One of every 10 adults in Mississippi is disenfranchised

there are 22 crimes which disenfranchise mississippi voting residents. this impacts about 16% of the black electorate, and 10% of adults. their rate triples the national rate of disenfranchisement, according to a new report by the mississippi naacp, one voice and the sentencing project.

out of the estimated 218,100 people disenfranchised in mississippi, 93% are living in the community, either under parole supervision or probation, or they have completed their criminal sentence.

in order to regain voting rights, disenfranchised individuals have three options: 1) apply for a pardon from the governor; 2) apply for an executive order restoring civil rights from the governor; or 3) have the state legislature pass a bill of suffrage on their behalf (which must pass with 2/3 majority.

this cumbersome - and racially oppressive - process results in very few people actually regaining their right to vote. in fact, between 2000 and 2015, only 335 out of 166,494 people who completed their sentence had their voting rights fully restored.   

the report offers some recommendations: 1) notify individuals at sentencing about loss of voting rights and how to regain them after completing their sentence; 2) increase data collection on disenfranchisement across the state; and 3) implement automatic rights restoration for people who have completed the terms of their felony sentence. 
  

  

"Black Panther" opening sets box office record with $235 million over four day holiday weekend

"black panther" shattered box office records with an estimated $235 million in u.s. and canadian ticket sales for the four-day holiday weekend. the previous record holder was "deadpool," which made $152 million domestically over the four-day holiday in 2016.

the marvel entertainment release, the first global superhero blockbuster with a black director and predominantly black cast, set records for a february opening, and for a presidents day weekend debut. "black panther" is fifth highest domestic opening weekend of all-time. 

one of the most highly-anticipated films of the year, "black panther" landed an a-plus audience rating from cinemascore, and a 97% "fresh" rating among critics on rotten tomatoes. as such, it is now the most well-received superhero film ever.

"results like this go beyond anything anyone ever could have hoped for. the momentum that the film has, has left us unable, even, to keep up with projections. it's unbelievable," said dave hollis, president of global distribution at disney.

some folks in hollywood believe films with predominantly black casts don't succeed at the foreign box office. but disney reported $169 million in international ticket sales - a figure expected to climb dramatically when "black panther" opens in major markets including china, japan and russia.

hollis said, "it's a testament to an extraordinarily made film. but also, a big part of it too says very clearly that inclusion and representation matter. it's a powerful thing for people to see themselves and know that they're seen in the films we put up in a movie theater. audiences deserve to see themselves on screen. not only because it's the right thing to do, but it makes for better, richer storytelling."

an ethnically diverse audience pool gave "black panther" five out of five stars on a comscore/screen engine posttrak audience survey. the moviegoers were 37% black, 35% white, 18% latino, 5% asian, and 5% other.  

Eagles beat Patriots in Super Bowl 52

the philadelphia eagles defeated the new england patriots 41-33 to win super bowl 52 at us bank stadium in minnesota on sunday. eagles quarterback nick foles was named mvp. foles completed 28 of 43 passes for 373 yards and four touchdowns, including one td reception.

foles is the first backup to win a super bowl since patriots qb tom brady. he's the first player in super bowl history to have a passing and receiving td in the same game. foles said, "we've played this game since we were little kids, we dreamed about this moment. there's plenty of kids watching this game right now dreaming about this moment and someday will be here."

eagles owner jeffrey lurie was asked what the win meant to the city of philadelphia. lurie said," if there's a word, it's called everything. that's what it means to eagles fans everywhere. and for eagles fans everywhere, this is for them." 

foles led a 75-yard drive to the winning score, an 11-yard td pass to tight end zach ertz with 2:21 to go in the game. the ball popped into the air when ertz crossed the goal line, and was challenged by the pats. "if they would have overturned that, i don't know what would have happened to the city of philadelphia, but i'm glad they didn't overturn it," ertz said. 

eagles defensive end brandon graham strip-sacked brady and derek barnett recovered, setting up rookie jake elliott's 46-yard field goal for an eight point lead. brady led the defending champs to midfield, but his desperation pass in the end zone with nine seconds left failed. graham said, "for us, it was all about one stop we had to make. we went out here and made that one stop."

in a highly-competitive, thrilling shootout, both teams combined for 1,151 yards, the most by two teams in any game (preseason, regular or playoff). brady threw for a postseason record 505 yards. eagles coach doug pederson is a champion in just his second year in charge. patriots coach bill belichick is now 5-3 in super bowls.

the philadelphia eagles are nfl champs for the first time since 1960. 

Lewis, Moss, Owens and Urlacher among eight players in the 2018 NFL Hall of Fame

middle linebackers ray lewis and brian urlacher, and wide receivers randy moss and terrell owens headline the eight players honored on saturday in the 2018 nfl hall of fame. offensive linemen robert brazile and jerry kramer, personnel executive bobby beathard and safety brian dawkins were also inducted by the 47 voters.

lewis helped the baltimore ravens win the super bowl in 2000, and was super bowl mvp. lewis is a two-time ap defensive player of the year, and was all-pro for eight seasons. urlacher was the 2005 defensive player of the year on the chicago bears, and joined lewis on the 2000s all-decade team.

moss led the nfl in td catches five times, including his record 23 for new england in 2007, and earned four all-pro selections. moss finished his 14-year career with 982 receptions for 15,292 yards. he ranks second all-time with 156 td receptions. owens ranks second to jerry rice with 15,934 yards and is third - just behind moss - on the all-time td receptions list with 153.

dawkins spent most of his 16-year career with the philadelphia eagles. dawkins was a first-team all-pro five times, and registered 37 interceptions and 26 sacks. he became the first player in history with a sack, interception, fumble recovery and td catch - in the same game - against houston in 2002.

kramer, a senior inductee, helped anchor the green bay packers offensive line for 11 years and win six nfl titles. kramer's block cleared the way for bart starr's td sneak in their 1967 super bowl victory. brazile played a decade for the houston oilers, making all-pro five consecutive years. beathard helped build four super bowl champions in miami and washington, and made seven trips to the title game in 30 years as a personnel executive.   

Former Knicks All-Star Charles Oakley cleared of assault charges

former new york knicks all-star forward charles oakley was cleared of misdemeanor assault charges. the charges stemmed from an incident last year before a knicks regular season game at madison square garden.

the new york post on friday reported a manhattan judge dismissed the charges. oakley got into a scuffle with several madison square garden security guards, was handcuffed and removed from the garden, to a chorus of boos from the fans.

oakley and prosecutors agreed to a deal last august. their deal stated the charges would be dropped if oakley stayed out of trouble for six months. oakley's lawyer, alex spiro, says oakley has been "completely vindicated."

the beloved former all-star power forward played for the knicks from 1988 to 1998. but in recent years, his turbulent relationship with knicks owner jim dolan has been public fodder. in fact, the night of the incident, dolan was sitting in the front row - and he did nothing to diffuse the situation.

dolan later publicly accused oakley of having anger management issues and a problem with alcohol. dolan, an admitted recovering alcohol (sober over 20 years), was chastised by journalists, former knicks players, many knicks fans, and people on social media for his disrespectful, insensitive and unkind remarks.

oakley was accused of striking a madison square garden security guard before the knicks game on february 8, 2017. oakley has filed a lawsuit against dolan. the suit alleges oakley was the one assaulted.