Jackson Jambalaya

Y'all better look at photo #7 again.

Get out now-while you can!

I'll never set foot in there again-

Jackson in a nutshell-

I still don't see anyone from Eastover or Belhaven protesting outside the mayor's office. They must be fine with it.

If Gene or Mary build an auditorium the Symphony can make a permanent move and take the Broadway shows with them.

Don't keep air on at least 78 and this is what you deal with.

Who needs a symphony when you have a permanent comedy tour at City Hall every day.

It's only a perception of fungus, mold, microbes, etc. Right?

Meanwhile more money needs to be dumped into the zoo and Jackson needs to speed some green starting a new farmers market on North State.

Democrats implode another municipality in real time.

The mayor doesn't care, since most of the events that occur at Thalia Mara Hall are for white folks. Go to a symphony, opera, or broadway event and you can count the black people in the audiance on one hand.

@10:50 for the WIN!

it will never get fixed. and that my friends is the bottom line.

Pearl, Mississippi could build an auditorium the Symphony.

Did they not run some a/c for air circulation or did they not have any dehumidifiers?

Maybe one of the anchor stores at Northpark would be willing to sell their space for a new concert/play/etc. venue. It would be in Ridgeland, which alleviates the Jackson incompetence, and breathe some much-needed life into Northphark. Just a thought.

You fools keep electing the same marxist mayor and expect different results.

every "snide" comment is well deserved for this!....and I have been here since well before Fondren was Fondren......but this is an absolute pitiful shame, and everyone in the 3 counties should be pissed about this. That facility has hosted some unbelievable performances in the past 40 years, and beyond that, those performances were also done for school kids.....kids that might never see performances like that, and the potential to positively influence their life in the right direction forever.....at this point, it doesn't matter if the mayor is under federal investigation, he should voluntarily step down, and everyone (every race) should be screaming for him to step down. Say what you will, but the arts matter, the libraries matter, the zoo mattered, as well as every citizen of the city of Jackson, no matter their race or income level, and this is simply unforgivable. I genuinely wish, whatever level of "press" we have left in the area,, that they would start questioning why after so many failures and known lies, has this mayor not stepped down.

Good luck getting CJ to cover this with any slant that holds the Mayor accountable 2:34.
I agree with you but I have had to accept that this current society will never value anything as highly as they do social media clout and virtue signaling.

I actually blame parents for not instilling a love of the classics and certinaly for not teaching the value of actual work and sweat equity.

Libraries and sites like Thalia Mara are doomed. Such is life.

FUIJ, outside of KF and Edwards (and LeMaster/Warren to lesser extents) the local press are all Democrat sycophants.

#ReElectLubumba2025 Vote early, vote often.

@2:34 We have no real press, I quit watching local news and the paper is long gone.

You know what could fix this? A big ol sack of money from the government addressed to Chudwe.

I have my doubts about that. 'Installed' may be a more accurate word than 'Elected'.

Lumumba could care less.. he’s too busy booking “speaking engagements”. I believe his next trip is in Colombia

Once again, Kingfish employs the use of his 'teaser post', suggesting the events are 'moving'. But, moving to where? No mention. Why not just say they are cancelled?

@11:46 - you disappoint me, friend. I'm proud you were there, if you were, to count the black folks. Your comment would be proven FALSE! It would seem if you were interested, you would have invited your interested patrons to join you in not only what was being offered....but maybe help you count.

Your comment is not only disrespectful, likely not supported by factual or true attendees, but disgraceful and may I add - totally false.

Friends of Jackson, we can't give up. The city administration is a disaster, the city council should be a reality show....but we just can't throw in the towel. For crying out loud, let's at least try and save the least tiny bit of culture we have left.....

https://www.wapt.com/article/two-major-ballet-productions-moving-from-thalia-mara-hall-due-to-mold-issues/62072526

Now all of the Nutcracker performances will be moved. I always look forward to attending the Ballet Mississippi production every year. I'm sure it will still be a great performance at Jackson Prep but it is ridiculous that the City has put everyone in this position. These companies have had to put up with terrible facility management by the City of Jackson for years and don't deserve this.

I understand that the City needed specialists to come in and evaluate the situation, but how is there STILL no timeline for repairs to the building when so much is on the line? It's as if the Mayor doesn't care at all about keeping the economic impact the City receives from these events... but he manages to find time to travel to Puerto Rico and Miami to attend conferences, tour the zoo and suggest diverting more resources to West Jackson!

@1:53 they did nothing because the employees earning a paycheck weren’t there and didn’t care. Nobody should have to work for a paycheck in the kingdom of kush. It’s are turn.

If I remember correctly, the last few times I have been to a concert at Thalia Mara, there was a restoration or maintenance fee included in ticket price. Now most, if not all, were Arden Barnett productions, but I know I’ve seen it. Where was that money allocated and how did the city misuse that?

The Art Museum is probably next. Maybe the whole of downtown could be one big parking lot with a giant jail right in the middle.

June 2, 2014 marked the reopening of a fully revamped Thalia Mara Hall, thanks to the privately held fundraising efforts of Haley Fisackerly and Entergy, The Community Foundation of Jackson and Jane Alexander. All of this was new 10 years ago. This disgusting realization lies TOTALLY in the lap of the most arrogant, useless, motormouth, incompetent politician of all time... Chokwe Lumumba. This hall may be condemned and never reopened. Libraries closing and demolished due to maintenence neglect, citizens pouring out of our city a 11 per day, a truly joke of a money sucking zoo, the state adding hundreds of police officers to a city with the most murders of any city in America, a disfunctional airport that is surviving because of federal grants (STATE PLEASE TAKE IT OVER), public schools down 14,000 students in 10 years, garbage contracts never negotiated in good faith, costing the city millions in fines, contractors not being paid, costing the city millions in late fees, resurfacing and street repair funds not utilized, departments without a department head FOR YEARS....the list is endless. This is so maddening.

Ben Allen. You are on point. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. etc. etc. etc. etc...................................

Only thing you missed, now they city can't even run the landfill. It has been closed a month due to the inability of the city to keep the equipment running. (kinda like cutting the grass, where they had to contract for it because they didn't have equipment, or the potholes where those fancy machines have not been operatable for years) but.....

You point to the total inability of this administraiton to manage anything. Except, of course, their attempt to spend several million to open a farmers market, or something of the kind, in the wasteland of all dollars --- Farish Street.

Please cancel and leave now before you get sued out of existence by patrons exposed to disease

If the state wasn’t running the Civil Rights Museum I bet Chokwe and his clown entourage would run it into the ground too!

International Ballet Competition is already looking for a new location. That will play well in the world’s news outlets.

Ben Allen said it well.
Welcome to the most radical city in the world.

8:35 said, "...the wasteland of all dollars --- Farish Street."

How true, how true.

I did. Why?

Ben Allen, in multiple positions, worked tirelessly for many years to make Jackson a better place. It's got to be terribly frustrating and disappointing to see what Jackson has been allowed to become.

Most posters believe they can embarrass the mayor into performing. Some believe if they spotlight his poor performance, he'll resign. Neither holds water (pun unintended).

Fact is, he accomplishes exactly what he wants to accomplish. And THAT is emulating the legacy his daddy left along with dad's expectation that his children would accomplish his dream of the Republic of New Afrika.

Dad's vision was the entire Delta becoming a commune of folks dependent on the leadership of Taliaferro, Sr. Senior would be OK with the Republic Commune being the entire capital city area.

That's exactly what the mayor is all about - And he's well on his way to fulfilling dad's dream. Everything the rest of us view as failure, the mayor and Baby Sister view as success.

How do you know 'it's false'? Where are your facts to counter his post? You've posted your anger and, I guess, your outrage at being faced with the truth.

I've been in this facility too many times to count and, with the exception of one concert, have never seen more than ten black folks who were paid attendees.

Very few black folks care if this place were to be leveled tomorrow and most who live in the city, are not even aware of it.

My understanding is that the 2014 reopening dealt with giving Thalia Mara a facelift but didn’t address underlying structural issues. Makes sense, all administrations, be they Republican or Democrat, value quick facade type fixes that are visible during their administration. Nobody wants to use dwindling tax money to make structural repairs until the last possible minute. See, for example, our nation’s crumbling infrastructure. This isn’t necessarily an example of incompetence, it’s an example of the political structure we have in this nation, be it federal, state, or local. I guarantee that surrounding cities also have crumbling city owned properties. It’s just that Jackson is larger than surrounding cities and has more and older buildings that are open to the public.

And, if we really want to address some issues, we have to admit and understand the implications of white flight that occurred directly after school integration. Our elders, us white people, dipped because they didn’t want their kids going to school with blacks. Those are facts. No city can thrive when huge segments of the population disappear.

It seems that nearly every article posted here reveals in bad things and offers no help or possible solutions. Look at LeFleur East and other neighborhood groups. They are actually trying to help.

It’s extremely easy to point fingers and go “haa haa.”

This website and posters seem to be mainly comprised of old man yells at cloud type articles and comments.

6:19 may be correct in his assertions but he is missing the conclusion. Lumumba does not want Caucasians in Jackson. Why would Lumumba want Thalia Mara Hall to be well run if it is a magnet for Caucasians? Lumumba wants to keep Caucasians out of Jackson, but make their money roll into Jackson (his control).

Thanks Ben-
but you did not mention the COJ's ongoing daily pollution of the Pearl River with fecal matter, along with the water treatment fiasco-

Be an apologist, 7:22. Please go to attached link and see paragraph one, line 6. The HVAC was addressed in 2014. The idiots running the Hall did not maintain them and mold set in. There is no pointing fingers. everything, and i mean EVERYTHING the COJ is in charge of does not work. Period. https://25.formississippi.org/friends-of-thalia-mara-hall-fund/

7:22 implies that Jackson can only succeed WITH white people. You should really try to convince Chuck that you want white people to live there. Because he only wants white money with no white opinions attached to it.

And 7:22 blames most of the current city woes (incorrectly) on the assertion that white people (primarily) left to avoid schools with black students.
Yet fails to acknowledge that schools like Murrah were somehow thriving post-segregation for years. And fails to acknowledge that in fact, inept city leadership, corrupt misuse of tax funds, lack of infrastructure maintenance and piss poor judicial systems are why black and white alike left that shit hole, en masse.

But MSNBC will for sure prefer your victim statement to my hard truth, so keep it up.

Those of us (black and white) that want to live in a safe city with criminal accountability will laugh and watch from a safe distance while you cry about solutions to problems that dont even begin to address the real root issues of Jackson's demise.

We gave up on your ilk, long ago.

The question is can the metropolitan area survive and flourish without a central city and build its own hospitals, tourist attractions, airport and transportation hubs. Once that happens then the city can be broken up into sections and rebuilt

Baby Chok promised the most radical city. This is just part of the master plan. Jackson voters don't do ballet or symphony's, so he could care less.

"Fact is, he accomplishes exactly what he wants to accomplish"
Hit the nail on the head.

I don't want to drive in to Jackson at night to a concert or any other venue. I'd love to go hear the Symphony and other wonderful performances. But not in Jackson at night..,
There are some great auditoriums and stages at public schools in Madison and Rankin Counties--

You might as well say it. This city was NOT run this way when the last white mayor was in office 27 years ago and before that. I may not get my comment posted but the truth is the truth. The mayor and his people do not want nice things. I have only been to the auditorium several times but I will say that I enjoyed every experience I had when I was there. FIRST CLASS. Now, for the comment on why the HVAC was not repaired I’m sure the budget wouldn’t allow it. That means requesting additional funds from the city which they should have given. But, let’s remember the time when the city hired a roofer from FLORIDA to re-roof the Welty Library. We have some of the best roofers in the Southeast in our area. So, that leads me to believe the city leaders want to destroy jackson like Sherman did, but not as quickly as he did.