Growing up in the shadows of Harding University was an interesting experience. In addition to reading Searcy's Daily Citizen paper to find typos and grammatical errors, I often read the campus paper, The Bison, to learn more about what was happening on campus.
When I was in junior high, Boo Mitchell was a prominent writer for The Bison. His "Fifth Column" took a satirical eye to what was happening on campus. You don't like the cafeteria food? Let Boo write about it and challenge the faculty to eat there for a week. The menu will change. I enjoyed seeing what he would share from week to week. Boo had a head full of curly red hair, wore suspenders a lot and was just plain funny. When he was featured in the yearbook and asked about his future plans he replied, "With my speech major, I plan on being unemployed."
In high school, I sang in our school chorus. We took weekend trips in the fall and week-long trips in the spring. One year, I stayed with Boo's parents at an overnight stop. Mrs. Jane Mitchell was a kind and gracious hostess who had attended Harding with my parents in the late 50's and early 60's. She told me that Boo now went by Jerry and was a reporter for a paper in Jackson, Mississippi.
Fast forward a few years. This is what he's doing now.
And how about this?
I love being a southerner, but the atrocities of the racism of our past haunt me. I applaud Jerry Mitchell for seeking truth and justice. He is a real hero, unlike the celebrities that get lots of face time on every one of the 100+ channels on our televisions.
Thank you, Jerry Wayne "Boo" Mitchell, for being a man of faith who puts that faith into action.
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