Happy Parade Weekend, y'all

The festivities begin this evening with Hal's Marching Malfunction Second Line Parade, which begins at the King Edward Hotel just before sundown, and ends at Hal & Mal's. It's completely free and open to the public, so come on down and march!

Tomorrow is the 32nd annual Mal's St. Paddy's Parade, which starts at 1 pm at the corner of State and Court. Led as always by the marching crews (The O'Tux Society, Krewe of Kazoo, Green Ladies, and Nugget League of Mayhem), 50 floats will make their way through the Downtown streets. 

After the parade, the official after party starts in front of Hal & Mal's, and features Rooster Blues, The Revivalists, The Weeks, and Better Than Ezra. 

When I was at Hal & Mal's earlier this morning, people were already setting up their parade-watching spots, so if you are looking for a prime location on the route, you might want to scout it out and claim it today. 

Happy Parade Weekend, y'all!

The name to watch in the special election to replace departed Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba?

That's easy: Melvin Priester, Jr.

Priester has deep ties to the power structure that put Mayor Lumumba in office, and his background doesn't hurt at all.  He went to Harvard for undergrad, then went to Stanford to law school.  He was elected to Lumumba's seat on the Jackson City Council when Lumumba ran for mayor, and is currently serving as the Council's acting president.

He's young, energetic, brilliant, and has a very strong base of support.  He's going to be a formidable candidate, should he choose to run.

I haven't seen any numbers anywhere, but I'm pretty sure Chokwe Lumumba won tonight

Congrats to Mr. Lumumba on a highly impressive victory in the Jackson mayoral race!

"The Man Segregation Built" an interesting look at recent Jackson history

I don't spend a lot of time talking about Jackson politics on this blog, as most of my readers couldn't care less.  Today, I'm making an exception for what I believe to be a fascinating article concerning recent Jackson history.  Next American City, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit out of Philadelphia, PA, is a group focused on connecting people looking to improve our cities.  They recently published an article by Ingrid Norten about Jackson and former Mayor Frank Melton.

You can read the article, titled "The Man Segregation Built: The Rise and Fall of a New Black Leadership in Jackson," here.  The article spends a good bit of time discussing the mayoral term of Frank Melton, but more importantly, it discusses the racial and political dynamics at play in the Jackson metropolitan area over the last few decades.  Well-written and informative, I encourage everyone to read it.

Harvard Study: Jackson among most corrupt state capitals

A study by Harvard's Kennedy School of Government lays out what many of us living in the Magnolia State know well: Jackson is home to one of the most corrupt state governments in the country. The study (see below) focuses on the relationship between state government corruption and the relative isolation of the state capital from the majority of the state's population. At first, naming Jackson as a leader in corruption would seem to undermine the theory of the study, which is that corruption grows the further the state capital is from major population centers. After all, Jackson is the largest city in Mississippi by far, and sits at the center of the state's largest metropolitan area.

Reading a bit more of the study, you'll see that in actuality, the study is a condemnation of our state's media over the period from 1979-2002. (That's the era from which data was collected for the study.) I have no reason to believe it's improved since then, especially considering that Mississippi's only statewide newspaper, the Clarion-Ledger, appears to be dwindling away before our very eyes. Thanks, Gannett!

Facts like these are what animate many citizens, from Tea Party members to good-government Democrats. With the demise of the stalwarts of old media, hopefully new media can do a better job over the next generation informing the populous of what goes on underneath the dome at the corner of Mississippi and Congress in Downtown Jackson.

Of course, they'll have to actually care about what's going on, which is a whole other matter altogether. (The authors of the study appear to think that state capital isolation is what breeds lower education spending, while I can't help but wonder if the two are related at all, and if they are, whether or not that's a chicken and egg problem.)

Here's a link to an L.A. Times article on the study which gives a synopsis, and here's the actual Harvard study itself:

Harvard Study on State Government Corruption

Rep. Bill Denny (R - Jackson) keeps saying that Hinds County lost 22,000 people in the last decade. That's not what the Census Bureau says.

Apparently in an effort to justify his efforts to take a seat away from Hinds County, Rep. Bill Denny (R - Jackson) keeps saying that Hind County lost 22,000 residents over the last decade.  That's not true, according to the census.   According the US Census Bureau, the 2000 population of Hinds County was 250,800.  The 2010 population is 245,285.  This is a decline of 5,542, or 2%.

Denny could have kept all of Hinds County's districts if he wanted to.

Rep. Earle Banks (D - Jackson) questions Rep. Bill Denny (R - Jackson) about the Denny map

Rep. Banks says that Rep. Denny told him that the districts could not be changed after Banks saw them last.  Denny denies saying that.

Rep. Banks disagrees with Denny's frequent statement that Hinds County lost 22,000 residents since 2000.  Banks says Hinds has lost only 2% of its population.  Some research reveals that Banks is correct: According the US Census Bureau, the 2000 population of Hinds County was 250,800.  The 2010 population is 245,285.  This is a decline of 2%.

So a loss of 5,000 people means a loss of a seat for Hinds County?  That's BS and Denny knows it.

"Thank you for always supporting us!"

"Thank you for always supporting us!" That was the last text I received from my friend, Craig Noone.

Craig and I met at Mississippi College, and formed a bond only smuggled booze at a small Baptist school can create. I left for law school, he went off to culinary school, and years later we found ourselves in yet another small, tight-knit community, sharing dreams of a new Downtown and beer that no longer needed hiding.

Parlor Market is the physical manifestation of one of Craig's Downtown visions. And as wonderful as the food is, as unique as the drink selection is, the people of Parlor Market are better. As we gathered Friday evening, bartender extraordinaire Robert Arender shared something with me that Craig had once said to him. Craig, justifiably proud of his staff, told Robert, "I'm the best hirer." Well, as Craig's fellow Mississippi legend Dizzy Dean correctly said, it ain't bragging if you back it up. And back it up Craig did.

Craig, through his tireless efforts and his brilliance, transformed perceptions of Downtown Jackson and the palates of Mississippians. He created a place of which we could boast; a source of pride for us Downtown dwellers. He took to his task with abandon, and succeeded wildly.

Many with whom I have spoken have mentioned the void that Craig's absence will create in our Capital City. I prefer to look at the presence he created. It is certainly the way he would have wanted it.

Upon opening, Parlor Market became the center of Downtown Jackson life. It is where we go to celebrate birthdays, get engaged, woo clients, share with friends, and twist off the stress of a long day at work. It is, in many ways, a foundational pillar of Jackson life.

And that's what gets me about that last text I received from my friend. I should have been the one saying that to him.