Day 13: This morning we checked out of the Casino Hotel in Tunica and headed back to Clarkesdale to give back to the local community…by going shopping.Merry, Lauren and I walked up and down the main street, going into shops and talking to the owners.The first one we went to has really adorable gifts.We each got a few things and spent about twenty minutes talking to the women running it.They were very sweet and got excited when we told them that we were staying at the Shack Up Inn that night.The whole experience of standing and talking to them reminded me of something that Katie said on the first day.She commented about how she had worked in retail in North Carolina and in D.C.In the south, patrons were very likely to strike up a conversation and engage the sales person.In D.C., this would never happen.People wanted to get in and out and on with their lives.Standing and talking for so long with these women made me laugh on the inside about yet more differences between the south and other areas of the nation.

After we shopped, we walked over to Ground Zero for lunch.This restaurant is owned by Morgan Freeman and doubles as a juke joint at night.After having been to Po’ Monkey’s two nights before, it was quite a different environment.Before getting off of the bus, Dr. Smith asked us to think about authenticity.These two juke joints could not differ more.Ground Zero seemed like a complete tourist attraction and, while fun, did not have the feel of traveling back to the days of sharecropping that Po’ Monkey’s did.The food was great and the environment still fun, just different.

Tonight we’re staying at the Shack Up Inn. It is made up of several old sharecropping shacks that have been gathered together to allow tourists the experience of living in that time.These homes now have running water and air conditioning, so it’s not quite the same, but still a lot of fun.The shack where Lauren and I are staying is really adorable!

Days 14 and 15: The past two days we’ve mainly been traveling. I think we’re all starting to be ready to be home, but it’s pretty bittersweet because we’ve had so much fun and grown so close.We traveled home through Tennessee, stopping in Knoxville for our last night.

From June 4, 2007

Today we traveled through the Mississippi Delta, more specifically, Cleveland, Mississippi, as well as the surrounding cities and communities. It was very interesting to look at the stratification in this area and also see how amazingly different it was moving from one side of the tracks to the next. The area is heavily farmed and many of their major crops include corn, cotton, and catfish. I had very little expectations in regard to the status of blacks in this area. I did not think that they would have been allowed to develop their own community to the level that they apparently had in Mound Bayou. As we drove through Mound Bayou, the oldest municipality for share-cropping blacks, it was very inspirational but also disappointing. They seemed to be well-ahead of their time in terms of social progress for blacks and the advancement of minority status in society. At the same time, it was disappointing to look at the dramatically underdeveloped town that was once one of the most advanced places of its kind. To think that this community may have come falling down at the hands of scheming blacks and conspiracy angers me greatly. In some respects, this community was a shining example of what blacks should have been trying to do all over the south. At a time when whites did not want blacks around and fought integration with their last breath, perhaps, more communities like Mound Bayou would have saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of blacks.

Skipping ahead, Po’ Monkey’s was a high point in the trip. I am a huge music fan and witnessing live blues music in a jook joint is definitely an experience that I have always wanted and will definitely never forget. Early in the afternoon when we went to visit the historic site, I was very skeptical as to how all of us, in addition to the rest of the people visiting, were going to be able to make it into such a dilapidated building. I thought to myself about the public safety issues of cramming a bunch of people into a shack-like building and jumping and dancing to good music! To my pleasant surprise, things were great while inside Po’ Monkey’s. I felt like it was important for our group to immerse ourselves in the musical aspect of the Mississippi Delta. As noted in the article on jook joints, for sharecropping blacks, this was all that they had to themselves as a community. The blacks in this day utilized their tiny sharecropping shacks in more ways than many people would have ever thought possible and they worked hard to have that time for their own enjoyment. The blues music of the Delta was a result of the struggle that blacks felt every day of their lives while working out in the fields under harsh circumstances. Being able to experience that music firsthand made our visit to the Delta that much more authentic.

     Wednesday June 6, 2007 was a fun and relaxing day.  The day started with touring the downtown artsy area of Clarksdale, MS. We were able to have an authentic experience and go into some of the shops. Our first stop was at Hambone’s Art Gallery owned by a local artist that talked to us about his art history. Mr. Stan Suggs was a really interesting guy that said he never took any art classes but that art is truly his passion. I bought a print of Billie Holiday from his gallery for only $20.00! Also, we went into famous restuarants like the Delta Amusement Cafe where the decor, interestingly enough included a rather large Confederate Flag that said Rebel Pride. Someone I was with asked what one had to do to have a college flag posted and we told the owners that we were from Wake Forest.  We also spent some quality time in a local barber shop/hair salon where we talked to local people from Clarksdale and definitely witnessed a strong sense of community. I don’t think that many other cities are like Clarksdale in that the locals say that more and more people are coming to the town and making it home. That was a great sign because historical Blues oriented cities need to be preserved. The only other thing that would have completely made my day was if Morgan Freeman had been in his blues club, Ground Zero. The food was excellent at Ground Zero’s and I definitely want to come back.

     The day did not end with our adventures in Clarksdale, where music, people, and a strong sense of community dominate the city. Wednesday night, we stayed in the Shack Up Inn, my favorite lodging experience we’ve had in the entire trip. The Shack Up Inn is definitely a great blend of old fashioned and modern. The shacks are truly authentic and I really wish we could stay here more than one night. This experience was great and nothing is better than a screened in porch on a hot summer day in the Mississippi Delta! The idea for this place is definitely one that sells but also educated people. Because, the life of a sharecropper isn’ t a pop culture media image that often gets out. I would defintely like to come back here and hopefully visit the Riverside Inn as well.

We visited the state penitentiary today and it was a sight that I never imagined. When watching movies and television shows about prisons it gives you a different prospective then what I experienced today at Parchman prison. When we arrived to the prison we were told to hide all electronic devises and money wallets and all under the bus and when we got into the visitation area we were full body searched my guards. While in the visitation area one of the prisoners spoke to us. He told us his crime and basically what he regretted doing. His story was appealing but it didn’t really strike me until he told me that he had a son that plays football and is doing great but he never seen him play a down. I felt sorry in a way but in other ways it was kind of hard to have simply for someone that committed a crime. I think that he has learned his lesson but who am I to say so. His whole speech he was telling us the reasons why you do not want to come to prison but it was one reason that I experienced for myself made me want not to ever come to prison. The heat made me make up mind to never come to prison. In the prison sell the inmates have no air condition and it’s like 80 or more people in one big hot room in the heart of the summer with no air conditioning. I found parchman to be an interesting experience but I left there with a lot of questions marks about how the prison was ran and why there were so many women and the construction of the prison.

Today had to be the longest day but I think that it was worth it in the end. We took a tour of the delta. First we went to the Delta University where we introduced to a resident and also a professor of the town. He took us on a guided tour of the city and the whole time we were on the tour I was looking out the window and thinking to myself that the state of Mississippi looks just like it looked in the 1940s. I understand that the people of Mississippi are trying to hold to the tradition of the state and or maybe even trying to find their identity because has been betrayed as share cropping and agriculture. Clearly that is not what the people of Mississippi think they are all about. Everybody we encountered today talked about the finding and the home land of the Blue’s. The people of Mississippi feel like there finding of the blues was mistaken not to be the homeland of the blues. The people in Chicago think they are the finders of the blues but the people in delta Mississippi think other wise and they had evidence that supported they were the homeland of the blues. While that was interesting to me, the highlight of my day was when we went to the senator’s restaurant and ate farmed raised cat fish.

We checked out today and went to church and unlike the church on 16^th street Baptist in Birmingham Alabama I really think that if was living in New Orleans I would attend that church. We arrived into the Delta of Mississippi

I enjoyed our “laid back” day of strolling through Clarksdale. We explored the Sunflower River Front, did a bit of shopping at the Cat’s Head and other shops along the main street, toured the Delta Blues Museum, and ate lunch at Ground Zero Blues Club.

During my shopping (and I finally was able to find a few nice gifts to take back home), I couldn’t help but think about stratification. I started out in Cat’s Head where they have a plethora of blues-related merchandise, along with local folk art. Next door was another higher-end gift type store that screamed “white people’s store”. The sales counter was plastered with pictures of white brides and grooms, the sale personnel were all very gracious white southern ladies. The contrast between the two environments was striking.

Lynn and I checked out both restaurants Dr. Hattery talked about: Delta Amusement Cafe and Ground Zero. Well, we started to walk in to Delta Amusement and when everyone turned and looked at us, we turned tail and left. The folks in there didn’t look very friendly. On the other hand, we felt very comfortable in Ground Zero. As far as authenticity, it looked authentic to me, but I would have to research it to draw a conclusion!

The Delta Blues Museum was a pleasant surprise. They had two excellent photo exhibits, one by David Turnley called “Under the Roof of a Tin Top Shack“. It is a group of striking images of the Delta, including our favorite Po’ Monkey’s. The second was Delta Dogs, images of dogs in different Delta settings. The photographer is Maude Schuyler Clay. And I discovered that one of the musicians that had been with a (the now defunct Squirrel Nut Zippers) band I like is with a new group and grew up in Clarksdale. His name is Jimbo Mathus. I’ll hit Amazon when I get home and see if I can get some of his music.

Our final destination today is the Shack Up Inn. What can I say but that it is everything Dr. Hattery promised it would be and more. Lynn and I are sitting in the office kitchen to get strong wireless and the owner, Bill Talbot, told us just to stay as long as we like. We’ve met Guy, who gave us the grand tour of their current renovations of the “bin” building where we are staying.

While we’ve been sitting here in the kitchen, we met Randall Andrews, who is with the Delta Film Commission, as yet mostly unknown, but with grand plans. He asked me to research a question he has had for some time. Is there a relation between the name “Po’ Monkey” and the town of Pomonkey, Md? He is curious because a man named Johnny Dorr came from there in the 1940’s. He’s the guy who operated the agriculture flying school near Merigold (I remember Luther Brown pointing that out to us I think). What are the odds that the two same names are a coincidence? But he hasn’t been able to confirm his suspicions. He interviewed Dorr’s widow but she had no idea. We also met a new summer intern, Eric, for the Delta Blues Museum who is a student from Catawba College. He’s been on the job for 3 days now, but will be here a month and will get 6 credits for his efforts.

Once I finish this (in just a few minutes!) I’ll head back to my bin for the night. Lynn and I have separate bins tonight because each one has only one bed. We’ve been compatible travel companions and roommates, but we both agreed we don’t need to know each other that well!

Tomorrow, we start our journey home - the travel plan is 10 hours and stop overnight in Knoxville

Goodnight.

If I didn’t know much about the Blues before, I sure do now. We spent another day deep in Blues Country: Clarksdale, MS. Susan and I spent some time walking around the city. Clarksdale is surely a prime example of living social stratification. The fried green tomatoes at Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero Blues Club were so good that we had them not only for lunch, but also ate them as leftovers for dinner!

My favorite site was the Delta Blues Museum, where there was a stunning exhibit by photographer David Turnley on the Delta region and also a photo exhibit on “Delta Dogs” that made me homesick for ole Trixie, Elmo and our newcomer Beagle, Homer.

Our lodging for the night is (you’re reading this right) the Shack Up Inn. The adults (well, most of them) are staying in single “bins” at the newly rehabbed Cotton Gin section and the students are staying across the green in mostly authentic sharecropper shacks. Susan got right to work by re-setting the router so that we could all get wireless in or outside our shacks and keep up on our blogs for all of you. Here is Lynn at the Bin:

Home: none too soon!

Today was incredibly intense. We went to Parchman Prison to gain an understanding about what life in prison is like. I don’t guess that I’d ever really given it that much thought, so I didn’t go into it with very many expectations. What I saw and learned was deeply powerful. When we first got to Parchman, one of the prisoners came in and talked to us about his experience there. The stories he, and the other prisoners we spoke to throughout the day, told us were some of the most alarming I have ever heard.

I’ve never been to a prison before, most certainly not a farm prison like Parchman. It sits on 18,000 acres of land, most of which is farmland. They grown all sorts of crops, have catfish ponds, and have factory type jobs where the inmates work. So many thoughts went racing through my head when we drove past all these fields. I imagined all the men working in them, and the only images that flashed through my mind were ones of slavery. I know that these men committed crimes and should have to face the consequences, but after listening to them speak, I have to wonder about the levels that we consider to be humane treatment. We had a very interesting conversation yesterday about working in prisons. In many places, prisoners are paid a nominal wage for their services. It was interesting to hear both sides to this discussion, because I’m not sure how I feel about it. One side points out that these men are supposed to be facing punishment, so it makes little sense to take jobs away from people in the free world to give them to prisoners. The other side says that if we give prisoners a way to earn wages, when they get out, they will be less likely to return back to prison. While both are compelling arguments, I have to say that I think I would side with the second one. As a nation, the US outsources millions of low-wage jobs. If these jobs were instead given to prisoners, it would really help their families and it would increase the likelihood of them making it in the free world.

Another compelling thing I observed had to do with sentencing. It is so alarming to me the intensity of drug sentences, especially when they are taken in comparison to rapes, child molestations, and murders. Someone charged with manslaughter can be jailed for fifteen to twenty five years and someone in possession of crack cocaine can be in for forty…this just doesn’t seem logical to me. I am not advocating that drug users and dealers should not be punished, but more so am curious how we can weight that more heavily than someone who has taken a human life. Moreover, a child abuser serves an average of about 6 years, I think. Unfortunately, the victim of that crime serves a lifetime sentence. Many will relive the haunting images of that act every day for the rest of their lives. And this person only deserves to be punished for 6 years? I don’t think so…

When we first arrived at Parchman, the prisoner said something that really hit me hard. He said, “For us, every day is a life sentence, because we have no idea what tomorrow holds.” I can’t even fathom what it would feel like to live everyday with that burden.

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.