Charges upgraded on officer arrested for George Floyd’s death

Three others charged with aiding and abetting By Jackie Hampton, Publisher, On Wednesday, at a news conference in Minnesota, Attorney General Keith Ellison formally announced that charges have been upgraded on former police officer Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee against George Floyd’s neck until Floyd breathed Read More...

Mississippi Gov: Protests good but no place for ‘agitators’

By Emily Wagster Pettus, Associated Press, Protesters marched in Mississippi’s capital city Monday, with some stopping to lie on the ground outside Jackson’s main police station to remember George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck Read More...

Petal mayor refuses to resign after disturbing George Floyd tweet

By Edelia “Dr. Jay” Carthan, Contributing Writer, A white Mississippi mayor is receiving backlash after tweeting insensitive comments amid the controversial death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, who died recently while in police custody after a white policeman kneeled on his neck for nine Read More...

Hinds CC hosts ninth annual special education field day for Hinds County students

 RAYMOND – For the ninth year in a row, Hinds Community College hosted special education field day for Hinds County students on May 2. Students from Hinds County schools throughout the district gathered at Gene Murphy Field at Joe Renfroe Stadium on the Raymond Campus for Read More...

Dream comes true for Jackson State’s new head women’s basketball coach

chopsports From 1400 Murrah Drive to 1400 J.R. Lynch Street. Former Murrah Lady Mustang and former Jackson State Lady Tigers graduate assistant coach, Tomekia Reed returns home to lead the Lady Tigers, this time as the head coach. Reed has been coaching for 14 years. Beginning Read More...

Mhotsha, Nawa earn all-conference honors at SWAC championships

chopsports A shorthanded Alcorn State University women’s golf program finished fourth after two rounds at the 2018 SWAC Championships Monday and Tuesday at Oak Wing Golf Club. The Lady Braves registered a pair of top-10 finishes. Junior Ouname Mhotsha placed sixth with a 161 (+17) score, while Read More...

The Mustang

  Film Review by Kam Williams Hardened Con Offered Shot at Redemption by Rough-Edged Horse Whisperer Roman Coleman (Matthias Schoenaerts) has too quick a fuse to think before he acts. That's why he's done a dozen years and counting in a maximum-security prison for impulsively delivering Read More...

Yardie

Film Review by Kam Williams   Elba Makes Directorial Debut with Jamaican Coming-of-Age Drama Dennis “D” Campbell (Aml Ameen) had the misfortune of growing up in the slums of Kingston, Jamaica in the Seventies at a time when the 'hood was infested with drugs. Orphaned Read More...

Unplanned

Film Review by Kam Williams   Adaptation of Memoir Recounts Abortion Counselor's Spiritual Transformation Abby Johnson (Ashley Bratcher) was recruited by Planned Parenthood to do volunteer work when she was still an undergrad at Texas A&M. Her first job was to escort women seeking abortions Read More...

Nearly 200 participants in MLBC Virtual COVID-19 Small Business Relief Town Hall - A $300 million pa...

By Gail Brown, Contributing Writer, Nearly 200 business owners and others woke up Saturday morning, May 16, to join an important virtual town hall hosted by the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus (MLBC).  Rep. Cheikh A. Taylor (Dem. Dist. 38) welcomed the eager participants. He stated the purpose Read More...

15 Years of Building Our Future in Mississippi

Fifteen years ago, the Nissan Canton plant opened its doors and brought opportunity to Mississippi. Since then, our state has become a hub for world-class automotive manufacturing, thanks to the work of our team members and community partners. Whether you look at the 4 Read More...

Wood products company to open plant in Mississippi, hire 50

VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) - A company that remanufactures lumber for pallets, crates and siding will open a plant in Mississippi, investing $2 million and hiring 50 people over four years. Industrial Wood Products of Climax, North Carolina, announced Vicksburg location Wednesday - its first in Read More...

JPS Child Nutrition Program Returns for 2020

    PDF version: JPS.Summer-Feeding-Program Read More...

Mental Health Awareness Month: Breaking the stigma

By Edelia “Dr. Jay” Carthan, Contributing Writer, The month of May has been observed as Mental Health Awareness Month since 1949. The mission of Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) is to help those living with anxiety, depression and co-occuring disorders and to help their Read More...

MSDH: Flu Update and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children

Mississippi State Department of Health, Flu Update JACKSON, Miss. –  On May 19th, the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) reported its first pediatric flu death of 2020. The death was in a child from Central Mississippi. The child did not test positive for COVID-19. This is the first pediatric Read More...

President Trump deems churches ‘essential’, calls for churches to reopen - Black pastors are he...

By Edelia “Dr. Jay” Carthan, Contributing Writer, President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration deemed houses of worship “essential” and called on governors to allow churches to reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Today, I am identifying houses of worship, churches, synagogues, mosques as essential services,” the Read More...

God Bless the Broken Road

Film Review by Kam Williams   Military Widow Loses, Regains Faith in Cliche-Ridden Tale of Redemption Sergeant Darren Hill (Liam Matthews) was just days away from finishing up a tour of duty in Afghanistan when he died during an ambush of his unit. The shocking Read More...

Mayor Lumumba delivers annual College Hill Men’s Day address

By Jackie H. Hampton, Publisher, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba served as guest speaker at College Hill Baptist Church’s annual Men’s Day service held on Father’s Day. Terrence McEwen presided over the 10 a.m. service which was held in the church sanctuary. After being introduced by Men’s Read More...

I N M E M O R I A M: Linda Richard Jones

January 22, 1948 – April 2, 2018 On a nice winter day, an angel was born on January 22, 1948 to the late Jim and Gracie Ann Richard. Her name was Linda Richard. Linda was preceded in death by both parents; both brothers, Ellis Catchings, Read More...

Linda Brown, symbol of landmark desegregation case, dies at 75

By Neil Gunslinger Associated Press Linda Brown, whose father objected when she was not allowed to attend an all-white school in her neighborhood and who thus came to symbolize one of the most transformative court proceedings in American history, the school desegregation case Brown v. Board Read More...

Melvin Rankin Anderson

March 24, 1955 - February 22, 2018 Melvin Rankin Anderson was born March 24, 1955, to Genola Anderson. He was raised by his beloved grandmother, Leola Anderson, in D’Lo, Mississippi. Melvin peacefully stepped into God’s light February 22, 2018. He accepted Jesus Christ at an early Read More...

JPS Child Nutrition Program Returns for 2020

    PDF version: JPS.Summer-Feeding-Program Read More...

HOPE for healthy teen relationships - May is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month

Special to The Mississippi Link, May is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, and according to the U.S.  Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Population Affairs’ (OPA) Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program, “grantees are changing the lives of people around the nation” (hhs.gov). Dubbed Read More...

Profile in Education Equity: Sharif El-Mekki

NNPA.com, Teachers too cite an environment that’s supportive and welcoming. This is contrary to what many black teachers, in particular, say about their experiences in schools. “When I come into this building, I think it’s my house. I’m home. I’m taking a trip from home Read More...

Embracing the new normal of COVID-19

Dr. Cedric O. Buckley, Special to The Mississippi Link, In a world that seems eerily turned upside-down, I find myself alone in my thoughts some days. Even as a trained molecular virologist of over 20 years and a member of Mayor Chokwe Lumumba’s COVID-19 Pandemic Taskforce, Read More...

The fight for the 2020 vote and the march to the ballot box

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent, Since the onset of COVID-19, voter registration in the United States has decreased by a whopping 90 percent.  Additionally, more than 18 million voters have been purged off the rolls since 2016, and, with the all-important 2020 General Election Read More...

Trump Did the Right Thing

By Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. Founder and President of Rainbow PUSH Coalition In the last week, President Donald Trump suddenly reversed two major decisions. He announced he would not begin mass deportations of those who are living in the country illegally, which he previously threatened to Read More...

Book Review by Kam Williams   The Truths We Hold An American Journey by Kamala Harris Penguin Press Hardcover, $30. 336 pages ISBN: 978-0-525-56071-5 “We've seen... [the Trump] administration align itself with white supremacists at home and cozy up to dictators abroad; rip babies from their mothers' arms in Read More...

If Beale Street Could Talk

Film Review by Kam Williams   Barry Jenkins Directs Faithful Adaptation of Beloved James Baldwin Classic In 1974, James Baldwin published “If Beale Street Could Talk,” a love story, set in Harlem, about a beleaguered black couple's pursuit of the elusive American Dream. Many critics consider Read More...

Blacktrospective 2018

by Kam Williams Kam’s Annual Assessment of the Best in Black Cinema Best Big Budget Black Films 1. If Beale Street Could Talk 2. Black Panther 3. Green Book 4. The Hate U Give 5. The Equalizer 2 6. Uncle Drew 7. BlacKkKlansman 8. Superfly 9. Nobody's Fool 10. A Wrinkle in Time Best Read More...