Author: Imported Author 1852163

NATCHEZ, Miss. — The Adams County Emergency Management Agency is reminding residents that the Natchez High School Homecoming Parade will take place this evening, Thursday, October 9th, at 6:00 p.m.

Line-up for the parade will begin on Broadway Street. The parade will then turn left onto Franklin Street and continue until reaching Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) and Franklin, where it will officially end at the MLK/Franklin intersection.

Residents are asked not to park along Franklin Street after 5:00 p.m. This will allow city crews to perform proper cleaning and ensure safety for parade participants and spectators.

Motorists should plan ahead for temporary road closures and delays in the downtown area during the parade. The Adams County EMA thanks the community for its cooperation and urges everyone to stay safe and enjoy the festivities.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima (1762-1829), who was enslaved for 40 years on Thomas Foster’s plantation near Natchez, will be honored with a historical marker on Friday, October 24, near Historic Jefferson College.

A dedication ceremony hosted by the Natchez Historical Society, the sponsor of the marker, will be held at 11 a.m. on the corner of Highway 61 North and Jefferson College Street. The event is free to the public.

The marker will be the first in the Natchez-Adams County area that pays tribute to Ibrahima. It was acquired through the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

“Prince Ibrahima’s incredible life story and his quest for freedom reached the highest levels of the American government and deserves to be remembered in our history,” said Brother Rogers, MDAH historian and secretary-treasurer for the Mississippi Historical Society.

Karen Hill, past president of the society, said she is grateful to the Natchez Historical Society for agreeing to fund the marker and host the dedication ceremony. She said, “The story of Prince Ibrahima is an important part of Natchez-Adams County history that should not only be commemorated, but also preserved for our community, visitors, and future generations. His story has been told in books, films, and articles. Now a part of his story will be told through this historical marker.”

Michael Morris, director of The Two Museums — Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Jackson, will be the guest speaker at the ceremony.

Morris is a graduate of Jackson State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history and master’s degree in political science. While attending university, he worked at the Margaret Walker Center and Fannie Lou Hamer Institute on Citizenship and Democracy.

A recognized historian, Morris served on the commission tasked with commemorating the City of Jackson’s bicentennial in 2022. He has also written markers for the Mississippi Freedom Trail.

Morris was the Mississippi archivist for the “Our Story, Our Terms” civil rights project at Duke University. He now serves on the advisory board of the Mississippi Book Festival.

The dedication ceremony will feature remarks by Warren Gaines, District 5 Supervisor of Adams County; Dr. Artemus Gaye, seventh generation descendant of Prince Ibrahima; David Dreyer, local historian and genealogist; and Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, cultural heritage tourism manager at Visit Natchez and president of the Mississippi Historical Society.

Hill will serve as the master of ceremonies. Rev. Clifton Marvel, pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, will give the invocation, and Rev. LeRoy White, pastor of Rose Hill Missionary Baptist Church, will give the benediction.

For more information, call 601-492-3004 or send email to Roscoe@visitnatchez.org.

BATON ROUGE — The LSU Manship School of Mass Communication will host a public tribute to Louisiana journalist Stanley Nelson on Wednesday, Oct. 22, from 5–7 p.m. at the Old State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

Nelson, longtime editor of the Concordia Sentinel in Ferriday, was a 2011 Pulitzer Prize finalist for his years-long investigation into unsolved Ku Klux Klan murders. From 2007 to 2010, he published 150 stories on Klan violence, identifying likely suspects in killings in Ferriday and nearby Natchez, Mississippi. Nelson died June 5 at age 69.

Speakers will include Hank Klibanoff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and podcast creator; Brad Lichtenstein, executive producer of the 2022 PBS documentary “American Reckoning”; NPR investigative reporter Joe Shapiro; and Jerry Mitchell, whose reporting helped lead to prosecutions of Klan leaders in Mississippi. Members of the families of Wharlest Jackson of Natchez and Oneal Moore of Bogalusa—both presumed victims of Klan violence—are expected to attend, along with Nelson’s family.

Former Manship professor Jay Shelledy, who launched the LSU Cold Case Project to mine FBI files that aided Nelson’s reporting, will speak, as will former students who worked with Nelson. Nelson authored two books on the Klan and served as an adjunct at the Manship School, mentoring students who went on to win regional and national awards for civil-rights cold case reporting.

“Once Stanley learned about the horrible things that had happened in his area, he could not stop digging into them,” said Christopher Drew, director of the LSU Cold Case Project. “He cared so much about the victims, and he did everything he could, including confronting some of the old Klansmen, to provide a greater sense of closure and justice.”

Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, now a museum under the Secretary of State, housed the Legislature from the mid-19th century to the early 1930s. Admission to the event is free. Details and RSVP are available on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrating-the-life-and-work-of-stanley-nelson-tickets-1778610956249.

For more information, contact Becky Sadler at bsadler@lsu.edu

What a blessing it was this week to join with other lovers of Natchez on the front steps of our historic City Hall to share the 2025 State of the City address. And exactly what is the state of the city? It is strong – Natchez Strong.

While there are some who thrive on negativity and skepticism, nothing is stopping our Natchez Renewal. Like the great steamer Natchez that we witnessed making her way slowly upriver on Monday, coming slowly into view as she fought the strong currents of the world’s mightiest river, opportunities we have long awaited are now on the horizon. Slowly, they are beginning to come into view. And while the progress has not been easy, we have never given up. Hobby Lobby, Trace Town Shopping Center at the intersection of Sgt. Prentiss and JR Junkin, a new retail development coming north of Walmart, The Eola Hotel soon to be a Marriott Tribute property, a multimillion-dollar dock on the river to accommodate river boats that will eventually overnight in Natchez, commercial air, more industrial development… it’s all on the horizon. And just as the currents of resistance can’t stop the steamer Natchez, nothing can stop the progress headed our way.

For some it seems easier to doubt. Doubt and fear go hand in hand. They are in fact the most natural of human expressions. Faith and courage are the harder reach, and I believe it is the inability of people to keep faith and to have courage that holds them back. This is something that has held our city and even our state back for decades. In fact, even prior to covid and the beginning of our administration there were those who had given up on Natchez. People were leaving, businesses were closing, and it seemed that our best days were behind us. But we broke free from those chains of negativity. We have celebrated record growth – jobs, new businesses, major improvements to our parks, city streets, public buildings and infrastructure. And we must continue to break free from the debilitating mindset of negativity. If we don’t, other cities across this great country will pass us by. This is our time. Our time is NOW.

In 2020 when our city was in the grips of the national covid pandemic and on the verge of despair, even before I became your mayor, I shared the words that “In our over 300 years, Natchez has overcome every challenge, and we will overcome this. In time people will be talking about the Natchez Renewal.” And here we are, over five years later. The Natchez Renewal continues to be on the lips of people throughout the region marveling at the progress happening in our beautiful city on the highest hill.

But yes – we have the skeptics. Across our land people are suffering from negativity. It has become the new virus that, like the covid, has infected millions. And it is toxic and out to destroy our country. Never in my lifetime have I witnessed such hate and division. The enemy is out to divide, conquer and destroy. And hate is its greatest weapon.

In my heart, I believe hate stems from fear – and that hate is nothing but fear externalized. But we have nothing to fear. In the words of the psalmist, God’s favor is our shield. As is said in Isaiah, no weapon formed against us shall prosper. And from 2nd Timothy, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Working together is the key to our future. As I have said so many times, we must continue to move forward as One Natchez. Just as the Great River flows without distraction or interruption so must we. It is not about black or white, red or blue, republican or democrat, or all the other classifications society weaponizes to divide us. Increasingly in today’s political environment, people desperate for power stoke the flames of hate as a means of getting what they want. They make their speeches. They write their books. They produce their documentaries. And they post their lies on social media. It is a story as old as time. But as long as we rise above the despicable tactics meant to defeat us, we as a city can be victorious – and the sky is the limit. This holds true not only for Natchez but for Mississippi. For too long we have allowed the hate to hold us back. It is time to move forward in love.

Now is the time to give all we’ve got. With a clear focus and a reliance on our “can do” positivity, now is the time to take the next step. We must set the example for others on how a city that works together thrives together. Jobs. Lifestyle. Infrastructure. Home Sales. Tourism. Growing Economy. We have much to be grateful for – and there’s so much more to come. This is our time. Our time is NOW. Because Natchez Deserves More.

CENTREVILLE, Miss. — A Mississippi Freedom Trail marker honoring Anne Moody now stands in front of the church she attended – and wrote about – in her memoir, “Coming of Age in Mississippi.’

The marker, which was unveiled Monday, September 15, is located on the northside of Highway 24 at Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, 8755 Highway 24 East, Centreville. It is the first and only Freedom Trail marker installed in Wilkinson County.

About 80 people turned out for the ceremony that paid tribute to Moody as a civil rights activist, warrior for social justice, and respected author, whose memoir has remained in print since it was first published in December 1968.

Rev. Reginald M. Buckley, the guest speaker, said Moody’s Freedom Trail marker will stand as “a testimony of the importance of memory itself.”

“This marker is more than mere words inscribed upon metal,” Buckley said. He noted the marker is “a reminder, a storyteller, a sanctified witness that will speak to generations long after we have left this place.”

The day’s program, which was held at Mount Pleasant, featured music by the Mount Pleasant Church Choir and inspiring messages from prominent leaders that included the Rev. LeReginald Jones, pastor of Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church; Dr. Donzell Lee, president of Tougaloo College; Rep. Angela Cockerham, District 96; Rev. Fred Moody Jr., brother of Anne Moody; Dr. Daphne Chamberlain, chief program officer at the Emmett Till Interpretive Center; John Spann, program and outreach officer at the Mississippi Humanities Council; Rev. Larry Lee, pastor of Winans Chapel C.M.E. Church; and Senator Gary L. Brumfield, District 38.

Members of Anne Moody’s family attended the program, along with elected officials, pastors from across the state, and visitors from Natchez.

Buckley said it is important to remember Anne Moody as a bold and brilliant storyteller. He said she was a teller of an inconvenient story and uncomfortable truth.

Anne Moody, he said, told a “story that pulled back the blood-soaked veil and exposed the heart-wrenching reality of life for black people in the American South, specifically, Mississippi. She told a story that was difficult to hear in a culture that was not welcoming of her voice, not receptive to her perspective and in many instances, not even caring of her truth.”

All of the presenters spoke about the importance of Anne Moody’s contribution to the state’s history.

Jones recounted the history of Mount Pleasant and its role in Anne Moody’s life. The church, he said, has been a place that served as a school and community center for Black families. It was also a place that helped to develop “some theological thought, birth agents of change, great preachers, and great orators, agents of change and justice, like our celebrated native daughter, Ms. Anne Moody.”

According to Donzell Lee, Anne Moody was “a young lady of tremendous courage and tremendous foresight, who put herself in harm’s way at the forefront of civil rights in her day.”

Cockerham commented on the inspirational elements of Anne Moody’s life.

“Miss Moody’s acts of love, faith, and courage, remind us that the best lies deep within us,” she said.  “Her life serves as an example to embrace God’s purpose for our lives no matter how difficult the journey gets, because God is always with us, and I have no doubt in my mind that God created and anointed Miss Moody for such a time.”

Fred Moody, Anne Moody’s brother, is mentioned throughout her book, along with their sister, Adline Moody, whom Fred Moody introduced at the ceremony. Both he and Adline Moody expressed gratitude for the day’s program. Fred Moody drew laughs when he told how he burned down the family’s house as a child. The story is captured in “Coming of Age in Mississippi.”

Chamberlain, a former history professor at Tougaloo College, told of how Anne Moody’s memoir affected her personally. She said Anne Moody’s work helped her to see the past and present “a little clearer.”

“Her activism made me stand a lot taller,” she said. “Her bravery made me this quiet little Black girl in Columbus, Mississippi, be a little bolder. Anne Moody’s legacy has influenced more than just me. It has touched readers locally and readers from all around the world.”

Spann, representing the Mississippi Humanities Council, acknowledged the assistance of U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson in securing federal funds for the Freedom Trail markers. He said because of Thompson’s help, among others, the markers are free to communities across the state.  “We have more than doubled the size of the Freedom Trail, taking it from 30 to 64 in just two years,” he said.

Brumfield gave the closing remarks. He said Anne Moody presented a story that resonates with many people. “She gives me courage to think that she thought outside the box. It’s ok to be different as long as you are making a difference.”

The Freedom Trail markers are administered by the Mississippi Humanities Council, in partnership with Visit Mississippi. They commemorate the people and places in the state that played important roles in the American Civil Rights Movement.