Mississippi Today

North Mississippi attorney Wil Colom to challenge Rep. Cheikh Taylor for chair of Democratic Party

Published

3 weeks ago

June 13, 2024

mississippitoday.org – Taylor Vance – 2024-06-13 04:00:00

Wil Colom, an attorney and businessman from Columbus, will run for chairman of the state Democratic Party and challenge its current chairman Cheikh Taylor for the position, according to an email he sent to several members of the party's executive committee.

Colom's email, obtained by Mississippi Today, said that if he were elected leader of the party, he would work to implement a rigorous fundraising program, decentralize the party's operations, create an outreach and training program, establish a communications arm for the party, and recruit candidates to run for office in 2027.

“I'm not going to be a candidate,” Colom wrote. “Others can call the press conferences and give the speeches. My job, if I become chair, would be to amplify the messages of the candidates by ensuring resources are available.”

Taylor, a state representative from Oktibbeha County, is the party's current chairman and is up for reelection to a full term this year.

Colom told Mississippi Today that he knows Taylor and his family personally since they're from the same area of the state, and his decision to run for party leadership is not a personal attack on the current chairman.

“I don't want anyone to get the impression that (Taylor) is a bad guy,” Colom said. “I just think I have a different skill set.”

Taylor told Mississippi Today that he also plans to run and welcomes Colom's challenge. Having led the party through the 2023 statewide elections and presided over the party's recent convention, Taylor said he believes he's “battle-tested and battle-ready.”

“This is an exercise in the democratic experience,” Taylor said. “If we get in a position when we frown on challenges, we're frowning on the democratic process.”

The party's next executive committee meeting is July 22, when members will vote on for a chairman and other party officers. If Colom becomes the party's new leader, he would be the organization's third chairman in one year, potentially writing a new chapter in its recent chaotic history.

The party's executive committee voted to oust Tyree Irving as its chairman in July 2023 after Mississippi Today published emails Irving wrote to national Democratic Party officials that included a nasty attack on the state executive director.

After Irving's ouster, the committee voted to replace him with Taylor. However, less than a year after Taylor was first elected to the post, some in the executive committee apparently believe it's time for a new face to lead the party.

Attorney Wil Colom said he's running for chairmanship of the Mississippi Democratic Party. Credit: Special to Mississippi Today

Colom's past may make him an odd choice for the leader of the Democratic Party. He was once a Republican and ran for State Treasurer in the late 1980s as a Republican, but he left the GOP in the mid-2000s.

Since his exodus from the GOP, he has been a member of the Democratic National Committee, served on the national finance committee for President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, and helped recent Democratic candidates try to win office in Mississippi.

His son, Scott Colom, is an elected Democratic district attorney for Clay, Lowndes, Noxubee and Oktibbeha counties. President Joe Biden nominated the younger Colom to an open federal judicial seat in north Mississippi, but his confirmation remains stalled in the U.S. Senate.

Mississippi Democratic Chairman Cheikh Taylor (second right), State Rep. Daryl Porter (right) were joined by supporters who gathered at the Sillers Building to protest Gov. Tate Reeves unveiling of a hospital program, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today

Colom acknowledged that he has been involved in Republican politics in the past but said, “It's been 18 years” since he last had any major involvement with the GOP.

Party leaders aren't always elected officials, but they play a crucial role in the political process. They often help organize messaging, coordinate fundraising, and strategize campaign efforts. During major elections, state party leaders often interface with national leaders to draw down funds.

A lack of funding and resources are two of the most pressing issues that have hampered the state Democratic Party from growing its influence and presence in a Deep South state dominated in recent years by the Republican Party.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Federal judge blocks Mississippi online age verification law

Published

17 hours ago

July 2, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Geoff Pender – 2024-07-02 12:43:05

A federal judge has issued an injunction halting a Mississippi law requiring online platforms to verify the ages of users.

Mississippi lawmakers, parroting measures passed by legislatures in several other states, passed House Bill 1126 this year, saying it would protect children from explicit online content. The law was set to take effect Monday, but the tech industry group NetChoice sued the state in June, claiming it would unconstitutionally limit adults' free speech and privacy.

U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden granted NetChoice's request for a preliminary injunction halting the law while the case moves forward. He said the plaintiff's claim shows “a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of its claim” of the unconstitutionality of the law.

NetChoice is fighting similar laws in other states and has secured several similar injunctions.

“An unconstitutional law will protect no one,”Chris Marchese, director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said in a statement. “We're pleased the court sided with the First Amendment and stopped Mississippi's law from censoring online speech, limiting access to lawful information and undermining user privacy and security as our case proceeds. We look forward to seeing the law struck down permanently.

“If HB 1126 ultimately takes effect, mandating age and identity verification for digital services will undermine privacy and stifle the free exchange of ideas. Mississippi also commandeers websites to censor broad categories of protected speech, blocking access to important educational resources. Mississippians have a First Amendment right to access lawful information online free from government censorship.”

The Mississippi law, authored by Rep. Jill Ford, R-Madison, is called the “Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act,” named after a Mississippi teen who reportedly committed suicide after an overseas online predator threatened to blackmail him.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1946

Published

22 hours ago

July 2, 2024

Staff Editor

JULY 2, 1946

On his 21^st birthday, Medgar Evers and six other World War II veterans, including his brother, Charles, tried to vote in Decatur, Mississippi, only to be turned away by an armed White mob.

That day, Medgar Evers vowed that he would never be whipped again. He and other Black war veterans joined together to fight the civil rights movement.

After graduating from Alcorn College, he tried to enroll at the University of Mississippi School of Law — only to be turned away. NAACP officials considered taking up his case but were so impressed with him they decided instead to hire him as first field secretary for the Mississippi NAACP.

He put thousands of miles a year on his Oldsmobile, recruiting new members, reviving branches and investigating often unpunished violence against Black Americans, including the 1955 murder of Emmett Till.

On May 20, 1963, he talked on television about the mistreatment of Black Mississippians: “The years of change are upon us. In the racial picture things will never be as they once were. History has reached a turning point, here and over the world.”

Three weeks later, he was assassinated in the driveway of his Jackson home. On his birthday in 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it hours later.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

She was Caitlin Clark 74 years ago. Now, Dot Burrow is a Hall of Famer.

Published

1 day ago

July 1, 2024

Staff Editor

BOSTON — In Mississippi, Dot Ford Burrow was Caitlin Clark a half century before Caitlin Clark was born, scoring 50 points per game back in 1950 for tiny Smithville High School in Monroe County.

Monday night in Boston, Mrs. Burrow, grandmother of football's Joe Burrow, finally received recognition for her basketball excellence 74 years after she completed one of the most amazing high school basketball careers of anyone, anywhere, ever.

Dot Burrow, three months shy of her 93rd birthday, was inducted into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame along with the likes of baseball great Joe Mauer, and football stars Takeo Spikes and Tyrone Wheatley and seven others. Mrs. Burrow received a standing ovation from a jam-packed crowd of several hundred, including her famous grandson, in the Boston Marriott Copley Place ballroom.

In many ways, Dot Burrow stole the show from all other inductees. One example: Mauer, who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, followed Burrow in speaking at a press conference earlier Monday. After Burrow charmed reporters and onlookers with her remarks, Mauer began his. “How am I supposed to follow her?” he said, evoking laughter from all in attendance.

Joe Mauer, left, and Dot Burrow. (Photo by Keith Warren)

Bruce Howard, communications director of the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS), called Dot Burrow “one of the most inspiring and touching stories in the 46-year history of the NFHS Hall of Fame.”

She is that. Back when she played for Smithville, the town's population was just over 400, yet she created such interest in girls basketball that Smithville's home games often were moved to nearby Amory and played at the National Guard Armory before sellout crowds of more than 1,000. She led Fulton to a state championship and led the team in scoring as a 14-year-old ninth grader, then transferred to nearby Smithville as a sophomore. Dot Ford was so good, so unstoppable around the basket that one opposing team tried to stop her by putting a defender on the shoulders of another.

“I believe it was Aberdeen in the county tournament my senior year,” Mrs. Burrow said. “Their coach instructed one player to get on the shoulders of another under our basket.”

Did it work?

“No,” she shook her head. “It did not.”

Another team tried to stop her by having their defenders try to stomp on her feet. That didn't work either.

“But I had sore feet for weeks,” said Mrs. Burrow, who once scored 82 points in a single game.

Takeo Spikes, left, and Dot Burrow at a Hall of Fame reception. (Photo by Rick Cleveland)

Today, Caitlin Clark is one of the most famous basketball players, male or female, in the world and makes millions of dollars in salary and endorsements. Back in 1950, when Dot Burrow finished her high school career, there was scant opportunity for female basketball players beyond high school. Mississippi colleges and universities didn't sponsor the sport. There was no WNBA.

“I had offers from two junior colleges, but I decided to get married,” Mrs. Burrow said. “My boyfriend (James Burrow) was playing college basketball, so I got married and went and helped him get through Mississippi State. I wrote most of his papers, helped him all I could. And then we raised a fine family. I have no regrets.”

Their oldest son, Jimmy Burrow, was a terrific football player for Nebraska. Younger son John Burrow played defensive back for Ole Miss. Grandson Joe Burrow – “Joey” to Dot – had perhaps the greatest single season in college football history at LSU and now stars for the Cincinnati Bengals. Twenty-one family members, including children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, were in Boston on Monday to celebrate.

Asked to describe his mother, Jimmy Burrow said, “She's just got a big, big heart. She is always thinking about other people, not herself. She has all the greatest attributes you could want in a mother, wife, grandmother and friend.”

Said spry, 94-year-old James Burrow, as quick with a quip as he was with feet as Mississippi State's starting point guard, “All these years I didn't know I was sleeping with a celebrity.”

James Burrow said Smithville coaches asked for volunteers to date Dot Ford in hopes of convincing her to transfer from Fulton. James Burrow said he wasn't keen on the idea until he saw her at a party. “Then I said to myself, ‘Hmm, I've been looking at this the wrong way,'” James Burrow said, chuckling. “We've been together ever since.”

Asked about her greatest memory from her Smithville playing days, Dot Burrow responded, “I just loved playing with all my friends. All my teammates, except one, have passed on. There are only two of us left and the other lives in Arkansas now. I sure do miss ‘em.”

Said Mississippi High School Activities Association director Rickey Neaves, who draped the Hall of Fame medallion around Mrs Burrow's neck on Monday night to a prolonged standing ovation, “It is an honor and a privilege to see her inducted. She is so deserving. She was an athlete far ahead of her time. She has made Mississippi proud.”

Yes, she has.

Asked what she is most proud of, nearly three quarters of a century after her playing career ended, Dot Burrow responded, “I'm just so proud of my family, all of them, husband, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I am especially proud of our grandson Joey. He has made a name for himself in Ohio and across the nation. I hope I made a name for myself back in Smithville in 1949 and 1950.”

Not to worry, Dot, your fame now extends far beyond Smithville, Monroe County and Mississippi. And surely we can all agree on this: Seventy-four years later, it is about time.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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