Mississippi Today

Mississippi News and Information Corporation, known as Mississippi Today, is a nonprofit and nonpartisan digital platform dedicated to delivering unbiased news and information. It focuses on state and local government matters, as well as community topics like education, health, economic growth, poverty, race, and the social culture of Mississippi. The team at Mississippi Today is committed to producing thorough and high-quality journalism that serves as a watchdog for the government, supports democracy, and influences the state's future. By raising public awareness about how government decisions impact individuals and communities, they aim to encourage more civic participation. Additionally, Mississippi Today is dedicated to fostering the next generation of skilled journalists who represent the state's diversity. They do this by recruiting talented graduates from journalism, communications, and public policy programs, and by collaborating with current students at Mississippi's colleges and universities to equip them with the skills needed for successful careers.

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'That's not governing': Most lawmakers don't know what they passed in secret, $7 billion budget

4 days ago | mississippitoday.org | Geoff Pender

Sometime within the last decade or so, setting the Mississippi state budget became a top-secret affair, closely guarded even against many of the lawmakers who are, ostensibly, tasked with setting it. Why, rank-and-file legislators even have difficulty getting a spreadsheet that clearly shows what’s being proposed until just before they are expected to vote on the more than 100 bills — thousands of pages — that make up the multi-billion budget.
Podcast: Rep. Omeria Scott on state budget, lack of transparency, unmet needs statewide

4 days ago | mississippitoday.org | Geoff Pender |Taylor Vance |Michael Goldberg

State Rep. Omeria Scott of Laurel helps unpack the tumultuous two-day special session of the Mississippi Legislature last week and the $7.1 billion budget lawmakers passed. Scott, a longtime veteran lawmaker, is known for digging in deep on state budgets and spending, and for speaking her mind to leadership on both sides of the aisle. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
On this day in 1964

5 days ago | mississippitoday.org | Jerry Mitchell

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned Alabama’s ban on the NAACP, allowing the NAACP to operate in the state for the first time in eight years. NAACP leader Ruby Hurley set up the office in Birmingham in 1951, only to be forced to flee the state five years later after Alabama authorities aggressively investigated the NAACP and tried to seize membership records.
'Sinners' and the Blues used to tell epic story of the Great Migration

5 days ago | mississippitoday.org | Bobby Harrison

Note: Special screenings of “Sinners” were held in Clarksdale this week after residents decried the lack of a movie theater. You can read more about those events here. Blues music has long been linked to the mystical or supernatural. After all, the seminal Blues tale is of legend Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads of U.S. Highways 49 and 61 in the Delta to be able to play a guitar like no one else.
On this day in 1921

6 days ago | mississippitoday.org | Jerry Mitchell

The Tulsa race massacre began after a white mob gathered at a jail where a Black teen had been arrested on false charges of “attacking” a white girl in an elevator. In reality, he may have tripped or bumped into her. Although authorities exonerated him, that didn’t stop the mob.
Lexington residents urge court to scrutinize police abuse claims

1 week ago | mississippitoday.org | Mina Corpuz

Lexington community members joined attorneys and the National Police Accountability Project to urge a federal appeals court to consider evidence in a civil rights lawsuit against the police department alleging a pattern of violent, racist and unconstitutional policing practices.
Excitement of voting for Idol's Jamal Roberts could change lives if carried over to other elections

1 week ago | mississippitoday.org | Bobby Harrison

Editor’s note: This essay is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share fact-based ideas about our state’s past, present and future. You can read more about the section here. When Mississippi’s own Jamal Roberts captured the crown as American Idol’s newest star, it wasn’t just a personal victory. It was a collective affirmation.
Campaigns spend nearly half a million in Jackson leading up to general election

1 week ago | mississippitoday.org | Anna Wolfe

Candidates running in Jackson’s general election June 3 have doled out nearly half a million dollars vying for public office, with state Sen. John Horhn far in the lead with nearly $200,000 in campaign expenditures since the beginning of the year. The Democratic nominee for mayor reported raising $350,000 this year and holding less than $25,000 in cash-on-hand, according to campaign finance reports due Tuesday.
Where Jackson creativity is the "blueprint for resistance," Briarwood Arts Center is the brick, mortar

1 week ago | mississippitoday.org | Maya Miller

On the edge of the Briarwood community in northeast Jackson sits a white building with a blue awning. On any given night, its rooms are filled with artists, dancers and creatives who have come to build community and hone their crafts. This is the home of the Briarwood Arts Center, the creation of Stephen Brown, also known as the hip-hop artist, producer and DJ 5th Child.
On this day in 1965

1 week ago | mississippitoday.org | Jerry Mitchell

Vivian Malone became the first Black graduate of the University of Alabama in its 134 years of existence. Gov. George Wallace had blocked her entry two years earlier. The night after her 1963 admission, she awoke to learn Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers had been assassinated. “I decided not to show any fear and went to classes that day,” she recalled, even as white students refused to return her smile or make eye contact with her.