Mississippi’s Arkabutla Lake Park Rangers Give Disabled Hunters a Second Chance at Their Outdoor Passion
Park rangers and other volunteers in Coldwater, Miss., have organized deer hunts for physically disabled sportsmen and women near Arkabutla Lake since 1991. The practice manages Mississippi’s deer population while providing participants with a rare opportunity that accommodates their needs.
Nicaraguan dead after detention in Mississippi ICE facility
Delvin Francisco Rodriguez, a 39-year old Nicaraguan man being detained by immigration
authorities, has died in a Natchez, Mississippi, hospital.
In the months leading up to his death on Dec, 14 , Rodriguez had been held in the Adams County Correctional Center, which is run by Core Civic Inc.
Rodriguez is one of four immigrants who have died in ICE custody within a four-day period from Dec. 12 to Dec. 15. A spokesperson for ICE did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication of this story, and the warden’s office in the Adams County Correctional Center did not respond to a voicemail.
“On Dec. 4, 2025, Adams County Detention Center medical staff responded to an emergency medical call. During the emergency response, Rodriguez did not respond to staff and did not have a pulse,” a notification by Immigration and Customs Enforcement says. Rodriguez was then transferred to the Merit Health hospital in Natchez, where he died.
An Enforcement and Removal ICE agent had arrested Rodriguez in Dillon, Colorado, on Sept. 25.
Representatives of the Adams County Sheriff’s Department did not respond in time for publication when asked whether they are looking into Rodriguez’s death.
Since 2018, Congress has required ICE to report all in-custody deaths within 90 days. ICE’s website shows 15 deaths until September 2025. The Washington Post reported that the total number of detainee deaths this year is 30.
Jarvis Dortch, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi, expressed concern about the recent deaths and conditions in ICE detention facilities across the country.
“Detained individuals, the majority having no criminal record, are due humane conditions, proper medical care, and access to counsel and legal resources,” Dortch said. “This legal standard applies to federal actors as well as their partners in state and local law enforcement.”
While the state of Mississippi and the state Legislature do not have jurisdiction over federal facilities such as the one where Rodriguez died, Rep. Robert Johnson, a Natchez Democrat, said some state lawmakers are planning to raise the issue of detention center conditions, for detainees and employees, once the next legislative session begins in January.
“As a federal prison in a remote county, I don’t think it has the requisite amount of oversight and attention that it needs,” Johnson said about the Adams County facility.
Among Democrats in Mississippi, Johnson said there has been “very little attention to that issue. Not because we don’t care, but we have some very serious and urgent issues that deal directly with the people that we represent right now.”
ICE crackdowns in the South have increased in recent months, and there has been a ripple effect on immigrant communities in Mississippi, leading to fear and uncertainty. Some groups in the state, such as the Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity, El Pueblo and the Party for Socialism and Liberation have begun to organize in response.
“The PSL here in Mississippi is dedicated mainly at the state level, ending the collaborative processes between federal agencies and our local law enforcement,” said Terron Weaver, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “Rodriguez’s death highlights the carelessness that our politicians and law enforcement officers have approached implementing their agenda with. It is clear they don’t care for anyone’s health, or for due process.”
The Stats on Abortion Access in Rural America
Editor’s Note: This post is from our data newsletter, the Rural Index, headed by Sarah Melotte, the Daily Yonder’s data reporter. We will be taking the next edition off as we head into Christmas. Subscribe to stay in touch with us during the New Year.
Compared to their urban and suburban counterparts, a greater share of the rural population lives in states with the most restrictive abortion legislation, according to my analysis of data from the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that focuses on reproductive rights. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June of 2022, it became harder for women to access reproductive care, but the burden often disproportionately hurt rural women.
About 46% of nonmetropolitan, or rural, Americans live in states with either ‘most restrictive’ or ‘very restrictive’ abortion legislation, representing 21.3 million people. Approximately 35% of metro Americans live in these states, representing roughly 99.1 million people.
State-level abortion legislation is complex; it’s rarely as simple as an outright ban or permit. Abortion policies can include stipulations like waiting periods, ultrasound requirements, gestational duration bans, insurance coverage bans, telehealth bans, and more. To deal with some of this complexity, the Guttmacher dataset groups states into one of seven categories that broadly captures the state’s access to abortion:
Seventeen states make up the ‘Most Restrictive’ category, and 13 of those states have enacted full bans with few exceptions. Those states include Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. The rural population in those states equals about 15.8 million people.
Rurality Exacerbates Access Challenges
In the Post-Roe landscape, pre-existing rural challenges are exacerbated by restrictive abortion legislation, a change that has led to increased maternal mortality, particularly for women of color. The new state of abortion in America means people often have to travel much further to get the care they need, often out of state.
An ABC special that featured women who had to travel for abortions highlighted the story of Idaho resident Jennifer Adkins, who was excited when she found out she was pregnant with her first baby. But a 12-week ultrasound showed that continuing her pregnancy would put her life in danger. With financial help from family and friends, Adkins had to travel to the nearest clinic in Oregon to receive the care she needed.
My previous analysis of abortion data showed that rural travel to abortion clinics increased from 103 miles on average in 2021 to 159 miles on average after Roe v. Wade was overturned. But travel distance varies by state, with women in parts of rural South Texas having to travel up to almost 800 miles to receive care.
In rural Louisiana, where all the bordering states have also issued abortion bans, the distance to a clinic has increased by almost 400 miles since Roe was overturned. The average rural Louisianan is about 492 miles away from the nearest abortion clinic. The data for that analysis came from the Myers Abortion Facility Database.
In 2024, approximately 12,000 Texans traveled to New Mexico to receive an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute data. Nearly 7,000 Texans traveled to Kansas, and another 4,000 traveled to Colorado. Texas enacted a near total ban on abortions in July of 2022. In Idaho, which enacted an abortion ban in August of 2022, 440 people travel to Washington and 140 travel to Oregon for abortions in 2024. (Visit the Guttmacher’s interactive map of abortion travel by state to explore the topic in more detail.)
Abortion and Rural Voters: More Complex Than You Might Think
Every time I write something about how rural people suffer from GOP policies, I get comments and emails from readers saying some version of, “They voted for this.” I take issue with this response for many reasons. It’s unkind, and it erases the thousands of rural voters who don’t support these policies. While some people are going to say you get what you deserve, here’s another way to look at it.
In a previous analysis of voting data from the nine states that had abortion on a ballot measure in 2024, I found that support for Trump didn’t always line up with support for abortion restriction. In 2024, approximately 73% of rural voters supported Trump, but only 61% voted to restrict abortion access.
While 61% is still a majority vote, the 12-point gap between support for Trump and support for abortion restriction demonstrates that abortion access is a complicated issue for many Americans across the geographic spectrum. This data shows a rural voting base that is willing to split with the broader Republican platform on key issues.
“All voters are complex,” said Nicholas Jacobs, rural sociologist. “People voted for [Trump], even if they wanted more access to reproductive care or were disappointed that a national standard was lifted by the courts.”
Delta barn where Emmett Till was slain is bought as a ‘sacred site’
The long-hidden monument to bigotry and brutality — the Mississippi Delta barn where Emmett Till was tortured and killed in 1955 — will soon become a “sacred site” for all to see.
On Monday, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center announced that it had purchased the barn, thanks to a $1.5 million gift from TV producer Shonda Rhimes, who was moved to donate after reading about the barn, saying, “My hope is that this story never gets lost.”
FILE – In this March 4, 2018 file photo, Shonda Rhimes arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Partyin Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Dave Tell, author of “Remembering Emmett Till,” said the barn was “written out of history by the very men who committed the crime there — erased from public memory as part of a broader effort to bury the truth and protect white perpetrators. Preserving it now is an intentional act of restoration.”
About 2 a.m. on Aug. 28, 1955, J.W. Milam, his brother, Roy Bryant, and others abducted the Black Chicago 14-year-old from the home of his uncle that he was visiting and took him to the barn, where they beat and killed him.
Till’s mother, Mamie, insisted on an open casket “to let the world see what they did to my son.” Thousands streamed past his body. Some wept. Some fainted. All were moved.
Mamie Till is held by Gene Mobley, who would later marry her, while she stares at the brutalized body of her son, Emmett Till. She opened the casket, and more than 50,000 saw his body. This photo taken by David Jackson, now in public domain, appeared in both the Chicago Defender and Jet magazine.
The brothers admitted to authorities they had kidnapped Till, but claimed they had released him unharmed. A month later, they went on trial for murder, but an all-white jury acquitted them.
Months later, the brothers admitted in Look magazine that they had indeed beaten and killed Till, but authorities were unable to prosecute the brothers again because of double jeopardy.
That Look magazine article also concealed the existence of the barn because that would implicate the others involved, some of whom worked at the barn, Tell said.“Till was killed because of racism. And the barn was pushed out of public memory because of racism. It’s all part of the same story.”
For Keith Beauchamp, producer of the “Till” film and director-producer of “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till,” the barn’s preservation brings mixed emotions.
“On one hand, it’s significant that a physical site connected to Emmett Till’s story will be preserved for future generations,” he said. “On the other hand, it’s also a place that represents deep pain and injustice. Regardless, it is a part of American history that must be acknowledged rather than forgotten, because remembering helps us understand and avoid repeating past mistakes.”
Beauchamp thanked Rhimes for her “generous gift to help preserve this history, especially during a time of debate over how our past should be remembered.”
He praised Jeff Andrews, who bought the property that included the barn in 1994. After learning about the barn, Andrews began to let Till’s family and other visitors spend time at the historic site.
Beauchamp praised his care, “maintaining the barn and welcoming the public, kept the site meaningful long before any official preservation began.”
In 2007, a group of Tallahatchie County citizens, Black and white, gathered outside the courthouse in Sumner — the same courthouse where Till’s killers walked free — and publicly apologized.
The interior of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, Miss., pictured Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2025. The center honors the legacy of Emmett Till and educates visitors about his life and the Civil Rights Movement. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
An open letter published Monday on the Emmett Till Interpretive Center website says, “That act of honesty became a moral compass for our work. Since then, we have restored the courthouse where justice failed, commemorated the riverbank where Emmett’s body was found, and replaced the signs that hatred tried to destroy. Every project has carried the same conviction: a nation does not grow stronger by forgetting; it grows stronger by telling the truth. The barn is the next chapter in that conviction.”
On its website, the center said, “We did not want to have to pay for sacred ground. We understand that many other people also feel that even $1 is too much to pay for a site where such deep harm occurred. It’s an obstacle we wrestled with every step of the way. We explored every possible alternative to purchase, including asking for the owner to donate the property and exploring legal options including easements and eminent domain, but none were viable.
“The turning point came when we asked ourselves: What happens if someone else buys it? We could not risk this site — one of the most sacred in American history — falling into the hands of speculators or even hate groups. The barn is simply too important to leave to chance.”
The center, which has partnered with the National Park Service, will hold the title to the barn: “We chose preservation over risk, and truth over silence — because you can’t put a price on our history.”
Davis Houck, the founding director of the Emmett Till Archives at Florida State University as well as the Fannie Lou Hamer Professor of Rhetorical Studies, said the fact the money to purchase the barn came from private philanthropy “makes this a most generous gift — to the community of Drew, to the state of Mississippi, and ultimately to the entire nation.”
The center’s director, Patrick Weems, told Mississippi Today that buying the barn is just the start of this major project for the nonprofit. “Now we’re working to raise the resources to transform it into a sacred site,” he said.
By the 75th anniversary of Till’s lynching in 2030, the center says it plans to open the barn “as a part of a larger public memorial — a place of truth, creativity and conscience. Visitors will come not to look at tragedy, but to confront their own role in the ongoing work of democracy.”
The center says its role “is not possession, but protection — serving as caretakers on behalf of the community and the nation.”
The center says its work “has always been shaped by the truth, courage and moral vision of the Till family, especially Mamie Till-Mobley’s charge that ‘let the world see.’ … We will continue to listen to and engage family members, descendants, and community elders as we transform this site of trauma into a sacred space for remembrance, healing and collective conscience.”
Till’s cousin, Deborah Watts, co-founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, echoed the center’s sentiment. “We consider that area sacred ground where Emmett was murdered,” she said.
She welcomes further conversations with the center and wants to learn more about the upcoming plans, she said. “Will the family’s concerns be in consideration?”
Possible plans include creating a welcome center for visitors in nearby Drew. “For too long, people in the Delta — especially in places like Drew — have carried the weight of this story without the world truly seeing us,” said Gloria Dickerson, founder of We2Gether Creating Change, a nonprofit based in Drew. “The barn’s preservation means our voices, our land and our legacy will finally be part of how the world remembers Emmett Till — and how it learns from him.”
Another welcome center may be built in Mound Bayou, Mississippi’s first all-Black town, where Medgar Evers once sold insurance for his mentor, civil rights leader and surgeon Dr. T.R.M. Howard.
Both men worked on the Till case, tracking down witnesses for the historic trial that drew international attention. The injustice of the killers getting away with murder helped propel the modern civil rights movement.
Author Wright Thompson, who wrote “The Barn” about this historic piece of soil, called the purchase “the most important thing to happen to the Delta in generations because history is most accurately told here, and most reliably erased, through the land. Who owns it, who farms it, who lived and died on it, whose ghost is trapped in it. The Delta remains a place where power is tied to ownership of the dirt.”
He praised Rhimes for stepping “into the breach and through her generosity, the dirt has been reclaimed, and once reclaimed, the slow process of cleaning the blood from it can begin. This is a place people will visit for generations.”
Petal Becomes Second Dementia-Friendly City in Mississippi
After being designated a dementia-friendly city—one of only two in Mississippi—Petal is now moving forward with new programs to support residents living with dementia.
‘No Kings’ Protests Draw Mississippi Crowds From Kosciusko to Gulfport
Thousands of Mississippians and millions of people nationwide took to the streets in No Kings protests on Saturday, Oct. 18, to oppose the Trump administration’s expansion of executive power.
Timeline: Trey Reed’s Hanging Death at Delta State University
Delta State University student Trey Reed’s death on the Cleveland, Mississippi, campus has drawn national attention and stirred a cascade of rumors on social media since he was found hanging from a tree on campus in mid-September 2025. The following is a timeline of the known events and facts.
WIC Stops Accepting Some New Applicants Amid Government Shutdown
The WIC government-assistance program will only accept applications from pregnant women, breastfeeding women and high-risk infants during the federal government shutdown, the Mississippi State Department of Health announced on Oct. 2.
The Black Women Driving a Food Revolution in Rural Mississippi
Sowing Resilience: Rural communities across the country are grappling with food insecurity. Schoolchildren, seniors, grocers and even farmers face a food crisis compounded by government cuts and soaring costs. These nine stories reveal how communities are navigating — and reimagining — the systems that have left them hungry.
OAKLAND, Miss. — Grocery store owner Marquitrice Mangham hurries out of the sweltering August heat of the Mississippi Delta and enters her newly opened Farmacy Marketplace.
She arrives about an hour before the doors open at 10 a.m.
It’s a quiet Friday morning in Oakland, Mississippi, except for the occasional screech of tires from semitrucks passing by on Highway 51. Oakland, fewer than 30 miles from her hometown of Webb, is home to about 400 residents, more than half of whom are Black.
Inside the store, Mangham greets and praises her assistant manager, Kini Bradford-Jefferson. She emphasizes that without her, the store couldn’t operate. They laugh, ask each other how they are doing and tidy up the 3,000-square-foot space.
Until April, Oakland had been without a grocery store.
Marquitrice Mangham stands outside mobile food truck in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. (Justin Hardiman)
In rural areas, particularly in the Delta, residents face some of the highest rates of food insecurity and unemployment in the state, resulting in poor health outcomes such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. These communities have high populations of Black people. They often struggle to attract grocery stores and are overwhelmed by a striking growth of dollar stores.
Around 14% of Americans — more than 47 million people — were food insecure at some point during 2023, according to an Associated Press analysis of U.S. Census Bureau and Feeding America data.
Mississippi had a food insecurity rate of 18%, higher than the national rate.
Getting consistent support from the government to fight hunger is often a struggle. For the second year in a row, the Mississippi Department of Health and Human Services opted out of a federal program that would’ve provided kids with $40 in grocery assistance in the summer months. Advocates worry this decision could increase hunger and health issues. Recent federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the elimination of grants geared to help farmers and improve food access compound the problem.
Despite all these challenges, Black women like Mangham are stepping up. From grocery stores to food distribution services, they’re leading community-centered solutions to feed their families and improve the health and well-being of their neighbors.
Local grocer fills a crucial need
Community leaders in Oakland requested a supermarket after learning of Mangham’s first store in Webb, which she opened in 2022.
Oakland resident Bradford-Jefferson said there hadn’t been a place to shop for everyday necessities since she was a child. There’s only a library, food service plant, post office, bank and medical clinic. Like other residents, Bradford-Jefferson traveled to the nearest town to purchase food from stores such as Wal-Mart or Piggly Wiggly.
Kini Bradford-Jefferson smiles during her shift. (Justin Hardiman)
She used to drive regularly to her retail job in Batesville, a 40-mile round trip. Not only did she get a job closer to home, but she’s been able to cut back on expenses such as gas.
“I can walk here [to work] if I had to,” she said.
The bell above the door chimed as the store doors swung open, welcoming the first customers of the day. They excitedly greeted Bradford-Jefferson before hugging Mangham.
It felt as if everyone knew everyone.
Bradford-Jefferson seamlessly transitioned from ringing up purchases on the cash register to prepping meat at the deli station for two men on their lunch break.
The 58-year-old understands that the store is needed for her town, as well other rural areas where food access is limited.
“You got to think of the elders, and some people don’t have vehicles and can’t afford to pay people to take them to other towns to shop,” she said. “It’s a good thing for this community and the surrounding communities.”
Mangham grew up on a family farm in Webb, a majority-Black town of fewer than 500 people. They grew soybeans, corn, fruits and trees, and managed livestock (cows and hogs) on over 200 acres of land.
Back then, they “lived off the land,” meaning most of the food they consumed, they grew themselves. Even if they wanted to visit a grocery store, they had to drive 20 to 30 miles. But, as a child, Mangham didn’t grasp the severity of the situation.
The 48-year-old military veteran moved away after high school, eventually settling in Atlanta. In 2016, she inherited her family’s farm, which brought her back to Webb more frequently. She began paying closer attention to the food disparities.
It was worse than when she left nearly 25 years ago.
“My 89-year-old grandmother has to drive 15 to 20 miles just to get fresh food,” Mangham said. “She’s a diabetic and has this special diet.
In 2023, Tallahatchie County, where Webb is located, 21% of people reported food insecurity in their household, higher than the state and national rates, with about 2,610 people who were food insecure.
Mangham’s nonprofit, In Her Shoes Inc., began in Atlanta and focuses on improving access to food and supporting farmers. But she recognized a greater need for these programs in the Delta. She conducted research, secured funding and successfully launched her first Farmacy Marketplace store.
Marquitrice Mangham services a customer at her mobile food truck in Mound Bayou. (Justin Hardiman)
She also teaches families how to prepare meals that cater to their specific health care needs and how to properly store fresh foods. The store also implemented the Double Up Food Bucks program, which encourages SNAP recipients to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
Inspired, other communities — like Oakland — have reached out for guidance. “The most important thing was it showed so many other communities that this can be your community, too,” she said.
Online delivery services for those without transportation
About 19 miles away in Drew, Gloria Dickerson is working to uplift her community “from poverty to prosperity,” the mission of her youth nonprofit.
Portrait of a young Gloria Dickerson (Justin Hardiman)
Providing residents with the resources to achieve food security is her North Star.
Despite growing up in poverty, Dickerson and her family knew how to put food on the table. Her parents, Mathew and Mae Bertha Carter, were sharecroppers who lived with their 13 children on a plantation near Drew. They grew a garden filled with fruits, vegetables, and beans.
But that was snatched away when the children decided to do the unthinkable: integrate the “all white” Drew High School in 1965, becoming the first Black family to do so. Their house was shot at, credit in local stores was cut off, the garden was plowed up, and they were evicted.
Mae Bertha was fortunate to have a friend in the civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, who lived less than 10 miles away. Hamer sent Charles McLaurin, her campaign manager and fellow activist, to check on the family, Dickerson recalled. This came with a wave of support from other civil rights workers who assisted the family with finding a home in Drew.
At the time, Main Street in downtown Drew had retail stores, grocery stores, and even “nickel and dime stores,” Dickerson remembered. More than 60 years later, the same street in the 77% Black town of 2,000 people is different. Today, there are not many businesses. There’s Stafford’s Deli and Dickerson’s nonprofit We2Gether Creating Change, which operates out of several buildings on the street. In the town, there’s no grocery store. It closed in 2012. There’s only one Dollar General, which has some frozen foods. In Sunflower County, where Drew is located, 22.8% of people reported food insecurity in their household in 2023.
Gloria Dickerson is leading the charge to ensure her community has access to food. (Justin Hardiman)
Dickerson noticed that many children in her programs often came to class hungry. Although she provided food, it still wasn’t enough. Along with other organizers, she created a group called Drew United for Progress. During a community discussion, residents repeatedly expressed a need for a grocery store.
“[They said] We can’t buy an apple. We can’t buy a banana. We can’t buy any vegetables,” she said. “We have to hire somebody to take us out of the community to pay them $10 to get there, pay them $10 to get back, and that takes away from the money we have to put on food.”
They then formed the Drew Collaborative, which included experts to research the feasibility of a store. The market analysis found the town was too small to support a grocer. Instead of pursuing a supermarket, the collaborative launched the Grocery Online Ordering Distribution Service (GOODS) in 2021. Residents of Drew, Ruleville, Parchman, and Rome are able to place food orders online. The food is stored at the National Guard Armory for delivery or pickup. This initiative was initially funded by HOPE Credit Union in the Mississippi Delta. The nonprofit provides iPads and education on how to order food because of limited broadband and digital literacy concerns.
The program expanded to Shaw, Mississippi, about 27 miles from Drew. With the rising cost of food, more families need assistance. There are still some people who are left behind, said Chiquikta Fountain, former director of Delta Hands for Hope, which shepherds the program in Shaw.
“On a state level, we have a legislature that doesn’t value what it means for children and communities to be food secure,” she said. “They’re not working hard enough to make sure that people who make a living wage are able to buy food and not have to play Russian Roulette with what’s going to be a priority this month.”
In Drew, Dickerson responded by hosting a monthly food pantry.
This month, We2Gether Creating Change willlaunch family gardens, where at least 10 families will have ownership of a plot of land. This project will teach them how to grow their own food, which they can use to feed their families or sell. Each family will also receive a $200 stipend to keep their garden up, and youth workers will get paid to help out in the summer.
Dickerson hopes to evolve this work into garden parties, cooking classes, and more. Her biggest concern is that if food insecurity goes unchecked, it will affect the mental well-being of children and their ability to perform well in school.
Her call to action is for people to get involved, especially because the Delta was ground zero for the civil rights movement, and everyone benefits from those sacrifices — from death and loss of jobs to political violence.
“People need to remember where they really came from and who was on the battlefield, fighting for them to have what they have right now … it was the people that lived in these small communities putting their lives on the line,” Dickerson said. “Don’t forget us.”
Dennis Wesley (from left), Marquitrice Mangham, and Maudy Edwards all operate the mobile food truck in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. (Justin Hardiman)
Growing the next generation
Back in Oakland, once business at Farmacy Marketplace is up and running, Mangham drives nearly 63 miles from the Oakland store to Mound Bayou to open her mobile grocery store around noon.
A few days earlier she made the 12-hour trek from her residence in Atlanta to Mississippi. It’s part of her weekly routine. She spends a few days in Atlanta and then heads to her beloved home state to manage not one, but two, grocery stores.
It’s a sacrifice she doesn’t mind making.
Founded by formerly enslaved cousins, Mound Bayou is considered the “jewel of the Delta.” It is known as a self-reliant Black community that provided solace and refuge from the threats of the Jim Crow South. During the trial of Emmett Till’s murderers, the town became home to his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, the Black press — including Simeon Booker with Jet Magazine — and witnesses.
Mangham’s mobile truck is parked on the site of the now-shuttered Taborian Hospital, which exclusively admitted Black patients and staff during a time when other health care facilities didn’t accept Black folks. It’s across the street from a gas station, and near the high school, which closed in 2018 and now houses the Mound Bayou Museum of African American History and Culture.
Every Friday, the truck is in Mound Bayou from noon to 4 p.m. It is also stationed in Jonestown on Tuesdays and Coffeeville on Fridays.
Thirty minutes after opening, residents trickled in, asking about watermelon and selecting from a variety of frozen meats, fruits and vegetables. On that day, James Edwards Jr., a retired vocational instructor, traveled from his home in Marks, Mississippi, to help out with the mobile market. As his wife, Maudy Edwards, assisted customers, James sat in a chair under a shaded tree, greeting and conversing with residents.
Usually, he’s repairing or cleaning the mobile grocery truck. He makes sure it’s filled with gas and ensures the food is frozen and up to temperature. When he’s not on site helping with the mobile truck, he’s at the distribution center in Lambert, or the stores.
“It’s been a pleasure to do this because we bring in food to what we call desert communities, where we don’t have the grocery store,” Edwards said. “My wife and I think this is a wonderful thing, and I know it’s gonna grow, but it’s like a young baby, it’s got to be nourished. You gotta be on milk before it grows so and it’s a blessing to Mississippi.”
Dennis Wesley holds a watermelon in front of mobile food truck in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. (Justin Hardiman)
In Her Shoes received a grant in 2023 to build a chicken processing facility, which will allow Black farmers to make more money by processing their products. The organization is set to break ground on the facility in October.
“Mississippi has a billion-dollar poultry industry, but … there are no private processing facilities for the smaller farmers to be able to get their poultry into local stores,” Mangham said.
Mangham’s work will not only provide a market for farmers to sell their produce and allow residents to purchase fresh foods, it’s also an avenue to get young people involved. She created an apprenticeship program that pairs students with farmers to learn how to grow produce.
In Bolivar County, where Mound Bayou is located, 24.4% of people reported food insecurity in their household in 2023. Addressing the issue takes more than opening two stores and providing a temporary mobile food truck, Mangham said. She’s looking at other avenues, like partnering with pharmacies to bring in a fresh food kiosk or refrigeration to store meats and vegetables. She’s also working to convert shipping containers into permanent corner grocery stores.
This work can be overwhelming and exhausting, but Mangham continues because of the community’s support, she said.
“When I see the 75-year-old lady come in and buy all of her groceries, and she doesn’t have to drive … that’s the kind of thing that makes it all worth it,” she said with teary eyes.
She added that her work has inspired others. “Nobody wants to invest in these rural communities. They don’t want to invest in the people. But just do what’s put on your heart to do, and the rewards will come.”
Rural Communities documentary filmed by Kamien Bell.
Entergy Mississippi announces largest grid upgrade in history
Entergy Mississippi announced plans Wednesday afternoon to invest $300 million into upgrading its power grid over the next five years.
Speaking on a stage outside the company’s facility near Lake Hico in Jackson, Entergy President and CEO Haley Fisackerly explained that the investment, dubbed Superpower Mississippi, would mark a 50% increase in its usual power grid spending. The goal, he said, is to reduce outages by half over the next five years by installing stronger poles, increasing maintenance of rights-of-way, as well as installing smart devices and real-time monitoring systems.
The spending still needs Mississippi Public Service Commission approval, but two of the three PSC commissioners were on site for the announcement. Fisackerly, though, said the investment would have no impact on customers’ bills because of revenue increases coming new business from Amazon and other industries.
The CEO echoed past statements that new industries, including energy-intensive data centers, would not lead to rate increases for residential customers. Earlier this month, Fisackerly told Mississippi Today that two new data centers coming into its service area — one in Madison County owned by Amazon and another in Rankin County owned by AVAIO — would provide enough revenue to the utility that rates would actually go up less than they would have otherwise.
Entergy President and CEO Haley Fisackerly speaks with the media after announcing the launch of Superpower Mississippi, the largest grid upgrade for customers in the company’s history, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Jackson, Miss. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Fisackerly declined to say how much Entergy’s revenue had increased from its new industrial customers.
“The fact that we can pay for an additional $300 million effort without increasing rates gives you an idea about the magnitude of that,” he said. “Think of it this way: We have a cost of business, and when you bring a larger user of electricity, we can spread that cost over a greater base. So they help reduce the cost to the other customers.”
De’Keither Stamps and Wayne Carr — the Central and Southern District PSC commissioners, respectively, — spoke at Wednesday’s announcement in support of the project.
“It’s a step forward in getting to where we want to go,” Stamps said, emphasizing the importance of keeping rates affordable in areas with high poverty.
Entergy is the state’s largest utility company, serving about 459,000 customers in 45 counties.
At the PSC’s September docket meeting, Stamps called for an investigation into the company after hearing complaints from Entergy customers over power outages.
“We’re not going to stop anything until the reality of the citizens changes,” Stamps said. “They must not have to live in fear when the rain picks up, and they shouldn’t have to live in fear that their water’s going to go out because the water in rural Hinds County (comes from) ground pumps.”
Entergy President and CEO Haley Fisackerly (center), flanked by Entergy workers, announces the launch of Superpower Mississippi, the largest grid upgrade for customers in the company’s history, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, in Jackson, Miss. Credit: Vickie D. King/Mississippi Today
Fisackerly said the company continues to hold town halls to hear customers’ complaints.
According to an Entergy press release, the number of outages caused by fallen trees has spiked in 2025 because of dead vegetation after the 2023 drought, as well as recent storms and tornados. The release clarified that many of those trees are outside the areas the company can trim.
