Posts tagged Southside High School
A West High, South Side Story

It didn’t make sense to the kids in the room.

Consolidating Jackson City Schools and Madison County Schools had been a conversation in the Hub City since at least 1970, but social media and the 24-hour news cycle didn’t exist in the spring of 1992. That’s when Casshawndra Gillispie, a sophomore at the time, sat with other athletes in the West High School cafeteria and learned the school would be closing in just a few months. She and her classmates would have to continue their education and athletic careers at South Side High School.

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The Cost of Crossing the Color Barrier

Although Humphrey had lived in Bemis the majority of her life; less than a mile from South Side High School, she had to ride a bus 13 miles in the opposite direction to attend East High School. More than a decade after the United States Supreme Court had ruled racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, Madison County still operated totally separate high schools for whites and African-American students at that time. The 1965-1966 school year was the first time African-American students in Bemis were allowed to attend the high school in their neighborhood.

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Behind the Scenes with "Made in Marianna"

Sometime between fifth grade and high school my dad altered my musical taste. I didn’t understand it at the time, and I have to give him credit because it was subtle, but now that I have two kids of my own toting around digital devices, filtering all means of communication in the home is an important part of parenting. What does that have to do with the short documentary I recently produced? Today lovers of R&B music have no fewer than four radio stations in Madison County to get their fix.

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Transcending Today

I still remember my last day of high school. I remember leaving the parking lot and listening to the Dave Matthews song “Number 41,” and I still remember the lyrics that were blaring from the speakers of my Nissan Maxima. “I will go in this way, and I’ll find my own way out. . . .” They seemed poignant at the time, though I’m not sure in what way exactly. As a matter of fact, I’m not really sure that I even liked Dave Matthews. I think I wanted to like Dave Matthews because all my friends liked Dave Matthews.

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Need and Be Needed

Connections in life are kind of a funny thing. When I think of the people who have influenced me in my past and whose teachings and values I subconsciously carry with me to this day, the difference in each of those people is quite striking. There are few common denominators between them. They range from passive to aggressive, from strong type A personalities to passive type B personalities, from men to women, and any other clichéd opposite I could choose to put in this description.

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