I moved to Jackson a starry-eyed eighteen-year-old ready for the “real world.” I came to Union University to play volleyball and study my way to becoming a chemical engineer who would change the world with brains and athleticism. Three months into my first semester, I had quit volleyball and was failing at my chemistry courses. A few days into my second semester, a tornado blew away all my belongings, including those starry eyes.
Read MoreImagine a table. There are many faces, both black and white, seated around that table. Everyone present wants their stories to be heard and their hardships to be acknowledged. Rightfully so. Sometimes I have the honor of sitting at that table. I sit beside my husband Charles and my best friend Melanie. Naturally, I gravitate toward their voices in conversations on racial reconciliation in our city.
Read MoreFamiliarity. That would be the first word that comes to mind when I think about why my wife and I stayed in Jackson following our marriage. For one, I was still enrolled at the University of Memphis and taking night classes at the old Lambuth campus. I was also in my third year of working at Green Frog Coffee Company, and my wife had gotten a job at Union after graduating from there.
Read MoreBack in December I was praying and dreaming about what 2015 would hold. I was standing on the cusp of one of the biggest years of my life so far. I was a senior social work major at Union University with only one more semester left of traditional undergrad, and I thought I knew everything as all good college students do. I had secured a great internship with RIFA and was greatly looking forward to what that would teach me.
Read MoreI’ve lived in several Tennessee cities in my lifetime, from Nashville to Murfreesboro to Knoxville to Cookeville and a couple little towns in between. Each one of those cities has its own set of charms, but none have captivated me quite like Jackson. It was not love at first sight, mind you. It’s been an ever-growing, ever-evolving bond. I’ve had days where I’d live anywhere but here and days where I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
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