Ellen Ann Fentress

Honored to work with Beatrice Alexander’s family to tell how she and 387 others in Holmes County Mississippi ended stalled school integration in the South through their 1969 Supreme Court win

Mannerly ask & wit at the Texaco in Louisville, Mississippi today

Democrats are putting money into solidly red Mississippi. Here’s why. The DNC is investing in low-profile state races there as the South is on track to wield more power in future elections. Will it work?

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Golden Triangle see you 6 pm Thursday at the W to talk memory, revising our truths, Mississippi and @johntedge.bsky.social new memoir House of Smoke @friendlycitybooks

‘A good education’ excuse was used to justify avoiding integration Column: My parents were “good people” and respected “all” people. But not accepting that a teacher was capable of providing a “good education” to me or my brother because that teacher was Black was racism. It still is.

‘A good education’ excuse was used to justify avoiding integration

Column: My parents were “good people” and respected “all” people. But not accepting that a teacher was capable of providing a “good education” to me or my brother because that teacher was Black was racism. It still is.

Join us at History Is Lunch 12 pm Wednesday Oct. 1 at the Two Museums. Rita Watts Boone & I will talk admissionsprojects.com

It’s not just Trump. Red states are cracking down on their own blue cities. In Mississippi, GOP lawmakers expanded the reach of the Capitol Police in Jackson and created a separate judicial system there.

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The shorthand of that white talk about a “good education” New story by @jalvis2.bsky.social

admissionsprojects.com/2025/09/04/w...

From Haley Barbour’s $570M Port Scheme to Mississippi's TANF Scandal Then-Gov. Haley Barbour channeled $570 million away from post-Katrina housing assistance into a port, which did not deliver on the “economic development” promised.

Nothing more delightful than media dutifully facilitating a Haley Barbour rehabilitation tour. Read the rest of the story here, by Ellen Ann Fentress, about his #HurricaneKatrina games:

www.mississippifreepress.org/before-missi...

Haley Barbour’s Post-Katrina Leadership, Remembered Fondly, Was Controversial Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s leadership after Hurricane Katrina was often controversial despite fond recollections.

His morale-boosting talk, sure, but also his walk: diverting $570 million in needed housing $ for a touted job-rich port project netting only 1 job per $2.2 million @ashtonpittman.bsky.social

www.mississippifreepress.org/haley-barbours-post-katrina-leadership-remembered-fondly-was-controversial/

The Race to Rescue PBS and NPR Stations

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/b...

Saturday’s the Possumtown Book Fest in Columbus. This lineup! In conversation at 11:15 with Jason McCall, Jaz Brisack, Robert Fieseler & Adam Gussow about their powerful, deeply felt new books. Friendly City Books & Emily Liner are Mississippi powerhouses

A Kennedy Toils in Mississippi, Tracing His Grandfather’s Path

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/u...

Performative “Southern Ladyhood” in “The Steps We Take” An interview with journalist and author Ellen Ann Fentress.

“Inculcated into acquiescent ladyhood which backfired” Works for me. Thanks @southrevbooks.bsky.social and Katharine Armbrester southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/07/08/t...

Her eyes, my ambition Thank you @salvationsouth.com & @chuckreece.bsky.social

Episcopal Church refuses to resettle white Afrikaners, citing moral opposition The church said it's terminating a decades-long partnership with the federal government to help refugees arriving in the U.S., citing moral opposition to resettling white Afrikaners from South Africa.

The church said it's terminating a decades-long partnership with the federal government to help refugees arriving in the U.S., citing moral opposition to resettling white Afrikaners from South Africa.

New Pope Has Creole Roots in New Orleans

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...

Gates accuses Musk of ‘killing the world’s poorest children’ with DOGE cuts The two billionaires have clashed since 2022 over their divergent approaches to philanthropy.

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‘Sinners’ Is Set in Clarksdale, Where There’s No Theater. Locals Are Asking for a Screening. The Mississippi Delta town launched a petition in hopes of bringing director Ryan Coogler and his team to the community that helped inspire the hit film.

"Sinners" has made $161 million at the box office, but residents of Clarksdale, Mississippi, where the film is based, are unable to see it because there are no open theaters in town. The Mississippi Delta town launched a petition in hopes of hosting a screening. capitalbnews.org/clarksdale-r...

Absentee voting in the April 22 runoff for mayor and city council in Jackson takes place at City Hall, not the courthouse. Expect a little wait if the line is as it was when I voted today

Canceled Humanities Grants to Help Pay for Trump’s ‘Garden of Heroes’ (Gift Article) The National Endowment for the Humanities, which supports museums and historical sites, will redirect funds to the president’s planned patriotic sculpture garden.

The Mississippi Humanities Council has been the reason scores of events, projects & festivals happen around the state
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/a...

Mark your calendar for Tuesday June 3 to celebrate Lauren Rhoades’s wondrous memoir. We make it to adulthood from a perch inside Lauren’s head & heart. She’s bat-mitzvahed & confirmed Catholic on her 90s suburban ride, engaging, heartbreaking, infuriating & wry. Pre-orders open!

The audiobook for The Steps We Take is out. Award-nominated Lee Ann Howlett narrates. How cool is it that she previously narrated Little Women and Heidi, a pretty ultimate girl reader two-fer. Spread the word on The Steps We Take on audio @upmississippi.bsky.social

From Haley Barbour’s $570M Port Scheme to Mississippi's TANF Scandal Then-Gov. Haley Barbour channeled $570 million away from post-Katrina housing assistance into a port, which did not deliver on the “economic development” promised.

Oh and, perhaps, Anita Lee at the Sun-Herald and her stellar coverage of his scheme as governor to divert low-income Katrina housing funds into a port. Her work is linked in this stellar and rather shocking piece by Ellen Ann Fentress for MFP: www.mississippifreepress.org/before-missi...

Barbour: Restructure Education Department, Don’t Abolish It As RNC chairman, Haley Barbour once called for the Department of Education to be abolished. Now that it’s happening, he says he’s changed his mind.

@mississippifreepress.org: Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, says he no longer supports dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. When I asked if he still believed in abolishing the department as he called for in his 1996 book, former RNC chairman Barbour said, “not really.”

Bezos directs Washington Post opinion pages to promote ‘personal liberties and free markets’ Amazon executive and newspaper owner says in letter that ‘viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others’ * US politics live – latest updates Jeff Bezos, the self-proclaimed “hands-off” owner of the Washington Post, emailed…

Bezos directs Washington Post opinion pages to promote ‘personal liberties and free markets’

Proud Flesh by Catherine Simone Gray. A Doctor’s pronouncement, a brilliant examination of motherhood, intimate violence and reclaiming pleasure

White House Bars Reporter From Event Over A.P.’s Use of ‘Gulf of Mexico’ (Gift Article) The Associated Press has said it would refer to the Gulf of Mexico “by its original name while acknowledging” President Trump’s choice to rename the body of water.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/u...

Hope to see you, Mississippi Coast folks. Let’s write together at The 100 Men Hall in Bay St. Louis 10-1 this Saturday, Feb. 8

Understand physical copies sold out yesterday but electronic available