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JACKSON PROTEST, from page 7
June 10 - 23, 2020 • jfp.ms
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No Free Kills In Jackson, Beyond The first day of a weekend of protest began at the Walter Sillers Building across the street from the Capitol, as representatives from Mississippi’s Poor People’s Campaign attempted to deliver a letter to Attorney General Lynn Fitch. The letter demanded the evidence that led to her office dismissing the charges against former Columbus police officer Canyon Boykin, who in 2015 shot and killed Ricky Ball, 25, with his body camera turned off. He said Ball threatened him with a gun, with no witnesses present. In 2016, a Lowndes County grand jury indicted Boykin for murder, asserting that Boykin “did willfully, lawfully, feloniously and unnecessarily kill Ricky Ball.” Fitch dismissed the charges with prejudice, precluding the opportunity for a jury to try Boykin on the charges in the future. Representatives from a number of activist groups, including Mississippi’s Poor People’s Campaign, led chants as the crowd gathered outside the building housing the attorney general’s office: “No free
Four of the Jackson Black Lives Matter protest’s organizers—from left: Calvert White, Taylor Turnage, Maisie Brown and Timothy Young—speaking to media after the historic event’s end on June 6, 2020.
Mayor Lumumba Tests Negative for COVID-19 by Kayode Crown
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ayor Chokwe A. Lumumba tested negative for COVID-19, Communications Director Candace Cole told the Jackson Free Press yesterday. Lumumba had a mouth swab on May 26 at a mobile testing site at Wood Village Apartments. His wife, Ebony Lumumba, also tested nega- Mayor Lumumba addressed the press before tive to COVID-19. being tested for COVID The Jackson-Hinds 19 on May 26, First Lady Community Health Center Ebony watches. set up the site and collected the samples of many of the residents, even those without symptoms, to increase the testing rate and better mitigate the virus’
Dad Jokes
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veryone has heard a “dad joke” or two. Some of them are so corny that we cringe. Others make us smile and nod our heads in approval. Here are some one-liners that really put us in the Father’s Day mood. Q: Why did the teddy bear decline to have dessert? A: Because it was already stuffed. Q: What did one plate say to the other plate? A: Dinner is on me.
Kayode Crown
No Debate Necessary After the protest, some of the event’s organizers took questions from the press. Taylor Turnage, president of the Youth and College NAACP, explained the significance of the phrase “Black Lives Matter.” “What people have to understand is we say Black Lives Matter because it’s been evident that they don’t,” Turnage said. “There honestly should be no debate about human lives.” Maisie Brown, youth program director at the Institute for Democratic Education in America, held up a placard with the face of Mario Clark. In 2019, Jackson Police Department officers beat Clark, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, to death after being called to escort him to the hospital. “Me and Timothy’s decision to hold that picture up of Mario Clark, you can see the look on people’s faces change. You saw his mom crying,” Brown said, comparing it to the photograph of Emmett Till after his murder published in Jet Magazine in 1955. Brown is also an occasional columnist for the Jackson Free Press. “It’s a put-it-in-your-face moment. I think we want for them to see it head on, right there, right now,” organizer Timothy Young said.
kills”; “no justice, no peace”; “get your knee off my neck.” Capitol police barred entry to both the Walter Sillers Building and the State Capitol, leading to the gathered demonstrators shouting at the walls of the new Capitol so any legislators and leaders inside the building could hear those who elected them. Eventually, Rep. Zakiya Summers, a Jackson Democrat, came outside to hear the protesters out. Elsewhere in Mississippi, large crowds gathered in Gulfport, Starkville, Oxford and numerous other Mississippi cities, congregating in public parks and on street corners to make their voices heard. State intern Julian Mills contributed to this report. Email state reporter Nick Judin at nick@jacksonfreepress.com and follow him @ nickjudin on Twitter
Nick Judin
incarcerated there; and the centering of public health in the state’s upcoming decisions on university and school openings.
threat by identifying more people who may have COVID-19 but do not know it..” The mayor said the plan is not just for testing to be done at the premises of the health center, but at different places. “That is what is taking place today. We have this mobile unit set up here outside this apartment complex, and we look forward to having more locations across the city,” he said before his test. “We want to make certain that we make it apparent to the residents that this is a resource that is available to them for free.” JHCHC Director of Nursing Glendora Singleton said that people could call the main clinic number at 601-362-5321, use the extension for the telemedicine department to schedule a testing appointment with or without symptoms. Email story tips to city/county reporter Kayode Crown at kayode@jacksonfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @kayodecrown.
Q: Why did the student eat his homework? A: Because the teacher told him it was a piece of cake. Q: What do you call a sassy duck? A: A wise-quacker. Q: What did one ocean say to the other? A: Nothing. They just waved. Q: Why did the kid bring a ladder to class? A: She wanted to go to high school. Q: What do you call a vegetable posing as a noddle? A: An impasta. Q: Why do bees have sticky hair? A: Because they use a honeycomb. Q: Why did the coach go to the bank? A: To get his quarter back.
Q: In Star Wars, what do you call a droid that takes the long way around? A: R2 detour. Q: What did the slower tomato say to the other fruits in the race? A: “Don’t worry; I’ll ketchup.” Q: Why do melons have weddings? A: Because they cantaloupe. Q: What do you call an old snowman? A: A puddle. Q: What do you call a sleeping bull? A: A bulldozer. Q: When does a joke become a “dad” joke? A: When the punchline is a parent.
