One of my resolutions this year was to get out of the office more.  Last year we were so busy running special bicentennial and racial equity grant programs that most days I was at my desk in the Institutions of Higher Learning Building in Jackson. While we supported programs in 87 different communities across the state in 2017, I was not able to attend most of them. This year, the 

entire MHC staff and board have made a special effort to 

attend the many programs we sponsor.

Recently, I've had the opportunity to attend MHC-sponsored programs in the far corners of the state. Last week, I was in Pass Christian for our first-ever "Ideas on Tap" program on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Partnering with the Sun Herald newspaper, we sponsored a public discussion about public trust in the media and the importance of journalism to our democracy. As is typical for Ideas on Tap, we held the program in a bar - upstairs at Bacchus on the Beach.  Even in such an informal setting, it was a rich discussion about the vital role local journalism plays in informing and connecting our communities. We are grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Federation of State Humanities Councils for their financial support of this program, which is part of the national "Democracy and the Informed Citizen Initiative."

The following week, I drove up to Horn Lake to see what has become one of our most successful programs: the Luciérnagas Family Reading Program at the M.R. Dye Public Library. Each fall, a large group of Hispanic families comes to the library on Wednesday evenings to read classic children's books with a storyteller and discussion leader. To prepare for the program, the library puts out every chair it owns - there are no empty seats in the building during Luciérnagas. After reading a handful of books, some in Spanish, some in English, the large group of children and their parents eat dinner together in the library social room. We are especially grateful to the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi for their support of this wonderful program and to Carson Culver, Marta Smally, and the entire team at the Horn Lake Library for creating such a model of success.

Next week, I will be in Booneville on the campus of Northeast Mississippi Community College for an MHC-funded program featuring the Reverend Wheeler Parker, the cousin of Emmett Till and witness to his abduction. To be able to hear from such a living observer to one of the darkest chapters of our country's history is an extraordinary opportunity for the students and residents of northeast Mississippi.

These three programs - each in one of the corners of our state about a three-hour drive from our offices in Jackson - reflect the wide scope of the Council's work. One program was a civil discussion about an important contemporary issue; another a book-based family program that helps connect immigrants and their children to their new community; another a searing, first-hand account of an infamous episode of white violence that helped inspire the modern civil rights movement. These programs took place in a bar, a small public library, and a community college auditorium. Together, they show the Council's commitment to our mission to enrich communities through civil conversations about our history and culture and our belief that the humanities are for everyone.

As we approach the end of our fiscal year, I ask you to consider making a donation to the Mississippi Humanities Council. Your support will help ensure we can continue to offer programs like these in communities across Mississippi.