Remembering Clarence Bolls
By Alice Thomas-Tisdale
JA Publisher Emerita
Editor’s note: The Jackson Advocate extends condolences to the family of Clarence Bolls who transitioned April 19, 2026. He was 72, born Sept. 10, 1953. Clarence will always be remembered for his wide smile, keen sense of humor, and love of community. He was a friend to Charles W. Tisdale and often brought meals to his home during his illness. May God continue to keep you during this healing period. Following are excerpts from an article printed January 15-21, 2009.
Some 20 years ago, Clarence Bolls received a resolution from the City of Jackson commending him as a “businessman and community leader.” It was signed by all seven members of the city council serving at that time. Not long after, he ran for the prestigious seat to represent the residents of Ward 2 where he was admired for taking every opportunity to yell out, “Stop the violence.”
Bolls was always serious about ridding Jackson of drugs and building better schools.
Bolls understood the change he was talking about would take an incredible amount of work and cooperation. That didn’t seem to scare him either. “I work best under pressure,” he said. I might give out, but I won’t give in.”
He got his tenacity from his mother, Mary Ella Haggard Bolls. When her husband, the late General Bolls of Edwards, MS, came home from the Army in 1953, he bought a new car. Just a short time later he had a serious accident and was unable to work. Mrs. Bolls took on work in the cotton fields with her four small children right alongside her. “She put us in a cardboard box to keep the snakes from biting us,” said Bolls, who was just an infant at the time. Two more children were born in Jackson.
At age 10, he started picking up pop bottles. The one cent redemption he received went into the family treasury. He even sold potatoes before he learned how to use a lawn mower. At 13, his mother bought him a lawn mower. By age 16, Bolls had three jobs – cutting lawns, working at Shoney’s, and driving a school bus. That was about the same time he joined up with the freedom movement.
Bolls was one of those courageous youths who marched down Bailey Avenue with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to Farish Street Baptist Church to bring attention to the injustices running rampant throughout America.
Bolls believes there’s still reason to march down Bailey Avenue and every other street in Jackson. “Drugs are killing our youth and destroying our communities. We had a march not too long ago,” he said, adding that “we’re not just concerned about our children and grandchildren. We want a safer Jackson for all our children.” Bolls realized it would take more than marching down city streets to rid Jackson of drugs, create job opportunities, repair streets and dilapidated dwellings, and develop new housing projects. “We have to begin with jobs and infrastructure. It shouldn’t take 40-50 years to get something done. The Lakeland Drive project took only 28 months. We’ve been talking about building homes around Lake Hico for 39 years,” he said.
Property taxes were another concern of Bolls. “The city has destroyed and cleared hundreds of abandoned houses, but there’s no plan in place to rebuild the tax base they diluted,” he said.
Bolls envisioned music, food, and arts festivals sponsored by churches and civic groups as a way to pump money into the economy. “Entertainment isn’t all about booze,” he said.
Bolls wanted local churches and businesses to get involved in increasing Jackson’s workforce. “If each of our 1,100 churches hired just one person in a capacity the church needs – a pianist, security guard, whatever – it would put 1,100 people to work. If the 2,800 businesses in Ward 2 alone hired one person, that would be 2,800 new jobs,” he said.
“If we increase our workforce we create taxpayers,” he added. “And the more taxpayers we have, the larger our tax base becomes. I’ve been a taxpayer since I was 16 years old. I bought my first house at 21. It only took four years for me to become a property owner after I started working. We can teach our young people to do the same thing. It’s just common sense.”
Bolls was also known for his tech savvy through his television/electronic business and home repair service. The training he received at Hinds Community College served him well. “I don’t think there’s anything I can’t do mechanically,” he said.
Bolls was an advocate for shopping where you live. “Once you go across County Line, your tax dollars are gone. Once you go across Lakeland Drive, your tax dollars are gone. And once you go to Clinton, your tax dollars are gone. Bolls was also hopeful that the city council would get rid of race issues and party issues. “You can’t have a preference for services in Ward 1 and nothing for Ward 2. We’re in the same bowl of milk.”
