#in MISSISSIPPI???

[tododeku-or-bust]

Today I learned that on March 21st, Kadarius Smith, a 17 year old Black child, was run over by a police vehicle while cops were responding to an assault in the area (and ofc, all Black boys look like "suspects"). His mom had to be told about the tire treads on his back. And ofc the Leland (Mississippi) police aren't admitting to what happened, saying that witnesses are lying, he wasn't just "walking home with friends". But they won't release any tapes. I couldn't help but remember that poor young Palestinian boy that an Israeli soldier ran over with a bulldozer. His father even said that the family is finished because Kadarius was the last Smith in his line, which also struck me.

This kind of cruelty has been at home, y'all. Admittedly not on par with the immediate, overwhelming violence occurring in Palestine, but... These American police are trained to be cruel and heartless and get away with it. It's not a glitch in the system, the system is working precisely as intended.

[oldshowbiz]

1970.

Mississippi versus Sesame Street

[liberalsarecool]

Defund and abolish is making more and more sense. End qualified immunity for police, too.

How many more are buried there?!!!

[everydaylouie]

mississippi john hurt (one of my favorite guitarists and singers!)

[oflahore]

—Mississippi Masala (1991)

[catfindr]

[mapsontheweb]

How many counties are between every US county and the Mississippi River

[brutalistinteriors]

Coleman Library, Tougaloo College. Jackson, Mississippi. Gunnar Birkerts.

[fenrislorsrai]

Seven months of searching for her lost son brought Bettersten Wade to a dirt road leading into the woods, past an empty horse stable and a scrapyard. The last time she’d seen her middle child, Dexter Wade, 37, was on the night of March 5, as he left home with a friend. She reported him missing, and Jackson police told her they’d been unable to find him, she said.  It wasn’t until 172 excruciating days after his disappearance that Bettersten learned the truth: Dexter had been killed less than an hour after he’d left home, struck by a Jackson police car as he crossed a nearby interstate highway. Police had known Dexter’s name, and hers, but failed to contact her, instead letting his body go unclaimed for months in the county morgue. 

GEE I WONDER IF THESE ARE RELATED

The decision to call the police was difficult for Bettersten. She did not trust them. In 2019, her 62-year-old brother died after a Jackson officer slammed him to the ground. The officer was convicted of manslaughter but is appealing.  Her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit accusing Jackson officers of excessive force and attempting to cover up their actions, and accusing the city of failing to properly train and supervise the officers. The city has denied the claims and said it isn’t liable for what happened. The officers’ lawyer said they acted responsibly and lawfully. A federal judge dismissed some of Bettersten’s claims; others remain pending in state court.  Bettersten said her mother advised her not to call the police about Dexter.

The whole thing is worth reading, its not that long. But other key points: the coroner IDed Dexter within a few days and gave the info to the police to notify the family. After months of no info, officer in charge of missing persons retired. Within two weeks, the replacement officer notified her of the death and took her to fetch the body from a paupers field where coroner buried unclaimed bodies.

[americaisdead]

jackson, miss. august 2024

© tag christof

[blessedscavengers]

part four of my Mississippi River fish series

made in 2024

[dozydawn]

“A large percentage of the Mississippi River pearls are very irregular in form, many of them resembling dogs’ teeth, birds’ wings, the heads or bodies of different animals, etc.”

[crazyrichxplainr]

Sarita Choudhury for Kallmeyer (ph: Caitlin Burke)

[highways-are-liminal-spaces]

Sunrise along the Mississippi River in southern Illinois

Taken June 2024

[catfindr]

[obsessedbyneon]

Northpark Mall, Ridgeland, Mississippi, 1984

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