Mississippi Today
On this day in 1955
Feb. 2, 1955
Less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court had desegregated public schools, U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. rose on the House floor.ย
A Baptist preacher to a congregation of 10,000 in Harlem, he was one of only three Black Americans in Congress. Since getting elected to Congress a decade earlier, he had introduced many civil rights bills. None had passed. After introducing legislation to desegregate the armed forces, then-President Harry Truman wound up doing it through an executive order.
As Powell stepped to the microphone, he chastised Congress for failing to make a difference. He and others had introduced civil rights bills, โpleading, praying that you good ladies and gentlemen would give to this body the glory of dynamic leadership that it should have, but you have failed, and history has recorded it,โ he said.
โThis is an hour for boldness. This is an hour when a world waits breathlessly, expectantly, almost hungrily for this Congress, the 84th Congress, through legislation to give some semblance of democracy in action. โฆ We are derelict in our duty if we continue to plow looking backward.โ
He noted that when a House committee was considering legislation to end segregation in interstate travel, Lt. Thomas Williams was arrested and jailed, even though the Supreme Court had told bus carriers to end such segregation.
โAbout two weeks ago, while flying a jet plane, he was killed serving his country before he had a chance to see democracy come to pass,โ Powell said.
Although his legislation failed, he kept pushing for change, telling crowds, โKeep the Faith, Baby!โ The civil rights rider he introduced became part of the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964, which helped change America.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Mississippi Election 2024: What will be on Tuesdayโs ballot?
Mississippians will go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5, to elect federal and state judicial posts and some local offices, such as for election commissioners and school board members.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. To find your polling place, use the secretary of state’s locator, or call your local county circuit clerk.
READ MORE: View the Mississippi sample ballot.
The following is a list of the candidates for federal and judicial posts with brief bios:
President
- Kamala Harris, current vice president and Democratic nominee for president. Her running mate is Tim Walz.
- Donald Trump, former president and current Republican nominee. His running mate is J.D. Vance.
- Robert Kennedy Jr. remains on the ballot in Mississippi even though he has endorsed Trump. His running mate is Nicole Shanahan.
- Jill Stein is the Green Party candidate. Her running mate is Rudolph Ware.
- Five other candidates will be on the Mississippi ballot for president. For a complete list of presidential candidates, see the sample ballot.
U.S. Senate
- Ty Pinkins is the Democratic nominee. He is a Rolling Fork native and attorney, representing, among other clients, those alleging unfair working conditions. He served 21 years in the U.S. Army, including combat stints, other overseas deployment and posts in the White House,
- Roger Wicker is the Republican incumbent senator. He resides in Tupelo and has served in the U.S. Senate since late 2007 after first being appointed to fill a vacancy by then-Gov. Haley Barbour. He was elected to the post in 2008. He previously served in the U.S. House and as a state senator. He is an attorney and served in the United States Air Force.
House District 1
- Dianne Black is the Democratic nominee. She is a small business owner in Olive Branch in DeSoto County.
- Trent Kelly is the Republican incumbent. He was elected to the post in a special election in 2015. He previously served as a district attorney and before then as a prosecuting attorney for the city of Tupelo. He is a major general in the Mississippi Army National Guard.
House District 2
- Bennie Thompson is the Democratic incumbent. He was first elected to the post in 1993. Before then, he served as a Hinds County supervisor and as alderman and then as mayor of Bolton.
- Ronald Eller is the Republican nominee. He grew up in West Virginia and moved to central Mississippi after retiring from the military. He is a physician assistant and business owner.
House District 3
- Michael Guest is the Republican incumbent and is unopposed.
House District 4
- Mike Ezell is the Republican incumbent first being elected in 2022. He previously served as Jackson County sheriff.
- Craig Raybon is the Democratic nominee. Raybon is from Gulfport and began a nonprofit โfocused on helping out the community as a whole.โ
Central District Supreme Court
- Jenifer Branning currently serves as a member of the state Senate from Neshoba County.
- Byron Carter is a Hinds County attorney and previously served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Armis Hawkins.
- James Kitchens is the incumbent. He has served on the state’s highest court since 2008.
- Ceola James previously served on the Court of Appeals.
- Abby Gale Robinson is a Jackson attorney. She previously was a commercial builder.
Southern District Supreme Court
- Dawn Beam is the incumbent, having been first appointed in 2016 by then-Gov. Phil Bryant and later winning election to the post. She is a former chancellor for the Hattiesburg area.
- David Sullivan is an attorney in Harrison County and has been a municipal judge in D’Iberville since 2019. His father, Michael, previously served on the state Supreme Court.
Northern District Supreme Court seats
- Robert Chamberlin of DeSoto County is unopposed.
- James Maxwell of Lafayette County is unopposed.
Court of Appeals 5th District seat
- Ian Baker is an assistant district attorney in Harrison County.
- Jennifer Schloegel is a Chancery Court judge for Harrison, Hancock and Stone counties.
- Amy St. Pe is a Municipal Court judge in Gautier.
Court of Appeals District 2
- Incumbent Latrice Westbrooks is unopposed.
Court of Appeals District 3
- Incumbent Jack Wilson is unopposed.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1750
Nov. 4, 1750
Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, the โFather of Chicago,โ was born.
A man of African descent, he became the first known settler in the area that became the city of Chicago. He married a Potawatomi woman, Kitiwaha (Catherine), and they had two children.
According to records, the property included a log cabin with two barns, a horse-drawn mill, a bakehouse, a poultry house, a dairy, a smokehouse, a fenced garden and an orchard. At his trading post, DuSable served Native Americans, British and French explorers and spoke a number of languages.
โHe was actually arrested by the British for being thought of as an American Patriot sympathizer,โ Julius Jones, curator at the Chicago History Museum told WLS, but DuSable beat those charges.
In Chicago today, a school, street, museum, harbor, park and bridge bear his name. The place where he settled near the mouth of the Chicago River is now a National Historic Landmark, part of the city’s Pioneer Court.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Podcast: Mississippiโs top election official discusses Tuesdayโs election
Secretary of State Michael Watson talks with Mississippi Today’s Geoff Pender, Bobby Harrison and Taylor Vance ahead of Tuesday’s election. He urges voters to remember sacrifices many have made to protect Americans’ voting rights and get to the polls, and he weighs in on whether a recent court ruling on absentee vote counting will impact this year’s elections.
READ MORE: As lawmakers look to cut taxes, Mississippi mayors and county leaders outline infrastructure needs
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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