Mississippi Today
State’s teachers union endorses Brandon Presley in governor’s race
The Mississippi Association of Educators endorsed Democrat Brandon Presley for governor on Monday over incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves.
The election between Reeves and Presley, the northern district public service commissioner, is drawing national attention, and the candidates are beginning to roll out their policy ideas to voters.
An April Mississippi Today/Siena College poll showed Reeves with an 11-point lead over Presley: 49% of respondents said they would vote for Reeves compared to Presley's 38%.
“As a proud product of public schools and the son of a preschool teacher, it's an honor to earn the support of thousands of educators across this state,” Presley said. He continued, “Mississippi educators know that as governor, I will stand with them to fully fund public education so we can position our state towards the economy of the future.”
MAE President Erica Jones said the decision to endorse Presley was made after reviewing Reeves' actions during his first term, leading the association to say the first-term governor is “absent as a leader and advocate for public schools.”
Jones elaborated that while Reeves signing the state's largest teacher pay raise was “an important start,” her organization feels that Presley is the candidate who can step into the leadership role it feels Reeves has not embraced.
“Governor Tate Reeves promised and then secured the largest pay raise for teachers in Mississippi history,” said Elliott Husbands, Reeves's campaign manager. “If being a Democrat is more important to MAE than historically raising teacher pay, that's a decision they are free to make.”
In 2019, the organization endorsed Democratic candidate Jim Hood for governor, who ran against Reeves and ultimately lost.
This year's endorsement from the state's teacher union, one of the largest education associations in Mississippi, came alongside 49 others for state legislators. Pam Johnson, the association's communications director, said the endorsements were based on candidates' voting records on issues like the teacher pay raise, an extra $100 million for public schools allocated this session, community schools and advancing mental health resources.
MAE contacted legislators based on their voting records for possible endorsement. The organization said they sent questionnaires to all the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, which Presley responded to and Reeves did not.
When asked if any candidates had approached the association to discuss policy ideas or goals, Jones said several did throughout the legislative session and since it ended. George Stewart, the president of the local Jackson Association of Educators, also said he was contacted by the Presley campaign to discuss its education platform.
“As an organization committed to improving education across Mississippi, we believe these candidates have the vision, leadership, and commitment necessary to create a better future for all of our students, educators and communities,” said Jones in a press release. “We urge voters to support them, and to become engaged in the upcoming election — our children and our future depend on it.”
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 1896
MAY 18, 1896
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-1 in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial segregation on railroads or similar public places was constitutional, forging the “separate but equal” doctrine that remained in place until 1954.
In his dissent that would foreshadow the ruling six decades later in Brown v. Board of Education, Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote that “separate but equal” rail cars were aimed at discriminating against Black Americans.
“In the view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens,” he wrote. “Our Constitution in color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. The law … takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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Mississippi Today
Renada Stovall, chemist and entrepreneur
Renada Stovall sat on the back deck of her rural Arkansas home one evening, contemplating life when she had a life-altering epiphany…
“I gotta get out of these woods.”
She heard it as clear as lips to her ear and as deep as the trees surrounding her property. Stovall's job as a chemist had taken her all over the country. In addition to Arkansas, there were stints in Atlanta, Dallas and Reno. But she was missing home, her parents and friends. She also knew, she needed something else to do.
“I thought, what kind of business can I start for myself,” said Stovall, as she watered herbs growing in a garden behind her south Jackson home. Some of those herbs are used in her all-natural products. “I know when I lived in Reno, Nevada, where it's very hot and very dry, there really weren't products available that worked for me, my hair, and my skin suffered. I've got a chemistry degree from Spelman College. I took the plunge and decided to create products for myself.”
In 2018, Stovall's venture led to the creation of shea butter moisturizers and natural soaps. But she didn't stop there, and in December 2022, she moved home to Mississippi and got to work, expanding her product line to include body balms and butters, and shampoos infused with avocado and palm, mango butter, coconut and olive oils.
Nadabutter, which incorporates Renada's name, came to fruition.
Stovall sells her balms and moisturizers at what she calls, “pop-up markets,” across the state during the summer. She's available via social media and also creates products depending on what of her ingredients a customer chooses. “My turmeric and honey is really popular,” Stovall added.
“The all-natural ingredients I use are great for conditioning the skin and hair. All of my products make you feel soft and luscious. The shea butter I use comes from West Africa. It's my way of networking and supporting other women. And it's my wish that other women can be inspired to be self-sufficient in starting their own businesses.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1954
MAY 17, 1954
In Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal treatment under the law.
The historic decision brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, ruling in the case of student Linda Brown, who was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.
In Mississippi, segregationist leaders called the day “Black Monday” and took up the charge of the just-created white Citizens' Council to preserve racial segregation at all costs.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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