"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : LAWRENCE C JONES

. In Late November of 2023, at a Baton Rouge press conference, Republican Jay Dardenne, who was then the Commissioner of Administration in Governor John Bel Edwards administration, stated that he was "PRETTY SURE" that Governor Elect Jeff Landry wouldn't have to "MAKE ANY DRASTIC CUTS" in the Louisiana state budget when he takes office. The complete article can be read at this website site : https://www.thewestsidejournal.com/news/jbe-administration-leaves-state-in-much-better-shape-dardenne-says/article_0f4e81ba-8e6a-11ee-9b1f-a318d4daf31b.html . Mr. Jay Dardenne also touted the replenishment of the state’s “Rainy Day” fund, which has reached the "ONE-BILLION DOLLAR" threshold under Governor Edwards. Well,"FAST FORWARD" to April of 2024, and Governor Elect Jeff Landry is "cutting funding" for Education, teachers pay, and just about anything else that he can think of!!! Also, to go along with his extreme budget cuts, Governor Landry has issued a couple of Executive Orders to bully Congress into going along with his outlandish plans! However, in regards to his latest Executive Order, he offered few specifics as to what his plans entails. Furthermore, many Louisiana residents would like to know how come Governor Landry is constantly stating that Louisiana is going to be at a "$64 MILLION DOLLAR" deficit, when Republican Jay Dardenne, a person who has actually worked in the administration of former Governor John Bel Edwards has "spoken publicly" that there is NO CURRENT NEED for Governor Landry to be making ALL these INSIDIOUS budget cuts! Well, let get to this week's Black Pioneer. Laurence C. Jones was born in St. Joseph, Missouri on November 21,1882. While there is no record of where "or if" Lawrence attended grade school, in 1908, he was listed as a graduate of the University of Iowa. After graduating from UOA, he accepted a teaching position at Utica Institute, a small school for Colored children that was located in Utica, Mississippi. Not too long after he had been teaching at Utica, Lawrence was approached by a group of church people to found a school in Rankin County, Mississippi, a school which would become known as "Piney Woods!" He started Piney Woods with just $2 dollars and 3 Colored students. Also, a local freed slave named Ed Taylor, donated 40 acres of land and an abandoned sheep shed to help get the school going. The school functioned similar to how Booker T. Washington ran Tuskegee Institute. Additionally, in 1929, the Mississippi Blind School was started on the campus of Piney Woods School to educate blind Negro children in Rankin County. In edition to being the school's founder, first principal, and long-time president, Lawrence and his wife , Grace A. Jones served as the school 's chief fundraisers. On July 13, 1975, after completing his mission here on earth, Laurence C.Jones was laid to rest in Jackson, Mississippi. Isn't it wonderful that after all these years the Piney Woods School, which is known today as "Piney Woods Country Life School" is still in existence Today! NOTE : The Piney Woods Country Life School is a co-educational, independent historically African-American boarding school for grades 9 – 12. It is one of four remaining historically African-American boarding schools in the United States and is the largest (and second oldest) African-American boarding in the United States Today.