 4465 Interstate 55 N., Suite 202)

June 17, 5 p.m. Martin Clark signs books. Reading at 5:30 p.m. $26.95 book; call 601-366-7619; email info@lemuria-books.com; lemuriabooks.com.

June 18, 5 p.m. Harrison Scott Key signs books. Reading at 5:30 p.m. $26.99 book; call 601-366-7619; email info@lemuriabooks.com; lemuriabooks.com.

June 22, 5 p.m. Carol George signs books. Reading at 5:30 p.m. $29.95 book; call 601-366-7619; email info@lemuriabooks.com; lemuriabooks.com.

June 23, 5 p.m. Amy Conner signs books. Reading at 5:30 p.m. $15 book; call 601-366-7619; email info@lemuria-books.com; lemuriabooks.com.

June 24, 5 p.m. Jim Shepa-rd signs books. Reading at 5:30 p.m. $23.95 book; call 601-366-7619; email info@lemuriabooks.com; lemuriabooks.com.

June 18, 6 p.m., at Quisenberry Library (605 E. Northside Drive, Clinton). Dr. Jean Chamberlain of Jackson State University presents “Inquiring Minds Want to Know: How Much of Jubilee Was Actually True?” Free; call 601-924-5684.

-June 18, 5-7 p.m., at Arts

Center of Mississippi (201 E. Pascagoula St.). In the upper atrium. Show hangs through July 3. Free; call 601-960-1557, ext. 224.

June 18, 5:30 p.m., at Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). See works from Pearl River Glass Studio and purchase cuisine from Chef Nick Wal-lace. Free; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.org.

Check jfpevents.com for updates and more listings, or to add your own events online. You can also email event details to events@jacksonfreepress.com to be added to the calendar. The deadline is noon the Wednesday prior to the week of publication.22

Father’s Day at the Zoo June 20-21, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., at Jackson Zoo (2918 W. Capitol St.). Fathers receive half off admission for Father’s Day with a paying child’s admission. June 20, the first 100 guests receive Cups gift cards. Archery classes held from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. 50 percent off regular admission of $9.25 for fathers; call 601-352-2580; jacksonzoo.org.

11th Annual JFP Chick Ball July 18, at Hal & Mal’s (200 S. Commerce St.). The annual event to combat domestic violence includes food, door prizes, a silent auction, poetry and live music. Currently seeking sponsors, auction donations and volunteers now. Stay tuned for updates. Proceeds benefit the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence. For ages 18 and up. $5; call 601-362-6121 ext. 16; email natalie@jacksonfreepress.com; jfpchickball.com.

Brilliant glass pieces shining brightly in the lobby; excited chitchat fi ll-ing up the hallways; kids shriek-ing at the sight of “Jaws”; teams

discussing trivia answers; the potent smell of barbecue fl oating throughout the museum. These are just a few things people can expect at the June edition of Mississippi Museum of Art’s Museum After Hours. The event highlights some of the creative and innovative places and people in Jackson. Every third Thursday of the month, the museum collaborates with local artists, musicians and various or-ganizations to provide a one-night social event. It invites an artistic organization to showcase its work in an art pop-up gallery. For the event, the museum uses

moveable walls in the lobby as a tem-porary space for the artwork. When the night ends, the gallery turns back into a lobby, like Cinderella’s carriage turning back into a pumpkin. For the June 18 event, attendees will see art from Pearl River Glass Stu-dio. The exhibit will display not only glass pieces, but also work from some of the Pearl River artists, including Joy Kichi, created on their own with a vari-ety of mediums including painting and sculptures. Jacksonian Victoria Casher, 20, at-tended the April Museum After Hours. She says events like this encourage cre-ativity and fellowship. “The art pop-ups allow for the com-munity to better learn about and appre-ciate the arts in a social setting,” Casher says. “It’s the perfect environment for creatives of all types to get together and express their passions.”

Past Museum After Hours exhib-its included work from Electric Dagger Tattoo, Midcity Print, Wolfe Studio and several others. The museum works with a Community Advisory Committee that

includes members from the Greater Jack-son Arts Council, Mississippi Arts Com-mission and other people in the com-munity to help identify diverse work to showcase. The event gives the artists at the featured business a chance to show-case their work outside the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. environment. Julian Rankin, MMA market-ing director, says the pop-up exhibits show off current Mississippi artists in the community. “As a museum, our job is to col-lect and preserve Mississippi art, and art from all over the South, for future gen-erations,” he says. “Because there are creative stories being told all the time, we wanted to go outside of what museums traditionally do

and show work that wasn’t old. There is an appe-tite in the community to come see (art) being done around them.” The museum started the pop-up events last fall, but it wasn’t until March that Art Bar Trivia, Screen on the Green and the ‘sipp Sourced were added. For the June ‘sipp Sourced, the menu will feature protein and pro-duce from local farmers.

If MMA’s Museum After Hours reminds anyone of Fondren’s First Thursdays, that’s because both allow more opportunities for celebration and collaboration to fl ourish in the commu-nity. Casher says the art pop-ups create the perfect atmosphere to foster creativ-ity and entertainment. Events like this are important because they encourage creative expression, she says. “Whether it’s cooking, painting, drawing, sculpting or performing, cre-ativity is the simplest way to express one’s deepest emotions and thoughts,” Casher says. “I can’t wait to attend this month’s exhibit.”

The June 18 Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St., 601-960-1515) Mu-seum After Hours event begins at 5:30 p.m. At 7 p.m., the museum hosts ArtBar Trivia, and at 8 p.m., the museum will begin Screen on the Green with a showing of “Jaws.” The event is free to the public and has a cash bar and food for purchase. The ‘sipp Sourced Summer Blockbuster Barbecue is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day and will highlight summer barbecue. From 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., The Palette Cafe will serve dinner. For more in-formation, visit msmuseumart.org.

DIVERSIONS | arts

First You See It, Now You Don’tby Nia Wilson

Pearl River Glass Studio artists such as Joy Kichi will have work at the Mississippi Museum of Art’s June 18 Museum After Hours event.

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C linton native Janice Singleton sat down on her thin mattress at the Marianna, Fla., female prison camp, a minimum-security satel-

lite of the Federal Correctional Institu-tion. She flipped through the pages of a local newspaper for that November day in 2009, and she found yet another story not unlike her own. Back in 2006, when Singleton was an officer for the Mississippi Department of Corrections, she had taken inmates’ Social Security numbers and brought them into the tax business she owned, fil-ing fraudulent tax returns for extra cash. “I felt very remorseful because it was wrong, but at the time, I had a gambling problem,” she says. “This was a way I could get money to support my habit. But when I got in trouble, I wasn’t doing it anymore. I had stopped because I knew it was wrong even when I took the first name, even though I went back a month later and got more names.” After Singleton was caught in Janu-ary 2007 and convicted of identity theft, bank fraud, wire fraud and signing false documents in November 2009, she saw that as the end of the story. But then, every time Singleton would read the newspaper, she would see someone else committing the same crime that she did. She wondered, if people could see what she went through and the frustration and pain that caused, would they still make choose to break the law? That question was the impetus for her memoir, “Caught: From Cor-rectional Officer to Federal Inmate” (Xlibris, 2015, $19.99). Throughout her incarceration from November 2009 to July 2012, Singleton wrote the book with paper and pen, originally starting it just to whittle away at her extra time. Eventually, though, “Caught” became an outlet for Singleton to acknowledge the circumstances that led to her crime and conviction, as well as a way to help others who are trying to piece their lives together after prison—or on the verge of committing a crime themselves. “I’ve learned that whatever is done in the dark is going to come to light, and I

learned that doing illegal things, whatever they may be, is not worth it,” she says. “Not only do you get a conviction behind your name, but you also do your time in prison, you come home, and you’re on probation, and you’re this felon.” Even those, like Singleton, who com-mit white-collar crimes struggle to find gainful employment after they’re released, which is one reason that prisons have so many repeat offenders, she says. Potential employers no longer saw her 10 years of service to the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Instead, companies often viewed her by the label “convict.” “We’re still people. We’ve just made bad choices, and we’re doing our time,” Single-ton says. “I did time with doctors, lawyers and all different backgrounds. … You had all walks of life, and people you wouldn’t even imagine being inmates were inmates.”

Thankfully, Singleton was eventually able to find a job in the accounting de-partment of Goodwill Industries of Mis-sissippi, where she has worked for almost three years. She is also only six hours away from earning her master’s degree in ac-counting from Mississippi College. However, that doesn’t mean Single-ton’s struggle is over. She’s still rebuilding relationships and transitioning back to something as close to normal as possible, though she admits “you’re not going to come home and be the same person you were before you went to prison.” Her advice to those facing what she went through: “Put God first, and take baby steps.” Author Janice Singleton’s memoir, “Caught: From Correctional Officer to Federal Inmate,” is available now on Ama-zon.com and caughtmgt.com.

DIVERSIONS | books

Author Janice Singleton’s “Caught” tells the lessons that she learned going from

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H ow many people get to make a living doing what they love the most? The answer: Not enough. But singer-songwriter Elle Car-

penter is one of them. Born in Arkansas and raised in Vermont, Carpenter has been making music almost as long as she has been alive. At 8 years old, she recorded backup vocals on an album for Vermont folk act The Fiddleheads, and from ages 10 to 16, Carpenter toured with world-music and folk group Village Harmony. While she’s hit the road regularly ever since, not all those years of perform-ing have been inarguable successes. “I don’t always get paid that well and sometimes I don’t get paid at all,” Carpenter says. “… It’s just hit or miss.” Nevertheless, she believes that “if you’re patient, have faith and just stay dedicated to it, then you will succeed eventually.” Carpenter originally planned to pur-sue acting long-term and even earned roles in major theatrical productions and TV shows such as ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and Fox’s “House.” But throughout her life, she was always writing and recording music, though this was far removed from her first singing experiences. Rock-infused pop songs made up most of her first three releases, 2009’s “The Best,” 2011’s “With Open Hands” and 2014’s “Simple Girl.” With her fourth studio album, “Life Just Happens to You,” released May 22, Carpenter is at a different point in life, one that places her closer to her folk-music roots. “With this new album—I feel like this year, in general—I’m in a whole new place,” she says. “My tour is a lot bigger

than in previous years. It’s going on all summer. June is really crazy. I have 24 shows in a month! This is the first year I can really say that music is my source of income. I’ve reached this level, and I’m really encouraged.” One of Carpenter’s biggest tasks in bringing “Life Just Happens to You” to listeners has been making sure it also ends up in reviewers’ hands. Since the album’s release, she has been reaching out to mu-sic bloggers and journalists in the midst of touring. That may sound like a lot of work for the artist to take on at once, but Carpenter has had to learn to promote herself over the years. “I have not had a manager that has stuck by my side—or that I have stuck with—because they have not been reli-able or they haven’t done anything, and I usually end up doing it all myself any-way,” she says. Despite past problems with man-agement, though, Carpenter says she still hopes to find a manager that would be reliable and have her best interest at heart. In the meantime, she’s busying herself on the road. “I booked my tour all by myself this year, and I’ll be traveling all by myself. It’s the first time I’ve done that. It’s a really big deal for me, but at the same time, it feels like a really big accomplish-ment, and I’m really excited about the shows I’m doing.” Elle Carpenter performs 6 p.m. Sunday, June 21, at Soul Wired Café (111 Millsaps Ave., 601-863-6378). “Life Just Happens to You” is available on iTunes and Amazon. For more information, visit ellecarpenter.com.

DIVERSIONS | music

Singer-songwriter Elle Carpenter performs Sunday, June 21, at Soul Wired Café.C

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DIVERSIONS | jfp sports

Mississippi State University has a national champion runner. Rhian-wedd Price won a national title in the 1500-meter at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eu-gene, Ore., Saturday, June 13.

Hinds Community College sophomore Randy Bell earned the title of NJCAA Division II Pitcher of the Year. He finished the 2015 season with a perfect 12-0 record with a 2.37 ERA, and was the ace of a pitching staff that led Hinds to a 43-7 overall record.

The Washington Nationals drafted Jackson State University baseman Melvin Rodriguez in the 18th round of the MLB Draft

Wednesday, June 10. He’s the first player drafted from Jackson State since 2008 and the highest Tiger se-lected since 2002.

The Mississippi Braves lost four of five games in the Battle of Missis-sippi against the Biloxi Shuckers. They hit the road for a series against the Tennessee Smokies on Wednes-day June 18.

Former Callaway High School and WNBA star Juanita Ward will hold the JWARD Hoops Camp 15 for boys and girls grade 3-12 on June 19-20 at First Baptist Jackson (431 N. State St. 39201). For more infor-mation, call 601-852-1192.

Jackson State University golf alumnus Tim O’Neal is playing in his first U.S. Open this week. O’Neal was one of 58 players to advance through qualifying on Mon-day, June 8. He turned pro in 1997 after playing for legendary coach Ed-die Payton at JSU.

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by Jon Wiener

F ather’s Day is this Sunday, and I would be remiss if I didn’t take some time to discuss my role as a stay-at-home dad. It has

been the biggest challenge and a life- changing experience. My daughter, Molly, and I spend our days doing the normal things such as read-ing and learning her colors and numbers. We also spend a good deal of time playing. With Molly being an only child, I’m her primary playmate most of the time. Some of those times, playing seems like I’m in a WWE Hardcore match, only no one told me there was one (you have to protect the soft body parts). I always have to keep my head on a swivel for fear of a rogue head-butt to the groin. Then, there are the random things she beats me with daily: sticks, toy golf clubs, brooms, toys and anything else she could turn into a weapon. It never fails that at some point in the day, Molly wants to wrestle Daddy, and like any good wres-tling villain, I always get my comeuppance in the end. But there is a duality in our playing. When we are not wrestling, we are playing with dolls or pretending to be characters from her favorite shows and movies. We also dress up (yes, I will rock a tiara, boa, bow or headband like a rock

star) and have princess tea parties. Neither my wife, Lacey, nor I have ever pushed the princess theme on Molly. It is something she has gravitated toward. Take it from a guy who has had a beat-down by a little girl wearing an Elsa dress. She also loves boas, tiaras and the “fancy dresses,” as she calls them, that she wears to our tea parties. I have learned to pour and drink invisible tea—pinky up—while making what goes for toddler-polite con-versation. That duality of being a princess one moment and John Cena the next is not only fun but interesting to me, as well. She does some of the things you would expect, by social convention, for a little girl to do, but a wild wrestler lurks under the surface, waiting to spring forth. Like any parent, I hope I’m raising her to be successful in this world. I fail at something everyday, like running out of patience or being quick to raise my voice. But that is also the great thing about being a stay-at-home dad or any parent: Tomor-row I can try harder to be a better one. There is always another SmackDown or tea party waiting for me the next day. And who wouldn’t want that life?

Follow Bryan Flynn at jfpsports.com, @jfpsports and at facebook.com/jfpsports.

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Outlets of Mississippi, Ste 402, Pearl, Mississippi | (601) 906-1369Outlets of Mississippi, Ste 402, Pearl, Mississippi | (601) 906-1369

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Voted One of the Best Italian Restaurants In Jackson

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1-800-805-6158Important Terms and Conditions: Promotional Offers: Require activation of new qualifying DISH service. All prices, fees, charges, packages, programming, features, functionality and offers subject to change without notice. After 12-month promotional period, then-current everyday monthly price applies and is subject to change. ETF: If you cancel service during first 24 months, early termination fee of $20 for each month remaining applies. Additional Requirements: Hopper: Monthly fees: Hopper, $12; Joey, $7; Super Joey, $10. With PrimeTime Anytime record ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC plus two additional channels. Commercial skip feature is available at varying times, starting the day after airing, for select primetime shows on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC recorded with PrimeTime Anytime. Recording hours vary; 2000 hours based on SD programming. Watching live and recorded TV anywhere requires

an Internet-connected, Sling-enabled DVR and compatible mobile device. Premium Channels: 3-month premium offer value is $135; after 3 months, then-current everyday monthly prices apply and are subject to change. Blockbuster @Home requires Internet to stream content. HD-only channels not available with select packages. Installation/Equipment Requirements: Free Standard Professional Installation only. Leased equipment must be returned to DISH upon cancellation or unreturned equipment fees apply. Upfront and additional monthly fees may apply. Miscellaneous: Offers available for new and qualified former customers, and subject to terms of applicable Promotional and Residential Customer agreements. State reimbursement charges may apply. Additional restrictions and taxes may apply. Offers end 1/16/15.© 2014 DISH Network L.L.C. All rights reserved. HBO®, Cinemax® and related channels and service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc. STARZ and related channels and service marks are property of Starz Entertainment, LLC. DR_15394

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Jackson2758 Emerald Dr

2BR/2BA Single Family

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Sea-Doo® is the only brand with an on-water braking system recognized by the U.S. Coast Guard.

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In ECO™ mode, Sea-Doo watercraft boast up to 46% improved fuel efficiency.1

1 23

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©2015 Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP). All rights reserved. , and the BRP logo are trademarks of Bombardier Recreational Products or its affiliates. Products are distributed in the USA by BRP US Inc. Based on BRP internal testing, compared to itself at wide open throttle when ECO mode is not activated; fuel consumption varies per model and engine package. Based on state boat registrations compiled by InfoLink. Always ride safely and responsibly. Not all riding conditions are appropriate for inexperienced or beginner riders. 2107626

Dealer ImprintGoes Here

GTI™ Limited 155

GTI SE 130

GTI 130

SEA-DOO, YOUR BRAND OF CHOICE

Sea-Doo® is the only brand with an on-water braking system recognized by the U.S. Coast Guard.In ECO™ mode, Sea-Doo watercraft boast up to 46% improved fuel effi ciency.87% of Sea-Doo watercraft purchased in the past 10 years are still in use today.

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JACKSON MOTOR SPORTS3843 HWY 80 E., PEARL MS601-933-1145jacksonmotorsports.net

©2015 Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. (BRP). All rights reserved. ™, ® and the BRP logo are trademarks of Bombardier Recreational Products or its affi liates. Products are distributed in the USA by BRP US Inc. 1Based on BRP internal testing, compared to itself at wide open throttle when ECO mode is not activated; fuel consumption varies per model and engine package. 2Based on state boat registrations compiled by InfoLink. Always ride safely and responsibly. Not all riding conditions are appropriate for inexperienced or beginner riders. 2107626

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