I'm back......

Late December and early January were quite busy for me. So that's why I've been kinda MIA (missing in action)!

The Saturday after Christmas, I flew to NY to spend time with my family and a few friends. Then I flew to Atlanta to be with TMIL for New Years. We had a good time. I relaxed A LOT. Then we ran into some car problems on the way back to Jackson.

Then I got right back to work and did another "Who's Accountable" report. This idea came from an e-mail I received from a woman I'll call Tasha, who's been STUCK in her marriage for years. She wanted to know Who's Accountable for the law that won't allow her to get a divorce unless her "so called husband" agrees.

Check out the story here and let me know what you think:

http://www.wapt.com/video/18515996/

On a much lighter and multimedia note, I'm now on www.facebook.com.
My friends Angela and Jeanine have been harassing me about NOT being on it. So now I'm catching up with tons of classmates from Mizzou and NB class of 91!

But it's time for me to watch the Inauguration of the 44th president!

Sorry for the mini-hiatus

Wow!
It's going on almost two weeks since I was able to post here.
MY BAD.
I've been busy selling stuff on Craigslist and Ebay because I'm really trying to declutter my house. Some stuff has been given away or sold in garage sales (http://joycebrewer.blogspot.com/2008/11/hidden-cash-in-garage-sales.html). But checking the status of Ebay sales and driving to meet folks who bought your Craigslist items takes time.

I've also been back and forth to Atlanta to see TMIL (The Man I Love).

My recent special report on people illegally parking in handicapped spots also kep me busy and sparked a lot of feedback:
http://www.wapt.com/video/18049442/index.html

Promise to post again this week!

Holding Dads Accountable

On the right is a picture of Victor (a big) and his mentee, Isaiah (a little). They're not related but the goal of their match through Big Brothers Big Sisters is to help Isaiah have a male he can model, learn from, and emulate. I've been a big for almost five years for my little, Shalakkeia.

I had the pleasure of meeting them last week while I was was working on a story about too parents not being accountable for their children. Assistant Jackson police chief Lee Vance called for dads in particular to step up. Sadly, too many dads don't. And there aren't enough male mentors to go around either. For instance, Isaiah waited a year to be matched with Victor.

Read and watch their story:
http://www.wapt.com/news/17947897/detail.html

Yes, He Did!

Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of saying LIVE on the air:

"Barack Obama is the next president of the United States."

Before Tuesday, I was not one of those people who walked around saying "he's going to win" or "Obama will beat McCain."

Maybe it's the journalist in me who needs facts in order to believe. Or maybe it's because I worked in newsrooms in the 2000 and 2004 election nights and I can't forget that sometimes we don't know who the president is until hours, days, or months later. So Obama's historic victory is something I didn't want to celebrate ahead of time.

I could hardly enjoy his win TUESDAY because I was working. Although everyone in the newsroom paused to watch his acceptance speech as you can see in the photos below. In fact, my first thoughts were for the safety of the Obama family. I prayed out loud, "Lord - keep him safe and honest."




It wasn't until Wednesday morning while watching news coverage and seeing so much emotion and celebration cross the country and the world - that I was moved to cry.

Earlier this week, I told my colleague, Don Champion, how it would be amazing IF Obama won. There would be a significant difference in what my generation and my father's generation would see as "possible" for African Americans.

For instance, my Dad was born in 1932 when Charleston, South Carolina was segregated. He went to Burke High School - the first public school for black students in the city. He told me he read from old books after the white students had gotten rid of them and the books were even missing pages they were in such bad shape. Later he was drafted during the Korean War and remembers that when the Army bus drove through Mississippi he and the other black soldier were NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE THE BUS - for fear of their safety. Fast forward to today, I live in Mississippi now. I am an anchor at a TV station - all because of what my parents taught me and because no schools or universities were ever "out of my reach."

What a difference in what one generation can see and CHANGE. And in case you're wondering, based on what my Dad has lived and survived - he didn't think he'd ever live to see a black president.

Disabled Riders: Jatran & City Discriminates Against Us

I've spent the last week working on a "Who's Accountable" report about a federal lawsuit some disabled riders filed against the city of Jackson and the Jatran system.

This was actually a "dangerous" story to shoot because I spent a few minutes seeing what Jackson residents in wheelchairs face when they try to get around.
There are a number of areas with no sidewalks or curb ramps, so they often have no other choice but to ride their wheelchairs in the street with cars. I couldn't believe how unsafe it was until I saw it myself.
Dr. Scott Crawford showed us what it takes to get to the closest Jatran stop from his home and the city of Jackson responded to the lawsuit in my "Who's Accountable" report:

http://www.wapt.com/video/17853525/

Mississippi's "Debatal Debate"

Mississippi was primed and ready to make history Friday with it's first presidential debate at Ole Miss. Then Senator John McCain announced he wanted to delay the debate so we and Senator Obama could return to Washington to work on the $700 billion bailout plan.

Watch our breaking news coverage from Wednesday:

http://www.wapt.com/video/17549529/

I can't get into the political debate on whether the debate should be rescheduled or not. But every media outlet in the state and thousands of journalists from across the world are either here or on their way to cover the event. Ole Miss also raised more than five million dollars from private donations to accomodate the debate. The logistics of cancelling this will be immense. Something tells me it will go down to the wire on whether we'll really know what's happening Friday.

Funny phone call on my first day back on the job...

I answered the phone in the newsroom around 2 p.m. Tuesday and this is what happened:

CALLER: Can you tell me what happened to that black girl who anchored the news with Scott Simmons at 6 o'clock?
ME: You mean Joyce Brewer?
CALLER: Yeah
ME: This is Joyce!
CALLER: Oh I thought something happened to you!
ME: Today is my first day back. Be sure to watch tonight, OK?
CALLER: O.K. I will

I couldn't make this up if I tried!

Go Away Gustav!

I made it back to Mississippi safely and just in time to face the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.
Tuesday was my first day back on the air. What made this so weird is that Gustav came so close to the Hurricane Katrina anniversary. So the comparisons of the storms were endless. But Gustav was not as powerful, THANK GOD, but seemed to linger in Mississippi and Louisiana for awhile and brings lots of rain.

Thousands of people will be returning home to the Gulf Coast today and later this week and who knows how much damage they'll find at home or whether they'll have power and water. Louisiana folks will have to wait a little while longer before they get the green light to return home: http://www.wapt.com/weather/17373086/detail.html.

So please keep those folks in your prayers! Most of them have already been through Katrina, now Gustav. Plus, Hannah is headed to the East Coast, followed by Ike and Josephine. So we're probably in for a very active season.

Girls' Deadly Decisions

Monday night my special report on HPV and cervical cancer aired on 16 WAPT, "Mississippi Crisis: Girls' Deadly Decisions."

It was an interesting and controversial topic to cover considering gardasil vaccine is being "promoted" and recommended as protection for young women BEFORE they're sexually active. I didn't realize until I did the story that the three shot series costs as much as $360! Mississippi lawmakers considered making the shot mandatory before girls enter the sixth grade, but some opponents didn't think it was fair to force parents to get the shots without addressing the cost. Next legislative session, they may consider the state picking up more of the cost. But with such tight budgets, it will be interesting to see if that will really happen.

Watch my story here: http://www.wapt.com/video/16247224/

Here's a gardasil commercial:

It's also important to point out most women/girls don't realize they have HPV until they get an abnormal pap test, meaning there are questionable or pre-cancerous cells on their cervix. For more info go here: www.theHPVtest.com

Stay healthy ladies!