Mississippi lawmakers will consider requiring state prisons to provide inmates on work assignments with protective gear.

The legislation follows an ongoing federal lawsuit alleging inmates at a Mississippi prison were exposed to dangerous chemicals, with some later contracting late-stage cancer.

Susan Balfour, 63, was incarcerated for 33 years at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility until her release in December 2021. Balfour said she was among a group of prisoners asked to clean the facility without protective equipment.

She was later diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, a condition that prison health care providers failed to identify years ago because they could save money by not performing necessary medical screenings and treatment, according to the lawsuit Balfour filed in the U.S. Southern District of Mississippi.

Rep. Justis Gibbs, D-Jackson, says his proposal, inspired in part by Balfour’s story, addresses the first of a two-pronged issue that leaves Mississippi’s prison inmates vulnerable to dangerous conditions.

“On the front end, it is about protecting our inmates from exposure to raw chemicals and mixing raw chemicals without any protective equipment,” Gibbs said. “The other prong is of course the lack of medical care in terms of the corrections system and its inmates.”

Gibbs’ bill, which has been referred to the House Corrections Committee, would ensure that if an inmate uses raw cleaning chemicals, prison officials must provide them with protective equipment such as face masks, gloves, protective helmets and eye protection. Balfour’s attorneys and Gibbs say over 10 other Mississippi inmates have come down with cancer or become seriously ill after they were exposed to chemicals while on work assignments.

“I’m grateful that state lawmakers have acknowledged this injustice,” Balfour said in a written statement. “Forcing women to work with raw chemicals and cleaning supplies without protective equipment is hazardous and deeply problematic. If successful, this effort will help prevent others from enduring what many have suffered at the hands of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.”

Pauline Rogers, co-founder of the RECH Foundation, an organization that assists women returning from prison, said Gibbs’ bill provides a long overdue safeguard for inmates, who are often encouraged to work while incarcerated in areas such as food service, maintenance and groundkeeping.

“The issue has arisen in Mississippi’s prisons, in part, due to longstanding neglect, underfunding, and systemic dehumanization within the correctional system. Incarcerated individuals are often viewed as expendable rather than as individuals with rights,” Rogers said. “This disregard leads to unsafe working environments, where profit and efficiency are prioritized over basic safety measures.”

The Mississippi Department of Corrections did not respond to a request for comment.

Balfour says she used products that contained chemicals such as glyphosate, which has been linked to an increased risk of cancer in some studies. Balfour’s attorneys have said they have not proven with certainty that exposure to the cleaning chemicals caused Balfour’s cancer. But the lawsuit focuses on what they say were substantial delays and denial of medical treatment that could have detected her cancer earlier.

Incentives in contracts with the state Department of Corrections encouraged cost-cutting by reducing outpatient referrals to health care providers and interfering with physicians’ independent clinical judgments, the lawsuit alleges.

Balfour was initially convicted of murdering a police officer and sentenced to death, but that conviction was later reversed in 1992 after the Mississippi Supreme Court found her constitutional rights had been violated during her trial. She later reached a plea agreement on a lesser charge, her attorney said.

Balfour believes her cancer may have been detectable over a decade ago. After she was released in 2021, an outpatient doctor performed a mammogram that showed she had stage four breast cancer, her lawsuit says.

Balfour sued three companies contracted to provide health care to prisoners at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. The companies delayed or failed to schedule follow-up cancer screenings for Balfour even though they had been recommended by prison physicians, the lawsuit says.

Gibbs hopes to introduce legislation in the future that provides stronger guarantees that inmates receive timely medical care.

“While we do have a Department of Corrections, it’s also lawmakers’ duty and responsibility to ensure that there are human rights for our state’s inmates,” Gibbs said.

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

Mary Kate Shearer’s vision for her future leaped nearly as high as the dancers did that summer afternoon she saw her first ballet onstage. She was only 3 years old, knocking on 4, at the time, and maybe mature enough for a USA International Ballet Competition matinee in her mom’s view.

“I bought tickets way at the back, in case we needed to sneak out,” her mother Janet Shearer recalled. No need, as it turned out. “She was rapt … just so attentive through the whole thing.

“When we walked out of Thalia Mara Hall that afternoon, she looked up and said, ‘Mommy, I want to do that.’”

“Since then, I have not stopped,” Mary Kate Shearer said, “except when injury forced me to.” The young dancer is now a company member of Chattanooga Ballet (CHA Ballet), a small regional company bound for Jackson as part of its Art/Motion tour Friday and Saturday, Jan. 24-25. The homecoming highlights Shearer in performance, with the opportunity, too, to share her newfound love of teaching.

The weekend’s two performances in Jackson showcase works by legends in contemporary ballet — a rare treat for area dance fans — and newer works as well. The flirty, energetic “Tarantella” by New York City Ballet co-founder George Balanchine and the deeply romantic “Sea Shadow” by Joffrey Ballet co-founder Gerald Arpino are key showpieces on a program that also features the new “Intersections of Life” by Dance Theatre of Harlem member Ingrid Silva, and “Copacetic,” a fun and jazzy work choreographed by Chattanooga Ballet Artistic Director Brian McSween. This is CHA Ballet’s 50th anniversary season. Shows will also include contemporary ballet performances by Belhaven University dance students (“In One Accord,” choreographed by Belhaven dance alum Rachel Bitgood) and by Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet (“Timelapse” by Andrew Brader).

Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24, and at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at Belhaven University Bitsy Irby Visual Arts and Dance Center’s Studio Theatre.

CHA Ballet’s tour includes master classes for local dance students Saturday morning, with intermediate and advanced sessions for ages 12-15 at 9 a.m. and for advanced students ages 16 and older at 10:30 a.m. Find tickets to CHA Ballet performances and master classes and more information at https://givebutter.com/Belhaven. Advance purchase is recommended; parking is available in the lot behind the building.

The tour’s Jackson leg is sponsored by Janet Shearer Fine Art. “I wanted Mary Kate to come home and dance so that family and friends can see her locally, but more importantly, what Chattanooga Ballet does, serving communities with world-class dance,” Janet Shearer said.

The daughter of Janet and Dale Shearer grew up in Ridgeland, developing the passion she pegged as a pre-schooler through lessons with the Madison-based Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet and summer camp training. Shearer, 26, graduated from Indiana State University and its Jacobs School of Music’s dance department in May 2021 and joined CHA Ballet just months later as one of its seven professional dancers. 

“She’s a very determined and dynamic dancer, and highly intelligent,” CHA Ballet CEO/Artistic Director McSween said of Shearer, also praising her range across contemporary, modern and classical works and even character roles. “She’s a great technician. She’s an even better artist.”

“I love to dance and I think it’s incredible that I get to do that as my job,” Shearer said. 

When company director McSween floated the possibility of a Jackson tour, she thought it was a fantastic idea. 

“That would be so much fun, for a lot of reasons,” she said. “It’ll be really cool because I haven’t had the opportunity to teach in Jackson much at all. … Since I’ve been at Chattanooga Ballet, teaching is a part of my job that I’ve fallen in love with in a way that I didn’t really expect. So, I’m excited to share with my hometown this newfound love of sharing my knowledge about my art form, not just performing.”

In classes, she continues ballet’s strong oral tradition of passing down instruction from one generation to the next. In Chattanooga, she embraces teaching 8-, 9- and 10-year-olds. 

“Something about that age group — it’s their first year where they come to ballet twice a week, and they’re not self-conscious yet, so they’re still just so excited and wanting to try new things. It’s just been really cool to share my knowledge with the next generation of future dancers and dance lovers,” Shearer said.

She recalls her own childhood ballet classes at MMB, and some of the imagery MMB Artistic Associate Crystal Skelton used to describe steps. 

“It’s still stuff I tell my students now, like talking about our hip bones as the headlights of our car, and making sure they’re staying facing forward all the time at the barre, and things like that,” Shearer said. “Young, young dancers can say, ‘I don’t know what my hip bones are, but I know what the headlights of a car look like.’”

MMB Artistic Director Jennifer Beasley recalled Shearer’s dedication, strong work ethic and her sponge-like eagerness to learn. “I always knew she could have a career in professional ballet if she wanted it. … I’m really excited to see her dance — I haven’t in a little while, and I’m most excited because our students get to meet her and take class and see that dancing professionally is attainable if that is something they want to pursue. Seeing her, being from here and from the school, is going to be great for them.”

Belhaven University Dance Department Chair and Dean of the School of Fine Arts Krista Bower welcomed the opportunity for her students, too, in classes, demonstrations and Q&A with McSween and Shearer. “That’s a great opportunity for the Belhaven dance students to hear about pathways to a professional career, and it’s wonderful for them to get to see a professional dance performance right here in Jackson.”

For Shearer, the tour’s hometown spotlight weaves artistry and memory in a reach back to her roots and a reach out to young dancers who may want to follow in her footsteps. Her self-described strengths and personality that come through in her dance easily trace back to her earliest intro to the art form. “I love to jump , so that’s one thing,” she said with a chuckle. “So, I’m very dynamic in that way.

“I really try and show the audience that I’m up there having fun, and I think that comes through onstage — that I love what I’m doing and I want other people to feel that love, too.”

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

Jan. 23, 1955

Leontyne Price became the first Black American to sing opera on television, appearing in the title role of Puccini’s “Tosca.” It was the culmination of a childhood dream for the Laurel, Mississippi, native after going on a school trip at age 14 and hearing Marian Anderson sing. 

“The minute she came on stage, I knew I wanted to walk like that, look like that, and if possible, sound something near that,” she said. 

When she performed alongside a White tenor, many NBC affiliates in the South refused to air the broadcast. But 11 years later, her hometown and many other radio stations across the South carried her live performance in “Antony and Cleopatra.” 

With her soaring soprano, she became the first woman to open the new Met at Lincoln Center in 1966. She has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Kennedy Center Honors and 19 Grammy Awards. In 2017, she was inducted into The Performing Arts Hall of Fame at Lincoln Center alongside the likes of Louis Armstrong, Plácido Domingo and Yo-Yo Ma. Her interview in the documentary, The Opera House, prompted The New York Times to rave, “Leontyne Price, Legendary Diva, Is a Movie Star at 90.”

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