Midstory in Downtown Jackson

A big part of deciding to name my business “Midstory” is because I live in Jackson, MS, and I feel like Jackson is in the middle of such a big part of its story. There is still a lot of ugly, but there have been some beautiful changes here lately! Downtown has always been so lovely, yet so vacant, but I feel like it is slowly starting to wake up again. Businesses are moving back in and life is being breathed back into those beautiful buildings.

Part of this restoration requires busting down walls. The rot has to be dug out. The old supports that don’t do their job anymore have to be knocked down. There is a lot of hard work that has to be done, but I feel like in the buildings, as well as in the body, things are really moving (even if ever-so-slowly). Jackson has heart and that heartbeat is palpable. Everyday, the different heartbeats get a little closer to one unified beat.

I actually take the boys downtown a good bit. Typically we choose a spot and walk along one street to get one last bit of energy out before nap time. We then head home by way of the train tracks along Mill St. Today we covered nearly all of central downtown, though I only got photos in one area. It is nowhere nearly as unsafe as people make it out to be, but I do like to stay alert and watching a toddler on a bike, strolling a one-year-old and taking photos is a little much.

There is so much beauty in Jackson. Living in Austin, TX and then coming back made me even more proud to live here. There is just nothing like the spirit and culture of Jackson. It truly is the City with Soul. You can see it in our eyes, feel it in our embrace, hear it in our music and our stories, and taste it in our food. There is nowhere else I would rather raise my children.

A couple of weeks ago I took my sweet Gabriel to a rally for prison reform. I know some people thought it unwise, but I don’t want to raise my son blind to reality, regardless of how ugly it is. I knew this would be a peaceful rally. We have become a passive people. We share things on Facebook and count it as being part of the cause. After that click, we often don’t give a matter a second-look or prayer. I want my sons to be active in standing up for not only their rights, but especially the rights of those who cannot stand up or speak up for themselves.

“Open your mouth for the mute,
    for the rights of all who are destitute.[a]
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
    defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

-Proverbs 31:8-9

I shared something on Instagram the day we went. I started to write something here, but decided I would just copy it over:

“Explaining the kind of injustice that’s still going on today to my 3 year old was difficult. Obviously he didn’t fully grasp it. As a white middle class boy, he won’t ever really understand it. He is predisposed to privileges some of his brothers and sisters don’t have. He has the opportunity for his voice to be heard, among many others. I won’t let him walk around not knowing that and taking it for granted. We will speak for those who cannot. He will fight for his brothers and sisters that cannot fight for themselves. He will be a voice for those whose have been silenced. He stood with me and many other men and women today and it was beautiful. I implore you to stand up for justice. When I was about 4 or 5, I remember to this day, we lived on Alta Woods Blvd and I had a paperback bible that we put a WWJD (what would Jesus do) bible cover on it. That bible was one of many that was passed out at Parchman Prison. My father was a chaplain there for a little while and he had some copies in his car. The way those inmates are treated is far from what Jesus would do.

If I tell my children to stand up for what’s right, but they never see me do it, why should they?”

Jackson’s got heart. Don’t overlook it. If we sit around insisting it will never change, it won’t. I get that it is tough to press on when Mississippi seemingly takes one step forwards and then two steps back, but I do think those of us that get down in the dirt have been able to see the bits of life sprouting. To those who stand at a distance, scared to get their hands dirty, sure, nothing big has burst from the soil yet. For those of us who are digging in, doing the tilling, I think we all see it. I think it is why our hearts beat as one and we keep on. We see the rich soil here and the life that’s just waiting to burst forth. Hang in there.

I am as proud of my photos as I am my city, so I always appreciate viewers scrolling through the end gallery. Also, if you are not familiar with the Stennis Flag, the cover photo for this post was of the flag many of us have adopted as our own. Several government buildings in the state have even replaced our tasteless current state flag with this beautiful flag designed by Lauren Stennis.