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Nicole Akins Boyd, R-Oxford, a first-term state senator, talks with Mississippi Today’s Geoff Pender and Bobby Harrison about ways to improve the lives of mothers and children in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. She is chairing the nine-member Senate Study Group on Women, Children and Families created by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann.
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In Mississippi, like Kansas, the Supreme Court has said the state Constitution provides a right to an abortion.
The Kansas Supreme Court made its ruling in 2019. The Mississippi ruling came in 1998.
In an effort to supersede the Kansas Supreme Court ruling, the Legislature placed on the ballot a proposal to proclaim that the state Constitution does not include abortion rights.
That proposal was defeated Tuesday by Kansas voters by a 59% to 41% margin, meaning abortion remains legal in the state viewed as one of the most conservative in the nation.
Mississippi’s Supreme Court ruling said, “While we do not interpret our Constitution as recognizing an explicit right to an abortion, we believe that autonomous bodily integrity is protected under the right to privacy … Protected within the right of autonomous bodily integrity is an implicit right to have an abortion.”
There are two ways to reverse that 1998 Supreme Court ruling. The high court in a new case could overturn it. But since there is no abortion case pending before the Supreme Court, it is difficult to ascertain how such a reversal could occur. Another option would be to attempt what Kansas tried to do and amend the Constitution to state explicitly there is no right to an abortion. Like in Kansas, the proposal to amend the Constitution also would require voter approval.
The question then is whether the outcome in Mississippi would be different than in Kansas. Most observers were surprised that the anti-abortion proposal in Kansas was defeated. Mississippi Center for Justice attorney Rob McDuff, who has defended abortion rights, said he is not so sure the outcome here would be different than in Kansas.
“Mississippi is a conservative state in many ways, but a lot of people here believe in the rights of the individual and believe government should not dictate a person’s beliefs,” McDuff said. “For centuries, people have debated and disagreed about the fundamental question of when life begins.”
McDuff continued: “When a woman is faced with the possibility of carrying a pregnancy inside her own body and bearing a child against her will, I think most Mississippians believe this is a decision for her to make in light of her own beliefs, and perhaps in consultation with her family and her doctor and her pastor, and not a decision for the majority of the state Legislature. That is what Mississippians said the last time they were asked this question in 2011, when, by a wide margin, they voted no on an amendment that would have banned abortion for purposes of our state Constitution. I expect the answer would be the same today. Recent polling in Mississippi bears that out.”
A recent poll commissioned by the ACLU of Mississippi found 51% opposed the overturning of Roe v. Wade that provided a national right to an abortion.
In 2012, after Mississippi voters rejected the so-called “personhood” amendment that stated life begins at conception, Speaker Philip Gunn authored a resolution saying abortion was not a constitutional right. That resolution died in the House Constitution Committee. Had it been passed by a two-thirds vote of both legislative chambers and been approved by voters, it would have overturned the 1998 Supreme Court ruling saying the Mississippi Constitution granted the right to an abortion.
Gunn, who was in his first year as speaker in 2012, said recently he did not remember details about the proposal. When asked if the House might take up a similar proposal in the 2023 session, he said, “We are looking at a lot of things.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, ignoring the Supreme Court ruling, recently said, “I don’t think we need a constitutional amendment in Mississippi because we have a state statute which speaks to that. The only abortion clinic that operated in our state is now closed, I don’t know that it has to be in the Constitution.”
It’s true that laws banning most abortions in the state went into effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the national constitutional right to an abortion in a landmark case from Mississippi. The practical effect of those laws is that abortions are not being performed in Mississippi.
But that 1998 decision hangs out there. At some point, there could be a conflict in the Mississippi judicial system between that constitutional right to an abortion as cited by the Mississippi Supreme Court and the normally lesser-in-the-eyes of the judiciary laws or statutes.
At the very least, by ignoring that Supreme Court ruling, a precedent is being established in the state that the Mississippi Supreme Court can be — well, ignored.
A simple way to resolve the conflict between state law and the Mississippi Constitution is to let the people vote like they did in Kansas.
Joseph Pilates, a German physical fitness trainer, developed a series of exercises for the body and mind as an effective way to alleviate the aches and pains of dancers.
Controlled breathing, fluid movements using lower back and abdominal muscles, tone and shape without the pain associated with high-impact exercises. Over time, “Pilates,” as it’s come to be known, has become a popular alternative to the grind of a gym workout.
Angela Brown opened her Pilates of Jackson studio 13 years ago at the Canton Mart Square shopping center, located in northeast Jackson.
Walking into Pilates of Jackson, you’re immediately breathing in and exhaling slowly. The lighting is dim, a calming ambiance, filled with giggles, light banter and the aroma of scented candles. A decorative, painted stone above the door reads, “Namaste y’all.”
Brown is welcoming, encouraging and demanding without being a drill sergeant. Her charges follow her lead in swirling legs in circles, holding balls between knees while lifting and holding rumps high in the air, or gently shadow-boxing using a series of spring-controlled pulleys.
“Lift up and hold it,” Brown tells a class of women, slowly counting backwards to the sounds of their collective relief. “C’mon, ladies. One more set, and then we’ll take a break.” Sighs fill the air, and the leg lifts begin again.
In her mid-50s, Brown is a testament to the benefits of practicing what she teaches.
“I was always a gym rat. After having three kids, I wasn’t happy with how my body changed,” said Brown, while stretching using a series of straps and pulleys. “I worked out, killing myself, but never really lost weight. I fell in love with Pilates and joined a studio in Ridgeland.”
As the women’s session ends, a group of Jackson State football players are the next group to file in. Brown greets them all by name as they prepare for their session.
“See these guys breaking a sweat?” Brown asks, her hand sweeping in a semi-circle to include all the grunting and grinning young men. “They never would’ve believed this kind of exercise could help them. They’re believers now,” she says with a satisfied smile.
A few groans in agreement emanate from the footballers.
Brown works the room, adjusting the placement of a foot, the bend of a knee or the height of lifted legs.
“Being a mom of three, Pilates helped me get back to my pre-baby shape with a stronger core, better balance and flexibility,” she said, while kicking off her sandals to join the young men. “Pilates began to change my mind, body and spirit. It’s a series of core exercises where the leaner muscle you build, the more weight you lose. It focuses on a lengthened and stronger core. Being low-impact, your joints and muscle don’t hurt, and it’s still a great workout.”
“Isn’t that right, fellas? Okay. Everybody take five,” Brown says, releasing the group from a series of core building leg lifts.
Four-year-olds enrolled in state-funded pre-K through Head Start did not perform as well as their counterparts enrolled through school districts last school year, which state officials attributed to more time spent in virtual learning.
Early learning collaboratives (ELCs) are one form of public pre-K, made up of partnerships among school districts, Head Start agencies, childcare centers, and nonprofit groups. Collaboratives follow the same curriculum and share professional development opportunities and resources, with the goal of providing all students enrolled with the same quality of instruction.
Last month, the Mississippi Department of Education released the most recent results from the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, which measures public pre-K and kindergarten students on their early literacy skills. It is used as an instructional baseline for teachers, and students who meet their benchmark score have been shown to become proficient in reading by the end of third grade. This spring, 48% of students in an ELC through Head Start met the benchmark score, while 71% of the other ELC students did.
Edshundra Gary, the Greenwood Leflore School District’s early learning director, attributed this decline to a few weeks of lost instructional time teaching students who never attended daycare how to behave in a classroom and how to observe COVID safety protocols.
Students who participate through Head Start, a federally-funded program that promotes school readiness in children from low-income families, are shown in data from previous years to score a little bit below their ELC counterparts, but still score well above the state benchmark for reading readiness. During the pandemic, all students started lower, but the gap between Head Start students and other participants widened compared to previous years.
Jill Dent, the bureau director of early childhood for the Mississippi Department of Education, primarily attributed this difference to virtual learning. While it did vary locally, she said more Head Start students were virtual than other ELC students.
Despite this, Dent expressed confidence that students will be back on track with their reading scores soon.
“This next kindergarten year is really going to help them,” she said. “They’ll have a solid full year in school, and I expect they’ll catch up and be back on track by the end of the year.”
Leigh Ann Reynolds, director of early childhood for the Sunflower County Consolidated School District, has also identified ways that the gaps can be made up. The Delta Health Alliance, which operates Head Starts in the county, also has a summer program which she said has been shown to get children to the correct benchmarks by the end of the summer.
This discrepancy may be resolved soon, as every Head Start in Mississippi will be fully returning to in-person instruction this fall according to the Mississippi Head Start Association. Nita Thompson, executive director of the organization, said it was a combination of federal guidance and local decision making whether to keep students virtual over the last two years, but that being able to resume home visits and engage parents in the classroom will help students get back on track.
Thompson also pointed out that there are still significant benefits to participating in pre-K programs, including emotional and cognitive development and learning to form relationships outside the home. Research has also shown that participation in early learning decreases the likelihood of students getting held back and increases the likelihood of graduating from high school.
Thompson said that a student’s early learning experience is not only impacted by time spent in person, but also by community resources like access to transportation, parks and playgrounds, healthy food options, and healthcare.
“All of those things will impact development, and particularly attendance, and we know that there is a direct correlation between attendance and growth,” she said.
Micayla Tatum, associate director of early childhood policy at Mississippi First, elaborated on this point, saying Head Start, by design, serves students from a low socio-economic status, which research shows means they are more likely to struggle with literacy because of higher levels of stress. She also said that low socio-economic status individuals were also more vulnerable to the impacts of the pandemic, which results in many Head Start students needing additional assistance to achieve at the same level as their peers.
“Families recognize that their children haven’t learned as much these past two years as they would have in a full-time program, so I think families are also ready to re-engage and connect to make sure their children make those gains,” Thompson said.
House Speaker Philip Gunn did not put rumors about his political future to rest during the Neshoba County Fair.
The third-term speaker told Mississippi Today last week that he is in a “constant evaluation” about whether he will run for governor, for another term as speaker or not run for anything at all. That indecision has left many members in the 122-member House of Representatives openly questioning what they should expect in the final year of the term.
Normally by this time in a four-year term, speakers planning to remain in office for another term go out of their way to allay speculation about their future. Traditionally, speakers want to affirm their commitment to presiding over the often contentious chamber to fend off potential challengers. Any sign of an open speaker’s post or uncertainty draws potential candidates like bees to honey, and running a lower legislative chamber is hard enough without questions and doubts about the leadership. And power abhors a vacuum.
“I honestly don’t know what’s going on, and I’m not sure that anybody knows right now,” said longtime Rep. Manly Barton, R-Moss Point. “… (Gunn) running for governor was the rumor we’ve all heard, but there’s been no announcement. He has never addressed it with me … We heard it pretty much during the session last year up until a month ago … There’s been a lot of conjecture, guessing based on what we’ve been seeing — (Speaker Pro Tem Jason White) fundraising, and the assumption there was fixing to be a change in leadership … There’s been no announcement, and we had been led to believe there was be an announcement.”
Barton continued: “It can get squirrelly if people are not sure who the leadership is going to be or what the leadership team looks like, when things are unsettled. That’s the reason members are calling around trying to find out who’s on first and who’s on second.”
Rep. John Hines, D-Greenville, said, “Absolutely people are talking about it. But I have not personally had the speaker tell me he is not running. But people are discussing it.”
The numerous rumors about Gunn’s future prompted colorful state Rep. Michael Evans, an independent from Kemper County, to announce during his speech last week at the Neshoba County Fair — one day before Gunn spoke — that he was endorsing White, R-West, as the next speaker.
“I don’t know anything for sure,” Evans said when asked he if he was certain Gunn was stepping down and White, perhaps Gunn’s closest lieutenant in the House, was running for speaker. “I have heard things like everyone else that Gunn is leaving. But he has not said. I don’t know.”
Evans added, “Everybody said Jason is going to run for speaker. I went ahead and threw my support out there just in case.”
At the same time, Evans pointed outGunn needed to come back for one more term to be fully vested in the state retirement system and to be able to draw his full pension. He questioned whether he would give up that retirement.
“Maybe that is not that important to him,” Evans said.
Of course, if some of the rumors are true, Gunn might not lose his state pension in his new position. For months, it has been rumored that Gunn was considering a challenge of Gov. Tate Reeves in the 2023 Republican primary. In recent weeks, though, those rumors have cooled off.
There also has been speculation associating Gunn with the vacant post of executive director of the Mississippi Community and Junior College Board and with the vacant position of head of the Mississippi Development Authority. Ironically, Reeves would appoint the MDA executive director. And to take either post, it appears Gunn would have to retire sooner rather than later.
To perhaps add credence to some of the rumors, White has been fundraising statewide, appearing to stand in for Gunn in some instances.
White could not be reached for comment.
“I don’t see a scenario where Jason runs against Philip,” said House Ways and Means Chair Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, who is close to both legislators. “I don’t see that happening.”
Of course, the main person spurring the rumors is Gunn by not saying unequivocally he is running for re-election to his state House seat, which includes portions of Hinds and Madison counties, and to the post of speaker.
In the summer of 2002 rumors began percolating that four-term incumbent Speaker Tim Ford was not seeking re-election in 2003. Reacting to those rumors, Ford, a Baldwyn Democrat, released a statement in the summer of 2002 that if anything helped to spur the rumors instead of quelling them. He said he would make a final announcement in October.
In October of that year, the Legislature was in the midst of one the longest and infamous special sessions in state history — an 83-day special session on the issue of making changes to the civil justice system to make it more difficult to sue businesses. Some have speculated that the uncertainty of Ford’s future made the normally powerful speaker unable to control the House, prolonging the special session. In reality, though, there also were other difficult factors that prolonged the special session.
At any rate, in December 2002, just before the start of the final legislative session of the four-year term, Ford finally made his announcement: He would not seek re-election.
For much of the 2003 session, various House members jockeyed for the open seat. Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, prevailed and served two terms as speaker. McCoy announced his retirement after the final session of his second four-year term.
He was succeeded by Gunn. The question now is will Gunn vie for his fourth term as speaker, attempting to tie Ford as the second longest serving speaker in state history.
Besides White, Barton is among a handful of lawmakers who have been mentioned as a potential speaker or pro tem in the future.
“I’ve never shied away from that,” Barton said. “I would certainly enjoy being in a leadership role. I don’t think it’s a secret I want to be in a leadership role — not necessarily speaker, but in leadership.”
The reason there are questions about the leadership of the House, Lamar said, is that he does not believe Gunn has made a final decision on his political future.
Mississippi Today presents a members-only exclusive event via Zoom on Monday, August 15 at 6 p.m. featuring a live conversation and Q&A with award-winning chef and now author Vishwesh Bhatt, hosted by managing editor Kayleigh Skinner. Read a full review of Bhatt’s new book.
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A native of Gujarat, India, Bhatt later moved to the United States where he’s become known for his inventive dishes that bring southern staples together with subcontinent cuisine, such as Peanut Masala–Stuffed Baby Eggplant and Collard-Wrapped Catfish with a spicy Peanut Pesto. He is 2019 Southern Living’s Southerner of the Year, 2019 James Beard Foundation Best Chef South, and was inducted into the Fellowship of Southern Farmers, Artisans, and Chefs in 2022. Bhatt has been a part of Chef John Currence’s City Grocery Restaurant Group since 1997, becoming executive chef of Snackbar in Oxford, Miss., in 2009. I Am From Here debuts August 16 and is a collection of recipes and stories from his unique perspective as a southern chef.
Vishwesh Bhatt, executive chef of Snackbar. Credit: Angie Mosier Credit: Angie Mosier
Gov. Tate Reeves on Wednesday said he’s “pushing back on the left” by pulling Mississippi out of a federal pandemic rental assistance program and plans to send any unspent dollars back to Washington.
Reeves said “Mississippi’s economy is booming,” unemployment is at a record low, and the rental assistance program has been incentivizing people to stay out of the workforce by offering up to 15 months of rental and utility bill assistance.
“There is a job available for virtually every Mississippian who wants to work,” Reeves said at a press conference on Wednesday. “These socialist experiment programs being pushed from Washington are cruel, like a bookie offering free cash but never mentioning the downside.”
Advocates who help people with rental assistance said Reeves’ decision will hurt Mississippians — many of whom are working but struggling to pay all of their living expenses.
“This is not a good day,” said Gwen Bouie-Haynes, the executive director of the National Association of Social Workers-Mississippi Chapter, which has helped residents sign up for the program. “… This will result in more people living on the street in Jackson and across the state of Mississippi.”
Reeves said he’s unsure how much money is left and will be returned to Washington. The COVID-19 federal rental assistance program started in 2020 with the first round of pandemic funding for states and continued last year with a subsequent funding program. Mississippi was allocated about $340 million in assistance. Reeves said Wednesday that the state has spent about $200 million. He said that 86,146 people applied for the program and that 36,889 were approved for assistance.
Reeves said he’s ordering the Mississippi Home Corporation to stop taking applications for the Rental Assistance for Mississippians Program on Aug. 15.
Reeves said that early on, the program required people to show proof of unemployment or hardship related to the pandemic, but that was later waived. He said ending the program will not affect applications already submitted or those made before Aug. 15. He said emergency rental and utility assistance programs that existed before the pandemic will also continue.
“My top priority is making Mississippi the best place in the nation to live and to work and to raise a family, and that’s impossible to achieve if able-bodied people aren’t working,” Reeves said.
In February, Mississippi Today reported, based on information provided by the Home Corporation, that 66% of the applicants approved to receive funds through the program were employed, and the majority are Black and female.
The latest U.S. Census data available, for the week ending July 11, showed that 44.5% of adult Mississippians surveyed reported being behind on their rent or mortgage, with eviction or foreclosure in the next two months being either very likely or somewhat likely.
At the same time period last year, 60.5% reported eviction or foreclosure as likely. At times during the pandemic, Mississippi led the nation in the percentage of people reporting likelihood of eviction or foreclosure.
Various groups, such as the NAACP and Children’s Defense Fund stepped in to help Mississippians sign up for the program after the state received national attention on both the local and national level for a slow rollout.
On Wednesday, Reeves praised the Mississippi Home Corp for its administration of the program.
Bouie-Haynes said there are still people impacted by COVID-19 and who are unable or who struggle to pay for housing, rent and utilities. She said the advocacy groups found that high utility costs were a major problem in rural areas.
In addition, she said many of the people receiving assistance are “the working poor” who are employed in jobs that do not pay enough to cover the high costs of rent and utilities. She said her office still gets about 8-10 phone calls per week from people who are trying to to find out where their application stands in the process for gaining rental assistance.
Reeves said some states have exhausted their federal funds for the program, but said he did not know of any other state returning its share of the money to the federal government.
Vishwesh Bhatt, executive chef of Snackbar. Credit: Angie Mosier
Throughout the cookbook, Vishwesh Bhatt refers to himself frequently and proudly as a Southerner. A native of Gujarat, India, Bhatt later moved to the United States where he’s become a standout culinary mind, known for his excellent dishes at Snackbar in Oxford, Miss., where he is executive chef. As a foreigner who’s also made her home in Mississippi, I think often about what makes someone Southern. It’s a descriptor people born and raised here are proud of, but is it a birthright? When do you get to adopt that moniker for yourself if you’re of a place, but not from it?
So I had to ask him — what makes someone a Southern chef? Bhatt paused for a second before responding it was a question he’s not sure he can answer. He said he learned how to cook in the South. He chose to become a chef here and learned from Southern chefs. He’s made a home and a community for himself in Oxford.
“This is the place that influences what I do. This is the place where people come and eat what I cooked, and it is the South and so therefore, I’m a Southern chef,” Bhatt told Mississippi Today.
“The idea that after living here for so long, I still have to answer the question, ‘Where are you from?’ And then, you know, I say I’m from Oxford, and then the follow up question is ‘No, where are you really from?’ So that’s why the title, if that makes sense. Yeah, I moved here from somewhere else, but I’m here now.”
My main takeaway from “I Am From Here,” is that food is not static, something Bhatt reminded me of when we spoke. Before our interview, I set out to make a vegetable plate like you’d find at meat-and-three restaurants across Mississippi, but with dishes from his book.
I settled on Stewed Gujarati-Style Black Eyed Peas, Spicy Potato Mash, Not Your Mama’s Cornbread, and Kashimiri-Style Collards (Haaq). The surprising star of the meal was dessert, Mr. Buzendahl’s Green Tomato Pie. It was flavored just like a traditional apple pie, but substituted the fruit with fresh unripe green tomatoes.
A meat-and-three, Chef Vish-style.
The dishes all turned out well, and though they were flavored with things like curry leaves, ginger and turmeric, it still felt unquestionably like I was sitting down to eat a Southern plate.
“I grew up eating okra and greens and stuff. And when I came here I was like, well, that’s not how you eat it,” Bhatt said. To him, food is “ … always evolving and changing. You can have the same ingredients in many different places and work with them very differently. And that’s okay. And it can all still be just as delicious, just as important.”
To use “I Am From Here” is to rediscover cooking. You can tell flipping through the pages of this cookbook that Bhatt has a deep respect for food. Many of his recipes call for small extra steps that ultimately produce a more tasty dish. Whether it be “blooming” whole spices in oil, or setting a pot full of basmati rice and water on the stove for 15 minutes before turning on the heat to produce a “fluffier result,” taking the time to make sure individual ingredients shine is worth it.
Rather than organize the book by meal — breakfast, lunch, etc. — he organizes it by ingredient. Bhatt says this is because so much of his cooking focuses on fresh, seasonal produce.
In all, 130 recipes fuse meals from his childhood with ingredients and dishes he’s learned along the way in homes and restaurants across the South. Take, for example, the pickled okra two ways — one with vinegar as it’s served in Bloody Marys at City Grocery in Oxford, and Gujarati style, the way he grew up where vegetables are steeped in oil and spices to achieve a similar effect but different flavor profile.
But of course, the book is not just a book about food. It’s, in a way, a guidebook to foster conversation and connection with new people.
In the introductory pages of the book, Bhatt outlines the many spices and ingredients commonly used in the recipes to come. But for so many of them — from tangy, garlicky asafoetida to the bright, punchy Kashmiri chili powder, he includes where to find them. This is helpful in a place like Mississippi where specialty grocery stores and the people who run them are not always well known.
This was intentional, Bhatt says.
“These people who run the Indian grocery store are part of the community, same as the people who have the little taco shop where you can go buy chilis,” he said. “Unless we start interacting with them, they’re always going to be the other. And so the idea is, hey, these people might be your neighbors, you don’t know them. Unless you go in that store then you’ll realize, oh, that’s the guy that lives three doors down from me.”
Yes, it’s an expectation that immigrants attempt to assimilate into the communities they come to call home, he said, “but as somebody who’s been here a while, we also need to make an effort to make people feel welcome. To bring them into the fold and learn about them.”
This place — the South, much like where he grew in India, has a lot of social issues, he said. Prejudices and preconceived notions keep people from getting to know each other, and it can be awkward and difficult to discuss the ugly parts of history responsible for the inequality that exists today.
“We are still very far from being a society that treats people equally and gives people credit or respect for just being themselves,” he said.
Now 56, Bhatt continued: “What I’ve come to realize is that I can’t really wait any longer for people to interact with me or acknowledge me. I’m just going to say that I’m here.”
Differences in opinion or beliefs are solvable if people are willing to have a conversation, he said. What better way to start one than through a meal?
“The only way I know how to talk about it is through food — like okay, here’s what we eat. Here’s what it comes from. You know, let’s start that conversation.”
What should people take away from “I Am From Here?” That cooking is easy, and a great way to get to know people.
Bhatt, 2019 winner of the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South, is a featured panelist at the Mississippi Book Festival on Aug. 20. His cookbook goes on sale Aug. 16.
Join us for a conversation with Vishwesh Bhatt
Have more questions for Vishwesh Bhatt? Get your answers during our members-only book club event on August 15 at 6 p.m. Click here to learn more on how to register if you’re already a part of our member community or here to join today to register!
