Jake McGraw, Author at Rethink Mississippi

Jake McGraw

Jake McGraw is the public policy coordinator at the William Winter Institute and the editor of Rethink Mississippi. A native of Oxford, Jake studied public policy and economics at the University of Mississippi and economic history at the University of Oxford. He currently lives in Jackson. You can contact Jake at jake@winterinstitute.org.

Race & Racism
Remembering Fannie Lou Hamer

“There are two things we should all care about: never to forget where we came from and always praise the bridges that carried us over.” – Fannie Lou Hamer Mrs. Hamer – born on October 6, 1917 – was a bridge that carried Black Mississippians toward political and economic freedom....
October 6, 2020
Voting
Are you registered to vote? Today’s the day to do it

In honor of National Voter Registration Day, we share these thoughts on civic responsibility written by Governor Winter in 2003. They feel as relevant as ever. “The most important office is that of citizen. It is the office that transmits all political authority. Only through the collective judgement of private...
September 22, 2020
Education
Podcast: a conversation with Bracey Harris about school segregation and reopening in COVID

Bracey Harris reports on education in Mississippi for the The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit education news service based at Columbia Teachers College. Her stories illuminate the systemic effects of race and poverty while keeping the spotlight where it belongs — on the children, parents, teachers, and others who have the most at stake....
September 2, 2020
Brain Drain
A visual primer on Mississippi’s brain drain (2020 update)

There is no silver bullet to reverse brain drain. It requires people to do their part on the state, local, and organizational level. Economic and lifestyle factors cause Mississippians to leave and others to stay away. Mississippi is heavily represented among the fastest-shrinking counties. However, even the counties that are...
August 18, 2020
Features
Apply for the Rethink Mississippi Fellowship

The Rethink Mississippi Fellowship continues our work in solving this state’s biggest challenges, especially around the retention of young people. To do this, we will invest in five millennial Mississippians who have the ideas and passion to make their communities more livable, inclusive, and dynamic for the next generation. Together,...
August 14, 2020
State Flag
Podcast: our thoughts on Mississippi’s historic flag change

The sun has risen over Mississippi today, but for the first time in 126 years, the Confederate-themed state flag has not. The Winter Institute’s Jake McGraw, Jeran Herbert, and Von Gordon reflect on the remarkable movement that accomplished what most thought impossible just a few weeks ago. http://www.rethinkms.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Flag-Conversation-.mp3
June 30, 2020
Commentary
Preparing for the Next Big One

This year, the next disaster keeps arriving before the last disaster is over. Historic rainfall in January and February swelled the Pearl River and flooded large swaths of Jackson and central Mississippi, inundating hundreds of homes and displacing thousands of residents. Tornadoes ripped across the state throughout the month of...
May 1, 2020
Commentary
Let Mississippians vote by mail in November

On November 3rd, more than 1.2 million Mississippians will cast their votes for the presidency, Congress, and a handful of down-ballot offices. At best, we will be in recovery from the worst public health and economic crisis in our lifetimes. At worst, we will still be in lockdown after premature...
April 17, 2020
Commentary
Keeping Mississippians at Home

Governor Reeves’s statewide stay-at-home order goes into effect today. It is a necessary — and overdue — measure to forestall the spread of the coronavirus that has infected at least 1,300 and killed 26 people in Mississippi. It is also another sign of how much the world has changed in just a...
April 3, 2020
Commentary
Coronavirus and the Digital Divide

Right now, the best thing people can do for public health is to isolate themselves at home. The best thing people can do for the economy is to continue working. Both are possible for people who have reliable internet access and jobs that can be performed remotely. For everyone else, they are mutually exclusive. I...
March 27, 2020
Commentary
The recession has begun: How bad will it get?

Conventional economic wisdom says that Mississippi is often the last state into and last state out of a national recession. That wisdom largely held for the 2001 and 2008 recessions, which started in sectors (tech and finance, respectively) that did not have wide footprints in Mississippi. But once the downturns...
March 19, 2020
Commentary
Coronavirus arrives in Mississippi

On Wednesday night, Mississippi became the 39th state to confirm a case of COVID-19. Five more presumptive cases have been reported today. Coronavirus took a while to reach Mississippi, but now that it’s here, the priority is containing its spread and treating the people who suffer severe complications. At the...
March 12, 2020
Voting
Flood control in Jackson: two birds, ‘One Lake’?

The rainiest new year in memory swelled the Pearl River and inundated more than 450 homes and businesses in the Jackson area in recent weeks. The flooding has been a humanitarian and economic disaster for a city that contends with infrastructure emergencies on its sunniest days. It has also reignited a...
March 5, 2020
Mississippi History
Happy birthday, Governor Winter

Former Governor William Winter, the namesake and inspiration of the Winter Institute, turns 97 today. His remarkable life has spanned nearly half of Mississippi’s 202-year history as a state. It’s a hard thing to fact check, but it’s unlikely that anyone has ever met more Mississippians over the course of...
February 21, 2020