Jackson Jambalaya

 Six years ago I wrote a series of columns about Mississippi “good souls,” the nurturers, givers, and difference makers in our communities. Both Lois McMurchy and Liz Cleveland recommended I write about Martha Allen. Robert St. John had hired Martha to lead his non-profit Extra Table.

“She illuminates every space with sincere warmth, has unlimited compassion, and is the most giving person I know,” said Liz. “My parents taught servanthood from an early age,” Martha told Lois.

Early this month, I got to meet the ebullient Martha face to face at a North Jackson Rotary Club meeting. When I told her who I was, she exclaimed she kept a copy of my column framed on her office wall. Then when she was introduced, her bio included that she had been designated “a good soul by syndicated columnist Bill Crawford.”

That made my day. That good feeling evaporated just days later when another Mississippi good soul perished tragically. C.D. Smith had recommended that I write about Fannie Mae Johnson, the joyful, loving executive director of L.O.V.E.’s Kitchen in Meridian. Fannie clearly fit my “good soul” criteria but was engaged in city politics at the time, so I did not.

Fannie died September 4 when a woman hijacked her car in the L.O.V.E.’s Kitchen parking lot. The car struck Fannie multiple times as the culprit fled the scene. Appallingly, Fannie had previously helped the woman and had fed her the morning of the crime.  Meridian Star story on her murder.

My friend C.D. had met with Fannie that morning and had been trying to call her when he learned the tragic news. He notes that testimonies to Fannie’s lifetime of charitable service – 40 years managing L.O.V.E.’s Kitchen – continue to pour in. “A true Public Servant,” said Marion Mayor Larry Gill, “a person who gave their all trying to help people in need.”

In 2024 I wrote about another good soul, the Rev. Lori Galambos Till. An ordained deacon at Galloway United Methodist Church, Lori runs Grace Place. It provides a hot breakfast in Jackson four mornings a week along with a clothing closet and worship opportunities. (St. Andrews Episcopal Church covers the fifth workday.)

“A judgment-free, safe place, Grace Place fills a critical need in the Jackson community by providing respect, dignity, and love to our brothers and sisters, some of whom struggle daily with poverty, mental illness, and addiction,” Lori told me then.

Two years later I can tell you from personal experience that if the Holy Spirit dwells in any human heart, it dwells gloriously in Lori’s.

In this ever more hateful world, we are blessed to have such beacons of love among us.  

"For I was hungry and you fed me” – Matthew 25:35.

Crawford is an author and syndicated columnist from Jackson.