Survival of the Poorest
B
oneqweesha Jones: “Live from the Hair Did University School of Cosmetology and Vocational Studies television production studio, it’s a special edition of ‘Qweesha 2013’. The topic for tonight’s show is ‘Survival of the Poorest.’ My guest is Mo’tel Williams, super producer, entertainment publicist, announcer, herbal Viagra distributor and co-author of the ‘Poor People’s Survival Guide Booklet.’ “Mo’tel, in your survival guide booklet, you suggest that poor folk will have to ‘sacrifice to survive’ in a society of greed and selfishness. Haven’t the poor sacrificed enough?� Mo’tel Williams: “Rich folk, corporations and the government want the poor to sacrifice more. For example, some politicians want poor workers to sacrifice their overtime pay. Congress is pushing so-called ‘comp time’ legislation that allows employers to stop giving workers extra pay for overtime work. So, in my ‘Poor People’s Survival Guide Booklet,’ I have a chapter describing what poor working people will sacrifice during this financially challenging period.� Boneqweesha Jones: “So, how will the poor survive?� Mo’tel Williams: “The poor will survive by patronizing businesses that treat workers and customers fairly. Spend money wisely. Express concerns and complaints to political representatives, businesses and corporations. Encourage family, friends and community members to work together and respect each other. Therefore, poor folk must sacrifice their apathy and learn how to survive and counter act corporate exploitation and government marginalization.� Boneqweesha Jones: “And Lynne Cheney did not write a poignant standard English introduction for the Poor People’s Survival Guide Booklet.�
“Charter schools�
³7KHVH 5HSXEOLFDQV ZDQW WR SDVV FKDUWHU VFKRROV FUHDWH YRWHU ,' ODZV FXW 3HOO *UDQWV HQG 0HGLFDUH DQG UHGXFH 6RFLDO 6HFXULW\ EHQH¿ WV ´
May 22 - 28, 2013
°$EMOCRATIC 5 3 2EP "ENNIE 4HOMPSON IN A RADIO AD ANNOUNCING HIS ENDORSEMENT FOR #OUNCILMAN #HOKWE ,UMUMBA
ATTEMPTING TO PAINT SUPPORTERS OF *ACKSON MAYORAL CANDIDATE *ONATHAN ,EE AS ¹CLOSET 2EPUBLICANS ²
14
Why it stinks: Make no mistake about it, the Republicans have led the successful effort to expand charter schools in Mississippi and other states. In endorsing Lumumba, Thompson linked Republican supporters of Jonathan Lee to people who opened their checkbooks to Mitt Romney in 2012 in an effort to defeat President Barack Obama. However, Thompson conveniently ignores the fact that Obama, the leader of his Democratic party, has been staunchly pro-charter school as well. It’s a clever ad, designed to scare Democratic voters away from Lee but is less than completely honest about Obama’s position on charter schools. You can’t have it both ways.
-)3 HGLWRULDO FDUWRRQLVW 0LNH 'D\ ZLOO UHWXUQ VRRQ
Expose the Dirty Tricks
I
n the waning hours before the polls closed Tuesday, the Jackson Free Press learned that former Melton political operative Bob Hickingbottom was behind Citizens for a Better Jackson, a PAC formed the day after the primary. We know that the PAC paid for radio ads in the last few days that questioned Councilman Chokwe Lumumba’s faith by taking a “sound bite� out of context of a longer video in which he talked to activities about religion. The Lumumba campaign and others also believe he handed out flyers that called Lumumba a “race traitor� using a several out-of-context sentences from a Mississippi Sovereignty Commission files letter from 40 years ago when Lumumba was trying to get a permit for a Republic of New Afrika gathering from the city. In other words, that flyer was a completely fabricated allegation that goes beyond the political exaggerations we usually see in campaigns (that the Lumumba camp also engaged in). But the last two weeks has seen nothing if not nasty political tricks. The JFP has spent weeks fact checking rumors being thrown around so that they did not gain legs and handicap the democratic process of Jacksonians deciding who they wanted to be mayor. We had no dog in the runoff hunt—we did not endorse either man—but we are patently against the kind of dirty politics we tend to see locally. It’s personal, it’s ugly, and it assumes that the vot-
ers are stupid. Candidates seem to especially assume that African American voters are uninformed and unable to, say, look at the original of a Mississippi Sovereignty Commission file on the Internet to see what the blurred parts actually said. This level of divisive, nasty politics hurts our city, and we all need to band together to stop it. It’s certainly easier today than it was eight years ago even for a newspaper to use social media to quickly dispel rumors, and we had many citizens on all sides helping us along the way and cheering us on. (Thanks!) We urge each of you to join us going forward as we try to raise the level of politics in Jackson. We must demand it, and we must use every took at our disposal to call out lies and distortions when we see them. And we will be here for you: We have plans for a fun platform for answering your questions, building on the Factcheck Jackson effort we started during this campaign. (For now, go like Factcheck Jackson on Facebook.) The bottom line is that it is not OK to make up lies about people. Sure, the world of anonymous blogging has made this trickery easier to do, but the same technology makes it easier to expose. And every Jacksonian who wants true unity will call out anonymous liars and trolls—and choose not to frequent their forums. They are toxic for our city. We must do better. Please pledge to help make it happen.
Email letters to letters@jacksonfreepress.com, fax to 601-510-9019 or mail to P.O. Box 5067, Jackson, MS 39296. Include daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Or write a 300-600-word “Your Turn� and send it by email, fax or mail above with a daytime phone number. All submissions are subject to fact checks.