Mississippi Today
Statewide candidate calls for ouster of Mississippi Democratic Party chairman
After Mississippi Today published an emailed tirade by state Democratic Party Chairman Tyree Irving that some fear could jeopardize $250,000 in funding for the state party, one of the top Democratic statewide candidates is calling for Irving's removal as party boss.
Shuwaski Young, the lone Democrat running for secretary of state this year, said the state Democratic Party's executive committee should promptly remove Irving from his post.
“It is my hope — and I hate it has to come to this — that Tyree Irving will be removed as chair of the Mississippi Democratic Party for the sake of Mississippi and the collective futures of our residents,” Young told Mississippi Today in an interview late Monday. “I don't see any other path forward.”
Emails published Monday showed that Irving sharply criticized Andre Wagner, the state party's executive director and No. 2 leader of the party, in a note that was sent to three Democratic National Committee staffers. Shortly before Irving sent the email, the DNC officials had committed to sending the state party $250,000 to boost political programs and support candidates “up and down the ballot.”
READ MORE: Democrats fear state leader's tirade will jeopardize $250K commitment from national party
Wagner had sought in an email to clarify Irving's previous comments about how the state party should spend that $250,000 from the national party. Then Irving, a 77-year-old former Mississippi Court of Appeals judge who has been party chairman since 2020, insisted that he alone ran the state party and that Wagner was “out of order.”
“Mr. Wagner, you do not speak for the chair, and you are out of order,” Irving wrote. “I am an accomplished jurist. I know and understand things that you cannot know or understand because: you do not have the education level, you do not possess the personal or vicarious experience that I have, and you know nothing about the historical political landscape of Mississippi. You are not in a position to speak for the Mississippi Democratic Party or say how the Mississippi Democratic Party will spend any funds without being granted that authority to speak, and it has not been granted to you. You are a salaried employee and nothing else. You need to find your place and stay in it.”
Wagner, in response, forwarded the exchange to other state party leaders and predicted that the national party would pull its commitment to send the money to the state party. Several other Democratic Party officials told Mississippi Today they shared Wagner's concern.
Young, who faces incumbent Republican Secretary of State Michael Watson in November, said on Monday that Irving's comments were “shocking and unacceptable,” and that several high-ranking state Democratic officials felt the same way.
“The chairman's main job is to fundraise and to support candidates up and down the ticket,” Young said. “When you have a chairman acting in this outrageous way, it makes people not want to invest into the party. It makes people not want to donate to candidates. And politically, it makes it harder for Democrats to win. When we can't operate in a coordinated fashion because our leader can't respect other people, it hurts every Democrat in the state. We have to be able to have our house in order, and that's clearly not the case.”
The process of removing Irving from the chairmanship would not be easy. The party chair is the only individual who can schedule meetings of the 80-person Democratic executive committee. Currently, there is no scheduled executive committee meeting on the books. However, 25% of the committee (21 members) may call a meeting with or without the chair's approval.
The Mississippi Democratic Party constitution does not specify the process for removing a party chair mid-term, but changes to leadership or the party's constitution itself can be made with a two-thirds vote of all present members. If all 80 members showed up to any special meeting, 54 votes could remove the chairman.
Young, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2022, said Irving “is not doing the job Mississippi needs from him.”
“As far as I can tell, Tyree Irving is a man who has never said one single positive word about any candidate on the ticket, myself included,” Young said. “He does not reflect all Democrats in Mississippi. He sure doesn't reflect me and who I am. It's important to have someone in that position who respects people. But the party itself is not being led with the party's own principles, when it comes to respecting all people and being able to properly conduct business without fear of being sabotaged. How can we win like that?”
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.
Mississippi Today
Every university but Delta State to increase tuition this year
Every university in Mississippi is increasing tuition in the fall except for Delta State University.
The new rates were approved by the governing board of the eight universities, the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees, at its regular meeting Thursday.
The average cost of tuition in Mississippi is now $8,833 a year, a roughly 3% increase from last year. Students can expect to pay tuition ranging from $7,942 a year at Mississippi Valley State University to $10,052 a year at Mississippi State University.
In recent years, universities have cited inflation and rising insurance costs as reasons for the tuition increases. At Thursday's meeting, the board heard a presentation on how property insurance is becoming more expensive for the eight universities as Mississippi sees more tornadoes and storms with severe wind and hail.
READ MORE: Tuition increases yet again at most public universities
But it's an ongoing trend. Mississippi's public universities have steadily increased tuition since 2000, putting the cost of college increasingly out of reach for the average Mississippi family. More than half of Mississippi college students graduated with an average of $29,714 in student debt in 2020, according to the Institution for College Access and Success.
At Delta State University, the president, Daniel Ennis, announced that he will attempt to avoid tuition increases as the regional college in the Mississippi Delta undergoes drastic budget cuts in an effort to become more financially sustainable.
“We will resist tuition increases so that our most economically vulnerable students can continue to have access to the opportunities that a college degree can provide,” he wrote in a memo to faculty and staff on Monday. “We will move beyond basic survival and into a place where we have the capacity to take better advantage of our undeniable strengths.”
Delta State didn't increase tuition last year, either. Officials have been concerned the university is becoming too pricey for the students it serves.
Tuition for the 2024-25 academic year, by school:
- Alcorn State University: $8,105
- Delta State University: $8,435
- Jackson State University: $8,690
- Mississippi State University: $10,052
- Mississippi University for Women: $8,392
- Mississippi Valley State University: $7,492
- University of Mississippi: $9,612
- University of Southern Mississippi: $9,888
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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