ACLU of Mississippi
Because Freedom Can't Protect Itself
Op-Eds
World AIDS Day
December 1, 2010
Today, December 1, is the 22nd annual observation of World AIDS Day—a day to recognize the 33.3 million people currently living with HIV/AIDS in the world, including 2.5 million children. The theme for World AIDS Day 2010 is ‘Universal Access and Human Rights’
The human rights of people living with HIV/AIDS include the right to medically accurate information about ways to prevent the spread of HIV, as well as the right to adequate medical care for those persons already living with the disease.
The protection of these rights is fundamental to combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Failure to protect these rights in the past has fueled the spread of HIV, especially among marginalized groups such as injecting drug users and sex workers who are at a higher risk of HIV infection. Upholding these rights now would prevent new infections, and persons currently living with HIV/AIDS could live free from discrimination.
Decide this World AIDS Day to make a difference. One way to make a difference is simply to get tested. Knowing your status is fundamental to your health, the health of your sexual partners, and to being in control of your own sexual life. Another way to make a difference is to commit to using preventive measures whenever engaging in sexual activities or sharing needles.
Join the world this World AIDS Day in paying homage to those we have lost in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and celebrating those millions of people now living, surviving and thriving with this chronic disease.
-Valencia Robinson
Tags: HIV/AIDS Rights
Posted in Op-Eds
Celebrating 2010, Looking Ahead to 2011
November 22, 2010
Celebrating 2010!
ACLU members, donors and staff came together in Jackson to celebrate the 2010 victories defending constitutional freedoms, and to look forward to even greater victories in 2011. It was moving, inspiring and FUN! ACLU of Mississippi members certainly know how to throw a party.
Checkout the full Facebook photo stream here!
From Constance McMillen to Ceara Sturgis and Andre Cooley, the ACLU-MS had great reason to celebrate. Will you be joining us in 2011?
Posted in Op-Eds
Making Schools Safer for LGBT Youth
November 7, 2010
You don’t have to be from Mississippi to know that Mississippi public schools can sometimes be unwelcoming to lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) teens. Last Saturday, however, the ACLU of Mississippi participated in our third Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition (MSSC) summit, whose mission is to make schools safer for LGBT youth in Mississippi.
Each year the MSSC holds a statewide summit that brings together LGBT youth and allies to learn strategies for making schools safer for all students. Attendees–mostly students, teachers, parents and allies–spend the rest of the year applying what they’ve learned. Some students, for example, might try to get safe schools policy passed in their schools. Others might start the Gay/Straight Alliance they’ve been talking about but haven’t known the right steps. Mostly, attendees serve as community advocates–someone people know they can go to if they’re experiencing bullying in their schools.
The ACLU of Mississippi is so proud to be a member of the MSSC. The coalition, especially its young people, have done astonishingly good work over the past three years since the coalition’s founding. This year’s summit was amazing. I’m confident the MSSC and all its partners will see an amazing year in 2011 as we work together to make Mississippi’s schools safe and respectful for all students.
Tags: LGBT Rights, Students' Rights
Posted in Op-Eds
It Gets Better
October 15, 2010
With so many stories in the news about the bullying and suicides of gay youth lately, the ACLU of Mississippi is grateful to have helped so many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in 2010. Our work with Ceara Sturgis and Constance McMillen are only two of our most public cases. But members and staff of the ACLU-MS have worked tirelessly this year to make Mississippi a better, safer place for LGBT people.
These videos are some that ACLU staff made for the “It Gets Better” campaign. If you’re watching this and wondering if it really gets better, even in Mississippi, we want to assure you it does. The ACLU of Mississippi is fighting to make sure of it.
Tags: LGBT Rights
Posted in Op-Eds
Will Mississippi Import Arizona’s Pro-Racial Profiling Law?
September 28, 2010
As I write this, senators in Judiciary Committee A are meeting to discuss potential immigration legislation. Through personal and newspaper reports, I’ve heard that some of the legislators want to bring a law to Mississippi very similar to Arizona’s controversial SB1070. It would require every police officer to ask people for their papers based only on some undefined “reasonable suspicion” that they are in the country unlawfully. To avoid arrest, citizens and non-citizens will effectively have to carry their “papers” at all times.
Fortunately, many ACLU-MS members have sent an email to members of Judiciary Committee A, telling them not to import Arizona’s bad law to Mississippi.
Throughout today and tomorrow, others will also be conveying their concerns to the committee. The ACLU of Mississippi’s Executive Director, Nsombi Lambright, will be speaking Wednesday. Her remarks are certain to be compelling. As an African-American woman who’s family has lived in Mississippi since slavery, and as a daughter whose mother was active in the Civil Rights Movement, Nsombi knows well the grim consequences of racial profiling.
By the way, you can stay up to date on these hearings–and any future legislation, on this page of our website: http://www.aclu-ms.org/home/noracialprofiling.htm
Tags: Immigration
Posted in Op-Eds
The Good News: Jackson’s Anti-Racial Profiling Law
September 27, 2010
Do you remember when, in the wake of the so-called “Patriot Act,” cities across the country passed resolutions not to enforce some of the most egregious, rights-violating provisions of that law? That kind of bold opposition to power made me proud of my country.
Recently, a law passed in the capitol city of Jackson has made me proud of my state. As controversy swirls around Arizona’s SB1070—the law that authorizes police to ask people for their papers based only on some undefined “reasonable suspicion” that they are in the country unlawfully—Jackson’s city council passed an ordinance that prohibits police officers from stopping or detaining people based on the person’s race, immigration status, perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. It also prohibits police officers from asking people about their immigration status solely to determine if they are in the United States illegally.
The Council passed the ordinance 6-1. Almost unanimously.
Standing up against racial profiling is always the right thing to do. My hope is that Jacksons’ example will be a beacon for the rest of the state. And the state, a beacon for the country.
Tags: Racial Justice
Posted in Op-Eds
We are Here Without Fear, and We Want Our Sisters Free
September 20, 2010
So, my friends and I went to the Scotts Sisters Rally and March this Wednesday. There were a lot of things going on, a sea of people, posters, and banners. I went to represent my school, Tougaloo College, ACLU student chapter. For most of the people in TC-ACLU, it was their first time being at a march. Emotions were high with enthusiasm, and a little apprehensive. We all car pooled to the March’s starting point, Fairish Street Park. On the way we were sign and laughing and saying chants we heard, wondering what was in store for us.
Upon arriving we joined in with the other members from the State ACLU. They were super crunk too, so our enthusiasm just increased the more. It started with some motivational speakers telling why we were gathered and urging everyone to understand the severity of the matter at hand. Chokwe Lumumba, the Scott Sister lawyer warned us that people might have oppositions to us march, but assured that if we stood together our united message for justice would be carried over. The crowd around us was pumped. I recognized other students from Tougaloo College and Jackson State hold signs and banners. Everyone seemed excited. Right before we left the starting point and embarked on our journey, the last speaker gave us the rally’s theme slogan: We are here without fear, and we want our sisters free… The crowd readily caught on and started marching.
First we marched to Governor’s mansion. Along the way cameras were snapping and new chants developed. There was one particular sista who keep everything lively and upbeat. She was like, aint’ no party like the party of the people, cause the party of the people won’t stop… The tune was super catchy. She was live all day. The energy form the crowd was awesomely contagious. I looked around at my friends and was shocked at what I saw. I mean, I was skeptical at how some of them would respond, because by nature they’re laid back, and soft spoken. However, everyone was feeling the mood, chanting, singing, marching, all in the name of freedom and justice. Like really, they were surprising me, it was super awesome.
So after leaving the Governor’s mansion we went to the state capitol. News vans were parked along the streets. We marched all the way up the steps. Representatives from different organizations went to speak on stage. The crowd and speakers feed off each other and the enthusiasm kept on rolling. A collection was taken up, and a letter from the sisters was read. They expressed their gratitude and sincere thanks for the support. They also expressed weariness and a deep longing to be free. The letter really touched me because it came at the end. By that time people were beginning to become tired and it was extremely hot. I myself was feeling the heaviness creep over. However, the letter refreshed me, for I thought if the Scott sisters could endure 15 years in prison, certainly I could manage a few hours of heat. I felt motivated to do more, upon leaving. The rally and march rejuvenated my thirst for activism and there is no limitation to what happens next….to be continued.
-Faith Jackson
Faith Jackson is a student at Tougaloo College and active member of the Tougaloo College ACLU chapter.
Tags: Criminal Justice Reform
Posted in Op-Eds
Free the Scott Sisters!
September 17, 2010
A life sentence for allegedly stealing $11.00. That’s the sentence that two sisters, Jamie and Gladys Scott, received in 1993. Their case illustrates how dangerous Mississippi’s criminal justice system is, especially for people of color and low-income in our state. Mississippi’s culture of conviction swallows people whole, handing out excessive sentences for minor crimes. And regardless of how minor one thinks stealing $11.00 is, certainly life in prison is a punishment that doesn’t fit the crime.
The excessiveness in the Scott sisters case has been gathering attention over the past few years. On Wednesday, hundreds of the Scott sisters’ supporters took to the streets of Jackson, calling on governor Barbour to pardon the sisters.
The march wound from Farish Street to the the governor’s mansion, and finally to the state capitol building. Marchers carried signs and chanted, “Free the Scott Sisters!” Bear Atwood, ACLU of Mississippi Acting Legal Director, spoke before the crowd. A letter was read from Senator John Horhn calling on the governor to release the sisters. City Councilman Chokwe Lumumba was present and also called for the sisters to be released.
There was certainly no lack of support for the Scott sisters Wednesday. The question is whether governor Barbour was listening. And if he was, will he be the one to correct what to the rest of the nation is obviously a gross injustice.
Tags: Criminal Justice Reform
Posted in Op-Eds
Curfew Laws and Family Values
September 9, 2010
‘Family values’ is one of those terms whose meaning largely depends on who’s using it. My family values may be different from your family values. But if the term has any consistent meaning at all, it surely includes the idea that family members, not politicians, should decide what is and isn’t in their own best interests.
Considering this, it’s been disconcerting over the past few weeks to hear Jackson politicians who usually praise ‘family values’ saying that, in the matter of juvenile curfews, the government, not parents, should decide when children should be indoors. And if children violate the government’s curfew? These politicians would have police arrest the children, take them to juvenile detention centers where they would be housed with criminals until they’re taken before a judge.
If you are a parent, just imagine your child being arrested, then standing before a judge in an orange jumpsuit, handcuffed, for the great “crime” of being outdoors after 10:00 p.m. You may have even given him or her permission to be outdoors. This is, after all, Mississippi. It’s not uncommon here for parents to let their children to walk home from a friend’s house at night, walk to a store to get something for the family, or even setup a tent on the front yard and go camping. Yet any one of these activities would get your child arrested under Jackson’s proposed curfew law, regardless of whether you gave your child permission.
Are you for family values? Then let the Jackson City Council know they should stick to politicking. We’ll stick to caring for our families.
Tags: Criminal Justice Reform
Posted in Op-Eds
Hurricane Katrina: Five Years Later: And Still We Rise
August 28, 2010
I can’t believe that five years have passed since Hurricane Katrina devastated Gulf Coast communities in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. And although groups and advocates who were experienced in disaster recovery told us that it would take at least ten years to rebuild, I never imagined that five years later, we’d still face the same challenges.
The fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Are we celebrating growth and recovery, commemorating a tragedy, or both?
As I viewed Trouble The Water this week, I was mixed up inside. The ACLU of Mississippi partnered with an organization started by Katrina Survivors who relocated from New Orleans to Jackson, called Rise Above Katrina, to show Trouble The Water at Tougaloo College, a historically black college in Mississippi. As I interacted with Wilma Taylor and LaShawn Traylor and some of the other survivors, I thought about how far they’d come. Wilma is a Gulf Coast Fellow who is starting her own organization to advocate for individuals with disabilities. LaShawn is finishing her education and continuing her ministry. They’ve moved into new homes, celebrated births. Life has moved on. They have risen above Katrina.
Still, a glimpse of sadness remains in their eyes. It’s a sadness that allows you to travel into their bodies and view the pain in their souls. You hear it when they talk about loved ones who didn’t make it through the storm. You hear it when they talk about their disappointment in the governments that let them down.
The city of New Orleans did not provide transportation for people to leave; the state of Louisiana who brought military and law enforcement in to shoot and arrest survivors; the state of Mississippi that withheld federal dollars from everyone except for homeowners; the city of Jackson that moved everyone out of the temporary shelter of the coliseum because a Disney show was coming to town; Harrison County, the place that has not rebuilt shelters for the homeless and arrests people for not having a place to rest their heads at night.
The list of disappointments is endless. And still they rise. They rose above the storm to accomplish great things. They rose above the storm with new friends and family who were survivors too. They rose above the storm with a new sense of awareness about the importance of fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves. And even though they are still rising, they don’t forget; they won’t forget; they can’t forget. I’ll be there with them, rising too; until there is true freedom and justice for all!
~Nsombi Lambright, ACLU-MS Executive Director
Tags: Hurricane Katrina
Posted in Op-Eds