"I am the co-owner of the Glossary Salon in Florence and of the Tracy Branch Agency, which is a hair and makeup artist team who mainly works events like weddings, proms, pageants etc.
"Between both small businesses that I own, we have nearly 45 people that work with and for us that are all independent contractors. We have had to close the salon and my team and I have been without pay for over a month.
"Many of my stylists are the sole earner for their families. Because we get paid by the service, when we don’t work, we don’t get paid. As the owner, the bills for the rent, utilities, and systems don’t stop.
"The salon is our livelihood. For my hair and makeup team, we are all forced to be out of work now as well because large gatherings are not allowed. Over the last two months- my team has lost hundreds of wedding and event jobs. This is the only way most of them make a living.
"Assistance has been little to none as most of us are independent contractors and as of now 99 percent of us have been denied unemployment. We applied for the SBA loan but our applications had to be held until they opened it for independent/ self employed workers.
"Yesterday we were told that the money has run out. I worry and pray for everyone in my work family and every small business owner. We need the ability to be open. We follow all guidelines of sanitation and we will ramp those up to the extreme if we need to, but I pray we can get back to work soon.
"The financial strain is getting harder by the day and the mental wellness strain is also something I am seeing affecting my team.
"We want to do the right thing for the health of the community but we also want the right to work and provide for our families."
Tracy Branch
The Glossary Salon/ Tracy Branch Agency
Florence, Mississippi
"I own The Cut Above Hair Salon in Meridian.
"This is my career. I have been a cosmetologist since 1979.
"I depend on customers for my income. We take every precaution for keeping our clients safe and ourselves.
"We are self-employed, so that means no clients no pay. I have utilities and bills to pay. But I need to work to pay these bills.
"Please reconsider opening salons so I can get back to work!"
Mary Miller
The Cut Above
Meridian, Mississippi
"I work in a small salon. Two women, that is all.
"When the changes came about, we complied. Making sure there were no more than four people in the salon at any time. We are never face to face with anyone. It is called 'behind the chair' for a reason.
"We were closed days later. We closed our doors on March 27th with the lie that we could reopen on the 7th of April. But that was pushed back until the 20th of April. Now we are looking at May 1st, maybe.
"I had been out of work for over a year. This means I do not qualify for unemployment, any type of business loans, or anything at all. I am living off the money I saved to pay my taxes. Which is now gone.
"At least I have until June. Except I still need to pay booth rent and supplies."
Laura Severs
Kay Lynn Salon
Gautier, Mississippi
"My business is my livelihood. I own a hair salon and when I don’t work, I don’t get paid.
"I have two children to provide for as well as monthly bills accumulating even though I have no money coming in.
"Before I closed the salon, we were using every possible measure to protect the customers as well as ourselves. I think that we can provide a safe environment for our clients now as well. We will wear masks, stagger clients so there will be only one at a time as well as sanitizing our equipment and the salon.
"Please consider my plea to reopen my salon."
Julie Dyre
Headquarters Salon
Winona, Mississippi
"We took a leap of faith and began our custom shirt printing business in 2006 in our dining room.
"We purchased a digital garment printer, and my husband Anthony quit his job. A digital garment printer works on the same principle as a deskjet printer. A design can be sent directly from the computer program to the printer, thus just one shirt can be printed without doing lengthy set up as required in screen printing. Also, photos and designs with multiple colors can easily be printed with a digital garment printer. However, with digital print, there is no white ink, so when that was our only printer, we would not print on dark colored shirts at all, and the print colors are affected by the shirt color. However, our photo shirts were very popular, and people loved the fact that, with this process, while the shirt colors are limited, the print colors are not. Photo shirts seemed to really catch on in the community around here, with people buying them for everything from children's birthday parties to birthday parties for the elderly (We did shirts for a 102-year-old lady last year!) to in memory shirts to be worn at the repast after a funeral. Also, the photo shirts are extremely popular for family reunions.
"Since 2006, we've had our ups and downs financially, which I think any small business could say. We sold shirts both locally (customers came to our dining room!) and online. In 2012 we moved to a rental location in Waynesboro, Mississippi, just five minutes from our home. We thought this move would gain us more customers, and also, we needed our dining room back to convert into a bedroom for our ever growing family.
"Business prospered, and we were able to purchase that location which was actually an old house beside a busy street with a huge warehouse behind it.
"In 2015 we took yet another leap of faith and made some renovations to the huge warehouse behind our store and bought screen printing to go there. It was the ideal place for it! Now we could offer a wider variety of shirts to include all shirt colors.
"That same year we also purchased a second location in nearby Laurel. We were extremely busy in those days, so much so that we eventually (in 2018) had to close the Laurel location due to the fact that it was pretty much too much for just Anthony and I to handle. He did most of the printing, and I did all of the design work, bookkeeping, and all the other behind-the-scenes work.
"Our goals in the business were to 'make a living,' of course, flexibility, and also to provide job opportunities for our children (of which we have seven). We have been able do that, with our older daughters, Rosalie and Rebekah, doing a good bit of the printing before they moved on. Our son, Ben, managed our Laurel store for a year or two before he moved on. Our younger children enjoyed “going to work with us” to earn a treat – our business has definitely been a family effort!! We had planned for our 16-year-old Elon to move up to working as sales clerk this spring.
"And then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and officials began shutting down all 'non-essential' businesses and canceling events. Could our business be considered essential? It is definitely essential to our well-being. How could some bureaucrat or politician demand that we close our business?
"During what is usually our extremely busy time of the year with events, promotions, etc., our business was busted. While we have not been open to the public, we have been able to provide shirts for a couple of essential businesses (a small order for our local hospital and a small order for a logging crew), those are the only two orders we have had (other than a handful of online orders) in the past month. We were working on an order for Relay for Life, but that event got postponed indefinitely. Our income for March of this year was half of what it was in 2019, and our income for April has dwindled to around only 10 percent of what it was this time last year.
"If something is not done, we will have to permanently close our doors. Although the doors are closed, many of our expenses continue (property note, equipment leases, utilities, insurance, property taxes....). And if this 'shut down' continues, it will eventually have a very negative affect on everyone's income."
Pam Powell
Powell Shirts
Waynesboro, Mississippi
Churches in Greenville will be allowed to continue drive-in church services without fear of fines after the city announced they were changing their ordinance banning such services.
Yesterday, the Mississippi Justice Institute (“MJI”), a non-profit constitutional litigation center and the legal arm of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, and First Liberty Institute, the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious liberty for all Americans, announced a challenge to the city’s ban on drive-in church services. They are defending King James Bible Baptist Church. Last Thursday, members of the church were greeted by virtually every member of the Greenville police department and threatened with fines as they arrived for drive-in church services that evening.
“The Mississippi Justice Institute is proud to have stood with this church and Pastor Hamilton, and that so many other groups, individuals, and elected officials stood with them as well,” said MJI Director Aaron Rice. “We are happy that the City of Greenville has recognized the right of all Mississippians to worship in a way that is safe and consistent with their religious beliefs or practical needs.”
As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the country, the church began hosting drive-in services in a manner consistent with Center for Disease Control and Mississippi Department of Health guidance. Members would stay in their cars with their windows closed. Traditional shouts of “Amen” or “Hallelujah” turned into flashing lights or honking horns.
While many churches have opted for live-stream services, this was the best option for many at the church, as several do not have social media accounts or the ability to connect online.
“We have to care about our constitutional rights,” said Rice. “Even during challenging times.”
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.
Last Thursday, members of the King James Bible Baptist Church in Greenville were greeted by virtually every member of the Greenville police department and threatened with fines as they arrived for drive-in church services that evening, even though they followed CDC guidelines by remaining in their vehicles, parking six feet apart, and keeping their windows rolled up while listening to their pastor preach from the parking lot.
The Mississippi Justice Institute (“MJI”), a non-profit constitutional litigation center and the legal arm of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, and First Liberty Institute, the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious liberty for all Americans, have teamed up to represent the church.
Today, attorneys with the Mississippi Justice Institute and First Liberty Institute filed a federal lawsuit challenging Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons’s unconstitutional executive order, which categorically bans all drive-in church services.
“We understand that many safety precautions are necessary during this unprecedented time,” said MJI Director Aaron Rice. “But absurd government orders that single out churches for punishment while doing nothing to protect the public health are simply unconstitutional. Mississippians cannot and will not stand for these kinds of outrageous violations of our religious liberties by our government officials.”
As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the country, the church began hosting “drive-in” services in a manner consistent with Center for Disease Control and Mississippi Department of Health guidance. Members would stay in their cars with their windows closed. Traditional shouts of “Amen” or “Hallelujah” turned into flashing lights or honking horns.
While many churches have opted for live-stream services, this was the best option for many at the church, as several do not have social media accounts or the ability to connect online.
“The Mississippi Justice Institute is proud to stand with King James Bible Baptist Church, and we look forward to vindicating the right of all Mississippians to worship in a way that is safe and consistent with their religious beliefs or practical needs,” said Rice.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.
Video from Pastor Charles Hamilton
A copy of the complaint can be found here.
America was founded on the ideal of individual freedom and liberty, but we often forfeit our rights to the strong arm of government when we’re scared.
“Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
These words from Ben Franklin still ring true, especially in days like these. For long-term safety, we may concede some of our rights. But essential liberties – such as due process and fundamental rights – should not be surrendered for short-term safety.
Still, Americans have long been willing to give up freedoms in exchange for supposed safety during a time of crisis. Much to the delight of government officials, the current coronavirus outbreak has been no different.
We saw this after 9/11. What was the immediate response? The Patriot Act, a new law that vastly expanded the government’s authority to spy on its own citizens. We then thought it was normal for TSA agents to harass granny at the airport. And don’t think about bringing more than 3 ounces of liquid on the plane with you.
But this was after terrorists killed 3,000 Americans on our own soil. We wanted to be protected. Regardless of the Fourth Amendment or any values we previously held.
Enter 2020. An invisible virus from China that we know little about leads to a near total shutdown of the economy. We see the number of positive cases and deaths add up during the non-stop media coverage. We hear projections of 1.7 million deaths in America. Naturally, we get scared. And decide it’s okay to give up freedoms.
Government takes the ball and runs.
Soon, government officials are closing restaurants. Sorry restaurant owners, servers, and bartenders. But okay. We then shut down “non-essential” businesses and act surprised when millions file for unemployment. In between, we enact curfews (for some reason). We’ve fined people for being in too large of a crowd. In Greenville, we prohibit drive-in church services at a church right down the road from a Sonic…Drive-In. The city of Jackson floats the idea of tracking residents.
Perhaps we’re just following other states. Kentucky state police were in church parking lots getting license plate numbers on Easter so they can impose state-mandated quarantines on churchgoers. Utah is requiring a travel declaration for all adults traveling into Utah via car or plane. They are doing so via the federal Wireless Emergency Alert system, which is otherwise used for weather or missing children alerts. But it’s just for people coming into Utah, not Utahans.
But many would probably say this all makes sense.
In Colorado, police handcuffed a man for playing with his wife and six-year-old daughter on a nearly empty “public” softball field. Law enforcement claim he violated an order prohibiting gatherings of five or more. In Washington, D.C., police officers are prohibiting you from sitting on a park bench…alone. In Philadelphia, a man was dragged off a public bus. His offense? Not wearing a mask.
A little too intrusive yet?
Hold my beer. The newest tourism slogan from Michigan. In Michigan, it is illegal to travel from one house to another. A private gathering of any size is prohibited. “Non-essential” sections of grocery stores are closed. You can buy lottery tickets, but not a pack of seeds. You can canoe, paddle boat, or kayak, but can't get in a boat with a motor.
Because, there’s a dangerous virus and that motor in your boat will only make things worse.
There’s a precarious game of politicians trying to one-up each other, to the thunderous applause of many. After all, they did “something.” And that's what we want.
But when you give up a little liberty, your restaurant closure turns into a prohibition on boats with a motor. Those who want to control our lives will simply look for the next excuse to do so, because there will always be a reason. And our response will not soon be forgotten.
As Christians across the globe prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Sunday, the city of Greenville is doubling down on enforcement of those who worship in their cars in church parking lots.
Police first descended on Temple Baptist Church on Wednesday, issuing $500 fines to about two dozen people attending a “drive-in” prayer service. They were listening to the lesson on the radio, much like you do at a drive-in movie theater.
“The police officer said I might go to jail,” Temple Baptist Church Pastor Arthur Scott said on The Todd Starnes Radio Show. “If it means going to jail and if it takes that for me to keep preaching, I’ll be glad to go to jail…One of the police officers said the mayor wanted to make an example of our church. I told them to get some more tickets ready because we will be preaching Sunday morning and Sunday night.”
Making sure the city got their point across, some 20 police officers stormed King James Baptist Church who was having a drive-in service the following night, again threating citations.
Temple Baptist Church has been holding radio broadcast services for the previous weeks.
Lee Gordon, a longtime member of Temple Baptist, said he the church was doing the right thing by having worshippers stay in their cars with the windows rolled up.
“A lot of our membership is elderly and doesn’t have access (to technology needed to stream the service),” Gordon said. “There’s 25 cars 200 yards away all in the same place at the Sonic Drive-In. What we’re doing endangers nobody.”
An order from the city not only bans in person worship services, as the statewide shelter-in-place order does, it also takes on drive-in services.
“The City of Greenville put in place an Executive Order that orders all church buildings closed for in person and drive-in church services, until the State of Mississippi’s Shelter In Place Executive Order No. 1466 is lifted by Gov. Tate Reeves. Churches are strongly encouraged to hold services via Facebook Live, Zoom, Free Conference Call, and any and all other social media, streaming, and telephonic platforms,” a press release from the city of Greenville reads.
Reeves fired back on Twitter.
“If you send police after worshippers trying to social distance, you are going to have Mississippians revolt. I’ve asked all pastors not to hold these services—but we ordered churches safe from these outrageous actions. Don’t trample the Constitution.”
We will see what Sunday brings.