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A note from Adam Ganucheau: A couple hours after this column published, Sen. Roger Wicker’s office reached out and demanded a correction, saying the senator’s “get a life” comment was directed to himself and not to constituents. That’s certainly not how I nor hundreds of Mississippians who commented on and shared the viral video heard it. Mississippi Today has updated portions of this column to reflect concerns raised by Wicker’s office. Here’s a link to the video/audio of his response to the question about constituent concerns. Mississippians can decide for themselves what Wicker meant.

When 34-year-old Thad Cochran arrived in Washington after his first election in 1972, the Republican felt it important to document what he’d heard and learned from Mississippians on the campaign trail and share it with his young staff.

He sat down at a typewriter and wrote a memo titled “General Responsiveness” and dated March 14, 1973:

During the campaign I detected a very strong animosity among the people toward government and those associated with government bureaus and agencies. This included elected officials and those associated with them. Part of the cause of this attitude was due to a lack of feeling or understanding by government people for the needs and opinions of the average citizen. We are all in a job to represent all our constituents. We are not the bureaucracy. A constituent who asks us for help should be assured to be in need of help with our office as his last resort. A constituent who writes a letter should be made to feel by our response that he is glad he wrote us. A constituent who claims to have been wronged by the government should be assumed to be correct. Everyone should guard against developing the attitude that we are better than, smarter than or more important than any constituent. We do not hold a position of authority over any constituent. We are truly servants of the people who selected us for this job.

Every year from 1973 through 2018, over his three U.S. House terms and six U.S. Senate terms, Cochran shared that memo with every staffer who worked in his offices. The guidance, he said all those years, was a necessary reminder to show respect to the people who offer feedback or need help. He never wanted his staff or himself to forget who sent them to Washington.

The memo, like so many other things, serves as a stark reminder that Cochran was among the last in a bygone era of American politics. The perspective he wrote and shared is a far cry from what Mississippians have been getting recently from our current U.S. senators.

“Surely everybody else has better things to do with their time,” senior U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker said to a room full of constituents earlier this month when asked about calls and emails his office has been getting. After half-heartedly explaining that he does see a list of names of people who reach out to his office, he quipped: “Get a life.”

Wicker’s office said Friday that the senator directed “Get a life” to himself, not to constituents.

Wicker, who typically chooses his words a little more carefully, perhaps has been trying to match his junior colleague’s energy.

“Why is everyone’s head exploding?” U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith said in April to Mississippi constituents who had expressed concerns over slashing federal Medicaid spending. “I can’t understand why everyone’s head is exploding.”

There are many kind staffers working for Republicans Wicker and Hyde-Smith who are helpful to Mississippi constituents in any number of ways privately or behind the scenes. These people care deeply about serving their home state and they do it well, and they cannot help how their bosses address the public. But, boy, their phones must be blowing up more than ever since the senators made these comments.

Consider, for a moment, what it means that we have devolved from having a leader who believed that “a constituent who claims to have been wronged by the government should be assumed to be correct” to one who thinks telling constituents to “get a life” is appropriate. Think about the fact that we replaced a leader who regularly reminded his staff that “we are truly servants of the people who selected us for this job” with one whose gut response to legitimate concerns from constituents is that their “heads are exploding.”

Just … wow. To call it alarming doesn’t fully encapsulate the gravity of their behavior. It’s enough to discourage even the most optimistic among us about the present and future of our state and our nation.

It’s enough to inspire you to ponder, in this intense political climate when unprecedented and harrowing federal government decisions are being made and going largely unchecked every day, whether our current U.S. senators even remember why they’re in Washington, why we sent them there.

It is necessary, in the shortest possible order, to ask and answer for ourselves what we should expect of our elected officials and whether we should feel OK about being dismissed or ignored outright like this.

You don’t have to be a Democrat to think that this behavior is out of line. Plenty of Republicans — some publicly and many privately — are increasingly disturbed by what’s happening in Washington. Regardless of your own personal political beliefs, be honest with yourself about whether you can read these comments from our senators and still feel that your best interests are being represented.

Sadly, we can no longer ask Cochran to help us answer these questions, but it sure seems clear where he’d stand. What about you?

READ MORE: Mississippi, where ‘We Dissent’ means nothing to elected officials

More than 380 students on financial aid at Jackson State University have signed a petition calling on Denise Jones-Gregory, the interim president, and the university’s housing and residence life office to “address an unfair housing crisis” as they scramble to find lodging just days before classes begin. 

Arianna Thomas, who identified herself on the change.org site as a Jackson native and honors elementary education scholar, created the petition Wednesday. She could not be reach for comment.

Students who applied for dorms and financial aid in the spring were removed from their housing assignments without warning, according to the change.org petition. Some were told they were rejected because of unpaid balances or their aid wasn’t applied correctly or delayed. 

As a result, students said they are now left without housing, placed on waiting lists or reassigned to more expensive campus lodging and meal plans costing $3,000 or more. Students said no clear answers have been provided by university officials to address the matter, according to the petition. 

When reached for comment via email by Mississippi Today, university officials said they were aware of the petition and working to address the issue.

“Jackson State University understands the importance of stable housing to our students. We are working directly with students who still need placement, including partner housing that offers shuttle service, security and daily support,” Anthony Howard, media relations specialist with the university, said in an email statement. “While each student’s situation is unique, our Housing and Residence Life team and university partners are also assisting students with cost concerns to ensure they have the resources they need.”

Commenting on the change.org site, Naheeme, a student from Bronx, New York, said, “They have terrible communication when it comes to housing and they makes problems for family’s because that disrupts people money due to not having them having overly expensive housing it’s just not acceptable for a school as good as Jackson State.”

“Students should be provided the housing they paid and waited for,” a student from Houston named Rhylin commented.

“Students need the housing they apply for. Stop prioritizing students that you don’t know will stay over returning students who need housing to continue their education. Graduation rates will surely drop,” said Deona, a student from Jackson.

Last year, former university president Marcus Thompson unsuccessfully pitched a $5 million plan to Mississippi’s college governing board to purchase the Jackson Marriott as a temporary solution to a housing crisis as the school experienced increasing student enrollment in the past years. 

Thompson, who prioritized the issue during his tenure, told board members the school had received roughly 800 more housing applications than it had to accommodate when the campus only had 2,000 available beds. 

For years, the state’s largest HBCU has been trying to secure funding to fix its housing shortage through state legislative support. 

For the 2025-26 academic year, the school leased 106 rooms at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in downtown Jackson for $2.1 million, providing housing for 200 students according to Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning board meeting minutes. The state college governing board approved of the leasing agreement during a July 31 special called meeting. 

Alcorn State University, the state’s oldest land grant university and an HBCU, is also experiencing a housing crunch as dozens of students will be spending their first semester rooming at Magnolia Bluffs Casino Hotel of Natchez, which is owned by Magnolia Bluffs Casino, according to the IHL board’s meeting minutes from a July 18 special session. 

The hotel is approximately 40 miles from the university’s main campus in Lorman. About 100 students will be housed in 50 rooms at the hotel, which is 1 mile away from the casino. Two additional rooms will provide lodging for administrative staff as oversight as Robinson and Burrus Hall, a residence on campus remains offline for repairs. These projects are funded through Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds, which are set to expire next year.

Transportation services will be provided to students, John Pearce, senior associate commissioner of the IHL explained, during the session.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday refused for now to block enforcement of a Mississippi law aimed at regulating the use of social media by children, an issue of growing national concern.

The justices rejected an emergency appeal from a tech industry group, NetChoice, that is challenging laws passed in Mississippi and other states that require social media users to verify their ages. The court had been asked to keep the law on hold while a lawsuit plays out.

There were no noted dissents from the brief, unsigned order. But Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote to say that NetChoice could eventually succeed in showing that the law is indeed unconstitutional.

Kavanaugh said he nevertheless agreed with the court’s decision because the tech group had not shown it would suffer legal harm if the measure went into effect as the lawsuit unfolded.

NetChoice argues that the Mississippi law threatens privacy rights and unconstitutionally restricts the free expression of users of all ages.

A federal judge agreed and prevented the 2024 law from taking effect. But a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in July that the law could be enforced while the lawsuit proceeds.

It’s the latest legal development as court challenges play out against similar laws in states across the country.

Parents and even some teenagers are growing increasingly concerned about the effects of social media use on young people. Supporters of the new laws have said they are needed to help curb the explosive use of social media among young people, and what researchers say is an associated increase in depression and anxiety.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch told the justices that age verification could help protect young people from “sexual abuse, trafficking, physical violence, sextortion, and more,” activities that Fitch noted are not protected by the First Amendment.

NetChoice represents some of the country’s most high-profile technology companies, including Google, which owns YouTube; Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat; and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

NetChoice has filed similar lawsuits in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Utah.

Mark Sherman and Lindsay Whitehurst of The Associated Press reported from Washington.

Change occurs so quickly in the 250th year of our nation’s existence sometimes we feel the need to call timeout, survey the rapidly shifting landscape and wonder: What next? What in Hades happens next?

We have a former Fox Network weekend host in charge of our military. We have a former professional wrestling promoter heading up the Department of Education (which she wants to scrap entirely). We have an anti-vaccine advocate leading the Department of Health and Human Services. Hard to tell these days who are our allies and who are our enemies. Few of our traditional allies trust us anymore. Our president creates, then delays, then reduces and then increases tariffs so often we can’t keep up. 

Indeed, what the heck comes next? 

Well, stop the presses. Now we know what’s next: Cage fighting on the White House grounds, UFC style. Trump has indicated he wants it to happen. His close friend Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), says unequivocally this is going to happen. Paramount, which has been so much in the news lately, will televise it. Millions of dollars will be made. Eyes will be blackened! Brains will be concussed!! Blood will flow!!! Ratings will soar!!!! MAGA!!!!!

Ancient Rome had the Colosseum and gladiators fighting to the death for the entertainment of the emperor. Washington will have cage fighting, no holds barred, at the White House, heretofore a National Historic Landmark so designated for its significance to American history, architecture, arts and culture. At least there will be no lions in the White House cage. Or will there be? Perhaps alligators.

The target date is July 4, 2026. As Trump put it in a speech in Iowa: “We’re going to have a UFC fight, think of this, on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there. … We’re going to have a UFC fight, championship fight, full fight.”

Yes, he really did say we have a lot of land there, leaving out the obvious. It doesn’t take much land for a caged-in, 746-square foot UFC octagon. Besides, there’s not enough room for a golf course, which Trump might prefer.

U.S. presidents have dabbled in sports before, though not quite the way Trump, who owns 17 golf courses worldwide, has immersed himself in golf. Trump in his second term reportedly has played golf on a quarter of the days he has been president, costing taxpayers roughly $70 million in travel and secret service expenses.

Previous presidents have not been quite so active, although Nixon installed a bowling alley in the White House basement. Eisenhower added a putting green on the White House lawn. Clinton added a jogging track to the White House grounds. Obama loved to play pick-up basketball. Most all recent presidents have been huge sports fans. But, at least to my knowledge, Trump is the first UFC aficionado in the White House.

Which brings to my mind this question: Which president would have been best at UFC? My money definitely would be on sturdy Teddy Roosevelt, who boxed at Harvard and sparred at both boxing and judo while president. He was a fitness freak. He also found time as president to save college football, although I’m not at all sure President Teddy would fancy what college football has become.

There are other president-athletes to consider. Abe Lincoln was a champion amateur wrestler and would have had a decided advantage in reach over most presidents. Gerald Ford was a Michigan football star who played on two national championship teams and was the Wolverines’ MVP as a senior. Ford was in the trenches, a center on offense and a linebacker on defense. This was back before facemasks. Clearly, he was a tough guy.

William Howard Taft, our 27th president, was a varsity heavyweight wrestler at Yale. In retrospect, it seems a shame sumo wrestling wasn’t popular in the early 20th century. Taft, 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighing just over 350 pounds, would have been a natural.

On the local front, you don’t have to read Mississippi Today daily to know that Mississippi’s current political leaders often follow President Trump’s lead. Indeed, there seems a highly competitive contest to see which Mississippi politico can get the tightest grip on Trump’s coattails. They all want to follow Trump’s blueprint and make Mississippi great again.

With that in mind, can UFC fighting at the Governor’s Mansion, right there on Capitol Street, be far behind?

Think of the possibilities. For starters, how about Shad White vs. Andy Gipson? Who you got?

Clarification: This column was updated to reflect that the United States of America is in its 250th year of existence.

Baristas serve pie as the walls shake with noise at Urban Foxes coffee shop near downtown Jackson. It’s nighttime, and the 88-year-old house with hardwood floors and lots of windows is now a venue for an alternative music show where local artists shred electric guitar against recordings of cicadas and static.

T-shirts for Mississippi band Filth Eternal sit on a merch table next to a used copy of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Audience members wear orange paper wristbands. Outside, artists smoke cigarettes and pull equipment out of cars. After the show ends, all proceeds are donated to the Animal Rescue Fund of Mississippi.

The July 25 show was one of many in Jackson’s DIY scene. Jackson DIY is decades-old and encompasses a wide range of alternative music genres, including punk, metal, noise and hardcore, as well as independent publications, like zines.

DIY stands for “do-it-yourself.” According to Lucy Isadora, one organizer of Jackson DIY shows, the style is characterized by a lack of industry influence on artists. Local people organize shows and post flyers to Instagram. Isadora often hosts traveling artists at her house. Bands split money made from shows, which generally have an entry fee of $10 to $15.

Isadora has booked bands like Alien Nosejob at the bar and restaurant CS’s and annually organizes the punk show Brisket’s Birthday Bash to honor her dog, Brisket. 

“Obviously, my dog does not go to his birthday party because it’s a punk show, and, like, that’s not really fun if you’re a dog,” Isadora said. “But, every year that we’ve done it, we’ve been able to raise a decent amount of money for animal shelters.”

Arin, who goes only by her first name, started attending Jackson DIY shows two years ago and now covers the scene in her publication JXN Underground. She also books performances and hosts local artists on her podcast. She said traveling bands love Jackson once they play a show.

“I guess it’s that old Southern charm, but they’re always so pleased to be here. And I think it works out well that way, because this scene is so small,” Arin said. “It’s very intimate. Everybody really does know everybody.”

Though local and tight-knit, Jackson’s DIY scene has attracted bands from as far away as Poland. Punk artists have been playing in Mississippi’s capital city for decades. 

J.D. Burns has attended punk and hardcore shows in Jackson for over 20 years. Arin called him an “old head.” 

Burns said some of his first shows were at a “really seedy, kind of dangerous bar” called W.C. Don’s. He explained how, unlike today, Jackson punk bands in the early 2000s had a reputation for being rowdy and intoxicated.

“They were much more bratty, drunk, older people, not quite street punk, not mohawks and chains and leather jackets, but just gnarly, gnarly people,” Burns said.

Bands used to appear in weekly show bills released by the Jackson Free Press, now known as the Mississippi Free Press.

Churches also served as DIY venues in the Jackson area in the early 2000s, when there was a boom in Christian metal and hardcore. Since the bands were Christian, churches allowed them to play.

W.C. Don’s and many of the old bars are closed, and churches no longer have metal shows, Burns said. Now, bands advertise themselves on Instagram, and many of today’s venues, like Sunflower Oven and Urban Foxes, allow fans of all ages.

“Right now, Jackson has the best, most diverse scene that it’s had in a long time, maybe ever,” Burns said. “We can also acknowledge that it’s all based on experience.”

The flyer for the July 25 DIY show at Urban Foxes depicted a black cat in an ornate flowery frame with the headline: “A Night of Noise Benefitting Animal Rescue Fund of Mississippi.” The show was pay-what-you-can, and attendees were invited to donate shelter supplies such as cat food instead of money.

Four artists played: Raven Weather, that which waits beyond sleep, INDOLE and The Sky Imposed its Will ….

The acts belong to the experimental noise genre, where artists integrate noises that are sometimes thought of as nonmusical into their work. 

Before the first set, INDOLE, whose stage name refers to an aroma chemical found in both feces and flowers, sat by the front steps.

Show attendees could also pull zines from Landmass Library, which is run by Isadora and distributes free DIY publications. 

One zine, written by a punk ER doctor, discusses what to expect when visiting the emergency room. Other zines focus on immigrants’ rights, queer issues and Black Lives Matter – topics Isadora said “are really important to me but are getting squashed by the current administration.”

Many of the night’s music artists belonged to multiple projects at once. Burns, who runs the noise project “that which waits beyond sleep,” is also in the band Kicking. 

“Please put in your article that I think everyone should start a band,” Isadora said. “And, even if your band sucks, I will come see your band at least once. But, if you suck, I might not come back again.”

Isadora bought a guitar so she could learn to play for Hammer and the Tools. She is left-handed, but, initially, had mistakenly bought a right-handed guitar. She gave that guitar to Arin, who is now learning to play. 

Arin explained that, for people interested, the best thing to do is just go to a show.

“I certainly didn’t know that I was going to be doing all this when I went to my first show,” Arin said. “I was just trying to get out of the house, so it can really open up some doors that you might not even consider.”

Correction 8/14/2025: This story has been updated to show that J.D. Burns is also in the band Kicking.

This year marks what would have been Emmett Till’s 84th birthday, and 70 years since the Black teenager was kidnapped and lynched in Mississippi. The Two Mississippi Museums and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center are holding events dedicated to Till and the impact of his death, inspired by the anniversaries. 

The side-by-side museums in Jackson – the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Museum of Mississippi History –  continued a tradition of conducting tours on Till’s birthday, July 25. Visitors sat in the center of the civil rights museum, where a guide recounted Till’s story and its impact on the Civil Rights Movement. People could also enter a small gallery to watch a documentary about his life.

DeSean Dyson, a Jackson native, said he considers Till’s life essential to his own work. His job takes him around the U.S. to promote peace and justice initiatives.

“It’s very important to me, as I have a 10-year-old, a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old, that they stay rooted and connected to this history,” said Dyson, a former educator who took his sons to tour the museums. 

He said teachings about Till should emphasize his humanity.

“Like, it’s really important how we frame Emmett’s death as being inspiring to a generation, but Emmett’s life mattered a lot,” Dyson said.

Michael Morris, director of the Two Mississippi Museums, said he wants people to understand the broad context of Till’s life and death.

“I hope visitors learn about not just the fact that he was murdered, which is important, but also the fact that his life really did stimulate, encourage, inspire a lot of youth his age to become a part of the modern Civil Rights Movement,” Morris said.

Longtime civil rights activist Hezekiah Watkins of Jackson volunteers at the civil rights museum in various roles, often speaking about his life story. In 1961, he was just 13 when he was arrested at Jackson’s Greyhound bus station. Authorities thought he was part of the Freedom Riders, a racially integrated group of young people who rode interstate buses through the South to challenge segregation. Watkins and the Freedom Riders were sent to the Mississippi State Penitentiary and housed on death row.

Watkins recounted that when he told his mother he was joining the Civil Rights Movement, she used Till’s death as a warning: “She said, ‘You remember me telling you about Emmett Till?’ She said, ‘The same thing that happened to Emmett will happen to you.’

“I guess I really didn’t care,” Watkins said, “because I didn’t know that we was living in bondage … I didn’t know we was living as slaves, per se.”

In August 1955, 14-year-old Till traveled from Chicago to the Mississippi Delta to visit his cousins. Till and other young Black people went to buy snacks one day at Bryant’s Grocery & Meat Market in the tiny community of Money. Till’s cousin Simeon Wright later said he heard Till whistle at the white storekeeper, Carolyn Bryant, as they left.

Days later, a group that included Carolyn’s husband Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam kidnapped Till from the home of Moses Wright, Till’s great-uncle. They beat Till, shot him and dumped him in the Tallahatchie River, using barbed wire to attach a 75-pound cotton gin fan to him. His body was discovered three days later, decomposed beyond recognition except for his father’s ring on one of his fingers.

Mississippi authorities wanted a quick burial, but Till’s mother Mamie Till-Mobley requested his body be returned to Chicago. After seeing the horrific condition of her son’s corpse, she insisted on an open-casket funeral so the world could see what had happened. 

Jet magazine published a photo of Till’s mutilated body at his funeral, launching the killing into an international news story. Weeks later, an all-white jury in Mississippi acquitted Milam and Bryant of murdering Till. Outrage over the injustice of the case helped launch the Civil Rights Movement, inspiring many Black people to openly oppose Jim Crow.

Today, the courthouse where Till’s killers were acquitted is restored and is a National Park Service site. The restoration was done by the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, formed in 2006 by Jerome G. Little, the Tallahatchie County Board of Supervisors’ first Black president.

The commission was dedicated to remembering Till and healing racial division. It went on to become a nonprofit organization and establish the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner. 

The center is hosting a Till commemoration Aug. 28-30 at Mississippi Valley State University’s Walter Roberts Auditorium.

Benjamin Saulsberry is the museum’s public engagement and education director. He said the impact of Till’s death is still felt today by people who remember the terrible events of that hot Mississippi summer.

“We’re talking about people who are still alive with us, people who were lawmakers or about to become lawmakers themselves … and in turn, their ideologies and their spaces have helped – or in some ways maybe not helped — shape the world that we live in today,” he said.

The three-day commemoration will focus on Till, his mother and the impact of Till’s lynching in the Delta. The programming includes a theatrical performance, an award-winning biographical exhibit and panels with people discussing their accounts of watching Till’s story. Registration for the commemoration is on the center’s website.

Saulsberry hopes visitors come away from the commemoration knowing more about Till and the Delta, that they feel inspired to continue learning and that they know they can create change in their own lives.

He acknowledged Till’s death was a tragedy, but said people should remember the action it inspired. 

“And I want to be clear that it marks the 70th year after his murder, but also marks the 70th year of Mrs. Mamie Till making the decision she made that would help basically, bring us to another part of the Civil Rights Movement,” Saulsberry said. “It’s the 70th year anniversary point of recognition where Mr. Moses Wright stands up in that courtroom and points directly at Milam and Bryant, knowing he was putting his own life at risk.” 

Hard to believe the Mississippi football season opens later this month. Not so hard to believe is that the Clevelands have looked ahead at the schedule and picked the five most interesting high school and college football games on the schedule. A hint: You don’t have to wait long for one some of the most intriguing games, both high school and college.

Stream all episodes here.

Morgan Freeman had a simple message for people attending the Mississippi Early Learning Alliance’s inaugural fundraising luncheon on Tuesday. 

When asked what advice he’d give to an 8-year-old in Mississippi with big dreams, Freeman said just three words: “Get a book.”

Freeman, an Academy Award-winning actor, headlined the “Big Voices for Little Children” fundraiser for the alliance, which is dedicated to improving early learning and child development outcomes. 

More than 200 advocates, politicians and local leaders attended the luncheon, including Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and blues musician Bobby Rush. The event was hosted at the Two Mississippi Museums in downtown Jackson and primarily sponsored by TrueCare, a nonprofit created by Mississippi hospitals as an alternative to traditional managed care.

The luncheon comes at a critical time for early learning in Mississippi and on the heels of statewide reading gains that have garnered national attention. That wasn’t lost on speakers at the event, including Freeman. 

Executive director Biz Harris opened the fundraiser by underscoring how important successful early education systems are to the state’s success as a whole. 

“Every single day in Mississippi, nearly 100 new babies are born,” she said. “That’s 100 new beginnings — 100 new chances for our state to make the future a little stronger and a little brighter.”

She listed a number of initiatives aimed at improving early learning in Mississippi, including Hosemann’s task force on families and children and the successful passage of a bill that guarantees six weeks of paid parental leave for state employees. 

Harris also detailed her personal struggles with child care — struggles that almost prevented her from accepting her current job. 

Almost a decade ago, she was offered a position by SonEdna, the organization founded by Freeman that helped launch the alliance. It was her dream job, she said, but she couldn’t find child care for her 2-year-old son. After calling every local program, Harris said, she pieced together a child care plan for her son, but it wasn’t ideal. For nine months, her son bounced between programs. 

“He was safe, he was cared for, he was learning, but that constant transition shaped his development and comfort with new situations in ways that we still see him struggle with as a sixth grader,” she said. “I share this because what babies experience in those early years matters so much. It affects their education and their health for the rest of their lives.”

Freeman said his own education in Greenwood influenced his trajectory as an actor and advocate for children’s education, which led to his role as polyester-clad Easy Reader on education children’s television show “The Electric Company” in the 1970s.

As people ate lunch, Freeman recounted stories from his childhood and shared his love of reading.

“When I was 8 years old and living in Chicago, I had a library card,” he said. “My first book that didn’t have pictures was ‘Black Beauty.’ So there I was, reading, reading, reading. And my penchant for adventure came from those books.”

Freeman regaled the audience with other personal tidbits, too, like his version of a perfect day in Mississippi (“riding horses”) and what kind of student he was in school (“a teacher’s pet”). 

But he kept coming back to reading.

“There are marvelous things in books,” Freeman said. “You can learn anything in the world. … All of the things I’ve done — flying, sailing, acting — are because of books.”

President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced his nomination of James Maxwell and Robert Chamberlin, two Mississippi Supreme Court justices, to vacant federal judicial seats in northern Mississippi. 

Pending Senate confirmation of the nominations, Gov. Tate Reeves will appoint two state high court justices temporarily, then special elections will be held in November of 2026.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, his social media platform, where he said the two justices, if confirmed, would uphold the Constitution and the rule of law. Both Chamberlin and Maxwell, through the state Administrative Office of the Court’s public information officer, declined to comment.

The two nominations will go before the U.S. Senate for confirmation. Both of Mississippi’s Republican U.S. senators, Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, commended Trump for nominating the two jurists and said they supported their confirmation. 

“I want to thank President Donald Trump for his nomination of two solid and experienced jurists for the U.S. District Court,” Wicker said in a statement. “I wholeheartedly support Justice Chamberlin and Justice Maxwell and look forward to their speedy confirmation.”

Maxwell earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Mississippi. Former Gov. Haley Barbour in February of 2009 appointed Maxwell to the state Court of Appeals. Maxwell was elected to the post in 2010 and reelected in 2014. Former Gov. Phil Bryant appointed him to the state Supreme Court in January 2016. He was later elected to an eight-year term in November of 2016 and reelected in 2024.

Chamberlin earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Mississippi. He first served as a state circuit court judge for 12 years in the 17th Circuit District. In 2016, he was elected to an open seat on the state Supreme Court and reelected in 2024. 

Before becoming a judge, Chamberlin was a member of the state Senate for five years, representing DeSoto County. 

Chamberlin and Maxwell will replace U.S. District Judges Michael Mills and Sharion Aycock, both of whom decided to take senior status in recent years. 

It’s unclear who Reeves might appoint to fill the vacancies. He has previously filled judicial vacancies on the state Court of Appeals with prosecutors or circuit court judges with prosecutorial experience, such as the appointments of Judge John Weddle and Judge John Emfinger.

LaQuita Glasper said living at Blossom Apartments the last few weeks has felt like being in jail. 

On July 23, JXN Water disconnected service to the complex in south Jackson, leaving about 20 families without access to running water. Now, the residents have orders to vacate.

Hundreds more Jacksonians could be forced from their homes if the private water utility continues a crackdown that has already led residents in two apartment complexes to flee. 

“We’re not gonna be able to move and pick up in five days,” Glasper said Saturday as officials scrambled to temporarily restore water and deal with the fallout. “We need more time.”

The utility has remained mum about the specific properties where it plans to discontinue service next, though concerned residents are encouraged to call JXN Water 601-500-5200 to get a status update on their property.

Glasper, 44, has lived at Blossom with her mother for four years. She said she doesn’t invite visitors because of safety concerns.

She said she has her eyes set on another complex, The Park at St. Andrews. But that apartment is also behind on its water bill, according to JXN Water.

The utility previously released a list of 15 complexes that had delinquent water bills of more than $100,000, plus 141 total accounts across the city are considered past due. Some of the properties have signed on to a payment plan. The utility said it has declined to name the complexes that have refused and could be at risk of shutoffs, “to avoid triggering confusion or panic among tenants.”

But advocates and caseworkers for low-income and homeless Jacksonians are bracing.

“This is in some ways starting to feel like a practice run,” said Jill Buckley, director of Stewpot Community Services, which is using a federal emergency housing grant to help Blossom residents relocate. 

Mayor John Horhn secured a federal judge’s order last Friday temporarily restoring water to Blossom until Wednesday. Because the complex is a low-income housing development, oversight agency Mississippi Home Corporation stepped in, labeling the property unsafe and forcing residents to leave. 

 ”It really been like a horror movie. It kind of reminds me of Hurricane Katrina. People are running here and there trying to get water,” said Chante Robinson-Baxter, another Blossom tenant. She receives disability payments and has lived at the complex for 13 years.

Mississippi Home Corporation Director Scott Spivey, who has headed the agency for a decade, said it was the first time in his tenure it exercised this authority.

“I would love to say that there’s never going to be a next time but there’s going to be a next time,” Spivey said Tuesday.

Many of the low-income residents of these apartments have paid their water bills, combined with their monthly rent. The utility shut off water to residents at Blossom, claiming its owner owes $422,000, on July 23, followed by another south Jackson complex, Chapel Ridge, on Aug. 1. 

“I’ve just been pleading my case with JXN Water, ‘Please don’t displace these residents,’ because they’re doing what they’re supposed to do,” said Allison Cox, director of the Jackson Housing Authority, which administers federal housing vouchers to residents in Jackson, including one who lived at Blossom. 

JXN Water’s policy is to post signs notifying residents of impending shutoffs. But the utility’s spokesperson, Aisha Carson, said Blossom’s property manager removed the notices, “leading to confusion and misinformation among residents.”

Cox and JXN Water have been in constant contact, so she knows how much of a moving target the shutoffs have become. One day, she gets word that a complex might lose service. The next, the owner has signed a repayment agreement. 

“It’s changing all the time,” Cox said.

Tenants and advocates met Tuesday evening at Stewpot to discuss their options. If anything, the Blossom situation has demonstrated how community partners can mobilize to address shutoffs in the future. 

Tonia Cowart, a local real estate agent and Stewpot’s housing navigator, said she uses all available resources – secretary of state’s office filings, county tax records, news reports and her own eyes – to vet units before placing her clients there. 

“My best work is done with boots on the ground, and I get up and go see, and I do this on a daily basis,” Cowart said.

Before JXN Water released the names of the 15 delinquent apartment complexes, though, she wouldn’t have known not to refer people there. 

Mississippi Today reached out to the 15 complexes on the list of highest delinquent accounts. The only response came from The Park at St. Andrews, with manager Reuven Oded saying the complex has been dealing with the Jackson water “saga” for years and tried unsuccessfully to resolve the issue.

“We are hopeful that now that the Federal Receiver is in place we will have all billing and usage matters resolved in the very near future,” Oded said in an email.

Blossom Apartments owner Tony Little’s troubles with JXN Water, including hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of charges he says are impossible, began more than a year ago. Little said he doesn’t have enough money to cover the bill.

“The bill is simply not correct, but today we’re talking about displaced tenants … It’s the actual people who are on the ground that we have to protect,” Little said. “This is no longer just about who’s right and who’s wrong.”

Carson said that while she cannot speak on individual accounts, JXN Water is now implementing two systems for transparency. 

Starting in September, the utility will be publishing a list of the 15 complexes with the largest outstanding balances, and it is also allowing call center staff to respond to requests for information on accounts if the resident can provide proof that they live in a particular complex. 

“We’re making this decision because tenants have to know ahead of time whether or not their apartment complex owner is behind on their water bill,” Carson said. “We want to be able to point them towards the source of truth about it.”

Jackson reporter Molly Minta and editor Anna Wolfe contributed to this report.