Biloxi, Mississippi

Biloxi (/bəˈlʌksi/; bə-LUK-see), officially the City of Biloxi, is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi. The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with the adjoining city of Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County.

The city is part of the Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area and the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. Pre-Katrina, Biloxi was the third largest city in Mississippi behind Jackson and Gulfport; with its population losses following that storm, it was passed by Hattiesburg and Southaven, so Biloxi is now ranked fifth in the state.

The beachfront of Biloxi lies directly on the Mississippi Sound, with barrier islands scattered off the coast and into the Gulf of Mexico. Keesler Air Force Base lies within the city and is home to the 81st Training Wing and the 403d Wing of the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

History

Colonial era

The first permanent settlement in French Louisiana was founded at Fort Maurepas, now in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and referred to as Old Biloxi, in 1699 under the direction of Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, with Louisiana separated from Spanish Florida at the Perdido River near Pensacola (founded 1559 and again in 1698).

Black Beach

Black Beach (Spanish: Playa Negra), located on the island of Bioko, in the capital city of Malabo in Equatorial Guinea, is of one of Africa's most notorious prisons.

Feared reputation

It has a reputation for systematically neglecting and brutalising inmates. Medical treatment is usually denied to inmates and food rations are said to be meagre. (The United Nations' Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners requires minimal medical treatment for all prisoners.)

Noted individuals linked with the prison

Former governor

The President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, is a former Governor of Black Beach Prison and his uncle and predecessor, Francisco Macías Nguema, was executed here after he was overthrown in a 1979 coup d'état.

Prisoners

Black Beach holds a number of foreign prisoners sentenced for participating in a 2004 coup d'état attempt against the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. These included Simon Mann, the alleged ringleader, until his presidential pardon on 2 November 2009 on humanitarian grounds.

Jesse Winchester

James Ridout "Jesse" Winchester (May 17, 1944 – April 11, 2014) was an American-Canadian musician and songwriter. He was born and raised in the southern United States. Opposed to the Vietnam War, he moved to Canada in 1967, where he began his career as a solo artist. His highest-charting recordings were of his own songs, "Yankee Lady" in 1970 and "Say What" in 1981. He became a Canadian citizen in 1973, gained amnesty in the U.S. in 1977 and resettled there in 2002.

Winchester was best known as a songwriter. His works were recorded by many notable artists, including Patti Page, Elvis Costello, Jimmy Buffett, Joan Baez, Anne Murray, Reba McEntire, the Everly Brothers and Emmylou Harris. A number of these recordings have had success on various charts.

Biography

Early life

Born at Barksdale Army Air Field near Bossier City, Louisiana, Winchester was raised in northern Mississippi and the city of Memphis, Tennessee. Jesse (known as "Jimmy" in high school) received several honors while attending Christian Brothers High School. Graduating in 1962, he was a merit finalist, National Honor Society member and the salutatorian of the graduating class. He attended Williams College, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, graduating in 1966. Upon receiving his draft notice the following year, Winchester moved to Montreal, Canada, to avoid military service. "I was so offended by someone's coming up to me and presuming to tell me who I should kill and what my life was worth," he told Rolling Stone magazine in 1977.