Mississippi Today
Mississippi welfare funds wound up in a Ghanaian gold bar hoax, court filing alleges

Mississippi welfare officials for years directed federal funds intended to serve the state’s poorest residents to suspicious causes such as a university volleyball stadium, drug rehab for a former pro wrestler, a horse ranch for a former pro football player, and dozens of other things auditors have since flagged.
Text messages obtained by Mississippi Today and a new court filing reveal that the state’s welfare funds may have been lost in another stunning plot: an African heiress gold bar scam.
For the majority of 2019, the federal welfare funds quietly flowed to a pharmaceutical startup with questionable financial prospects. The payments are one component of civil litigation the state is bringing against dozens of people or companies that misspent or improperly received welfare funds.
A pleading filed Dec. 12 in the lawsuit alleges that the company’s founder, a defendant in the case, turned around and sent at least some of that money to an investment group in Ghana, Africa, for a venture that he thought would make him rich but turned out to be a scam.
The founder estimates he lost no more than $30,000 in company funds during a time when the company was primarily funded by a welfare grant, though it’s unclear how much of that amount may have originated from the federal funds. At that time, it would have taken a family of three 15 years to receive that much through the welfare program — a monthly check of $170 — which would have been impossible because the assistance maxes out after five years.
A defense attorney for another defendant recounted painstaking details of the hoax in his lengthy court filing, which alleges former Gov. Phil Bryant was behind the welfare department’s spending, including the intertwining of a drug manufacturing project with a federally-funded anti-poverty initiative. Bryant has repeatedly denied directing any of the welfare spending in question.
Jake Vanlandingham, a neuroscientist from Florida, founded a pharmaceutical startup called Prevacus in 2012 with the idea of developing a drug to treat concussions. To build up the company, he brought on former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, who himself suffered from concussions and used his platform as a famous athlete to raise awareness about the issue.
Favre and Vanlandingham would later take the project to then-Gov. Bryant and then secure $2 million in welfare funds through an economic development partnership that Bryant has tried to distance himself from since arrests in early 2020.
But before all that, the scientist became involved with an inventor who appears to have led him into a movie-like investment scam.
According to texts obtained by Mississippi Today, Vanlandingham began consulting with a man named Don Martin around 2017 to find additional funding and investors for Prevacus. Martin was based in Columbus, Ohio, and had his own concussion-related “smart helmet” venture.
He told Vanlandingham he was working on a deal with an investor named Daniella who owned land in Africa worth hundreds of millions that she was trying to sell to the government. Martin, now 71, told Mississippi Today last week that he met the supposed investor, a wealthy heiress from Ghana, when she reached out to him on Facebook.
Simultaneously, Vanlandingham said he was working to secure patents in China, to which he said he owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Through 2018, Martin had promised to secure an investment of $1 million out of the Ghana deal for Prevacus. That prospect, however far-fetched, was enticing to Vanlandingham, who said he needed the money to leverage an additional $2 million from the U.S. Department of Defense.
But after months of stringing the scientist along, Martin finally told Vanlandingham he would have to first put up $25,000 to help pay for a “geological analysis” for the land that Martin said his overseas investor required.
Vanlandingham tried to find the money, but the scientist’s contacts had dried up and he was experiencing deep personal financial problems, according to the texts. He was forced to sell his family’s home to pay the taxes for Prevacus, he said, and ask his mom for a loan to get into a rental. Martin tried to put him at ease by saying things like, “I know what we are doing is pleasing to God.”
Vanlandingham tried to get Favre to secure the $25,000 through an investment in Prevacus from one of his fellow professional athletes, but they wouldn’t bite.
Then Favre suggested they ask the then-Mississippi governor for help and offer him stock in the company. Bryant bit. The men met with several others for dinner in Jackson at Walker’s Drive-In in late December of 2018.
Days later on Jan. 2, 2019, the scientist and Favre met with then-welfare agency director John Davis and nonprofit operator Nancy New. There, they struck a deal — which Bryant denies facilitating — to push $1.7 million in federal welfare grant funds to Prevacus.
“Davis conferred with Bryant concerning using MDHS grant funds to benefit Prevacus,” alleges the court document filed Dec. 12 on behalf of New’s nonprofit Mississippi Community Education Center. “Bryant, Davis, and other MDHS Executives directed, approved, facilitated, and furthered the use of MDHS grant funds … to benefit Prevacus.”
Bryant, who is suing Mississippi Today for defamation and has sent threats to the news outlet for continuing to report this story, declined through an attorney to answer questions about this story or respond to allegations in the latest court filing.
The concept was for Prevacus to locate its clinical trial site and eventually the drug manufacturing plant at Tradition, a real estate development and medical corridor on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Bryant would later become vice president of the venture, and the developer, Joe Canizaro, said he paid Bryant on retainer for consulting services for years after he left office.
The grant money for Prevacus didn’t come through instantaneously. “Is the grant submitted now? Have you been pre-approved? Are you confident funds will be within 48 hours?” Martin texted anxiously. “I need to update the attorneys.”
Vanlandingham assured Martin he’d secured the grant from Mississippi and the money was on its way. Martin said he was at peace “Knowing all is good and the communication with the grant lady is specific to distribution date.”
Vanlandingham had held Martin off for months as the hopeful inventor badgered Vanlandingham for some portion of the $25,000. But once Prevacus’ first payment of $750,000 in Mississippi welfare money came in mid-January 2019, Vanlandingham almost immediately wired an unspecified amount to Martin’s company ACTEX, texts show. “Wire sent your way. Make us proud,” Vanlandingham texted Martin on Jan. 23, 2019.
Vanlandingham texted another public official, Leonard Bentz, the director of South Mississippi Planning & Development District, formerly an elected public service commissioner for the southern district, who was at the meeting with Bryant in December.
“Hey brother lots of good stuff happening for us. 1.95M with the Governors help. We are excited. Good time to get investors!!!” Vanlandingham wrote in a never-before-published text. Bentz did not respond to this text. While he initially expressed enthusiasm about potentially finding funding for Prevacus at the Mississippi Development Authority, it wasn’t too long until Bentz stopped responding to Vanladingham altogether. Bentz said he was unaware welfare agency grant funds were used on the venture.
“I don’t think the governor and them have as much involvement as everybody’s making it out to be,” Bentz told Mississippi Today last week. “It is what it is, if those people who were managing those funds didn’t do right, then it sounds like the criminal justice system is going to get them for not doing right.”
Bentz added that if the concussion drug, which Prevacus has since sold to another company, ends up being legitimate, he still wants the manufacturing facility located in Mississippi. “Tell them we’d love to sit down with them,” he said.
For two weeks after Vanlandingham sent the funds to Martin, nothing happened until Martin explained “there is serious political unrest” in Ghana where his contact was located. He told Vanlandingham that Daniella was unsafe because there had been a rash of kidnappings of wealthy people in her region. Martin often discussed the plan to fly the wealthy heiress to the states, though he denied to Mississippi Today ever having a romantic relationship with the woman.
“The plan is first focus to get her to me safe,” Martin texted.
A week or so later, Martin broke the news to Vanlandingham that Ghana Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia had been in a serious car accident that killed his driver — a story news outlets widely reported but was later debunked. Another two weeks later, Martin said Daniella was in critical condition with malaria and depression. “They say she may not make it,” Martin said.
Vanlandingham sent another wire. “Bless you Jake! Daniella is better thanks to your thoughtfulness,” Martin responded. A month later, Martin asked for another $500, because “the government did not accept” the initial payment.
“This is it for me,” Vanlandingham responded. “I’m worried shitless this is a scam. I have until April 9th to pay 300k to China.”
By mid-April, Vanlandingham was saying, “I’m dead man … I owe 336k a week ago.”
But Martin had good news: their multi-million dollar payment was approved and ready to process, they just needed “a legal permit to the holding bank” which the government required “to meet compliance on source of monies.”
They were just short $4,000. The same day, April 18, 2019, New’s nonprofit sent Prevacus another $500,000.
The texts show Vanlandingham sent Martin another wire the next day. “Money cleared,” Martin texted, and Vanlandingham responded, “I’m counting on u brother.”
When Favre asked Vanlandingham for an update on Prevacus’ finances, the scientist responded, “Not much still pushing the African money.”
Then the attorney on the ground in Ghana who they were allegedly working with to close the deal asked for a $1,000 stipend. Martin relayed his message: “Please try your best and get me the 1k to survive on I have no one here.”
In mid-May, Prevacus received another $250,000 in Mississippi grant funds. About a week later, Martin offered more good news: he could increase his investment in Prevacus to $1.5 million “if you can wire $5k to me today or pay to accelerate.” Vanlandingham sent another wire.
“Man I’m stoked. … It’s our time!!!” Vanlandingham texted. Then, after receiving no money four days later, “Yo, my brother. I’m dying!!!”
Around the same time, the court filing shows that Vanlandingham was updating Prevacus investors about “clinical patient intake site at Tradition,” telling them, “A great deal of this has been funded with the help of folks in Mississippi including the Governor.”
In early June, Martin again told Vanlandingham they needed more money to close. Daniella had found two more parcels that the government wanted to add to the real estate deal, but Vanlandingham would have to put up another $8,000 in closing costs.
“What if we don’t?” Vanlandingham asked. Martin responded, “Wow…if we don’t then according to the attorney the government can get ugly and take the land.”
A few days later, Vanlandingham said he secured another investor and sent another wire to Martin. “Make us proud brother,” he texted.
A couple weeks later, the story went that there was a hold up at the bank. While the attorney, who they called Steven, was trying to wire the money, “the Ghana Media Coalition against illegal small-scale mining came up to Steven seeing the wire was a great deal of money stopping to question him…holding him until yesterday.”
“A friend of the Minister and Steven’s is putting up $17k for attorneys fees to clear Steven and release the wire,” Martin said.
Vanlandingham responded, “This sounds positive at some level?”
Now, Martin said, they needed to find an additional $18,000 to release the hold.
Vanlandingham began researching what are called “4-1-9” fraud schemes and found an article on the website for the U.S. Embassy in Ghana describing a scenario eerily similar to what he was experiencing.
The website states, “The goal of the criminal is to delude the target into thinking that he is being drawn into a very lucrative, albeit questionable, arrangement.”
Vanlandingham texted Martin a link to the article, explaining that he’d been looking into this “fraud stuff” where “it’s always ‘urgent’ and there’s always just ‘one more’ payment.”
Martin, whom the Dec. 12 court filing described as “unflappable”, responded by acknowledging the existence of such schemes — “Yes – there is…Steven told me all about it” — but then appeared to try to distract from the issue by describing in detail an unrelated illegal mining operation.
“…especially regarding the Chinese national at the heart of illegal mining in Ghana, … Nicknamed as the “galamsey queen”, … who was arraigned in Ghana in 2017 for engaging in illegal small-scale mining at Bepotenten in the Amansie Central District in the Ashanti Region, was later deported in December 2018 by the government,” Martin wrote.
A few days later, Vanlandingham began talking about involving the FBI “if this gets hung up much longer.”
When he suggested this to the lawyer in Ghana, Vanlandingham received the response, “You can report to FBI like you said am not scared sir am not a criminal if us every thing is for real you will regret thinking other wise.”
But the scientist proceeded with them earnestly. “Worse still, Martin had begun proposing unusual transactions,” the court filing reads. “For example, Martin told Vanlandingham that ‘[w]hen Steven wires to Prevacus $2k, you will wire back the $2k to same source he sent from then you will wire me 4500 … and I will wire him 4500 – closing same day.’”
The deal was falling apart, but Martin said Daniella had a backup plan: “the gold bars her father gave her before he died she is trying to sell … she sent me a Video.”
“So to be clear as of now we are betting on selling gold bars for me just to get my money back?” Vanlandingham texted.
The same day, on July, 16, 2019, Favre texted Gov. Bryant about funding for another pharmaceutical product he said New had promised to support but had apparently dropped. “Hey Governor we are in a little bit of a crunch. … Jake can explain more but bottom line we need investors and need your direction.”
“Will get with Jake.. will help all I can,” Bryant responded.
Also the same day, Prevacus received another $400,000 in Mississippi welfare money. New had told Vanlandingham, “I will need to let Brett know that we will need to pull this from what we were hoping to help him with [volleyball]….”
That evening, Favre visited Bryant. On his way, Favre texted Bryant, “I really need your help with Nancy and Jake. I’ll be mowing your lawn for years after this!!”
“You my man… we are all in..” Bryant responded.
After seeing Favre that night, Bryant texted New, “Just left Brett Favre. Can we help him with his project. We should meet soon to see how I can make sure we keep your projects on course.”
Favre thanked Bryant and the governor responded that he had scheduled a meeting with New and arranged a call with the White House. “This can help with our concussion project,” the governor wrote.
The court filing points out, “Again, Bryant described Prevacus as ‘our … project.’”
The next day, Martin forwarded the video of the gold bars to Vanlandingham. In it, a man intentionally displays his hand with two large rings on his pinky and ring fingers as another man in a suit bends down to open a gray safe on the floor to reveal the bars.
Vanlandingham reviewed the video and responded, “You-Tube? FBI time?”
The attorney representing New’s nonprofit, who wrote the latest court filing, alleged that Vanlandingham communicated with Favre and Bryant about the Ghana situation.
“Based on information and belief, Vanlandingham spoke to Bryant concerning his investment in Ghana and its importance to Prevacus,” the filing reads.“Based on information and belief, the Prevacus funds that Vanlandingham invested in Ghana included grant funds from the State of Mississippi.”
“Good news,” Vanlandingham texted Martin on July 19, 2019. “I’m pretty good friends with the Governor and he has direct access to Stephanie Sullivan the US ambassador to Ghana. We can run communication through the Governor and get these thieves!!!!”
The latest court filing then highlights the fact that Bryant traveled to Ghana less than a month later in August 2019. Documents obtained by Mississippi Today show, however, that Bryant’s trip to Ghana and bordering Togo was planned beforehand and dealt with strengthening trade ties between Mississippi and West Africa.
“During his remarks, he (Bryant) said, a lot of investors based in Mississippi are interested in doing business in Ghana, the reason for which he is in the country to build an economic and investment bridge to facilitate future trade,” reads a press release from the American Chamber of Commerce-Ghana.
Bryant traveled to Ghana with the CEO of a south Mississippi-based product called Sparta Mosquito Eradicator to discuss selling the company’s product to the country to deal with malaria outbreaks. Vanlandingham’s attorney George Schmidt told Mississippi Today last week that Bryant did not travel to the country on behalf of Prevacus and that the timing of the trip was a coincidence.
While Bryant was in Ghana, though, he continued to consult Favre on how to secure funds from the state welfare agency for the construction of a volleyball stadium at University of Southern Mississippi — another project at the center of the scandal.
“Taking off from Ghana so this may be my last message for a while,” Bryant texted Favre Aug. 16, 2019.
Back in the states, Vanlandingham complained to Martin that, “You have put my (sic) in a fraudulent situation with my company … I gave u company money not returned on my books.”
But Vanlandingham continued to inquire on the sale of the gold bars until Martin finally told him they’d been confiscated. The scientist finally snapped, saying, “Wow. What a joke. You got played. I’ll do fbi myself brother. … Pitiful for me to have been involved … What makes me the most furious is u never raised money for Actex. It also makes me curious to your involvement.”
“U continued to take me down satans road,” Vanlandingham said.
Yet Vanlandingham still kept hoping for something to turn around. Two days later, he texted, “I’m pretty devastated please share any progress. I’m out 120k with nothing to show for it.”
Martin said Daniella reached out to a Greek investor who might be willing to put up the money to release the wire. “Wow!!!!” Vanlandingham responded. “Bring it home brother!!!”
Vanlandingham wired another $1,000, supposedly to match what the Greek investor planned to put up towards the closing costs. But then the heiress told Martin that the investor had backed out, and implored him to find the money himself. “If you really can please do honey because we are at the edge of closing,” Daniella said, according to a message Martin forwarded to Vanlandingham.
“So did I throw away another 1k?” Vanlandingham asked.
When Vanlandingham asked where the money went, Martin responded that “Daniella is tired and not well.”
This went on for several more months, despite Vanlaningham’s stated connections to authorities in Ghana. The game continued even after investigators from the State Auditor’s Office began questioning Vanlandingham as part of the Mississippi welfare scandal. After New and Davis were arrested in February of 2020 on embezzlement charges partially related to the Prevacus payments, Vanlandingham and Martin were still discussing traveling to Berlin to get $300,000 for the scientist out of the Bank of Ghana.
From the texts, it’s hard to discern if Martin, who was at least initially reluctant to alert the authorities, was complicit, or if he, too, was swindled. Asked for comment for the story, Vanlandingham said he would contact his counsel but said by text that “Dons a good guy with interesting technology.”
Vanlandingham’s lawyer, Schmidt, told Mississippi Today last week that his client’s payments to the Ghana deal totaled no more than $30,000. The lawyer said he was unaware those funds originated from the welfare program.
Martin told Mississippi Today by phone last week that he’d fallen for the scam and that he never received a dime from the Ghana investor group. He couldn’t say how much in total he’d received from Vanlandingham, all of which he said he sent to Ghana, and that also he didn’t know the money potentially originated from federal grant funds earmarked for Mississippians. But when Martin finally filed a police report, he estimated his total losses at $500,000.
An incident report Martin provided to Mississippi Today shows he reported the scam to the Powell Police Department in Ohio in May of 2022 and the local police department forwarded the case through the FBI to the authorities in Ghana. “I advised Mr. Martin that this was a known scam and he would not be likely to get his money back,” reads the officer’s report.
By the end, it had gotten worse. Martin said the Ghanaians had threatened to kidnap his daughter, and forced him to max out his credit cards purchasing products like laptops and iPhones for them. The police report shows that even after Martin initially reported the incident, the scammers told him there was a warrant for his arrest and convinced him to send $40,000 to remove the warrant. Martin said he’s in $140,000 worth of credit card debt. He also said he experienced a fire in 2021 and he’s been living in the dilapidated house, exposed to the elements with no heat or water.
“I’m totally broke,” Martin told Mississippi Today on Dec. 14.
Martin is still promoting his helmet invention and company, ACTEX, but he’s never raised the money to develop a prototype. He explained that the main reason he fell for the Ghana hoax, which went on for about three years, is his strong faith in God and the belief that he was created for a purpose.
“The way I looked at it was, God works in unusual ways. See, because ACTEX is dedicated for God’s kingdom. And it’s there to save lives and to help people. That’s part of my mission statement. So I kept thinking, ‘Well, okay.’ Because I prayed about it. (And God said), ‘Yes, this is what I want you to do.’ ‘Yes, yes, yes.’”
Martin still believes that he acted in obedience of the Lord and that “he’ll bless ACTEX and many doors will open.”
Meanwhile, the Mississippi welfare funds allegedly lost to the Ghanaians in the scam have yet to be recovered. New and her son have pleaded guilty to felonies for pushing welfare funds to Prevacus. Vanlandingham and Favre are facing civil charges. Bryant has not faced criminal or civil charges. The criminal investigation is ongoing.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
New Stage’s ‘Little Women’ musical opens aptly in Women’s History Month
Ties that bind, not lines that divide, at the heart of “Little Women” are what make Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel such an enduring classic. More than a century and a half since its 1868 publication, the March sisters’ coming-of-age tale continues to resonate in fresh approaches, say cast and crew in a musical version opening this week at New Stage Theatre in Jackson, Mississippi.
“Little Women, The Broadway Musical” adds songs to Alcott’s story of the four distinct March sisters — traditional, lovely Meg, spirited tomboy and writer Jo, quiet and gentle Beth, and artistic, pampered Amy. They are growing into young women under the watchful eye of mother Marmee as their father serves as an Army chaplain in the Civil War. “Little Women, The Broadway Musical” performances run March 25 through April 6 at New Stage Theatre.
In a serendipitous move, the production coincides with Women’s History Month in March, and has a female director at the helm — Malaika Quarterman, in her New Stage Theatre directing debut. Logistics and scheduling preferences landed the musical in March, to catch school matinees with the American classic.
The novel has inspired myriad adaptations in film, TV, stage and opera, plus literary retellings by other authors. This musical version debuted on Broadway in 2005, with music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein and book (script) by Allan Knee.
“The music in this show brings out the heart of the characters in a way that a movie or a straight play, or even the book, can’t do,” said Cameron Vipperman, whose play-within-a-play role helps illustrate the writer Jo’s growth in the story. She read the book at age 10, and now embraces how the musical dramatizes, speeds up and reconstructs the timeline for more interest and engagement.
“What a great way to introduce kids that haven’t read the book,” director Quarterman said, hitting the highlights and sending them to the pages for a deeper dive on characters they fell in love with over the two-and-a-half-hour run time.

Joy, familial warmth, love, courage, loss, grief and resilience are all threads in a story that has captivated generations and continues to find new audiences and fresh acclaim (the 2019 film adaptation by Greta Gerwig earned six Academy Award nominations).
In current contentious times, when diversity, equity and inclusion programs are being ripped out or rolled back, the poignant, women-centered narrative maintains a power to reach deep and unite.
“Stories where females support each other, instead of rip each other apart to get to the finish line — which would be the goal of getting the man or something — are very few and far between sometimes,” Quarterman said. “It’s so special because it was written so long ago, with the writer being such a strong dreamer, and dreaming big for women.
“For us to actualize it, where a female artistic producer chooses this show and believes in a brand new female director and then this person gets to empower these great, local, awesome artists — It’s just really been special to see this story and its impact ripple through generations of dreamers.” For Quarterman, a 14-year drama teacher with Jackson Public Schools active in community theater and professional regional theater, “To be able to tell this story here, for New Stage, is pretty epic for me.”
Alcott’s story is often a touchstone for young girls, and this cast of grown women finds much in the source material that they still hold dear, and that resonates in new ways.

“I relate to Jo more than any other fictional character that exists,” Kristina Swearingen said of her character, the central figure Jo March. “At different parts of my life, I have related to her in different parts of hers.”
The Alabama native, more recently of New York, recalled her “energetic, crazy, running-around-having-a-grand-old-time” youth in high school and college, then a career-driven purpose that led her, like Jo, to move to New York.
Swearingen first did this show in college, before the loss of grandparents and a major move. Now, “I know what it’s like to grieve the loss of a loved one, and to live so far away from home, and wanting to go home and be with your family but also wanting to be in a place where your career can take off. .. It hits a lot closer to home.”
As one of four sisters in real life, Frannie Dean of Flora draws on a wealth of memories in playing Beth — including her own family position as next to the youngest of the girls. She and siblings read the story together in their homeschooled childhood, assigning each other roles.

“Omigosh, this is my life,” she said, chuckling. “We would play pretend all day. … ‘Little Women’ is really sweet in that aspect, to really be able to carry my own experience with my family and bring it into the show. … It’s timeless in its nature, its warmth and what it brings to people.”
Jennifer Smith of Clinton, as March family matriarch Marmee, found her way in through a song. First introduced to Marmee’s song “Here Alone” a decade ago when starting voice lessons as an adult, she made it her own. “It became an audition piece for me. It became a dream role for me. It’s been pivotal in opening up doors for me.”
She relishes aging into this role, countering a common fear of women in the entertainment field that they may “age out” of desirable parts. “It’s just a full-circle moment for me, and I’m grateful for it.”

Quarterman fell in love with the 1969 film version she watched with her sister when they were little, adoring the family’s playfulness and stability. Amid teenage angst, she identified with the inevitable growth and change that came with siblings growing up and moving on. Being a mom brings a whole different lens.
“Seeing these little people in your life just growing up, being their own unique versions, all going through their own arc — it’s just fun, and I think that’s why you can stay connected” to the story at any life juncture, she said.
Cast member Slade Haney pointed out the rarity of a story set on a Northeastern homestead during the Civil War.
“You’re getting to see what it was like for the women whose husbands were away at war — how moms struggled, how sisters struggled. You had to make your own means. … I think both men and women can see themselves in these characters, in wanting to be independent like Jo, or like Amy wanting to have something of value that belongs to you and not just just feel like you’re passed over all the time, and Meg, to be valuable to someone else, and in Beth, for everyone to be happy and content and love each other,” Haney said.
New Stage Theatre Artistic Director Francine Reynolds drew attention, too, to the rarity of an American classic for the stage offering an abundance of women’s roles that can showcase Jackson metro’s talent pool. “We just always have so many great women,” she said, and classics — “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Death of a Salesman,” for instance — often offer fewer parts for them, though contemporary dramas are more balanced.
Reynolds sees value in the musical’s timing and storyline. “Of course, we need to celebrate the contributions of women. This was a woman who was trying to be a writer in 1865, ’66, ’67. That’s, to me, a real trailblazing thing.
“It is important to show, this was a real person — Louisa May Alcott, personified as Jo. It’s important to hold these people up as role models for other young girls, to show that you can do this, too. You can dream your dream. You can strive to break boundaries.”
It is a key reminder of advancements that may be threatened. “We’ve made such strides,” Reynolds said, “and had so many great programs to open doors for people, that I feel like those doors are going to start closing, just because of things you are allowed to say and things you aren’t allowed.”
For tickets, $50 (discounts for seniors, students, military), visit www.newstagetheatre.com or the New Stage Theatre box office, or call 601-948-3533.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Rolling Fork – 2 Years Later

Tracy Harden stood outside her Chuck’s Dairy Bar in Rolling Fork, teary eyed, remembering not the EF-4 tornado that nearly wiped the town off the map two years before. Instead, she became emotional, “even after all this time,” she said, thinking of the overwhelming help people who’d come from all over selflessly offered.
“We’re back now, she said, smiling. “People have been so kind.”


“I stepped out of that cooler two years ago and saw everything, and I mean, everything was just… gone,” she said, her voice trailing off. “My God, I thought. What are we going to do now? But people came and were so giving. It’s remarkable, and such a blessing.”

“And to have another one come on almost the exact date the first came,” she said, shaking her head. “I got word from these young storm chasers I’d met. He told me they were tracking this one, and it looked like it was coming straight for us in Rolling Fork.”
“I got up and went outside.”
“And there it was!”
“I cannot tell you what went through me seeing that tornado form in the sky.”
The tornado that touched down in Rolling Fork last Sunday did minimal damage and claimed no lives.
Horns honk as people travel along U.S. 61. Harden smiles and waves.
She heads back into her restaurant after chatting with friends to resume grill duties as people, some local, some just passing through town, line up for burgers and ice cream treats.


Rolling Fork is mending, slowly. Although there is evidence of some rebuilding such as new homes under construction, many buildings like the library and post office remain boarded up and closed. A brutal reminder of that fateful evening two years ago.


















This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Remembering Big George Foreman and a poor guy named Pedro
George Foreman, surely one of the world’s most intriguing and transformative sports figures of the 20th century, died over the weekend at the age of 76. Please indulge me a few memories.
This was back when professional boxing was in its heyday. Muhammad Ali was heavyweight champion of the world for a second time. The lower weight divisions featured such skilled champions and future champs as Alex Arugello, Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran, Tommy “Hit Man” Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Boxing was front page news all over the globe. Indeed, Ali was said to be the most famous person in the world and had stunned the boxing world by stopping the previously undefeated Foreman in an eighth round knockout in Kinshasa, Zaire, in October of 1974. Foreman, once an Olympic gold medalist at age 19, had won his previous 40 professional fights and few had lasted past the second round. Big George, as he was known, packed a fearsome punch.
My dealings with Foreman began in January of 1977, roughly 27 months after his Ali debacle with Foreman in the middle of a boxing comeback. At the time, I was the sports editor of my hometown newspaper in Hattiesburg when the news came that Foreman was going to fight a Puerto Rican professional named Pedro Agosto in Pensacola, just three hours away.
Right away, I applied for press credentials and was rewarded with a ringside seats at the Pensacola Civic Center. I thought I was going to cover a boxing match. It turned out more like an execution.
The mismatch was evident from the pre-fight introductions. Foreman towered over the 5-foot, 11-inch Agosto. Foreman had muscles on top of muscles, Agosto not so much. When they announced Agosto weighed 205 pounds, the New York sports writer next to me wise-cracked, “Yeah, well what is he going to weigh without his head?”
It looked entirely possible we might learn.
Foreman toyed with the smaller man for three rounds, almost like a full-grown German shepherd dealing with a tiny, yapping Shih Tzu. By the fourth round, Big George had tired of the yapping. With punches that landed like claps of thunder, Foreman knocked Agosto down three times. Twice, Agosto struggled to his feet after the referee counted to nine. Nearly half a century later I have no idea why Agosto got up. Nobody present– or the national TV audience – would have blamed him for playing possum. But, no, he got up the second time and stumbled over into the corner of the ring right in front of me. And that’s where he was when Foreman hit him with an evil right uppercut to the jaw that lifted the smaller man a foot off the canvas and sprayed me and everyone in the vicinity with Agosto’s blood, sweat and snot – thankfully, no brains. That’s when the ref ended it.
It remains the only time in my sports writing career I had to buy a T-shirt at the event to wear home.
So, now, let’s move ahead 18 years to July of 1995. Foreman had long since completed his comeback by winning back the heavyweight championship. He had become a preacher. He also had become a pitch man for a an indoor grill that bore his name and would sell more than 100 million units. He was a millionaire many times over. He made far more for hawking that grill than he ever made as a fighter. He had become a beloved figure, known for his warm smile and his soothing voice. And now he was coming to Jackson to sign his biography. His publishing company called my office to ask if I’d like an interview. I said I surely would.
One day at the office, I answered my phone and the familiar voice on the other end said, “This is George Foreman and I heard you wanted to talk to me.”
I told him I wanted to talk to him about his book but first I wanted to tell him he owed me a shirt.
“A shirt?” he said. “How’s that?”
I asked him if remembered a guy named Pedro Agosto. He said he did. “Man, I really hit that poor guy,” he said.
I thought you had killed him, I said, and I then told him about all the blood and snot that ruined my shirt.
“Man, I’m sorry about that,” he said. “I’d never hit a guy like that now. I was an angry, angry man back then.”
We had a nice conversation. He told me about finding his Lord. He told me about his 12 children, including five boys, all of whom he named George.
I asked him why he would give five boys the same name.
“I never met my father until late in his life,” Big George told me. “My father never gave me nothing. So I decided I was going to give all my boys something to remember me by. I gave them all my name.”
Yes, and he named one of his girls Georgette.
We did get around to talking about his book, and you will not be surprised by its title: “By George.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
://mississippitoday.org”>Mississippi Today.
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