Carrying the Weight: How Immanuel Wiggins Found Purpose in the City of Jackson

When Immanuel Wiggins left Plainfield, NJ, for Jackson State University, it was more than a change in geography. It was a shift in rhythm, responsibility and purpose.

Drawn to Jackson by a band scholarship, Wiggins arrived as a young musician ready to perform. What he did not expect was how deeply the city would shape him, or how much he would grow to love it.

“I got here through the Sonic Boom of the South,” Wiggins said, referring to the university’s well-known marching band. As a sousaphone player with an instrument wrapped around the body with its bell above the head, he quickly learned what it meant to carry weight, both physically and mentally.

“You get used to it after a while,” he said. “But it teaches you discipline. It teaches you that when something feels heavy, you still have to figure out how to carry it.”

That mindset has followed him far beyond the field and into neighborhoods across Jackson.

Wiggins, now a graduate student in urban and regional planning at Jackson State, did not always see himself as deeply involved in community work. Like many students, he initially believed his contributions through band performances were enough.

That changed when he joined Alpha Phi Omega, a service-based fraternity focused on leadership, friendship and service.

“That’s where it really started,” he said. “We began with campus cleanups, and then it expanded to educating kids, working on environmental projects and getting into the community more intentionally.”

From there, his work grew in both scope and meaning.

Through an internship with the National Park Service, Wiggins helped redevelop a community garden near Medgar Evers Boulevard. What began as a project rooted in planning and volunteer coordination became something more personal.

“We were out there, really getting our hands in the dirt,” he said. “And then, over time, you start to see it, the plants sprouting, vegetables growing.”

The reward was not just in the garden itself, but in how the community embraced it.

“It was a proud moment,” Wiggins said. “To see something we worked on actually being used, actually helping people, it changes you.”

Although some describe parts of West Jackson as a food desert, the garden became more than a beautification effort. It became a resource for access, health and connection.

Wiggins approaches urban planning as a hands-on discipline. While some view planners as working behind desks, drafting policies and reviewing plans, he sees it differently.

“I can’t just sit in a building and sign off on something,” he said. “If something needs to happen, I want to be out there doing it.”

That perspective is rooted in his upbringing. Raised in New Jersey, Wiggins credits his family, especially his father, for instilling a strong sense of responsibility to others.

“I grew up watching him help people, even when it wasn’t his job,” he said. “That showed me there’s always something you can do.”

His move from the North to the South came with adjustments. In New Jersey, daily life was defined by density and walkability. In Jackson, things initially felt more spread out and disconnected.

Over time, that perspective shifted.

“It taught me not to assume,” Wiggins said. “People are different everywhere. But here, I’ve also found community in a different way.”

That sense of community, combined with opportunity, is what convinced him to stay.

Today, Wiggins serves as a project coordinator with the Jackson Redevelopment Authority and works as an intern with the City of Jackson’s zoning division. He is set to graduate in December with a master’s degree in urban design from JSU.

His work spans multiple wards, touching neighborhoods across the city. While he acknowledges the challenges Jackson faces, including infrastructure and long-standing disinvestment, he is equally focused on its potential.

“There’s opportunity on every block,” he said.

That belief is grounded in what he has seen: residents who care, leaders who are committed and a new generation willing to contribute.

“There are people here dedicated to making things better,” Wiggins said. “Some just don’t know how yet.”

For him, the solution is clear.

“We can’t wait for someone else to come,” he said. “It has to be somebody. Even if you don’t think it’s you, it has to be you.”

Despite his growing impact, Wiggins does not seek recognition. He describes himself as someone who prefers to work behind the scenes.

“I don’t want anything out of it,” he said. “I just know that what I’m doing is helping somebody.”

Whether he is packing food boxes with the Mississippi Food Network or helping restore neighborhood spaces, that approach remains consistent.

Like the gardens he helps build, Wiggins understands that meaningful change takes time. It requires effort beneath the surface, where roots are formed long before anything is visible.

In Jackson, Immanuel Wiggins is planting more than seeds. He is cultivating possibility, one person, one block and one act of service at a time.