Day 11: Touring of the Delta
Today we went on a tour of the delta. I was unsure exactly of what we would be doing, so I didn’t really have very many expectations. The only thing that was startling to me was how little recognition is given to important things like Emmett Till’s death. The important Civil Rights locations in Alabama have huge monuments and such. I was glad to hear Dr. Brown say that they are in the process of establishing historical markers for locations like this. It would just be such a shame for events like Till’s death to fade into the backdrop of history, with no continual reminders of the profound impact this had on one of the most important movements in our nation’s history.
We went into one of the poorest neighborhoods I’ve ever seen. While we had lunch at the local drug store, a professor from the local traditionally black university came by to speak to us. He was talking to us about the demographics of the city and my jaw literally dropped at the things he told us. He said that once we drove across the tracks (literally), we would find two black families in the entire affluent side of town. I have no idea what the count in South Tampa would be, but I’m certain we would have way more than that. His point was to show us the intense racial component of socio-economic status. This fact was so alarming to me, that it was barely possible for me to comprehend this reality.
Another interesting thing we learned today was about the development of the blues. Having never learned a single thing about this type of music, everything I learned was so fascinating. I really liked learning about how the music developed in response to the hardship faced by the sharecroppers. Since music is so important to my life and many of my best memories can be associated with specific songs or types of music, I love when others have the same reaction. While it’s tragic that these people had to endure such hardship, I think that music can have such a liberating effect, so it’s wonderful that this group of people were able to use music.
Tonight we went to Po’ Monkeys, which was such a blast! It’s an old juke joint where a blues band was playing. While I thought the environment was a little odd at first, I really started enjoying the music and the atmosphere.