Executive Director's Message | |
Changing Lives through Prison Education | |
|
May is the season for school graduations. Over the past week, I had the pleasure of attending two ceremonies for our growing prison education program. These weren’t graduations per se, but rather celebrations of the successful completion of humanities courses by incarcerated students over the last two semesters.
At Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl, instructors and administrators from Hinds Community College handed out certificates to the women who had finished their courses. I could see the strong connection between the instructors and the students. Each teacher spoke about how this had been among the most inspiring educational experiences of their career. But of course, the most memorable part was the students. One talked about how she had come to prison without even a GED, but now had several college credits and was working her way to an associate degree. Several expressed hope that Hinds could expand their offerings.
Right after the ceremony, MHC Assistant Director Carol Andersen and I met with Melissa Buie, Hinds’ academic dean, and Lashetta Wilder of the Mississippi Department of Corrections about how we could overcome the challenges related to enrollment and technology and educational space within the prison to offer more courses. I was struck not only by the passionate dedication of the teachers and students, but also by these administrators who understand the life-changing impact of these educational opportunities.
A week later, MHC Project Coordinator Carla Falkner and I traveled to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman for the completion ceremony for courses taught by Mississippi Delta Community College. MDCC President Dr. Tyrone Jackson congratulated the men and hailed them as “Trojans” (the school’s mascot). Kell Smith, executive director of the Mississippi Community College Board, also spoke during the ceremony. We even dedicated our state’s first Phi Theta Kappa chapter based in a prison. PTK’s national president, Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner, attended and spoke during the ceremony, sharing incredible success stories of incarcerated students from other states who had been members of the national honor society for community college students.
Our partners from the Woodward Hines Education Foundation, the Institutions of Higher Learning, and the new director of the Mississippi Consortium for Higher Education in Prison were also there. The ceremony represented the wide array of partners we’ve brought together to support this important work.
| | |
Our involvement with higher education in Mississippi prisons reflects how the MHC often works behind the scenes as a catalyst and connector. | |
|
All these courses are funded by the Mississippi Humanities Council through a grant from the Mellon Foundation. We approached both Hinds and Mississippi Delta Community College a few years ago and invited them to bring humanities courses to incarcerated students, and then wrote the grant to fund them. Currently, we support courses in seven different facilities, which will expand to eight by this summer. We are also talking with other colleges about expanding the program even further next year. Our involvement with higher education in Mississippi prisons reflects how the MHC often works behind the scenes as a catalyst and connector. We don’t teach courses or offer credits, but we’ve been able to assemble a broad coalition that is working together to build a sustainable system of higher education for incarcerated students that will ultimately benefit all Mississippians.
It can take time to explain our behind-the-scenes role, but these programs are among the Council’s proudest recent accomplishments and a testament to the potential for humanities education to change lives. We look forward to future Mays and actual graduation ceremonies for these students.
| |
|
"Reflecting Mississippi" National History Day Award Winners
National History Day (NHD) is a nationwide competition that encourages middle and high school students to develop creative, original historical research based around an annual theme. The 2023 theme is “Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas.”
Mississippi History Day, the state’s NHD affiliate conducted by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, is a cross-curricular program focusing on in-depth research and critical analysis. While the program’s basis is in history, students are able to study topics that fit all subject matter, from science to math to foreign languages and cultures. Students are even able to display their technology, art, or acting skills in different categories. Participants are encouraged to research primary and secondary sources through archives, digital archives, libraries, museums, and historic sites.
The Mississippi Humanities Council sponsored two “Reflecting Mississippi” awards for this year’s program, recognizing projects that specifically exhibited Mississippi’s complex history and culture in their papers. The winners, pictured below, were awarded a $150 cash prize, which may be used to enter the national competition in June at the University of Maryland in College Park.
| |
Charles Williams and Richeen Neal; Tougaloo Early College High School, 11th grade; "From Cotton Fields to the Cotton Club: The Evolving Sound of Home." | |
Will Hicks; Sacred Heart Middle School, 8th grade; "Charley Pride: Pioneer of Racial Diversity in Country Music." | |
MHC and Prison Education Partners Celebrate Student Success | |
|
Mississippi Delta Community College (MDCC) launched the state’s first Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) chapter for students who are incarcerated in a May 11 ceremony at Mississippi State Penitentiary, Parchman. With MHC funding, Mississippi Delta began offering humanities classes at Parchman in Spring 2021. Since that time, students have earned a total of 774 credit hours, and twelve men have met the requirements for the international honor society.
The keynote speaker for the induction of the Beta Omega Beta chapter was PTK President and CEO, Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner. She reminded the incoming PTK members they had a new label for identifying themselves, “honor students.”
Delta President Dr. Tyrone Jackson announced to the Parchman students that the college was on track to offer a full Associate of Arts degree beginning this fall. At that time, students will become eligible for Pell funding.
MDCC courses at Parchman are currently funded by MHC. Dr. Ben Cloyd, Vice President of Effectiveness and Enrollment, told the students, “MHC is the true star. Their financial support is fundamental to MDCC being able to offer classes for you. They and our other partners believe in you. They believe in the power of education and what the power of education can do for you.”
On May 17, Northeast Mississippi Community College celebrated the success of its students at Alcorn County Regional Correctional Facility (ACCF) with an open house for a new classroom building. To expand prison education at ACCF, Northeast partnered with the Mississippi Department of Corrections to add a building to the prison campus in Corinth. The new classroom will be used for all Northeast programs, including both academic courses and Workforce Development.
Other completion celebrations include Hinds Community College at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, Mississippi Valley State University at Bolivar County and Delta Correctional Facilities, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College at Stone and George Correctional Facilities, and Southwest Mississippi Community College at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility.
To recognize the students’ accomplishments, MHC awards certificates to students who have successfully completed twelve hours of humanities-related coursework.
Funding for the MHC prison education initiative is made possible through grants from the Mellon Foundation and private donations. For more information, contact MHC Project Coordinator for Prison Education Carla Falkner.
| |
|
Eight New Markers To Be Added to Mississippi Freedom Trail
The Mississippi Freedom Trail scholar committee recently approved eight new markers from community submissions to add to the state's Civil Rights historial marker trail. The new markers will include Medgar Evers' first NAACP office on Farish Street, the Civil Rights Lawyers of Jackson (R.J. Brown, Carsie Hall, Jack Young), the Medical Committee for Human Rights (including Dr. Smith, Dr. Shirley, and Dr. Anderson), the McComb Bombings, the Masonic Temple of McComb, the Indianola Freedom House, Freedom Schools of Tyler Town, and Ben Brown.
These new markers acknowledge the grassroots efforts that were happening across the entire state and the challenges they encountered during the civil rights movement. They serve as a reminder of the sacrifices made by countless individuals in the pursuit of justice and equality in Mississippi.
The next deadline for marker proposals is July 31, 2023. The cost to install each marker is $10K but for the first time, that fee is 100% sponsored by Visit Mississippi. The additional money comes from the EDA State Tourism Grants. Visit Mississippi is the official tourism organization dedicated to poromt
The Mississippi Freedom trail features more than 30 markers and locations throughout the state, including museums, churches, and other landmarks. The council hopes to get enough proposals to double that number. All the new Mississippi Freedom Trail markers will be approved by the end of 2024.
To learn more about the Mississippi Freedom Trail and to apply for a marker, visit the Mississippi Freedom Trail website, or contact MHC Program & Outreach Officer John Spann.
| |
MHC Receives American Library Association Grants for Teen Programming | |
|
The MHC has been awarded three grants from the American Library Association (ALA) to conduct Great Stories Club programs in Rankin County and Stone County. The Pearl Public Library will host their programs this fall, and spring 2024, while the library at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College will begin their book club in early 2024. The project directors chose the "Finding Your Voice: Speaking Truth to Power" curriculum for their communities. The grants provide 10 copies of four books from the curriculum's reading list, as well as $500 for programmatic support.
The American Library Association’s Great Stories Club is a literature-based library outreach program that gives underserved youth the opportunity to read, reflect, and share ideas on topics that resonate with them. Recently, the MHC conducted a Great Stories Club series at the Youthful Offenders Unit at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. The 6-week program was facilitated by Chauncey Spears, and used the "Empathy" curriculum from the ALA.
For more information about the Great Stories Club, or to bring one to your community, contact Molly McMillan.
| |
|
M.W. Stringer Grand Lodge Marker to be Unveiled
On June 4 the historic M.W. Stringer Grand Lodge will be added to the Mississippi Freedom Trail. Visit Jackson, Visit Mississippi, and the Mississippi Humanities Council are organizing the unveiling ceremony that will be a part of the M.W. Stringer Grand Lodge Homecoming activities that day. The historic site served as a sanctuary for Masons of Jackson and the Jackson Civil Rights Movement. At one time, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and other civil rights organizations of Mississippi had their central offices within the Stringer Lodge.
The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party organized and chose delegates during a conference at the Lodge to represent the party at the 1964 Democratic Convention. Those delegates later became catalysts for the expansion of voting rights to all Americans. The Lodge also served as Medgar W. Evers’ second Jackson office working as the field secretary for the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP. The current Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, led by Charles Taylor, is still housed in the M.W. Stringer Grand Lodge.
Join us on June 4 at 10:00 A.M. for the unveiling of the marker outside in the Lodge’s parking lot. The ceremony is open to the public. To learn more about the event contact John Spann.
| |
|
Speakers Bureau Highlight: Programs for Memorial Day
On May 29, the United States will celebrate Memorial Day, a federal holiday for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who have died while serving in the United States armed forces. If your organization would like to recognize this holiday, the MHC Speakers Bureau offers several presentations pertaining to the topic:
- "They Gave Their Lives: Experiences of 53 WWII Veterans 60 Years After the War" (Duane Bullard)
- "America's WWII Era's Industrial Economy: The Impact of Mississippi Women in the Workforce" (Dr. LaShunda Calvert)
- "Black Mississippians in the Civil War" (Dr. Max Grivno)
- "The American Revolution in the Gulf South" (Dr. Max Grivno)
- "Forbidden, Hidden and Forgotten: Women Soldiers of the Civil War" (Shelby Harriel)
- "D-Day Mississippi: The Battle of Port Gibson, 1863" (Grady Howell)
- "In Their Boots: Poetry Inspired by Soldiers and Their Loved Ones" (G. Mark LaFrancis)
- "Mississippi in the Great War" (Anne Webster)
The MHC Speakers Bureau features our state’s finest historians, writers and storytellers talking about a wide variety of subjects related to Mississippi and beyond. For no cost, you can bring these scholars to speak at an event. The MHC selects speakers based on their credentials and the quality of their program and pays them an honorarium for presenting to nonprofit groups around the state.
For more information on bringing one of these presentations to your area, becoming a member of the speakers bureau, or any other questions, contact MHC Program Officer Molly McMillan.
| |
Grantee Support: Publicizing Your Program | |
|
MHC Partners to Host Jackson Premiere Screening of In the Bones Documentary
The Mississippi Humanities Council is partnering with the Crossroads Film Society to bring quality documentary films to Mississippi audiences, along with pre- or post-screening dialogues between audiences, filmmakers and other stakeholders. The first film screening will be In the Bones Thursday, June 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the Capri Theater in Jackson.
In the Bones is a cinematic journey through Mississippi that provides a poetic — and sometimes painful — portrait of American culture through the ordinary lives of women and children. It explores the personal and political by interweaving the lives of women living and working in Mississippi during a legislative session in which equal pay for equal work and abortion rights are being decided. Although set in three distinct regions of Mississippi, In the Bones is a much broader exploration of our culture, shining a light on the weight under which women live in this country and the resilience expressed in everyday acts of survival.
The Southern Poverty Law Center is providing financial sponsorship for this first screening in the Mississippi Humanities Council’s ongoing partnership with the Crossroads Film Society to connect Mississippians with great documentary films.
In the Bones producer Jessica Anthony and director Kelly Duane de la Vega are scheduled to attend the screening to introduce the film and to participate in a post-screening panel discussion about the themes in the film, which will include local community and organizational leaders.
Narrative and documentary films and series have the power to shape hearts and minds. When screened in community, this act of watching can spark conversation and action. In the Bones is a powerful documentary that can be such a catalyst by reminding us that policy is always deeply personal.
The June 15 screening and panel discussion are free and open to all.
| |
|
Upcoming MHC-Sponsored Events
Speakers Bureau: The Battle of Brice's Crossroads
May 25, 6:00 p.m.
Longhorn Meeting Room, Amory
Edwina Carptenter, Director of Brice's Crossroads National Battlefield and Interpretive Center, will explore the crucial battle during the Civil War.
| |
|
Speakers Bureau: The Historic Journey of African American Quilters
June 2, 5:00 p.m.
Eagle Ridge Conference Center, Raymond
Diane Williams, storyteller and fiber artist, begins her presentation with a discussion of Kente cloth weaved fibers of West Africa and moves on to utilitarian quilts made by African slaves in America who sewed for their owners. She provides a reflective look at how the designs of Underground Railroad quilts relate to storytelling, and explores the works of Harriet Powers (1837-1910) and three other female fiber artists.
E-Steam Summer Camp
June 5-30
iVillage Community House, Jackson, MS
The Center for Social Entrepreneurship will provide a free E-STEAM Summer Camp to promote entrepreneurship, STEAM, and the humanities for 4th and 5th graders residing in West Jackson, MS. The four week camp is scheduled for June 2023 with daily sessions Monday-Friday 8:00-2:00. Cap will be held at iVilliage Community House to provide easy access for neighborhood children living in West Jackson.
Learn More
| |
|
Speakers Bureau: A Look at Mande Culture Through Traditional Music
June 6, 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Pearl River County Library System
On Tuesday, June 6, Jerry Jenkins will give audiences a glimpse of the Mande Culture of West Africa using traditional drums and music. Participants will learn about the djembe, its introduction by drummers like Babatunde Olatunji in 1950 and Ladji Camara from Guinea, and how it spread throughout America.
10:30 a.m.: Poplarville Public Library (Poplarville)
2:00 p.m.: Margaret Reed Crosby Memorial Library (Picayune)
| |
Speakers Bureau: Robert Johnson at the Crossroads
June 20, 2:00 p.m.
Jessie J. Edwards Public Library, Coldwater
In colorful costume, storytellers Rebecca Jernigan and Wendy Garrison retell the tale of legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. With music, drama and sign language, they recount his fateful encounter with the Prince of Darkness at the crossroads in the Delta. They discuss the historical person Robert Johnson, and they share the role of the blues as an indigenous musical genre that grew out of the challenges of life in the Mississippi Delta.
| |
|
Speakers Bureau: Women of the Struggle: Facing Fear in the Civil Rights Era
June 22, 6:00 p.m.
Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture
Award-winning Director and Producer G. Mark LaFrancis and associate producers Robert Moran and Darrell White will present a stirring, inspirational documentary chronicling the tragic and stressful incidents experienced by women who faced a variety of Civil Rights tragedies and triumphs. Hear from the women themselves and how they faced the fears of that era. Women include Julia Chaney Moss (sister of James Chaney), Flonzie Brown Wright (noted voting and Civil Rights advocate), Brenda Travis (ordered to leave Mississippi), Geraldine Hollis (one of the Tougaloo Nine), and many others.
| | | | |
