OurTupelo

In honor of Groundhog Day (the day and the amazing Bill Murray movie), I figured I’d draw Mississippi’s own State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs trapped (like the rest of us) in the pandemic. Now cue Sonny & Cher…

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The all-Black board in charge of running Holmes County, one of the consistently poorest and blackest communities in the United States, didn’t have a problem voting unanimously to remove the Confederate soldier monument outside the courthouse last July.

They did, however, have a problem allocating $80,000 — the amount contractors estimated it would cost to remove it — within a paltry budget made up mostly of property taxes on the average $56,000 lot.

The statue honors the men who fought to keep roughly 12,000 Black people in Holmes County — nearly 70% of the county’s population in 1860 — enslaved.

And it’s still standing, drawing protestors Monday.

Representatives from the Freedom Democratic Party, originally co-founded by civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer in 1964, Black Lives Matter Mississippi and other activists groups gathered by the statue on a 40-degree morning, the first day of Black History Month, to demand its removal.

But the residents of Holmes County, named for Mississippi’s first governor David Holmes and built on a plantation economy, are fed up with much more than the stone sculpture.

“It’s time for these statues to come down. It’s time for them to do better by our kids. It’s time for them to do better by our community,” Dolecia Cody, a single mother of three and the president of the Tchula chapter of the Freedom Democratic Party, said outside the courthouse Monday. “I’m tired of seeing our kids standing on the corner with nothing to do.”

Cody and almost three-fifths of people in her town, the part of Holmes tucked inside the Delta, live in poverty. Cody receives meal assistance, but just like 96% of Mississippians living in poverty, the mother doesn’t receive the welfare check, a benefit of just $170-a-month for a family of three.

“We have nowhere to work. You have to go so far to get a job and you don’t have transportation because you don’t have a job,” Cody told Mississippi Today. “You know, they’re always saying, oh, we’re on welfare; we’re on food stamps. The thing of it is, if y’all will make jobs available in our community, a lot of us wouldn’t have to be on welfare or food stamps.”

Already concerning unemployment in the county rose as high as 28% at one point during the pandemic, nearly twice the state’s highest monthly rate last year. On the state’s prized job search engine Monday, there were 31 openings in Holmes — mostly for farmworker positions paying $11.83-an-hour — but there are roughly 700 people looking for a job.

Rainwater leaks through the roofs of the public schools and while residents failed to pass a bond issue in November 2019 to fund new buildings, the larger disinvestment in education for Mississippi’s poor Black children is evidenced by the state’s historic shortchanging of its own statutory education funding formula. The loss totals $15 million over the last decade in Holmes County alone.

Eradicating a symbol of white supremacy is just a first step in addressing the larger inequities resulting from systemic racism, said president of Freedom Democratic Party’s Holmes County chapter Cardell Wright. “Symbols do matter,” he said.

“Taking a statue down ain’t hard,” Wright said into a mic outside a brick building, partially patched with unfinished plywood, where supervisors were meeting. “Maybe dealing with poverty and trying to bring in jobs — maybe that’s difficult. But this right here? This is not difficult. It just takes a decision.”

Wright and Cody say they believe that while Holmes County’s leadership is all-Black, the local politicians are intimidated by the powerful white figures who control most of the area’s wealth.

“So behind the scenes, they’re calling the shots. And we who live here, we understand that. And we know it. So that’s why its important to fight it,” he said.

Holmes County Supervisor Leroy Johnson, co-founder of low-income advocacy group Southern Echo, is a member of the Freedom Democratic Party, though he was not included in the group’s demonstration. Johnson told Mississippi Today that to fund the relocation of the statue, the county would have to make cuts elsewhere.

“What services are you not going to provide?” he said.

The board has solicited bids from two companies but has yet to submit a plan for approval by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, a required step in moving the monument.

Meanwhile, solutions to the area’s opportunity desert remain elusive. Johnson said the board lacks connections needed to recruit promising industry to the area, such as Hinds County luring Continental Tire to build a $1.45 million plant in Clinton — a deal that hinged on generous state tax incentives and the blessing of the state’s white leaders.

“Sometimes it’s not Holmes County leadership’s fault, it’s a race problem,” Johnson said.

Set on Interstate 55, Johnson says while Holmes County has the right geographical access and connection to transportation to support business investment, what it lacks is “the connections with the right white folks who still control economics in the state.”

Johnson continued: “The reality is those connections are based on race and based on class and Board of Supervisors cannot change race or class. It just cannot.”

The white flight and rural decay characteristic of parts of the Delta today do not erase the area’s significant contributions to the state’s economy, Johnson said. “We built this state, dadgummit.”

“There’s some belief that if the Delta didn’t exist, Mississippi would be a different place,” Johnson said. “And the answer is that if the Delta didn’t exist, Mississippi wouldn’t even be Mississippi.”

The post These Black residents are led by an all-Black local government. But there’s still a ‘race problem.’ appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi Home Corporation has opened a waitlist for tenants seeking some of the $200 million allocated in the latest stimulus package from Congress for rental assistance in Mississippi.

To get on the Rental Assistance for Mississippians Program (RAMP) Emergency Rental Assistance waitlist, renters may fill out an application on ms-ramp.com.

The program hasn’t officially launched, but the Home Corporation announced that Gov. Tate Reeves had chosen the organization to administer the funding from the U.S. Department of Treasury.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control eviction moratorium will remain in place until March 31 under an extension the agency announced last week. To avoid eviction, a renter must provide a declaration to their landlord or property manager, certifying that the order applies to them.

Kentucky Equal Justice Center developed a tool that allows people facing eviction to fill out and sign the CDC document online and email it to their landlord. Click here to use the tool.

Whereas the existing RAMP program, funded by an Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, included strict eligibility guidelines that caused several thousand to be denied, the treasury money is more flexible. For one, it raises the income limit for eligibility from 50% to 80% of the area’s median income.

In Hinds County, families of four would qualify if they earned under $56,700, instead of the previous $35,450.

Mississippi has also yet to begin pushing out its additional $38 million in Community Development Block Grant funding, which Reeves committed entirely to rental assistance in October, Mississippi Today reported.

By last week, HUD had yet to provide guidance to states for how to use those funds to pay off past rent debts, according to a spokesperson from the federal agency. “That component is expected soon,” an email read.

The post Behind on rent? The waitlist for $200 million in assistance is now open. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi Today’s Geoff Pender and Bobby Harrison quiz state Sen. David Blount about a wide range of legislative issues including education, tax policy, elections and sports betting. Blount, chair of the Senate Gaming Committee and vice chair of Senate Education Committee, also discussed his proposal to help fight the state’s public school teacher shortage.

Listen here:

The post Sen. David Blount discusses his proposal to offer loan repayment to Mississippi teachers appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Prominent Mississippi businessman and two-time state economic development director Leland Speed passed away last week after a long life of community service and job creation. Speed, founder of Parkway Properties, Inc. and EastGroup Properties Inc., helped development on the state and small-town level. Many Mississippians can thank having a job to Speed. He lived a long and fruitful life and Mississippi benefitted because of him. Rest In Peace.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Leland Speed appeared first on Mississippi Today.

In the 1990s, legislators passed innovative proposals to forgive student loan debt for college graduates who agreed to teach in Mississippi schools.

The proposals, shepherded through the Legislature by then-education committee chairs Billy McCoy in the House and Grey Ferris in the Senate, were the first of many similar proposals passed by legislators over the decades to deal with the shortage of educators.

Today, those proposals have a couple of things in common: None of them are currently funded, and they put the state in the position of having to be a collection agency when the teachers – often for legitimate reasons – don’t complete their commitment to teach in Mississippi.

And, oh yeah, the teacher shortage still exists.

Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, the vice chair of the Senate Education Committee, believes there is a better way to help pay for a new teacher’s college education. Blount has proposed the William F. Winter and Jack Reed Sr. Teacher Loan Repayment Program.

Blount’s proposal is different. The other programs help fund students’ college education as they progress toward their degree in exchange for a commitment they will teach so many years in the state’s public schools after graduation.

Blount’s proposal would pay off a portion of the loan over a three-year period as the new graduate teaches in Mississippi schools.

“Things change,” Blount said. “People’s life plans change. Instead of teaching in Mississippi, a person for whatever reason might move (out of state) or never teach. That puts the state in the position of having to collect that debt.”

The numbers are still being worked out, but Blount envisions, if the program is approved and funded by the Legislature, that a person would receive a payment of $2,000 toward the loan debt for the first year he or she teaches, $3,000 for the second year and $4,000 for the third year. Such payments would go a long way toward paying off the loan.

Some of the programs passed by the Legislature have focused on providing financial aid for people to teach in geographic areas or in subject areas where the shortage is more prevalent. The current proposal would provide financial assistance for teaching anywhere in the state, though the final bill could provide additional help for teaching in certain geographic areas or subject areas.

The bill also would repeal the about a dozen similar programs on the books.

“We are not taking anything away because those programs are not being funded,” Blount said.

Many long-term observers of public education would say it is appropriate Blount chose to name the legislation after former Gov. Winter and Tupelo businessman Reed. The pair, both deceased, are inextricably linked when it comes to public education.

“They were good friends and both were great Mississippians,” said Blount who grew up in Jackson but whose mother – the former Martha Lynn Means – is from Tupelo where he said he got to know Reed.

It was Reed who served as the chair of the blue ribbon education commission Winter formed, leading to the historic passage of the Education Reform Act of 1982 that created public kindergarten, school accountability and other items. And it was Reed whom Winter appointed to the newly formed state Board of Education in the 1980s. Reed was the panel’s first chair.

Reed’s willingness to speak up for public education as a leader in the Mississippi Economic Council in the 1960s, when many politicians were talking about closing schools to avoid integration, will go down as a profile in courage.

In 2006, Winter and Reed led a rally of more than a 1,000 at the state Capitol in favor of fully funding education. Reed, with his dry sense of humor, proclaimed to the crowd he and Winter were octogenarians for public education. As Reed spoke, Winter displayed a grin as if showing appreciation for his longtime friend.

And of course, prior to that episode, Winter and Reed were tapped by then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove to serve on a commission that worked to replace the state flag, which prominently displayed the Confederate battle emblem. Even their genuine good-natured disposition could not diffuse the hostility that manifested itself at the commission’s public hearings.

Former Rep. Steve Holland of Plantersville, who served on the flag commission, described it “as the most never-wrecking experience any of us had ever had, but Gov. Winter and Jack both were calming influences.”

He added, “I would ride to Jackson with Jack. We literally had our lives threatened. We would be riding back and he would just about laugh and say the world is full of fools.”

The Mississippi Association of Partners in Education annually honors someone involved in education with the Winter-Reed Partnership Award.

Blount’s legislation being considered this year could further Winter’s and Reed’s long legacy in public education.

The post Mississippi senator proposes new teacher loan repayment program while honoring Winter and Reed appeared first on Mississippi Today.

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Over coffee recently, we were discussing long-range ramifications, almost all bad, of this COVID-19 pandemic. Someone asked if there might be anything positive to come from it. There was a long pause.

I said I might have something. And I might. See what you think.

Some background: I live in the Fondren/Woodland Hills area of Jackson. Funky Fondren, we call it, and we love it, nearly everything about it. We love the old houses, the glorious old trees, the mostly wide streets, the diversity of our neighbors, the terrific restaurants, the taverns, the coffee shops, all of it.

Now I am a walker. I walk a lot. I was once a runner, but lower back and knee issues changed me into a walker. We’ll get to that.

Here’s what I have noticed over the last few months of the pandemic: I have so much more pedestrian company. More people are walking and jogging. Families are out taking morning walks and evening walks. People are walking more at all times of the day – from before dawn until well into the night. I have no scientific evidence but would guess foot traffic easily has tripled, perhaps more, in the past year. That’s a good thing.

Let’s face it, there’s little else to do during the pandemic. There are only so many books you can read, so much TV you can watch, so many card games you can play. I suspect many may have learned what I have come to know. That is, walking is not only good for your physical health, it is good for your soul. I walk for exercise. I walk to clear my mind. I walk so sometimes I can have that second helping. During the pandemic, I have walked for sanity. I have walked when the temps were above 90 and have bundled up and walked when it has been below freezing. I walked during the Mississippi version of a snowstorm the other day. Beautiful.

Sometimes, I listen to podcasts or ballgames. Sometimes, I listen to music. And sometimes, I just enjoy the sounds and smells of the neighborhood. Yesterday, I listened to The Daily podcast, The Athletic podcast, our weekly Mississippi Today podcast and two Little Feat albums. It was a long walk, a six-miler. One New Year’s resolution: I want to try listening to audiobooks.

My pace rarely varies. I walk 15-to-16 minute miles, a brisk but manageable pace, right at four miles per hour. I can, when I have company on my walks, carry on a conversation – even up a hill.

Six years ago, I began keeping a walking log with a goal of at least 20 miles a week. I have missed that goal just once. My mileage has increased each year. I have my 2020 log in front of me. I walked 1,613 miles, an average of 4.42 miles a day, a tad over 25 miles a week. That was up more than 300 miles from 2019.

My family and friends jokingly – I hope – refer to me as The White Walker, which I am told comes from Game of Thrones. I googled it. I probably did look a little like that on the snow day.

Some friends clearly believe I have gone overboard on the walking. Perhaps, but if so, I have my reasons. I turned 68 last October. Both my parents died at that exact age. Six years ago, I had a scare. I got out of bed only to fall back in it. I got back up, fell back again. A few minutes later, I felt fine and went on to work.

My wife, who had been sleeping – or trying to sleep – during my episode, called the office and asked what had been going on. I explained. She told me to meet her at the emergency room. I did. They checked my blood pressure: 200/120, scary high. They checked me into the hospital, did all sorts of tests and determined I had experienced a transient ischemic attack (TIA), a mini-stroke with no lasting damage.

“You’re lucky,” the doctor told me. “You have received a shot over the bow that barely missed.”

Strokes killed my dad.

I asked what I needed to do. He asked me how much I exercised. “Not nearly as much as I used to,” was my honest answer. I told him about my knees and my lower back.

He told me I needed to get back to it. He told me I needed to lose 20 pounds. He told me walking would help me as much as running if I did it regularly, 30-45 minutes a day, five days a week.

So, of course, I did more. I weighed 224 that day. I weigh 188 now.

The more I read about staying fit as we age, the more I learn about how much strength exercises benefit older adults, of which I am now officially one. We lose muscle as we age. Strength training combats this. I had lifted weights nearly religiously into my 50s, but had given that up. I decided to incorporate pushups, chin-ups and sit-ups into my fitness routine. Sit-ups hurt my back so I switched to planks. Five years ago, I could not do one single complete chin-up. Now I do six sets of 12 reps at least twice a week. I do hundreds of pushups and planks a week. I stretch a lot, as well. I keep a log of all that and won’t bore you with those details, except this one: Recently, during a checkup, my blood pressure was 116/60. I hit a golf ball as far as I did 25 years ago. (I still can’t putt a lick.)

I am not saying what I do is for everyone. It does work for me. My eyes tell me that at least the walking part is working for a lot more people these days. Again, if ask me, that’s a good thing.

The post It just could be that more folks are walking more during the pandemic appeared first on Mississippi Today.

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