Mississippi
Landmarks fall, memories fade. Civil rights tourism may protect Mississippi history
Johnny Thomas, mayor of tiny Glendora, Miss., runs a small civil rights museum devoted to the Emmett Until story.
Kirk Siegler/NPR
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Johnny Thomas, mayor of tiny Glendora, Miss., runs a small civil rights museum devoted to the Emmett Until story.
Kirk Siegler/NPR
GLENDORA, Miss — On a distant nation freeway operating alongside the railroad tracks in Cash, Miss., a historic marker stands on a nook the place nature has overrun a constructing.
It is what’s left of Bryant’s Grocery, the shop the place Emmett Until, a 14-year previous Black teenager visiting from Chicago, allegedly flirted with the white feminine shopkeeper in 1955, a violation of the Jim Crow segregation code.
Days later, his disfigured physique — crushed, shot, and bloated — was pulled from the Tallahatchie River. The brutal killing sparked the fashionable civil rights motion.
However this key constructing within the Emmett Until story is crumbling.
It is within the coronary heart of the Mississippi Delta within the northwest a part of the state – the place cotton and soybean farms stretch so far as the attention can see. The area is a large, flat plain from Memphis, Tenn., to Vicksburg, Miss., alongside the Mississippi River, and it has massive claims to America’s Civil Rights historical past.
Preservationists say now’s the time to guard these endangered landmarks, and get firsthand accounts of the historical past earlier than recollections fade and buildings collapse. They’re hopeful new federal funding within the area may help make civil rights tourism an financial driver within the Delta and contribute to lifting communities out of deep-seated poverty.
“Effectively, the importance for this group could be remodeling,” says Johnny Thomas, the longtime mayor of the tiny all-Black city of Glendora, Miss.
He is the founding father of a museum right here referred to as the Emmett Until Historic Intrepid Heart. It is inside an previous cotton gin on property that was as soon as owned by considered one of Emmett Until’s murderers.
“Proper right here within the barn there he was crushed,” Thomas explains. “After which taken on what we name the path of terror.”
That path, he says, ended on a close-by bridge, now deserted and overgrown with grass. Thomas factors to a spot the place the bridge span is severed, recounting the native lore that that is the place the killers dumped Emmett Until into the Black Bayou with the load of an industrial cotton gin fan strapped to his physique.
“We are saying right here Emmett’s physique broke the bridge — the load that broke the bridge.”
The Black Bayou close to Glendora, Miss., the place it is believed that Emmett Until’s physique was dumped after his lynching in 1955.
Kirk Siegler/NPR
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The Black Bayou close to Glendora, Miss., the place it is believed that Emmett Until’s physique was dumped after his lynching in 1955.
Kirk Siegler/NPR
A few of the historic websites are chilling however arduous to search out
That is considered one of a number of websites that provides pause as you mirror on the Emmett Until story. However the one factor that ties them collectively are roadside historic markers for the Mississippi Freedom Path.
A serious state-funded civil rights museum is within the capital metropolis Jackson. However in little Delta cities, it is principally been native teams making an attempt to scrape collectively no matter they’ll by charging admission charges at volunteer-run museums or accumulating donations to keep up essential historic websites.
A latest examine by the Nationwide Park Service famous an absence of tourism infrastructure within the Delta, calling for extra funding and higher context displaying the importance of those locations in American historical past. Certainly, lots of the totally different websites are an hour or extra’s drive aside from each other, and a few really feel half-finished or uncared for.
Thomas is relying on that to vary, particularly with new cash coming into the area from the latest federal infrastructure regulation that he and others are hoping to faucet And there is lengthy been a push to create a federally-run Emmett Until Nationwide Historic District that may hyperlink key websites.
“We have been left behind,” he says. “We’re not benefiting as we must always with this historical past.”
The U.S. Census says 85% of individuals in Glendora dwell under the federal poverty line. Thomas, who’s 69, says not a lot has modified since he was a child. Throughout the Delta, the land and wealth stay largely within the palms of the minority white inhabitants.
Placing Black voices answerable for the narrative might assist shift the dynamic, says Rolando Herts, the director of the Delta Heart for Tradition and Studying at Delta State College in Cleveland, Miss.
“That is a part of the priority that we see now with civil rights heritage tourism now on the rise,” Herts says. “It is African American civil rights. However who might be answerable for that story? Who might be benefiting from the tales which might be being informed?”
Herts is working with native communities to focus on these tales and sew them collectively as a community via the Mississippi Delta Nationwide Heritage Space — a Nationwide Park service program that has already introduced hundreds of thousands in federal grants. He acknowledges it is a tall order.
“We’re creating areas for these communities to share their tales in a spot the place there was worry, there was disgrace round telling these tales,” Herts says.
When Felicia King inherited a small deserted house in Indianola, Miss., she did not initially notice its significance within the wrestle for equal rights within the Nineteen Sixties.
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When Felicia King inherited a small deserted house in Indianola, Miss., she did not initially notice its significance within the wrestle for equal rights within the Nineteen Sixties.
Kirk Siegler/NPR
A historic freedom home is near decay
Off a worn highway in a neighborhood close to downtown Indianola, Miss., a fragile clapboard home with a tarp over its roof stands under some sagging timber. Felicia King inherited the house from her household just a few years again.
“My grandfather constructed this home,” she says, stepping inside the place the floorboards are rotting away. “My dad’s dad — Estell ‘Tye’ King.”
She all the time thought this was only a rental home. However later in life she realized that it was really used as a freedom home, the native headquarters for SNCC — the Pupil Nonviolent Coordinating Committee throughout its Freedom Summer time Marketing campaign within the mid-Nineteen Sixties.
King says these had been harmful occasions within the Mississippi Delta making an attempt to get Black individuals registered to vote, including: “They killed individuals behind that.”
The Mississippi Heritage Belief lists Freedom Homes like this one as among the many most endangered locations within the state as a result of a variety of them didn’t survive the civil rights period.
“They had been firebombed and burned to the bottom,” says Lolly Rash, govt director of the Belief. “They are not there anymore for us to make use of that constructing to inform this story.”
Rash helped King get a federal grant to stabilize the Indianola home in hopes of sooner or later utilizing it as a group heart.
Contained in the deserted freedom home.
Kirk Siegler/NPR
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Contained in the deserted freedom home.
Kirk Siegler/NPR
“It is an essential a part of our cultural panorama,” Rash says. “So let’s put it aside and use it on this great approach that brings about group reconciliation.”
She calls new federal assets directed to the Delta “a Godsend.”
“There are alternatives on the market now that weren’t there a number of years in the past.”
King, meantime, has been pondering why, rising up, she by no means heard concerning the function her grandfather and this home performed within the civil rights motion.
“And the reply is as a result of it is painful,” she says.
Not up to now tense, however nonetheless right now.
“It is painful to speak about as a result of there are individuals which might be nonetheless dwelling who walked that stroll throughout that point,” King says. “And it was traumatic.”
She hopes the following era can take inspiration from how what occurred in Mississippi modified the course of American democracy.
“We matter; we’re essential; now we have worth right here,” King says. “As a result of what occurred right here has affected mainly the entire world.”
Herman Johnson in Mound Bayou, Miss., has hope {that a} burgeoning Civil Rights tourism path will carry a lift to his lengthy struggling hometown.
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Herman Johnson in Mound Bayou, Miss., has hope {that a} burgeoning Civil Rights tourism path will carry a lift to his lengthy struggling hometown.
Kirk Siegler/NPR
A retelling of historical past with an eye fixed towards unity
You’re feeling that sense of pleasure over in Mound Bayou, a close-by city based by previously enslaved individuals.
“You can’t inform African American historical past totally with out mentioning Mound Bayou,” Darryl Johnson says.
He and his brother, Herman, have used a grant from the Mississippi Delta Nationwide Heritage Space to amass an eclectic assortment of Americana in an previous highschool band room. It honors what their ancestors created from wilderness in 1887.
“Enslaved individuals had a imaginative and prescient,” Herman says. “And in that imaginative and prescient, they got here they usually based Mound Bayou – right here in probably the most inhospitable state within the nation.”
Throughout Jim Crow, the city thrived as a middle for Black enterprise – with its personal hospital, insurance coverage firms, credit score unions, and newspapers.
The Mississippi Delta is in considered one of nation’s most traditionally poor areas. The agricultural Delta is majority Black however a lot of the wealth continues to be managed by the minority White inhabitants.
Kirk Siegler/NPR
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Kirk Siegler/NPR
The Mississippi Delta is in considered one of nation’s most traditionally poor areas. The agricultural Delta is majority Black however a lot of the wealth continues to be managed by the minority White inhabitants.
Kirk Siegler/NPR
Like a lot of the Mississippi Delta, Mound Bayou will not be actually thriving right now. Darryl says new funding in civil rights tourism within the area could possibly be a lift regionally, however extra importantly, assist heal a divided individuals.
“If we inform this story,” he says. “We may help an entire nation and the entire world in understanding who the USA is.”
STARKVILLE – Mississippi State debuted 41 new players against Eastern Kentucky, including 23 transfers. But one of the biggest transfer portal additions wasn’t on the field and may not be again this week.
Senior receiver Kelly Akharaiyi was left off Mississippi State’s depth chart that was released and coach Jeff Lebby didn’t provide much clarity on the situation either.
“He’s getting closer and closer,” Lebby said at Tuesday morning press conference. “We need to be patient with him. We hope he has a good week and can create some confidence for himself more than anything. But I’m not ready to say he’s going to be available.”
Akharaiyi was one of the transfers most were looking forward to seeing in Lebby’s fast-paced, passing offense. But he was held out of season-opener for what was thought to be a minor injury. However, his uncertain status might be a sign of a more serious injury?
Or is Lebby playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham? We’ll found out soon enough.
QB1 – 2 Blake Shapen, 6-1, 210 lbs., Sr.
QB2 – 16 Chris Parson, 6-1, 215 lbs., Rs Fr.
or – 0 Michael Van Buren Jr., 6-1, 200 lbs., Fr.
RB1 – 24 Keyvone Lee, 6-0, 225 lbs., Sr.
-or- 21 Davon Booth, 5-10, 205 lbs., Sr.
RB2 – 20 Johnnie Daniels, 5-10, 200 lbs., Jr.
SLWR1 – 3 Kevin Coleman, 5-11, 180 lbs., Jr.
SLWR2 – 8 Creed Whittemore, 5-11, 185 lbs., So.
SLWR 3 – 80 Kade Kolka, 5-11, 190 lbs., Sr.
WR1 – 6 Jordan Mosley, 6-0, 195 lbs., Jr.
WR2 – 5 Stonka Burnside, 6-0, 200 lbs., Fr.
WR3 – 13 Sanfrisco Magee, 6-2, 200 lbs., Fr.
WR1 – 14 Trent Hudson 6-3 180 Jr.
WR2 – 7 Mario Craver 5-10 170 Fr.
WR3 – 11 Jaden Walley 6-0 190 Sr.
TE1 – 18 Seydou Traore, 6-4, 235 lbs., R-Jr.
– or – 84 Justin Ball, 6-6, 250 lbs., Sr.
TE2 – 86 Nick Lauderdale, 6-3, 225 lbs., Sr.
or – 10 Cameron Ball, 6-6, 250 lbs., So.
LT1 – 66 Makylan Pounders, 6-5, 310 lbs., Jr.
LT2 – 51 Luke Work, 6-6, 305 lbs., Fr.
– or – 74 Jimothy Lewis Jr., 6-6, 310 lbs., Fr.
LG1 – 75 Jacoby Jackson, 6-6, 320 lbs., Jr.
LG2 – 53 Malik Ellis, 6-5, 285 lbs., So.
C1 – 67 Ethan Miner, 6-2, 305 lbs., Sr.
C2 – 72 Canon Boone, 6-4, 315 lbs., Jr.
RG1 – 77 Marlon Martinez, 6-5, 320 lbs., Sr.
RG2 – 52 Grant Jackson, 6-6, 325 lbs., Sr.
RT1 – 76 Albert Reese IV, 6-7, 330 lbs., Jr.
RT2 – 55 Leon Bell, 6-8, 325 lbs., R-Jr.
RT3 – 78 Amari Smith, 6-7, 325 lbs., R-Fr.
DT1 – 22 Kedrick Bingley-Jones, 6-4, 310 lbs., Jr.
– or – 23 Trevion Williams, 6-4, 295 lbs., R-Fr.
DT2 – 98 Ashun Shepphard, 6-3, 280 lbs., Jr.
DT1 – 35 Kalvin Dinkins, 6-2, 315 lbs., So.
– or – 8 Sulaiman Kpaka, 6-3, 300 lbs., Sr.
DT2 – 92 Eric Taylor, 6-4, 310 lbs., Jr.
– or – 90 Kai McClendon, 6-2, 305 lbs., Fr.
DE1 – 9 De’Monte Russell, 6-4, 285 lbs., Sr.
DE2 – 91 Deonte Anderson, 6-3, 270 lbs., Jr.
– or – 46 Joseph Head Jr., 6-4, 240 lbs., R-Fr.
JLB1 – 11 Ty Cooper, 6-4, 245 lbs., Jr.
– or – 44 Branden Jennings, 6-3, 240 lbs., Jr.
JLB2 – 36 Donterry Russell, 6-4, 225 lbs., So.
MLB1 – 7 Stone Blanton, 6-2, 230 lbs., Jr.
MLB2 – 26 JP Purvis, 6-1, 245 lbs., Sr.
DLB1 – 40 Nic Mitchell, 6-2, 230 lbs., Jr.
– or – 5 John Lewis, 6-3, 240 lbs., Jr.
DLB2 – 16 Zakari Tillman, 6-2, 225 lbs., So.
FS1 – 2 Isaac Smith, 6-0, 205 lbs., So.
FS2 – 12 Tyler Woodard, 6-2, 200 lbs., Jr.
SS1 – 21 Hunter Washington, 5-11, 190 lbs., Jr.
SS2 – 27 Chris Keys Jr., 6-0, 190 lbs., Jr.
– or – 17 Jordan Morant, 6-0, 210 lbs., Sr.
CB1 – 1 Kelley Jones, 6-4, 195 lbs., R-Fr.
– or – 6 Traveon Wright, 6-0, 180 lbs., R-Fr.
CB2 – 13 Raydarious Jones, 6-2, 180 lbs., Sr.
– or – 18 Khamauri Rogers, 6-0, 180 lbs., So.
CB1 – 14 Brice Pollock, 6-1, 190 lbs., So.
CB2 – 4 DeAgo Brumfield, 6-0, 190 lbs., Sr.
K1 – 80 Kyle Ferrie, 6-1, 205 lbs., So.
K2 – 82 Nick Barr-Mira, 6-0, 185 lbs., Sr.
K3 – 49 Marlon Hauck, 6-3, 195 lbs., So.
P1 – 82 Nick Barr-Mira, 6-0, 185 lbs., Sr.
P2 – 83 Zach Haynes, 6-1, 195 lbs., Sr.
P3 – 88 Ethan Pulliam, 6-1, 190 lbs., R-Fr.
KO1 – 49 Marlon Hauck, 6-3, 195 lbs., So.
KO2 – 82 Nick Barr-Mira, 6-0, 185 lbs., Sr.
PR1 – 3 Kevin Coleman, 5-11, 180 lbs., Jr.
PR2 – 8 Creed Whittemore, 5-11, 185 lbs., So.
KR1 – 21 Davon Booth, 5-10, 205 lbs., Sr.
– or – 20 Johnnie Daniels, 5-10, 200 lbs., Jr.
– or – 3 Kevin Coleman, 5-11, 180 lbs., Jr.
Mississippi State at Arizona State: How to Watch Bulldogs Football vs the Sun Devils
Mississippi State vs Ole Miss: 2025 Recruiting Battle Heats Up
Mississippi State vs. Arizona State: Top 5 Sun Devils to Watch
Mississippi State at Arizona State, Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
BetMGM College Football Odds: Arizona State by 6 1/2.
Series record: First meeting.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Arizona State and Mississippi State both had dominant wins in the season-opening weekend and now have a tougher challenge when they face each other on Saturday night. The Sun Devils are trying to build off an impressive 48-7 win over Wyoming and prove they might be a factor in the Big 12 race. Arizona State has never beaten an SEC opponent. Mississippi State plays its second game under new coach Jeff Lebby. The Bulldogs beat Eastern Kentucky 56-7 in their season opener..
KEY MATCHUP
Mississippi State QB Blake Shapen vs. the Arizona State defense. The Sun Devils scored a touchdown on the second play of their opener when Zyrus Fiaseu picked off a pass and returned it to the end zone. It was one of two interceptions on the day for Arizona State. Shapen had a great debut against Eastern Kentucky but will face a much tougher defense on Saturday.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Mississippi State: Shapen had a terrific first game with the Bulldogs, throwing for 247 yards and three touchdowns while also running for 44 yards and a TD against Eastern Kentucky. The 6-foot-1 senior played the previous three college seasons at Baylor with mixed success. Shapen has thrown a TD pass in 12 consecutive games dating to this time at Baylor in 2022.
Arizona State: RB Cam Skattebo led a balanced rushing attack against Wyoming, gaining 49 yards and scoring a touchdown. Skattebo was a do-it-all player for Arizona State last year, spending time at quarterback, running back and receiver. The Sun Devils might not need him to be as versatile this season, but he’s still a threat from just about anywhere on the field.
FACTS & FIGURES
Mississippi State had six different players score touchdowns against Eastern Kentucky. … The Bulldogs’ 93.7 passing grade in the opener was the second-best mark in all of the FBS, trailing only Purdue, according to Pro Football Focus. … Mississippi State’s Kevin Coleman Jr. returned five punts for 117 yards last week. … Arizona State was credited with just two missed tackles on defense in the opener, tied for the third-lowest tally among FBS schools. … Skattebo is 270 rushing yards away from reaching 3,000 in his career. He is 342 all-purpose yards away from reaching 4,000 and 202 receiving yards away from reaching 1,000.
___
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STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football is preparing to play a team that, at least through one game, looks vastly improved from last season.
Coach Jeff Lebby admitted on Monday, and Bulldog players have noticed it too after Arizona State (1-0) thumped Wyoming 48-7 in its opener.
MSU (1-0) must also factor in the late kickoff that is scheduled Saturday (9:30 p.m. CT, ESPN) at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Mississippi is hot, but so is Arizona — a different kind of hot, too.
Modifications and remedies are being made, such as the team leaving Starkville on Thursday instead of how it normally would on a Friday for a Saturday game.
“For our guys, just knowing exactly what we are getting into,” Lebby said. “We continue to talk about that through yesterday and this morning and (are) having those conversations to understand what it’s going to look like late in the week. We got to do a great job from a preparation standpoint of how we are hydrating, how we are eating and how we are resting to give us the ability to go on the road on this flight and be able to be at our best Saturday night.”
Just this week, Phoenix broke a record with its 100th straight day of 100-degree temperatures. According to AccuWeather, the high on Saturday in Tempe will be 107 degrees with a low of 86. The temperature should dip to around 91 near kickoff with a humidity of 24%.
“Coach Lebby has already been harping on that,” tight end Justin Ball said. “We’ve already been hydrating and making sure we are getting rest every single day. We leave on Thursday, so we already talked about the plan to make sure we are hydrating the entire plane ride there, making sure when we get there we get acclimated as quickly as you can and just staying together. Making sure we’re focused, make sure we keep the goal first and then execute the game plan.”
MORE: Jeff Lebby says Mississippi State football didn’t put on a good enough show. Here’s how he’s wrong
Mississippi State played well the last time it played in Arizona
The Bulldogs played Arizona in Tucson two seasons ago. They squandered a pedestrian Wildcats team 39-17. Kickoff for that game was at 8 p.m. PST though the temperature was 84 degrees at game time.
Not many players remain on Mississippi State’s roster from that 2022 season. But the ones who are, like linebacker Nic Mitchell, can benefit from the experience and also share it with teammates.
“We know it’s going to be a long flight, so we know we got to be hydrated,” Mitchell said. “It gives people experience that have done it before and they can tell the young guys how it’s going to be in the flight, how you got to hydrate and stuff like that.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
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