Sentencing of former Noxubee County Sheriff Terry Grassaree 'doesn't need to be a slap on the wrist,' District Attorney Scott Colom said Thursday. He explained how an employee's positive pregnancy test helped crack the case of deputies sexually abusing a woman behind bars.…

#OnThisDay in 1928, Burl Toler was born in Memphis. The first Black official in any major sport in the U.S., he defeated prejudice at each turn.

In 1951, Toler starred for the legendary undefeated University of San Francisco Dons. Prejudice kept the integrated team from playing…

#OnThisDay in 1969, members of the Black Psychiatrists of America interrupted the breakfast of the trustees of the American Psychiatric Association, sharing a list of demands that included a rise in Black leadership, a call to desegregate mental health facilities and a rule to…

#OnThisDay in 1955, the Rev. George Lee was shot to death in Belzoni, Mississippi, after using his pulpit and his printing press to urge other Black Mississippians to vote.

He became one of the first African Americans to register to vote in the mostly Black Humphreys County.…

So grateful for everyone at Mississippi Today, Dean Baquet, Chris Davis & Adam Playford @ the NYT Local Inv. Fellowship, the wizards BIG LOCAL NEWS, and most of all to my colleagues and friends Jerry Mitchell Ilyssa Daly & Nate Rosenfield.

Pulitzer finalists!
pulitzer.org/finalists/jerr…

Our investigative reporters Ilyssa Daly, Brian Howey & Nate Rosenfield were named Pulitzer finalists for reporting that exposed allegations of violence & sexual abuse in sheriffs' offices in Mississippi & exposed the Goon Squad's 20-year reign of terror. bit.ly/4a9sWMU

Congrats to Jerry Mitchell and his team at Mississippi Today -- Ilyssa Daly, Brian Howey and Nate Rosenfield -- and the NYT for being named a 2024 Pulitzer finalist for local reporting: pulitzer.org/finalists/jerr…

So thrilled for Ilyssa Daly Nate Rosenfield #cjsStabile Columbia Journalism, finalists, #Pulitzer Prize for local investigative reporting, along with Jerry Mitchell, Brian Howley, Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting

Boom.

Mississippi Today named a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist for our “Unfettered Power: Mississippi Sheriffs” investigation.

Proud to work with the very best journalists in America. As Jerry Mitchell said today, 'We ain't even close to done.'

mississippitoday.org/2024/05/06/mis…

#OnThisDay in 1983, a federal judge sentenced Raymond Bledsoe to life for beating Black jazz saxophonist Steven Harvey to death in a Kansas City park because of his race.

A Missouri jury had acquitted Bledsoe of murder, and afterward, he reportedly bragged to his girlfriend…

#OnThisDay in 1917, Eugene Jacques Bullard became the first Black American combat pilot.

After the near lynching of his father and hearing that Great Britain lacked such racism, the 12-year-old Georgia native stowed away on a ship headed for Scotland. From there, he moved to…

#OnThisDay in 1884, crusading journalist Ida B. Wells, an African-American native of Holly Springs, Mississippi, was riding a train from Memphis to Woodstock, Tennessee, where she worked as a teacher, when a white railroad conductor ordered her to move to another car. She…

Please mark your calendar and plan to join The MSMS students and the Columbus High Choir on May 8 @ 6pm in Columbus’ historic Sandfield Cemetery! #MoreStory #EighthofMay #Emancipation

Many don't know about Medgar Evers, awarded the POTUS Medal for Freedom. That's why MS Today is offering a chance to win a free signed copy of 'Race Against Time,' which tells the heroic story of Medgar & Myrlie Evers, 2 of Mississippi's true treasures.
buff.ly/3wvueUK

To celebrate, Jerry Mitchell is giving away a signed copy of his book, Race Against Time, which includes the story of Medgar and Myrlie Evers.

Enter for a chance to win.

buff.ly/3wvueUK

#OnThisDay in 1850, Shadrach Minkins, already separated from his family, escaped from the Norfolk, Virginia, home, where he was enslaved. He made his way to Boston, where he did odd jobs until he began working as a waiter at Taft’s Cornhill Coffee House.
Months later, Congress…

Remembering Medgar Evers and his courage on the day that his family will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor. mississippitoday.org/2024/05/03/med…

#OnThisDay in 1964, Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore, two 19-year-old Black Americans, were simply trying to get a ride back home. Instead, Klansmen abducted them, took them to the Homochitto National Forest, where they beat the pair and then drowned them in the…

#OnThisDay in 1937, Jackie Ormes became the first known Black cartoonist whose work was read coast to coast through the major black publication, the Pittsburgh Courier.

Her cartoon told the story of Torchy Brown, a Mississippi teenager who sang and danced her way from…

#OnThisDay in 1945, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, known as the “godmother of rock ‘n’ roll,” made history by becoming the first gospel artist to rocket up the R&B charts with her gospel hit, “Strange Things Happening Every Day.” In so doing, she paved the way for a strange new sound.…