November 5, 2024
Scores of men, women and children attended the recent unveiling of a statue honoring the late civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer in her hometown of Ruleville, Miss. Hamer, who would have been 95 on Oct. 6, is remembered the world over as a woman who was “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” At the time of her death, on March 14th, 1977, Hamer was almost penniless, yet her funeral was well attended by celebrities, social activists and political leaders from all walks of life.
Jackson State University in Mississippi has launched a new sports broadcasting network that will allow alumni and other fans of the university’s sports teams to watch action on television and over the internet. Home football games this season are now being shown live on the internet and broadcast on FM radio. Television broadcasts of the football games, produced by the Jackson State network, can be seen on tape delay over Comcast Sports South.
The network will also produce post-game television shows that will include highlights and commentary by head football coach Rick Comegy. The radio network that will carry live football broadcasts has been expanded from 6 to 12 stations. Another 18 stations will carry some live football broadcasts but not all home games.
The network will also stream live online broadcasts of other sports at Jackson State.
article via jbhe.com
Three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated her hometown, Brittney Reese hoped to give Gulfport, Miss., a medal in the Beijing Games.
She came up short, and was crushed.
“When I placed fifth, I was devastated and cried the whole way back to the (athletes) village,” she said. “I had the whole Gulf Coast behind me … I wanted to come out there and do that for them.”
She delivered four years later with a long-awaited gold medal in the long jump. She repeatedly recalled the struggles her family had been through after Katrina, which produced rains that collapsed the roof on her home and displaced the family for several months.
“We had mold and we were living out of mobile homes and trailers,” she said. “It was a tough time and unless you realize how blessed you are to have neccessities — we didn’t have hot water, and it was hot and we didn’t have air conditioning. It was a real true eye-opener and my city is now rebuilt and we have most of the stuff back.
“But we don’t have a lot of the homes back. This was a great way for me to bring something home to them to show that we can all do this together.”
via Brittney Reese wins gold for hometown Gulfport | theGrio.