Raising the Bar

Raised in Leland, Mississippi, by her enlightened and encouraging grandmother, Rochell Staten knew from a young age that she could do and become anything she wanted. “My grandmother wanted nothing but the best for me, and she made sure that education was a priority,” Rochell says. “Her believing in me […] made me believe in myself even more.” As a senior in high school, earning good grades and with only one year of track and field under her belt, Rochell landed a full four-year athletic scholarship to Mississippi Valley State University.

Home Is Where the Soup Is

In his essay collection Heretics, G.K. Chesterton extols, “Once men sang around a table together in chorus. Now one man sings alone, for the absurd reason he can sing better.” In other words, as our scientific age has grown in competency and achievement we have become isolated from the rootedness which gave rise to our confidence in the first place—experts in everything but being human. Can there be any question this is more true today than when Chesterton wrote almost a century ago?

One Northerner’s Search For Dixie

No, I "ain’t from around here." I’m neither a born Tennessean nor even a Southerner. I’ve been here since 1982, but I’m not trying to pass for something I’m told I’m not. I do identify with the South, but as a Judge recently observed, my “smart Yankee mouth” probably got me in a lot of trouble. I suspect that will continue. I was born in Washington, D.C.; I grew up in the suburbs of Maryland, and then my family moved to Illinois, where I attended high school and college as an undergraduate.

Hello Jackson: Performance Running of West Tennessee

Running has long been a popular form of exercise, but the sport has picked up a huge following in the past few years. I’ve been running off and on for about three years now, and I’ve lamented the fact that Jackson didn’t have a running store. There is a big box store with a limited selection of good running shoes, but that just didn’t do it for me. I have always driven to Memphis or Nashville for specialty stores, but as of this summer, I can do my shopping right here in Jackson!