I, jokingly, like to remind everyone that I am the one that put the "1" in 38751.
I say that simply to mean that I am proud that Indianola, Mississippi, is a place that, regardless of where I pay taxes, mortgage, or vote in, I will always call home.
My parents raised me there. My mother, although born and raised in neighboring Itta Bena, has spent the majority of her life and more than the 47 years that I have been on Earth in Indianola. From humble beginnings on Church Street, my family has produced some great things from right there in Indianola.
Our "humble beginnings" were not just humble: we, the people that were around 40 years ago, have witnessed crime before, but nothing like this.
Before I continue, I want to state two things:
1. My father, who is buried in Indianola, told me that when faced with a serious issue, make sure to direct the issue at the responsible person, and not at the wrong people.
2. He also taught me that it is wrong to simply complain about an issue UNLESS you have provided some possible solutions.
Today, I want to address the issues at hand in my hometown.
There has been a wave of criminal activity that has resulted in gun violence that has seen too many fatalities occur in such a short period of time.
Honestly, it has gotten out of hand. So much so that a few months ago, while visiting a high school classmate, I left her home to go visit other friends and as soon as I got to their home, she called me SCREAMING in tears about a shooting that took place RIGHT NEXT DOOR!
Yesterday, The Enterprise-Tocsin published an editorial online written by Steven Jarrod Smith, a man that I have known and respected for a long while. The title of his piece is called "It's Time to Step Up: Our Lives Depend on It."
In this piece, Mr. Smith, just as many of the residents of Indianola and of Sunflower County, expresses both his anger and his disappointment, and rightfully so. The first sentence of his piece can pretty much sum up the sentiments of everyone in the area that loves our community: "I'm so fed up."
The bulk of Mr. Smith's rant is to, in his words, ask the tough questions:
Do our leaders care about our community?
Are they willing to take real action against the violence that surrounds us?
The leaders of our community, one of them being Mayor Ken Featherstone, need our help! They cannot do this alone, but they are NOT exempt!
So, before I go to the leadership of the town, I want to look at things differently.
I was always taught about "conflict resolution" growing up in our community.
That started in my home at 607 Church Street.
If my sister and I had an issue, we were taught to use some conflict resolution skills to try and rectify those problems.
Most of the time we could work on them independently; other times, we could seek the counsel of our peers or extended family members. If it could not be resolved, then AND ONLY THEN would we have the option to reach out to our parents.
The violence that has been taking place in Indianola is horrific. Our young people are not living to see past 25 due to the deaths that have been taking place. However, like my father would say, I have to come with a solution to the problems.
The first problem that we have is that children have access to the guns that are taking the lives.
The solution is NOT running to the mayor, aldermen, ward leaders, etc. This problem is a problem that starts IN THE HOME WITH THE PARENTS! We need to ensure that our kids know that they are loved, valued, and adored in the place where they eat, clean up, and do other chores. While we are loving on our children, we need to have talks with them, SERIOUS talks with them, about conflict resolution.
We need to ensure that our kids do NOT have access to any weapons in the homes, and we need to ensure that ANYONE that provides access to these weapons to children are dealt with to the fullest extent of the law!
Parents, we need to stop being FRIENDS with our kids and go back to being PARENTS! Do a COMPLETE search of your kids' rooms, around the house, etc., to ensure that they are not hiding ANYTHING from you.
Now that we have gotten outside of the household, is it time to run to the mayor?
Not yet.
Now, I want to talk to the "Uncs," "Aunties," and the "Old Heads" that are in the community! These young boys look up to you, to me, to US! We have to learn to set an example by providing guidance to these young men and women. They see more than we give them credit for.
For example, when I was coming up, certain neighborhoods didn't get along with other neighborhoods. If, for example, a person that grew up in the Plaza didn't get along with a person that grew up in Southgate, and they didn’t resolve those issues 20 years ago, those people that live in those respective neighborhoods now have inherited a problem that didn't have anything to do with them. The 40-year-olds have learned how to coexist in the same city without having to cross paths, but they never resolved their issues PUBLICLY! Having the young people SEE the problem be resolved can do some great things for the youth.
Is it time for the mayor yet?
Nope!!
Before we get the Indianola Police Department involved in our issues, maybe it is time for us to go back to community policing! We can all point out a man or a woman on EVERY STREET from Sandy Circle in Southgate all the way to Highway 448 that is a SOLID person! Someone that is positive and that can be a representative of their street/neighborhood!
In 2025, most of us have some sort of front door camera. How about once a month, the representatives meet up at the Center in Southgate and have a meeting to bridge the gap between the neighborhoods and if we have an issue that can be resolved BEFORE getting IPD involved, the SELECTED representatives of each neighborhood can make efforts to get things rectified!
Is it time NOW for the mayor?!?!?!
Nah, fam!
There are so many of us that have college affiliations that still live in Indianola. The two closest universities, Delta State University and Mississippi Valley State University, have a bunch of organizations that would LOVE to help out by spreading the word, having speaking engagements, and being mentors to the youth! Just imagine that once a week, a different fraternity and sorority could come and meet with the kids. For example, the Divine 9 has four sororities and there are TWO universities within driving distance. If the Zetas from Valley show up this week, then they would not have to come back to Indianola to speak for ANOTHER seven weeks, allowing an opportunity for the Zetas from Delta State to come and speak and a rotating schedule with the other six sororities from the two schools. And that is JUST FOR THE GIRLS! You still have five fraternities each from the D9 at each school.
In addition to the Divine 9, there are other organizations that can help out by volunteering. These organizations want some screen time to send to their respective national headquarters to show that they are doing community service. All we have to do is set it up!
NOW! Let's look at the city's law enforcement!
The Indianola Police Department is located at the very southern part of the north side of the C&G Railroad, yet most of the crime originates in the southern part of the town.
I have one or two solutions for that!
A. We have way more crime than we have fires, yet we only have ONE police station and 2 fire stations. We can make the fire station on Garrard Road serve as a dual Emergency Building. Put some police in that building and allow them to respond to crime that happens on that side of town.
B. There are a number of abandoned lots that are located in Southgate in addition to abandoned buildings in the high-crime area. The city can purchase ONE of those abandoned buildings/lots to use as a satellite IPD station. This will allow the victims of crimes to be seen more quickly by law enforcement.
Indianola does two things as a unit – we pray together and we party together! When we party as a city, it happens mostly on Church Street. I have mentioned the ways to combat the crimes there before, but now that I have your attention, I will do so again!
When there is a KNOWN gathering of people on the street, we need the local law enforcement to be out there WITH us. Police cars should be parked in intervals AS WELL AS implementing an IPD foot patrol to serve as rovers in an area, but not too far away from where those IPD officers are in cars. They can rotate out in 30-minute shifts. I have a more detailed plan written out, but as a former military police officer, I have no problem sitting down with anyone to explain the process and procedure, one of which is to change the direction of traffic coming to Church Street after hours.
Why all the suggested police changes?
THE NUMBER ONE WAY TO PREVENT A CRIME FROM OCCURING IS TO SIMPLY HAVE POLICE PRESENCE! Criminals are less likely to commit a crime if they know that police are present!
I do not know the mayor. I have spoken to him BRIEFLY once at Wal-Mart when I came home to visit. I feel that he is doing the best that he can, given the circumstances. However, as the face of the city, it is still his responsibility to help answer questions of the people when we are hurting!
Pray for Indianola?
Yes!
However, think about it like this: I can pray to God all I want for a job, but if I do not put in the work by making myself qualified and submitting applications, it ain’t gonna fall in my lap!
As I said before, we love to pray and we love to party!
James Chapter 2: 14-17 (The Message version) reads as follows:
“Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, ‘Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!’ and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?”
Don't just talk about helping our youth in Indianola; don't just criticize those that are in power; don't just pray for the family of the victims!
Organize.
Make your face be SEEN and your voice be HEARD.
Roll up your sleeves and put your boots to the ground.
Mr. Smith mentioned that we must have these community meetings, rallies, etc. to help our city. In other words, Mr. Smith wants you to do what I want you to do: stop all this lip wrestlin' and be about some ACTION, Boss!
Now that I have offered some suggestions as to what the people that are IN THE COMMUNITY can do, I have a question:
What can we, the thousands of people that still call Indianola home but no longer live there, do to help you?
Tell us what you need from a distance and we can make it happen.
