Jackson Jambalaya

I hear about kids being suspended for simply saying the word gun or making a gun out of their fingers. Why is this allowed?

It’s the most posted and re-posted thing I’ve seen on Facebook in years. People are not happy to say the least and there is no argument to be found defending what they did.

Side note, had the Brookhaven tragedy not occurred, would any JPS parents or admin show concern about their kids pulling out these fake guns on campus? This was bad long before they deeply offended the Brookhaven fans.

There are several sick statuses of people defending these kids and the school and band director on facebook

Disgusting. Deeply disturbing. Standby for finger pointing, etc.

I didn't watch the six a.m. news today but I'm sure all three local stations carried this story and the Mayor of Jackson as well as the School Superintendent made condemnation statements and perhaps announced employment terminations. If anybody has that recorded, send it to Kingfish at his usual address.

Feel should reconsider his takeover of JPS. The principal and band directors should be fired. If not, I hope MHSAA suspends the band. IF any MHSAA official is reading this, what are you waiting for. Brandon band was prohibited from playing "How Great Thou Art" in their half-time before it ever happened, yet this trash is allowed on the field. Don't give me any of your "free speech" crap.

But I know how it ends. Little Chokwe will say this was from a movie and not promoting violence....will say students should have free speech.....blah blah blah...nothing will happen because this is a minority school. They will continue to be allowed to continue their "free speech".......

The band had to be working on this routine well before the tragic deaths of the Brookhaven police officers.

The band director must be seriously tone deaf.

With that said....this is a form of art and while it’s unbelievable to think anyone would time this event at this location now....is hard to fathom.

If people do not over react this could be a positive learning experience for the kids involved....maybe they will see how bad this looks.

Backing away even further....what kind of life do kids lead these days where AR 15s are incorporated into a band performance?

Typical of the thug society that has taken over in Jackson. Make speeches about stopping the violence while making it attractive to the kids in school. The band director and the principal should be fired immediately. I would certainly hope that the Brookhaven schools would ban Forest Hill from participating in any future events. The performance by Forest Hill band was disgraceful and totally unacceptable.

The principal, band director, and dance team director should, must be fired immediately. They, including the student knee. Then of course, Brookhaven should have stopped the halftime show and the game.

That band director is prob up shits creek without a paddle right now. Who approves a show like this for a band anyway?

This coming out of Jackson should not be a shock to anyone. Look at the Hinds public defender,the city clowncil, and what JPD has to put up with internally. The city is anti law enforcement from the voting base to figures in top administration.

Clearly the result of underfunding education.

If this is said to be free speech then so is playing “how great thou art”. We need more Of God being used in schools than guns beIng used

Why do today's marching bands have to try and perform some type of drama on the field? No one is interested in seeing these type performances. Weird.

There’s a good reason Phil didn’t take over JPS. He knows the state can’t fix it!

Try walking onto a school campus with a wooden gun next week. And pointing it at some kids laying on the ground.

I really wanted to leave a comment but I am speechless.

tragedy or not, this is unacceptable.....And I am sorry, but the only rights that kids should have are the rights that they are allowed by their parents, and school admin that care to see them succeed in this world.

Jacksons gonna Jackson.

If only the JPS could sell more bonds this wouldn't have happened.

JPS admin will CYA by announcing that "this skit was not sanctioned and that the JPS administration had no idea that the students were going to express their reasonable and justifiable concerns about police brutality against people of color." Yada yada yada...

The band was scheduled to compete at a band contest today at Copiah Academy. Their participation has been cancelled. Can't imagine why.

Forty plus years of attending high school football games absolutely appalling The sad part is the administration doesn't have
the guts to do anything about it. We celebrate the actions of an absolute useless human being who gunned down two police officers. No wonder Jackson is a shit hole!!!!

"There’s a good reason Phil didn’t take over JPS. He knows the state can’t fix it!"
Ya' got that right.

Close the zoo.
Close JPS.
Fix the streets.
Fix the water system.
Hire and TRAIN more competent cops.

Jackson is lost.

Its Trumps fault

7:50 am nailed it. These people decry violence by promoting it.

What a sad state of affairs to say the least. Poor Jackson.

The JPS Facebook page is choked with comments about this stuff, and them folks ain't happy.

Either schools are gun free zones, or they're not. If we're going to insist on arming teachers, we should be ready for students to play with toy guns like this.

If you're upset with this nonsense, you should be horrified of what the culture in these schools is going to be when the teachers are packing heat.

I just reached out to Sean Hannity. Maybe they will pick this up. Everyone in this chain must go!

12:26, I feel quite sure most of us here are already horrified at the culture within the JPS, and it has nothing to do with whether any teachers are armed. This is just another symptom of that culture, that this high school would present a program like this at Brookhaven (or anywhere else) and be so fucking tone-deaf that they cannot even comprehend that it is going to be offensive.

Quite honestly it’s time to do away with high sports. A large segment of the population cares more about football
than academics . Use the funds saved to provide vocational training instead.

Mayor Chokwe Lumumba. "While I do not believe that there was a malice intent on behalf of the students that participated in this halftime show, I understand that we are ultimately not defined by the things that we set out to do, but rather how we respond to the things that actually do take place."

This is one of many reasons why I have moved out of Jackson and I have taken steps to move the business I own out of Jackson. I'm done with giving these hatemongers my tax dollars.

And my son can't wear his MAGA hat or shirt at school.

Forget tone deafness. This was no accident. This was intentional, purposeful and designed to cause pain to a grieving, mostly white, community. Behind this incredible stupidity lurks the black heart of Jackson-based racists bent on fomenting hatred and division. Their message? White officers gunned down in the line of duty got what they deserved. Good job, JPS.

Meanwhile...Mayor Antar "sees great things in Jackson's future" per an article on the increasingly irrelevant WAPT.com. Lumumba has invited the mayor of Birmingham to school him on attracting philanthropy.

That's right. Baby Chok wants more gifts to fund his vision for the most radical city on the planet. Meanwhile mayors with a grain of competency are trying to attract businesses to their cities. Then again, why should Lumumba bother to target businesses when he can offer weak defenses for the Forest Hill band? No malice here!

Well now, Looks like JPS has sunk to a new low....all i can do is laugh.

Looks like there is a great need for mandatory Sensitivity Training at JPS.

@1:20 PM - spot on! You penned what the majority of readers on here are thinking.

LOL @ 1:15

I think the mayor was pretty sincere in his condemnation of this skit and I agree with the poster who asked why the hell band performances have turned into Broadway plays that nobody wants to watch.

This is a sad comment on the state of public education in Jackson. What caliber (no pun intended) of human being thinks the shooting of anyone belongs in a high school band skit? What a sick, sick, sick piece of sub-humanity that band director must be.

You can always count on the reliable Fiona Ladd to turn this debacle into a race baiting issue and turn the matter around to the fault of whites. DonnerKay Fiona Ladd on FB:

I agree: terrible, tasteless display. So is state flag that many of those outraged support. Forest Hill flew rebel flag when all-white.

I wish ppl wd be consistent w outrage. Forest Hill flew rebel flag until 89 (in middle of near-total white flight)

Next time you get a chance remember to thank JFP advertisers for continuing to give a voice to the person who spends 100% of her every day working to keep our community+state divided and inflamed about race.

#DigustingRaceBaitingDonnerKay

There is so much mismanagement and corruption in Jackson it is not surprising this type of garbage is allowed in school. Just training the new generation.

Sorry. That was Fiona on TWITTER.

A movie theme from 2002 when most of this kids were toddlers? Pure spin.

Blue Lives Matter: High School Band Depicts Execution Of SWAT Officers Week After 2 Officers Killed

A terrible situation and poor judgment.

But someone tell me why that control freak Marshall Fisher has to issue a statement of condemnation?

The story has gone national.

Remember this one? She went after JPD a few years ago about the Chris Summers homicide and it turned out totally blew it. Never apologized to JPD.

Where are Mike Espy, David Baria, Jim Hood, Bennie Thompson, David Blount, Cecil Brown, and Derrick Johnson?

The Forest Hill band skit was the result of white flight? Does she EVER stop? Why does Jackson continue to tolerate Donna Ladd's hate speech?

Boy I wish the case of the convicted cop in Chicago got this much ink.

Boy I wish the case of the convicted cop in Chicago got this much ink.

Maybe you could use the story as a springboard to start your own gig? Then (hopefully) you'd has less time to spend bitching and complaining about the decisions of the ownership here at JJ Or, alternately, you could start a stupid podcast that nobody listens to.

I sending the url to ABC,CBS,NBC,CNN,FoxNews

If you think what happened is unbelievable. You really wont believe what Donna Ladd just posted on Facebook about an hour ago. She actually condones this based on the history of offensive displays by white students back in the 80s and 90s. Offensive displays like waving the rebel flag.

“While I do not believe that there was a malice intent on behalf of the students that participated in this halftime show”, says the RADICAL JIVE-ASS mayor from Jackson.

F you and F Jackson.

I have seen John Q several times and I dont remember any cops getting shot in the movie. This is just a ploy to try and excuse this behavior.

I suppose Ms Ladd is saying that white people took all the common decency with them when they fled?

I'm just as disturbed by what Lumumba said as I am about the event itself:

"While I do not believe that there was a malice intent on behalf of the students that participated in this halftime show, I understood that we are ultimately not defined by the things that we set out to do but rather how we respond to the things that actually do take place."

What does that even mean?

"I do not believe that there was a malice intent"? Isn't he an attorney? He doesn't seem to have command of the English language. I'd have thought that would be of paramount importance to an attorney...

How do you spend over $750,000 annually on salaries, tell every stupid ass who'll listen that you've poached all the best reporters and are the new "go to" digital platform for news/commentary in Mississippi AND THEN TAKE THE WEEKEND OFF instead of reporting on this story?

Let's ask the folks at Mississippi Today but they won't be able to respond until Monday.

Guns aren’t anything to get offended about for white conservatives until they appear in black hands. Then it merits national news coverage, even if they were fake guns.

Its an open carry state right, how many guns were in the stands?

@5:18. Who does the most actual damage with gun in hand?

I wouldn't worry about Ladd's goofy Facebook posts.

She's trying very hard to get some . . . any . . . attention.
She's been out of the conversation with both Left & Right for a few years now.

I was required to venture into the Capitol City a few weeks ago and picked up the latest copy of "Boom Jackson".

I couldn't believe how the quality of that "magazine" has declined.

The little coffee factoid weekly is printed on better paper.

Look at all the cupcakes who don't want any restrictions on gun purchases or ownership.

The police are your enemies. Civility is for the weak. Meet any slight, real or imagined, with violence or threats of violence. Welcome to The Nation of Jackson.

Open carry is prohibited for private citizens at high school football games. Enhanced CCW permit-holders may carry there.

I seem to remember in recent news some kid pointed a "Finger gun" at a playmate and was ejected from school for violating some zero tolerance rule. You would think those two idiots brandishing guns would be arrested for a multitude of crimes. Way to go JPS. I feel sure that a hefty pay raise would solve everything.

What does gun ownership or right to carry have to do with depiction of shooting policemen in a half time performance in a town in which two police officers were gunned down? The display was offensive and insensitive. Any excuse to justify is simply not defensible. It has nothing to with 2nd Amendment rights or even issues of past racism. It really doesn’t matter what your position is on those issues.

In 2014, Austin Reed Edenfield, an Ole Miss student was convicted in Federal Court for putting a noose around Medger Evers statue... These people should be charged the same... A hate crime is a hate crime.

"While I do not believe that there was a malice intent on behalf of the students that participated in this halftime show, I understand that we are ultimately not defined by the things that we set out to do, but rather how we respond to the things that actually do take place."

I've read that nine times and have idea what he is saying or what it means. In fairness to Baby Chock, Ima go read it some more and see if I can figure out what he's saying. Any help will be appreciated.

While the timing on this performance is horrible, that is not why this is horrible. This performance would be completely atrocious anytime, right?? This truly defies any logic. Surely the band director wasn't the only adult who knew about this performance? God help these poor kids if this is the kind of leadership in their schools.

“... It is the responsibility of adults to offer guidance to youth. Our students should have been instructed that this was neither the time or place for that performance.”

So Baby Chok, when is a good time and place? Condemn the timing and venue but not the actions?

Sincere, my ass.

So, who won the game?

Totally Absolutely Psycho Tom Head:

"I hope this serves as one important lesson to the kids at Forest Hill: Never perform risky material in front of a majority-white audience in Mississippi unless you’re absolutely sure they can’t do you harm in response, because they already hate you and will use every excuse they’re given and/or can plausibly fabricate to destroy your life."
.....
"I can get why taking the gun out for the Brookhaven showing might have been the appropriate and sensitive decision, given the recent loss of two officers there, but the folks using this to gin up outrage against JPS were just looking for an excuse to deprive black kids of an education."
.....
"Phil Bryant has already commented on this and there’s a very good chance it will be used as a pretense to eliminate JPS music funding, or otherwise harm the district, next legislative session as 'punishment.'"

School started in early August, and the band has been performing this skit now im sure at all of the Forest Hill's football games, unless they just put this part in there performance surely not, but my question is why are we, the citizens just not hearing of this or seeing this skit, if it hadn't been performed before now why? did it take for it to get to Brookhaven for us the citizens of this state to even see it?

The band director is an idiot. He is putting on a show and trying to use shock value to do what his band cannot do with technique and musicianship. Like MOST band directors whether at JPS or any other school(even private schools) he has complete control over his halftime show until the administration sees it. In fact most of them like to keep their shows relatively secret until their first show. The administration assumes, wrongfully in this case, that these directors are responsible adults who will not be distasteful or illegal in the production of their shows. Unfortunately, in this case, the stupid act was committed by a JPS school giving the many Jackson haters another chance to spew on the whole city for the act of a stupid ass. Fire the band director and apologize. That's what Clinton, Madison, Pearl, Brandon, NW Rankin, Prep, JA, and the rest would do. But Jackson must burn down Forest Hill, and close all the schools, and the mayor must commit suicide, and the principal and all the teachers must be tarred and feathered and ...

Obviously, the band director is an idiot, and he will pay the price. If the principal had a clue that this was going to happen, he/she is worse. The band students are not responsible, but I would have hoped that even one of them would have questioned the morality and intelligence of such a horrendous display of stupidity. Or maybe one of their parents might have known about it, and spoken out beforehand? Too much to ask, I suppose. But I blame all of them.

Putting all of this outrage aside, I would like to know the whole story behind what this director was possibly trying to achieve. Don't these bands add a little bit every week to their act? I can only assume that this was the first week they added the shooting scene. Were guns a part of the act in previous weeks?

I assume if any part of this shooting scene was a part of the act in previous weeks, a parent or spectator would have already spoken up. If not, that is truly unbelievable.

Translation of Lumumba:
He meant malicious intent aka mal. intent.

To paraphrase:
The kids didn't have malicious intent (they didn't have the intention of causing harm- physical or psychological)..this assumption does NOT preclude legal adults who gave the go ahead.
By responding, condemning, and investigating it, my/our reaction to this situation defines who we are---not the screw up that devolved into all of this. Please forgive us/the school[s] for inadvertently inflaming the situation or causing your town and law enforcement officers further trauma.....

8:41- they were minors being instructed by an educational authority (band director) and if any refusals were acted upon to not perform, they would have been removed from the band or color guard by said educational authority. These were not legal adults running around acting on their own accord like the frat boys @ TSUN. They were acting out a show that was custom fitted to their band and vetted by a band director probably half a year ago if not longer.

Donna Ladd and Tom Head are just two crazy people behind a keyboard trying to promote a paper this is only good for packing boxes and lining bird cages.

John at October 6, 2018 at 4:52 PM. Right on. Baby Chock's editor must have been off this weekend, so Baby had to compose his missive himself. Pitiful grammar and sentence structure. An embarrassment. I could go on and on, but it would make no difference. I am not even commenting on the content of the excuse, defend, and minimize theme of his statement. Way to go Baby Chock. Keep it up. The leader most radical city in the world speaks again.

I'm fed up with reading about the innocence of babes. Student scholars by this age have learned critical thinking skills (unless they're numbskulls) and they know by now to report (to parents or authorities) instances of being asked or directed to participate in inappropriate conduct. We have been taught for ten years "If you see something, say something". Students for decades now have been challenging authority.

Kids are not idiots. One of them in this band, by now, surely should have asked a teacher, principal or superintendent..."Do you think this is what we should be doing?" Not to mention them knowing full well that to take a gun (or any semblance thereof) onto a school campus is an enrollment-ending offense, PERIOD.

Meanwhile; at some other school near you, what if the band director were to issue the instruction: "Next week we practice our black face routine for our upcoming homecoming" or "We will begin learning the nuances of Dixie starting next Tuesday". Will the sheeples simply follow along mindlessly? You bet your ass they would NOT.

A lot of news magazines would love to have the Ad Revenue that packing paper brings in.

I taught in Jackson for twelve years. During my tenure, everything had to be run past the principal. I was a Student Council sponsor and I had to turn in ALL plans to be okayed. This principal knew of this far before it was performed.

well at least it gave all you pea brain jackson haters a reason to express your poor little snowflake feelings....not that ever you need a reason to scream from the cheap seats..

I wonder if a certain Hinds county public defender has anything to do with this

@9:57 wrong again. Band color guards twirl, flip, and do all sorts of tricks with fake (usually white) guns. The structure and decorum of most modern day school marching bands descends from the military (drum and bugle Corp) if it's not a swac band. Turning those fake rifles into AR-15s was a step too far. But yes, most trad. Marching bands have fake guns to twirl by the color guard when they ditch their flags in a show.

As much as some of you praise the military, the civil war, etc. it is amazing to me that you do not know this.

You obviously aren't paying attention @10:15. Their business is hurting. Their print publication has been cut in half and their standalone magazine is standalone no more. Their online ad business is non-existent and their "CEO" has to moonlight her brains out to help pay the bills.

I will say her reporters and other staffers aren't standing outside the local Kroger or Walmart with a spare dollars and cents contribution bucket like the folks who work for non-profit but always partisan Mississippi Today.

FYI that was the 8th or 9th performance of the skit. Forest Hill administration knew.

@October 7, 2018 at 1:06 AM

"Fire the band director and apologize. That's what Clinton, Madison, Pearl, Brandon, NW Rankin, Prep, JA, and the rest would do. But Jackson must burn down Forest Hill, and close all the schools, and the mayor must commit suicide, and the principal and all the teachers must be tarred and feathered and ..."

Your suggestions are a good start, except for the suicide.

Using wooden rifles is a tradition in marching band. Pointing black, AR weapons at a fake swat team is not. Their ill conceived stunt is not going to completely mess up our traditions in this country. Mmmmk?


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marching_band

Why would this bother people. They seemed to have forgotten the grown woman who brought a real gun to a Jackson school and waved it around during a fight with other grownups. As far as I know there wasn't anything done about that woman. Why would anyone connected with Jackson school worry about something as simple as this?

She's not begging for contributions every 3months and they have the most paid ads of any of the local rags.If they are going under, they aren't alone.

FYI that was the 8th or 9th performance of the skit. Forest Hill administration knew.

Haven't seen this stated before.....really sad if true.

Sorry I do not know how to create the link.
There are a lot of attorneys here. Can someone please explain the law and what charges might be possible against the adults in this situation. Thank you.

https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/2013/title-97/chapter-37/general-provisions/section-97-37-17

Domino's pizza can fix the streets but they can't fix everything.

When you learn a marching show on a high school level for football games, the whole show is never played at the first of the year. It usually moves progressively from one act/ song to the next after the first part is mastered at each football game. Usually broken up by song and drum line interlude. Football games are used as progressive dress rehearsals for the whole show to be completed on the field before and by the end of football season. This goes on and on until the whole band has the show down in memory usually in hopes of mastery until competition. That is why no one saw or knew of the guns until Brookhaven. They had a competition routine to master on the field in front of an audience. The band director could have easily said, "no gun scene/skit tonight", but that didn't happen.

Judging by the visual content of the show, the dude had no situational awareness nationally or locally or he knew it would start something.

He's either an idiot or a sh*t starter, maybe both.

It’s against the law for students and employees to even have something that resembles a gun on school grounds. So they had them on school grounds in Jackson, got on a school bus with them then brought them to another school. The Principal obviously knew about it and approved. The band director knew. So how many violations have I named so far? If nothing is done then what happens next time someone brings a fake gun on a school grounds?

1:18 - I read the link you provided and see nothing about a simulated weapon.

As a wingfield grad and many friends who graduated from forest hill I voiced my displeasure on Twitter and was promptly blocked by JPS.

Let some group recreate a lynching and see
what happens !!

These fine young students are future voters- sleep well Mississippi sleep well-

As I sit here and read the comments on this thread, I am ashamed of all these people who spewing such hatred on these children. First, the kids were doing as instructed. Now how many children actually watch the news or keep up with news worthy events? I don't care what the situation is but what child whether black or white is going refuse to play with or act out a scene while getting to use a gun? Unless there is a fear of guns or something tragic happened to them, most children are going to think guns are cool. Let's talk about culture. You all talk about the "thug" mentality or culture amongst blacks. Yes there are some criminals in the black community but the way you all talk it's like every black child has or has used a gun which is not true. it's a lot of pretenders out there, those who pose with guns for selfies. But getting into culture, why I don't hear the condemnation of most of the whites who place guns in the hands of children who are not even in high school. And don't give me that hunting crap either. If a child has to wait until they are 16 to legally drive, the same should be for using a gun. I am not condoning what the band did on the field, however to refute the comments that they purposely did it with malicious intent is absurd and ridiculous! I guess the band director was a fortune teller because he had to have known that this summer because that's when they had started working on that show! I empathize and sympathize with the Brookhaven Community. I am not excusing what was done all I'm saying is stop demonizing the children. Don't equate all children in JPS with those who commit criminal acts. I doubt it if you all would want to be equated with Deryl Dedmon.

@12:04,
Oh stop your b!tc#ing... your sad after reading comments... well I can agree with part of your post, however.. it's clear that you don't understand the situation at hand. If this director were white or Hispanic his ass would be fired already. You need much more accountability in JPS especially the situation here. Public is outraged both black and white and I do live in Jackson. JPS has only one culture as they have no diversity like area private schools and public suburban districts have. So look in the mirror. JPS doesn't want whites involved and that's the fact. Stop bitching. Look at the facts!!!