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Homecoming remains an important enough tradition in the Mississippi Delta that the violence that happened in Leland and Rolling Fork in October didn’t diminish the crowds. Relatives still traveled home. Dozens still set up grills and canopies at games. Mississippi Today produced a collection of stories of homecoming events in the Delta, where traditions have evolved over time.

INDIANOLA — Local law enforcement tended to a newly installed checkpoint at Perry S. Price Memorial Stadium. Even with the added security for the Gentry High School homecoming, the line out front of the stadium paled in comparison to the one at the concession stand.

Across the stadium from the field house, which boasts air conditioning, the concessions shack was equipped with an electronic fan whose blades sluggishly propelled air toward the candies and cashier. Familiar candy and hot chip brands were available, but the crowd-pleasers were mostly homemade: popcorn, nachos and, especially, the pickles soaked in Kool-Aid. Kids as young as six clutched cash in one hand and a superhero backpack in the other in a line that stretched to the chain link fence that lined the field’s perimeter. Other parents and teachers stood parallel to the concession line with relatives on the phone, calling their orders from the road. It was a majority of attendees’ first stop during a day of festivities.

Gloria McDuffy Jimison has been making Kool-Aid pickles, also called Koolickles, for Gentry High School homecomings for over two decades. She sometimes makes bucketfuls, at $34 each, for one Chicago family that makes the homecoming trip each year. One repeat customer is a mother who buys 10 bags at most games. 

“They say, ‘Let me taste one.’ And then they’re hooked,” McDuffy Jimison said.

McDuffy Jimison has perfected the recipe. She experimented with adding sugar from Sno Balls snack cakes.

To try a quality Kool-Aid pickle is to taste its slippery sweetness and not be turned off by the vinegar aftertaste. It should be both refreshing and hearty, like a more flavorful, firmer and slippier gummy.

McDuffy Jimison first tasted a Kool-Aid pickle at a homecoming game in Greenville in the early 1990s. At first intrigued by the fare, she soon resolved to make it better. Back then the concession stand offered two longtime Kool-Aid flavors: tropical punch and cherry. McDuffy Jimison serves two clear favorites: cherry and grape.

Kool-Aid pickles originated in the Mississippi Delta. They grew so popular that gas station chain Double Quick, which started in the Delta, began to sell Koolickles in stores. Kool-Aid pickles are most commonly found as pickle spears, but McDuffy Jimison’s version uses hamburger slices. She said they absorb the Kool-Aid sweetness more completely.

“If you don’t want to buy candy, it’s the quickest way to get a sugar rush,” she said, citing customers. 

As the stadium filled up with fans and families, guards moved from the security checkpoint to the bleachers, guns and tactical gear in tow. The crowd of students, faculty and families split as the men in black and navy took their posts around the stadium.

An armed sheriff’s deputy wearing an armored vest stood outside the concession stand. Other deputies with bigger guns and more tactical gear patrolled the grounds. Their presence was a new feature of the homecoming this year. The previous weekend, multiple shootings marred homecoming events across the state. That included a mass shooting after Leland High School’s homecoming.

Officials moved the Gentry High homecoming game from 7 p.m. to 2 p.m., which made for a sweatier experience. Many spectators strode in with umbrellas to shield them from the sun. Others pulled foldable chairs beneath the bleachers. Under the canopies of tents, alumni were happy to be home around familiar faces. The additional security and earlier kickoff time didn’t seem to bother them.

Qua Hollins traveled from Fort Worth, Texas, for homecoming. He hadn’t been back since he graduated from Gentry High seven years ago. Hollins said it was both surreal and rewarding to cheer for the players who once chanted his name and jersey number when he was a Gentry Ram.

“They were little kids,” he said, looking toward the field.

Hollins’ grandmother raised him in a house on a street populated by abandoned homes in a “rough” part of town, he said. Football kept him on campus most of the week.

Hollins’ commute looks different these days. In Fort Worth, he sees high rises and skyscrapers. His work as an engineer puts him in rooms with people from around the world. 

“I used to tell my teammates, especially the younger ones, to look at their surroundings. Remember where you come from. Think bigger,” Hollins said.

Hollins visited his aunt and reconnected with former classmates. He said he now plans to return home more frequently.

“It hasn’t changed at all,” he said of the Delta. “There’s not many places left like that.”

Over the past few weeks, numerous reports have highlighted the possibility and controversy surrounding large data centers being built in Mississippi and across the South.

State leaders have promised the data centers will bring in “revenue for miles” and create high-tech jobs. But residents across the state have raised concerns about noise, pollution and other environmental impact, the potential for higher energy bills and noted the centers promise very few jobs by scale. A petition asking for more guarantees from local officials in Brandon over a data center being built there now has over 1,000 signatures.

How do you think your leaders are doing in balancing economic growth and environmental concerns when it comes to data centers? Email me at marketplace@mississippitoday.org 

xAI in Mississippi

Some DeSoto County residents living close to the makeshift power plant fueling xAI’s Memphis data centers have raised concerns about the plant’s near constant noise and environmental issues. 

xAI is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, whose company is building two data centers across state lines in Memphis. 

One longtime resident said the noise started at a low level in August but has gotten louder. He told Mississippi Today, “I can’t live here like this for another nine months. It’s going to drive me crazy.”

READ MORE: Southaven residents fear pollution, complain of noise, from Elon Musk’s xAI data-center turbines

Amazon’s next move

In November, Amazon announced it will be building a new $3-billion data center in Warren County.

The new center will create about 200 new jobs. It will not require any more state funds beyond an original 2024 agreement in which the state provided $44 million and loaned Amazon $215 million, along with tax breaks. 

Amazon is already constructing two data centers in Madison County, bringing its total investment to $29 billion in the state. 

Entergy promises upgrades without higher price tag

Speaking of energy, Entergy has said that its historic investment into upgrading the grid won’t result in higher rates.

Entergy Mississippi CEO, Haley Fisackerly recently told the Clarion Ledger that Amazon and data centers will pay “a larger share of the cost of the business.”

Fisackerly recently told Mississippi Today that multiple companies are exploring bringing new data centers to the state. Data centers require huge amounts of electricity and water, and many of the deals involve energy companies.

READ MORE: Entergy Mississippi CEO Fisackerly answers questions on data centers and electricity rates

Other news: ‘A charming Southern haberdashery,’ continuing debate over BP settlement spending

• The New York Times named Oxford’s Hinton & Hinton one of the 50 best stores in America. The store was described as a “charming Southern haberdashery.”
• The Mississippi Gulf Coast Restoration Fund’s handling of the $750 million settlement from BP’s 2010 oil spill has once again come under scrutiny. In a letter to the state Legislature, Bill Cork, executive director of the state’s economic development agency, wrote, “this year’s applicant pool does not reflect a coordinated regional strategy or the transformational impact envisioned when the Legislature created the GCRF.” The fund is no stranger to controversy. In 2022, the Sun Herald wrote that the Fund was “failing to meet any conventional measure of success for an economic development program.” 
• Hope Credit Union opened the HOPE Economic Empowerment Center in Jackson. The center will offer financial products and services, training and education to expand economic mobility. In a release, Jackson Mayor John Horhn said the new center transformed a vacant city property into a place that will offer financial products and services for individuals, families, and small business owners, along with homebuyer education, entrepreneurial training, and a multipurpose space designed for community engagement. 
• BWC Terminals, a large liquid-storage company, is opening a new facility in Pascagoula. According to the Mississippi Development Authority, the $316-million investment will create 25 jobs. The new site is part of an agreement with the nearby Chevron Pascagoula Refinery.

A quick housekeeping note: the last Marketplace of 2025 will come out on 12/18 and we’ll be back on 1/8/2026 talking about the start of the Mississippi legislative session.

Mississippi faces a worsening obesity crisis, with projections showing 57% of adults could be classified as obese by 2030. 

State health officials say the epidemic is fueling chronic disease and infant mortality. Without major intervention, they warn, the health care system could be overwhelmed.  

To counter the crisis, multiple state agencies are rolling out coordinated programs to expand treatment access, improve nutrition education and promote physical activity. 

Growing crisis with deep health consequences

Mississippi ranks among the worst in national health outcomes, with about 1.2 million adults — roughly 40% of the population — classified as obese, according to federal data. Only West Virginia and Arkansas have higher rates, per Statista. 

Obesity significantly increases the risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, neurodegenerative conditions, diabetes and cancer, according to the University of Mississippi Medical Center.  

Dr. Daniel Edney, the state health officer and executive director of the Mississippi Department of Health, said obesity also drives some of the state’s most severe health challenges. 

“It’s the No. 1 cause of preterm birth, and preterm birth is a leading cause of infant mortality,” he said. “We have too many babies who die. We have too many children who die. We have way too many teenagers who are dying — and we can prevent all of this.” 

Edney said low-income and minority communities experience the highest rates, but the problem affects all Mississippians. Reports also show that more than 40% of children in the state are overweight or obese. 

“That is scary,” Edney said. “If they’re obese in the fifth grade, then they’re very likely to be morbidly obese when they’re 45 (years old).” 

That trajectory, he added, often reflects deeper economic and social barriers.

Barriers, stigma and the human cost of obesity 

Since July 2023, Mississippi Medicaid has covered anti-obesity medications, but only 2.4% of adults received treatment in 2024, according to the Mississippi Division of Medicaid’s drug utilization report. 

Dr. Rasheedah Hall, owner of Hall Health in Hattiesburg, said patients without Medicaid often face monthly costs ranging from $300 to $1,500 if they pay out of pocket or if their insurance doesn’t cover treatment. 

“We need to make those medications more affordable to everyone,” Hall said. “They are a game changer.” 

Hall said increasing affordability and awareness of available treatments would help reduce obesity statewide. 

For Macayla Douglas, a lack of early access to resources shaped her struggles with obesity as a teenager. 

“As a 13- (or) 14-year-old and you’re super overweight, there’s people that call you names, you get weird looks,” Douglas said. “I was getting out of breath simply just like walking to class in a high school.” 

Douglas said her family often relied on cheap, less nutritious food due to cost and access barriers — a common issue across Mississippi. 

“I didn’t really feel like I had enough resources,” she said. “I didn’t come from a super privileged household.” 

 After years of trying to lose weight, she was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. With that diagnosis, she began medication, adopted a regular exercise routine and made lifestyle changes — ultimately losing 82 pounds. 

“Whenever I was watching what I ate and sticking to consistent exercise, I was able to see a dramatic decrease in weight,” Douglas said. “It was making me feel super good, and it just led me to want to keep going.” 

Hall said stories like Douglas’ help shift public perception.  

“We’re moving forward and getting away from the stigma and the misunderstanding … if you just eat right and exercise, everybody would be at a healthy weight,” she said. “There are (sometimes) other factors at play.”

Policy, prevention and the path forward

Hall and Edney agree that reversing Mississippi’s obesity crisis will require long-term, statewide investment in education, prevention and equitable access to care. 

At the policy level, Gov. Tate Reeves reinstated the Presidential Fitness Test in October for the 2026–27 school year, and state leaders are proposing changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program intended to encourage healthier food choices.  

The Mississippi departments of Health and Education are also developing an interactive virtual platform that delivers daily health education to students through gaming. The goal: to make screen time active and build healthy habits from an early age. 

“That 15 minutes a day, kindergarten through 12th grade — that will change two generations,” Edney said. 

He emphasized that families also play a key role in encouraging physical activity, limiting screen time and monitoring key health indicators like blood pressure and blood sugar. 

“At the core of everything is the education of health promotion principles,” he said.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s watchdog found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. personnel and their mission at risk when he used the Signal messaging app to convey sensitive information about a military strike against Yemen’s Houthi militants, two people familiar with the findings said Wednesday.

Hegseth, however, has the ability to declassify material and the report did not find he did so improperly, according to one of the people familiar with the findings who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the information. That person also said the report concluded that Hegseth violated Pentagon policy by using his personal device for official business and it recommended better training for all Pentagon officials.

The report looking into Hegseth’s messages and participation in the chat follows a joint letter from Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and U.S. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Republican and Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, respectively, asking the Pentagon’s watchdog to investigate the Signal conversation.

Wicker said in a statement that the report shows Hegseth “acted within his authority to communicate the information in question to other cabinet level officials.”

“It is also clear to me that our senior leaders need more tools available to them to communicate classified information in real time and a variety of environments. I think we have some work to do in providing those tools to our national security leaders,” Wicker said.

Hegseth declined to sit for an interview with the Pentagon’s inspector general but provided a written statement, that person said. The defense secretary asserted that he was permitted to declassify information as he saw fit and only communicated details he thought would not endanger the mission.

The initial findings ramp up the pressure on the former Fox News Channel host after lawmakers had called for the independent inquiry into his use of the commercially available app. Lawmakers also just opened investigations into a news report that a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea in September killed survivors after Hegseth issued a verbal order to “kill everybody.”

Hegseth defended the strike as emerging in the “fog of war,” saying he didn’t see any survivors but also “didn’t stick around” for the rest of the mission and that the admiral in charge “made the right call” in ordering the second strike. He also did not admit fault following the Signal revelations, asserting that the information was unclassified.

“The Inspector General review is a TOTAL exoneration of Secretary Hegseth and proves what we knew all along — no classified information was shared,” Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman said in a statement. “This matter is resolved, and the case is closed.”

Journalist added to a chat where sensitive plans were shared

In at least two separate Signal chats, Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop — before the men and women carrying out those attacks on behalf of the United States were airborne.

Hegseth’s use of the app came to light when a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to a Signal text chain by then-national security adviser Mike Waltz. It included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and others, brought together to discuss March 15 military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis.

Hegseth had created another Signal chat with 13 people that included his wife and brother where he shared similar details of the same strike, The Associated Press reported.

Signal is encrypted but is not authorized for carrying classified information and is not part of the Pentagon’s secure communications network.

Hegseth previously has said none of the information shared in the chats was classified. Multiple current and former military officials have told the AP there was no way details with that specificity, especially before a strike took place, would have been OK to share on an unsecured device.

The review was delivered to lawmakers, who were able to review the report in a classified facility at the Capitol. A partially redacted version of the report was expected to be released publicly later this week.

Hegseth said he viewed the investigation as a partisan exercise and did not trust the inspector general, according to one of the people familiar with the report’s findings. The review had to rely on screenshots of the Signal chat published by the Atlantic because Hegseth could not provide more than a small handful of his Signal messages, the person said.

When asked about the investigation in August, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told reporters that “we believe that this is a witch hunt and a total sham and being conducted in bad faith.”

Lawmakers called for inspector general to investigate

The revelations sparked intense scrutiny, with Democratic lawmakers and a small number of Republicans saying Hegseth posting the information to the Signal chats before the military jets had reached their targets potentially put those pilots’ lives at risk. They said lower-ranking members of the military would have been fired for such a lapse.

The inspector general opened its investigation into Hegseth at the request of the Armed Services Chairman Wicker and Reed.

“This chat was alleged to have included classified information pertaining to sensitive military actions in Yemen,” Wicker and Reed’s letter said. “If true, this reporting raises questions as to the use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as the sharing of such information with those who do not have proper clearance and need to know.”

Some veterans and military families also raised concerns, citing the strict security protocols they must follow to protect sensitive information.

It all ties back to the campaign against Yemen’s Houthis

The Houthi rebels had started launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in late 2023 in what their leadership had described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Their campaign greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.

The U.S.-led campaign against the Houthis in 2024 turned into the most intense running sea battle the Navy had faced since World War II.

A ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war had begun in January before falling apart in March. The U.S. then launched a broad assault against the Houthis that ended weeks later when Trump said they pledged to stop attacking ships. The latest Gaza ceasefire began in October.

Following the disclosure of Hegseth’s Signal chat that included the Atlantic’s editor, the magazine released the entire thread in late March. Hegseth had posted multiple details about an impending strike, using military language and laying out when a “strike window” starts, where a “target terrorist” was located, the time elements around the attack and when various weapons and aircraft would be used in the strike. He mentioned that the U.S. was “currently clean” on operational security.

Hegseth told Fox News Channel in April that what he shared over Signal was “informal, unclassified coordinations, for media coordinations and other things.”

During a congressional hearing in June, Hegseth was pressed multiple times by lawmakers over whether he shared classified information and if he should face accountability if he did.

Rep. Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat and Marine veteran, asked Hegseth whether he would hold himself accountable if the inspector general found that he placed classified information on Signal.

Hegseth would not directly say, only noting that he serves “at the pleasure of the president.”

Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Konstantin Toropin, and Mississippi Today writer Taylor Vance contributed to this report.

Michael Cormack felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. 

In May, Jackson Public Schools’ deputy superintendent was at his desk in the district’s central office, with the most recent third grade reading test results spread in front of him. As he thumbed through the papers, which showed that just over half of the students tested passed the state assessment on the first try, the knot in his stomach grew. 

He realized he had to do something — immediately. Within weeks, Project 75 was born. 

Project 75 is a reading initiative with an ambitious goal: to boost the percentage of third graders in JPS who pass the state assessment on the first attempt from 55% to 75%. Cormack presented his plan for Project 75 to the school board in August, but the initiative kicked off in earnest in mid-November. 

It’s a bold leap, but based on the data about students’ ultimate success rate, Cormack believes it’s possible. 

In 2013, state lawmakers passed the Literacy-Based Promotion Act aimed at increasing reading proficiency. The legislation put a historic amount of money and resources toward the goal and established a third grade reading “gate.” To get promoted to fourth grade, students have three tries to pass, or score 3 out of 5 or higher, on the reading portion of the state English Language Arts assessment.

Students have increasing success with each attempt. This past year, about 70% of JPS third graders ultimately scored high enough to move to the next grade, 15 points lower than the statewide average. 

“What that indicates to me is that there is some latent knowledge that scholars activate, and there’s a level of seriousness and intensity once we get the initial scores back,” Cormack said. “But what we want to do is to tap into those energies early to ensure that out the gate, the performance is strong.”

Largely thanks to the literacy act, the percentage of Mississippi’s fourth graders scoring advanced or proficient on the National Assessment of Education Progress has steadily grown, going from last in the country to ninth. But a closer look at the data reveals districts that still struggle, including Jackson. 

Cormack, whose background includes K-12 teaching and leading the Barksdale Reading Institute, reviewed hundreds of files for every student who failed the state reading test last year. The documents arrived by milk crate this spring, after being reviewed by school-level administrators. 

What he found was, in many cases, students were not getting the targeted support they needed. 

At the start of each school year, JPS teachers assess students to identify their strengths and weaknesses. That test helps teachers determine students’ specific instructional needs to improve their weakest academic areas. 

However, in practice, that tailored instruction wasn’t always happening. 

“We know exactly where our students need help,” Cormack said. “So why can’t we do it?”

Project 75 aims to close those gaps by giving students targeted, tiered, thorough support. The plan involves seven strategies that center around data, district-wide coordination, professional development, monitoring and focused student learning.

Some action items include scheduling standing meetings with school leaders and staff to review data and adjust teaching, tracking student progress, offering more professional development for teachers on the science of reading and assigning struggling students to the district’s most successful teachers. 

Project 75 also includes an afterschool component for second graders and third graders who need extra help.

LaRoy Merrick, principal of Walton Elementary School, said some parts of the plan were already being implemented ahead of the fall start date. Early in the year, for example, school leaders identified their students who struggle the most with reading, grouped them together and ensured they received one-on-one help from a reading interventionist in a small setting.

Merrick also realized that his special education teachers — whose students are in the school’s bottom 25% of readers — needed to learn how to teach reading, so he sent them for training.

In preparing for the Project 75 kickoff, Galloway Elementary staff reviewed absenteeism rates, discovering that some of their least proficient readers were also regularly missing school, Principal Natasha Simmons said. 

Simmons said she’s impressed upon her staff the importance of the goal in front of them. 

“They’re going to have to do an obsessive amount of reading to pass that test,” Simmons said. “So we’re attacking this in a number of ways.”

The stakes are high. Research shows that reading is fundamental to academic success throughout schooling, which correlates with career success, financial security and better health outcomes. 

“It can create a snowball effect,” Cormack said of reading. “When scholars are retained, we also know they enter a higher risk category for not successfully graduating high school. That’s not a reality that we want to live with, so we know the urgency of getting this right.”

The initial impact of Project 75 won’t be revealed for months, until the third graders take the state reading test in May. But if the district falls short, Cormack is sure of one thing. 

They’ll keep trying.

A documentary on the career of legendary journalist Wilson F. “Bill” Minor will make its debut on Mississippi airwaves on Thursday.

Set to air on Mississippi Public Broadcasting at 7:30 p.m., the documentary, “Eyes on Mississippi,” shares its title with Minor’s long-running newspaper column. The nearly one-hour film offers an in-depth look at Mississippi civil rights history through the lens of Minor’s reporting.  

Directed and produced by Ellen Ann Fentress, a journalist and former colleague of Minor, the documentary draws on 24 different historical archives and over 40 hours of footage from interviews of Minor by Fentress. The documentary was first released in 2015 and has since been partially re-edited with new archival material from MPB. 

A portrait of Minor and his dispatches from the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement, the film offers viewers a trenchant look at how journalism and race relations intersect.

“I think this is very auspicious timing for this story to come out,” Fentress said at a documentary screening in Jackson on Tuesday. “We need this story and the relevance of honest journalism and truth-telling. Telling truth to power could not be more important than it is right now.”  

Minor covered Mississippi politics for over 70 years, from 1947 until his death in 2017. He earned professional accolades and awards for his gutsy reporting of civil rights violence and the political and social forces that drove it. 

Minor offers an inside view of landmark stories such as the murder of civil rights workers in Neshoba County and the trial of Willie McGee, both of which captured national attention for their window into the racist violence and unequal justice system that infected the Jim Crow South.

The documentary features interviews with figures such as civil-rights leader Myrlie Evers and former Gov. William Winter, the latter calling Minor “our own interpreter of who we are as a state.”

Minor came to Mississippi as the one-man bureau reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. In the years that followed, he documented and explained Mississippi’s society for countless others, including fellow journalists across the nation.

A native of Hammond, Louisiana, Minor was a Tulane University journalism graduate and a World War II Navy combat veteran.

When Fentress decided to make the film, she said that while the film’s title, “Eyes on Mississippi,” was the name of Minor’s column, it also was his strategy – that “the fastest route to change was to get the unvarnished facts of the struggle out. The more eyes on Mississippi, the more the pressure for transformation.”

After Thursday evening, the documentary is set to air on MPB again on Friday at 2 a.m., on Sunday at 2 p.m. and on Dec. 17 at 4 p.m.

MADISON — A small group protested outside a monthly community meeting Wednesday in Madison to raise awareness about an immigration crackdown in Louisiana and Mississippi — a campaign known both as “Operation Swamp Sweep” and “Catahoula Crunch” – and to oppose the Mississippi government’s collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

While the group of about 12 protested outside, Gov. Tate Reeves, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, spoke inside of the Madison restaurant. The protesters were far enough away from the restaurant to prevent any direct communications with Reeves.

Beginning this week, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security are conducting a two-month immigration crackdown in Louisiana and south Mississippi. Protestors marched in New Orleans during the weekend to oppose the campaign.

Protesters also oppose state agencies and local law enforcement assisting ICE’s immigration enforcement efforts .

On Wednesday, protestors in Madison stood across the street at the intersection in front of Mama Hamil’s, where Reeves was the keynote speaker at Grip N Grin, a monthly meeting to discuss current events. They waved signs as cars drove by, and some drivers honked as they passed.

Kathleein O’Beirne, a Ridgeland native, said this protest was made possible by a coalition of groups, including Mississippi United.

O’Beirne said immigrants contribute greatly to American society and the economy, and the president’s rhetoric around immigration is not rooted in truth.

“The truth of the matter is we Mississippians are smart enough to realize that there is a humane and civil way that respects families, that protects our communities, to address our immigration issues,” she said.

The crackdown in Louisiana and Mississippi is part of the Trump administration’s larger campaign of mass deportations, which O’Beirne described as a campaign of intimidation and harassment against immigrant communities in Mississippi.

Among the group was Paula Merchant, a U.S. Army veteran and former English as a Second Language teacher who founded Adelante, which works with the immigrant community in Jackson and helped organize the protest.

Her experience as an immigrant inspired Merchant to establish the group. She believes the current immigration system is broken and the focus should be on fixing it rather than deporting people. 

“They’re not going to work,” she said of the immigrants. “The kids are not going to school, and they don’t want to separate from one another because they don’t know if they’re going to be taken.”

Merchant was born in Mexico to a Mexican mother and an American father. She and her mother moved to the U.S. when she was 4 after her father died. Her parents never married, making it difficult to prove her father was biologically related to her. Merchant said this meant she and her mother had to take the standard immigration process, which was long and expensive. 

She said she didn’t get a green card until she was 14, and didn’t become a naturalized citizen until she was 28.

“Irregardless how you feel, they’re still your brothers and sisters,” she said. “They’re humans, you should want for them what you have for yourself.”

Homecoming remains an important enough tradition in the Mississippi Delta that the violence that happened in Leland and Rolling Fork in October didn’t diminish the crowds. Relatives still traveled home. Dozens still set up grills and canopies at games. Mississippi Today produced a collection of stories of homecoming events in the Delta, where traditions have evolved over time.

CLARKSDALE — At the end of the first quarter, the Clarksdale High Wildcats were down by 8. 

Mosquitos bit into the ankles of players and spectators. Cheerleaders and majorettes rallied for a new routine in tune to the school band’s thumping brass bass. Coaching assistants white-knuckled clipboards as superfans on the sidelines winced at an interception by the visiting Ripley High School Tigers. 

Doubt crept in between sips of homemade lemonade and chips scooped into spicy cheese dip, manifesting itself in side-long glances, short prayers and yelps of support for quarterback Tommie Magsby. A murmur passed through the crowd in Clarksdale on a balmy 76 degree night: Would the Wildcats lose the coveted homecoming game?

The Wildcats have long produced stars and dominated football statewide. The NFL has recruited 17 Clarksdale players, the second-highest number of any Mississippi high school. This season, Clarksdale has only lost to perennial rival South Panola High School. Clarksdale has won two division championships in the last decade. At last year’s homecoming, the Wildcats lost by a single touchdown to Southaven High during a game some fans described as a heart breaker and nail biter.

Under the harsh stadium lights and amid the roar of an antsy marching band, forceful head coach Curtis Kemp gathered the team on the sidelines with at least four assistant coaches in tow. 

He pulled his tight end and wide receiver into the huddle. Kemp exhorted them all to “run the ball,” execute the plays they practiced in the near equatorial heat of summer, be physical, and in the words of one of his assistants, get the smell and “homecoming feel” out of your mind. 

“You don’t want to lose the homecoming game,” Kemp said.

Visiting Green Bay Packers offensive lineman and former Wildcat Elgton Jenkins was in the audience. So were family and friends.

Even before kickoff, the aroma of rib tips wafted from smoker to serving plate, from tailgate to tent. Near the back fence, a truck let down a neon green shaved-ice hut from its trailer. Teachers folded programs.

‘You feel connected to something bigger’

When Tomika Bates first arrived in her hometown, she made sure to visit Rice Bowl, the greasy spoon Chinese spot that has her favorite shrimp. She and her high school friend group — all from the class of 2001 — missed other comforts of home such as Double Quick chicken and time with family.

Most of Bates’ friend group now live in the suburbs of Memphis or Jackson and in Nashville. They are bankers, morticians, instructional coaches at schools and principals. But today, in matching royal blue jerseys decorated with red iron-on patches, they are Wildcat superfans. 

“I’m here for a good time,” Bates said. “We all look forward to seeing old friends, rehashing old memories, and creating new ones year after year.”

Dennis Jackson, a multimedia teacher at Clarksdale’s vocational school and a Wildcat alum, stood by the 50-yard line during much of the game. He congratulated his students as they traded places by the bench between plays.

Jackson played football at Clarksdale while serving in the Marines and for an Australian football team. He was based in Wollongong, Australia, for much of his life between leaving the military and recently returning home. He also spent time as an actor in Hollywood.

“You get to know your home more when you’re far away from it,” Jackson said. “People know us from out there.”

He remembers when he first left Clarksdale at 20.

It was near noon on a weekday in January in the late 1980s. Jackson was in the 900 block of Lower Brickyard, a Clarksdale neighborhood by McKinley Street, sitting across from his grandmother at her dining room table. They were enjoying a send-off meal of pinto beans and some of his other favorite dishes. She smiled at him.

When Jackson returned to Clarksdale two years ago, he hardly recognized his hometown with its many empty lots and closed storefronts. He looked around the streets for neighborhood kids playing outside but encountered an eerie quiet. 

“It was the depopulation that you can see most,” Jackson said.

At Walmart, he began to feel at home. He ran into an old teacher and some former neighbors. One offered him a job at the school district. He is now enjoying his second year as a multimedia instructor at the vocational school.

After years as a retired athlete, he has become a Wildcat superfan again.

“It’s always been a tradition, you know, running into friends, getting a chance to tell a few lies,” Jackson said of homecoming night. “You feel connected to something bigger.”

‘I gotta be there’

By the second quarter of the homecoming game, Clarksdale’s fortunes had turned. The Wildcats were up by a touchdown. The team was playing with renewed vigor.

Magsby, the team’s star player, intercepted the ball near the 40-yard line. The audience was electric. Kemp led Magsby and his teammates to the field house as the buzzer sounded for halftime.

Kemp used the moment to impart wisdom and a winning strategy.

“I just told ’em it was going to be a long practice next week if we couldn’t get it done,” he said about the homecoming victory in a post-game interview.

The homecoming court was announced during halftime. Escorts led candidates across the muddy field. The students’ families descended from the bleachers to get a closer look.

One contestant, Erin England, and her brother carried a life-size portrait of her late father. The other contestants, in flowing gowns and hoop skirts, batted away bugs with white satin gloves and pushed curls behind bedazzled earlobes.

“Our next senior maid enjoys playing sports and spending time with friends. She loves going shopping and spending her mom’s money,” the announcer declared, describing England. “Her favorite Bible verse is Psalms 28:7: ‘The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart.’”

Mary Miller, the mother of quarterback and homecoming king Tommie Magsby, beamed from the stands during the third quarter. She held up a posterboard with his jersey number until the last play.

“I know his plays. I know when he’s going to run it. And each time, it’s a touchdown,” Miller said. “It’s like I know what he’s gonna do before he does it. He’s generous with the ball, and he’s got vision. You can’t teach people that.”

Since Magsby’s peewee league days, Miller has driven him to practices and made sure he had his water bottle and cleats. She remembers his first tackle and early victories. Even as a child, he spoke of little else than football.

In a recent game against Cleveland Central, Magsby ran a 90-yard touchdown. He might have scored five touchdowns if not for an opposing player tugging on his face mask. Coahoma Community College has offered him a football scholarship.

“I’ll miss seeing how good he plays out there,” Miller said. “Now, I work out of town. I have to put in time to make sure that I’m here. If I miss a game, it just does something to me. I gotta be there because that’s my son on the field. I want to let him know that he does have support and we follow him wherever he goes.”

Taking home the win

The locker room had a sour stench by the homecoming game’s triumphant conclusion: 43-14. Shoeless players in muddied pants blasted music from speakers. Admirers and superfans lingered just outside where equipment was being pulled in from the field.

Kemp reclined in his office beside a white board covered with Xs, Os and initials.

“As a coach, you really have to tamp it down,” he said with a wide smile, hardly able to contain his glee.

It was his students’ night, not his.

Kemp graduated from Clarksdale High in 1999 and became head coach three years ago. He’d previously worked as Northside High School’s head coach. He had wanted the job for much of his coaching career.

“Clarksdale has been a good team for some time,” he said.

More than developing star players and bringing home wins, Kemp said he is mostly in it for the mentorship.

If you’re an upstanding guy, the football part will work itself out, he said. He just asks for commitment and accountability.

The young men Kemp coaches sometimes remind him of a time when he was young, and shared NFL dreams with his teammates.

One of his fondest memories was playing during the 1999 homecoming football game. The Wildcats were playing Greenville’s T.L. Weston High School. The lights were bright and the fans were loud. Kemp was on the field with his best friends. The Wildcats had a handful of injured players and weren’t favored to win.

Kemp scored four touchdowns. The last one sealed Clarksdale’s win, and players and fans mobbed him at game’s end.

His wildest dreams seemed within reach.

“I wanted to go pro,” Kemp said. “Most players won’t. But if I could see them doing something, taking care of their families and doing stuff around town as young men, I’m fine.”

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History announced Wednesday that Barry White will succeed Katie Blount as the agency’s director when Blount retires next year.

White has been director of the department’s Historic Preservation Division since 2020.

In his current role, he administers statewide grant programs, oversees major preservation initiatives and works on building partnerships with local, state and federal agencies. He is also part of the leadership team for the partnership between Archives and History and Mississippi State University to turn Historic Jefferson College near Natchez into a regional hub for education, research and workforce development. 

White will begin transitioning to his new role early next year. His first day as the director will be July 1, after Blount steps down.

“Our stories belong to every Mississippian, and I am committed to strengthening our connections to communities across the state,” White said in a press release. “As we look to the future, collaboration will continue to drive our efforts to preserve and share Mississippi’s history in meaningful ways.”

MDAH announced Blount’s planned retirement in August. After becoming director in 2015, she oversaw the opening of the Two Mississippi Museums in 2017 and helped efforts to redesign the state flag in 2020. She is the second woman to hold the position. The American Association for State and Local History gave her a lifetime achievement award in June.

“Barry has earned the trust of colleagues and communities throughout Mississippi,” Blount said in the press release Wednesday. “He’s forged strong relationships with key stakeholders through his thoughtful approach to preservation and his dedication to public service.

Spence Flatgard, president of the Archives and History Board of Trustees, said, “Katie Blount’s leadership has strengthened this agency in profound and lasting ways, and Barry is the right person to lead MDAH into our next chapter. His experience, integrity, and relationships across the state give him a deep understanding of both our mission and our partners who help carry us forward.”

White holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in applied anthropology with a focus on historic preservation from Mississippi State University. He is the husband of Mary Margaret White, the CEO and executive director of Mississippi Today.

A former Capitol Police officer accused of kicking a handcuffed man and slamming his head during a traffic stop in 2022 has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of violating his civil rights. 

Jeffery Walker, who was a Flex Unit officer, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law – when a person acting with government authority wilfully deprives another of a constitutionally protected right. 

The felony charge carries up to a decade in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment. 

He is scheduled for sentencing on April 8 and will remain free until then  on a $10,000 unsecured bond. Plea documents weren’t immediately available Wednesday. 

Walker’s plea comes the day he was set to begin a jury trial. 

On July 27, 2022, Walker drove an unmarked police car and tried to stop a car driven by a man identified as E.S. in court records. The man led Walker on a pursuit, which several Jackson Police Department officers joined. 

The chase ended when Walker cut E.S. off, causing the officer to run into a tree and the man to swerve into a yard. A Jackson police officer pulled E.S. from the car and handcuffed him. 

While the man was under control and handcuffed, Walker slammed E.S.’s head into the hood of his car and kicked him in the head and face while he was on the ground, according to court records. 

Walker also faces state charges for another incident while working for Capitol Police. 

He and Officer Michael Rhinewalt were indicted for aggravated assault stemming from the Aug. 14, 2022, shooting of Sinatra Jordan and Sherita Harris. 

Harris was the passenger in a car Jordan was driving that Capitol Police officers stopped near State and Amite streets. Walker and Rhinewalt were later identified as those who opened fire.

A civil lawsuit Harris filed in 2023 which represents one side of a legal argument, alleges Jordan initially complied with a command to pull over, but then tried to drive away when shots were fired into the car. Gunfire hit Harris in the head and required her to undergo surgery to remove the bullet fragments. She has suffered “permanent neurological and facial injuries,” according to the lawsuit.

Walker and Rhinewalt were expected to start trial Monday. The trial did not take place, and court records do not list an updated trial date. 

Jordan, the driver, was charged in 2023 with fleeing felony law enforcement, assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana. 

In March, he pleaded guilty to fleeing law enforcement, which was reduced to a misdemeanor, and the other charges were dropped. He received a six-month sentence, and as of Wednesday, prison records do not show anyone under his name incarcerated.  

Harris’ civil lawsuit has been put on hold until the state cases are finished.

Rhinewalt is facing another state charge from his role with Capitol Police.

He and now former Capitol Police Officer Steven Frederick Jr. were indicted for manslaughter in the Sept. 25, 2022, death of Jaylen Lewis during a traffic stop on East Mayes Street. 

They are scheduled to go to trial in Hinds County on Dec. 8. 

The officers, who were conducting a drug narcotics operation, saw the car driven by Lewis turn and then run a red light on another street. They turned on their police lights to pull the 22-year-old over and blocked him from moving forward with their car.  

The former officers reportedly told investigators that one of them shot Lewis in the head in self-defense because he drove his car toward them. 

A federal lawsuit by Lewis’ mother, which represents one side of a legal argument, states he reversed his car and bumped the cruiser behind him, and it states that he did not show a weapon, reach for one, “or take other actions that could be reasonably perceived as endangering officers or others.”