Kenneth I. Stokes. Batman. Sounds like a damn monster movie. Um, make that a disaster movie. The scene: A public hearing for the renaming of Wood Street. Just watch.
Note: Skip to 9:10 when Ms. Brent starts speaking for the next round.
Transcript
Council President: ...for public hearing on Wood Street. Mr. Albert Donaldson. Welcome.
Albert Donaldson: (Approaches the podium) Where you want—when you want me to start?
Council President: You can go now.
Albert Donaldson: Okay. My name is Albert Donaldson. Councilman Kenneth Stokes, do you remember me? (Laughter from the audience) It’s a pleasure to be facing you again. 20 years ago, you targeted me. You said I shot somebody. It was on the news, it was public record. Then you had to go back and retract it.
Now, here we are, nearly 20 years later, standing up in front of you. And my community do not look the same. No, it don't. As well as you would want people to think that Wood Street is a high-crime area—it’s not. 20 years ago, it might have been. But not now.
Public record show that. Public data show that. Public data show that South Jackson, from 2025 to 2026, is responsible for a third of the murders. And I think a sign is the least of our worries to be changed.
They go on. They go on further. They name streets: Maddox Street, Skyline Drive, New Street, High Park area. But guess what street they don't name? They don't name Wood Street. Am I speaking to somebody now? They don't name Wood Street.
(Pause) Please, please. Now, this is what I've been doing since you targeted me 20 years ago. I've been released from prison—early release—completed probation in its entirety. Fought for my family, lost my child to gun violence... Lead voters—I lead voter efforts in that same community. I work with law enforcement to bring down violence in that community. I'm a spiritual—I'm a... (Pauses to check notes).
Okay. All right. I'm just... Keep lying. Let me get to where I'm supposed to get to. I got 30 seconds. Let’s do it like this. Councilman Stokes, other than doing news conferences, you have not spoken with the community on this decision to change the name. Clearly, you don't have the opinion...
Councilman Kenneth Stokes: How would you know? Come on, man.
Albert Donaldson: Can I finish?
Councilman Stokes: How would you know? Come on, come on.
Albert Donaldson: Can he break my time up like that?
Councilman Stokes: (Inaudible)
Albert Donaldson: Can he break my time up like that, Mr. President?
Council President: Hold on, hold on. Let’s not call any names. Let’s not call any names.
Councilman Stokes: I’m not gonna let a dope dealer come in this place and then act like he’s gonna take over.
Albert Donaldson: What about you and your son? Y’all dope dealers!
Councilman Stokes: You don't even know my son!
Council President: Mr. Stokes! Mr. Donaldson!
Albert Donaldson: (Shouting) You got the right person, bastard! You got the right person!
Councilman Stokes: My son is a doctor! My daughter is a lawyer! We don't have dope dealers like you!
Albert Donaldson: (Shouting) Yeah, you sure got the right one!
Council President: (Gaveling) It’s okay. Let’s not let dope dealers come in here and disrupt this!
Councilman Stokes: (Inaudible shouting)
Council President: All right. So, let’s not call any names. Let’s make our comments, please, and then move to the next person. Thank you, Mr. Donaldson. Christopher Cooper, Wood Street.
Christopher Cooper: Christopher Cooper, President of D-Betterment Society, also founder of North-a-Soldier. As everyone know, I work with the community faithfully. I am fighting for our people in our community. We just had an event over there on Saturday where people got saved and delivered. I’m going back over there this week and mowing some yards. I used to stay on Wood Street.
So, I know that it’s different from over there because I used to stay there. I used to deal with a lot of children. I would say, not only not change the name of the street, but you just change the people in the community. When I was out there Saturday, I asked them what they needed. They said they need youth activity centers. They need things to do over there.
So, what I’m here to say, if we’re going to change Wood Street because of violence, we need to look at Lamar Street. We need to look at Jefferson. We need to look at Jackson Street. Because those people owned slaves, okay? They was murderers. All right? We got to understand that Lamar Street was named after a Confederate. So, understand that if we’re going to change the name off of just violence, I don't think that’s a good look because we’ve got to begin to change names on every street here in the city of Jackson. (Applause)
Council President: Thank you, Mr. Cooper. Deborah Brent. B-R-E-N-T? Wood Street.
Deborah Brent: Good evening, how y’all doing? I’m Deborah Brent, the Acting President over there at Midtown Neighborhood Association. I’m here standing in. I did receive a letter, and when I got the letter, I jumped right in to try to see what was going on. Because I have been there over 40-plus years.
And Wood Street has really changed a lot. It’s a tremendous change. And I’m one of them that have been there with the City of Jackson myself. North Ministry, Pine Lake, other churches from different areas have come in. Different things that we was trying to do at the time before Councilman Stokes was our Councilman over there. Other people—Margaret Barrett-Simon, she was there a long time, and others as well after her.
So, Wood Street has been rebuilding. The Habitat houses and stuff have come in. We have gotten out together, we have cleaned up the streets: Wood Street, Pleasant Avenue, DeWitt, Huron, Maple Street, Winona Street, Calvin Garnett, Ash Street, Miles Alley, Fortification—everything, Oak Street. Everything up and down through there, we have been working together diligent.
When I saw the letter about Dr. Little Street being named after Dr. Little, the thing about it is, it’s not about who you naming the street after. It’s how long you been there. It’s the people that’s in the community. Dr. Little’s people have lived there on Miles Alley—a house where maybe a street with maybe six houses at. Okay, he has not grew up over there and worked within the community with us. I know this for a fact because I have raised my kids and other kids there too. I have walked the streets. I have petitions on hand today. I have talked to everyone, everyone in the community.
They know me by "Miss Love" in the community. My full name is Deborah Brent, but the community, some know me by Miss Brent, but the majority know me by Miss Love. I have talked to them face-to-face. Not Facebook—face-to-face. And they are comfortable with Wood Street. And I asked them about Dr. Little. I respect him to the fullest, because I am a Jackson State supporter as well. Along, but my daughter grew up there—it’s not where you live, it’s how you live. She went through Powell, Lanier, and Ole Miss. And therefore, we are still supporters standing in the community doing all we can to help support.
If they want to take Miles Alley and name it after him, that’s fine, I don't have a problem with it. But don't just take away Wood Street and say because the violence. It’s violence everywhere. The whole entire city. We got to change things, and that’s what we’re doing. But it take a whole to change—one person can't change nothing. It take everybody together to make a change. And like I said, for me to be 54 years old, I have been paving the way. Thank y’all. (Applause)
Council President: All right. Thank you. Next, we have Dr. Fulton Caston. Dr. Fulton Caston, Wood Street? He’s not here?
Dedric Dodd: No, but I asked that I be allowed his time on his behalf.
Council President: Sure.
Dedric Dodd: Ladies and gentlemen, how y’all doing? My name is Dedric Dodd. And I’ve been in the neighborhood—my grandma come to Wood Street in 1968 from Kosciusko, Mississippi. And I grew up right there in JC Park. You know, they changed the name of JC Park to W.C. Gordon. And I never understood because I played in that park all my life, and W.C. Gordon had never come over there to do a football camp. He never came over there, took us anywhere, never came over there, bought us any kind of lunch, anything. Now, we can dedicate that to Operation Shoestring, yes. Operation Shoestring took care of us. But W.C. Gordon never done anything for us.
And I’m not here to attack anything, you know, I’m here to find a solution. Mr. Stokes, Honorable Stokes, you represented the other side of Bailey Avenue for a very long time, and you have done it well. I’m here to give you your flowers. But on the other end, on this ward, we was part of Ward 7 for a long time. And we was overlooked then. And now we are continue to be overlooked. The only thing that brought attention to our area is because of you. So, you do deserve your flowers for because you brought attention to our area.
Our area need lots, lots of things besides a name change. I got right here in my phone, I got footage of me when I got off work, I just walked and just record my neighborhood, just watch... and Town Creek, how we got trees growing up out our creeks. How we got potholes in our streets. How we got dilapidated houses, the catwalk, all these things. You can't even go across Fortification bridge at night—ain't no, there's no lights on.
We’ve been overlooked for a long time. And I understand what you trying to do, Mr. Stokes. Can you look at me? That’s what I’m talking about. Men look each other in the eye. I don't...
Councilman Stokes: You said we can't respond. So you don't need to call my name, because I’m gonna respond.
Dedric Dodd: You can respond, Mr. Stokes. I come respectfully. You remember...
Councilman Stokes: I’m listening. I’m listening to you, brother.
Dedric Dodd: Because you know Wood Street like I know Wood Street. We know people talking here, people in jail! They're in prison! You know they're in prison!
Council President: Councilman Stokes...
Dedric Dodd: They're coming up here telling people like everything is fine! Children in jail! We trying to change all that! They in prison! They done killed people! They done killed people!
Council President: (Gaveling) Oh, hold on. Hold on. Hold on. We can all just sit down for a minute.
Dedric Dodd: Mr. Stokes, all I’m saying is, you’ve been on for a long time when you was not our ward, when you was not over our ward. You took care of Georgetown very well. I notice I can go across Bailey Avenue and you took care of Georgetown. The creeks over there in Georgetown, it look good. The kids can go to the park over there in Georgetown, Mary C. Jones Park—all that. They can do all that over there in Georgetown. But when you come over to Wood Street, when you come over to my neighborhood, to my area, you can look and see, we got little to no attention. We never had no attention. It always been us against everybody. So that’s the mentality that we grew up with.
But one thing about it, you know this, you know it’s been some good people, some great people, some great citizens that came from that area. You know this. You know this! All the Alarms from—that’s right, Chief Vance come right there off Wood Street! All the Alarms that’s over in 833, they come right from Wood Street! So why didn't you take the kids from Wood Street on trips? Why didn't you...
Council President: That’s your time, sir.
Dedric Dodd: Yes, you did!
Council President: That’s your time.
Dedric Dodd: Well, tell the truth! Because you got a person back here don't know half...
Council President: (Gaveling) Listen. Any more outbursts, we’re going to go into recess.
Dedric Dodd: One last thing, ladies and gentlemen, before I step back on my...
Council President: Thank you, sir. Thank you.
Dedric Dodd: Now that’s representation for Wood! Now we had three others, right?
Council President: No, we have a lot more. Dorothy Davis. Mrs. Dorothy Davis, Wood Street.
15 comments:
Is Batman Jackson’s godfather?
I know that there is "spell check," but is there such a thing as "grammar check?"
What the hell?
We can say what we won’t about what Stokes does or says. But, his constituents are going to keep him in that office until he dies. So, just ignore his stupidity as it’s the standard they vote for.
Albert Donaldson doesn't look like Batman more like a fat pinguin with his ugly bird nose face. Change the name to Little Street and rename the gang to the Little Street Boys Gang.
Good to know they’re spending time and tax dollars on such critical matters. Place just won’t be the same if street is renamed.
They need to be more worried about crime rather than a street name, I agree, but seriously, what does bitching to Kennth Stokes accomplish? He can't do anything. Also, they need to repeat basic elementary English/grammar class.
It’s stunning to see that an entire group of people can be so brainwashed and so committed to believing if they can change the name on a street sign their life will get better. Meanwhile they grow bitter while watching others do things that actually improve one’s station in life. But the first group never learns…and never stops doing what they do.
I gots the vertigo after all that. For real hoping its just all these folks at city hall got hy head spinnin and its not the beetus.
Not sure who's on first but dayummm! Whole lotta smoke at least.
Performative bullshit while Jackson slides into a ditch of sewage.
Jees.
For the Honks, Wood Street is supposed to strike fear in your heart because of the Wood Street Gang-mos feared outlaws in the state. Probably changing the name because of it. Remember Jackson's crime statistics go down when you don't take reports and or misclassify them and the police just do not go on calls. Lower statistics are meaningless in real life.
@ "We can say what we won’t about what Stokes does or says... ...So, just ignore his stupidity..."
Speaking of stupidity...
Jackson city council meetings ... guaranteed to be funnier than an original 1975 SNL skit.
Renaming a street puts the crime stats at zero. Those murders ast year? That was a different street.
Whether you agree or not, it’s clear Councilman Stokes isn’t afraid to stand up and speak his mind. Leadership isn’t always pretty, but showing up, engaging, and addressing tough issues takes backbone. Jackson needs people willing to be in the arena, not on the sidelines
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