People sometimes ask me what it’s like to live in Cleveland. Back home no one can imagine living in Mississippi. Even other folks I’ve met in the South can’t imagine living here. Mississippi in general, and the Delta in particular, have such a reputation that people just can’t picture themselves here. That the local culture…
Cleveland has a lot to offer for a small town. There are restaurants, shops, bars, hotels, a university, even museums. Given that the population is only about 13,000 people, it’s very impressive. Furthermore there is a strong community. The people seem genuinely happy and the problems of the world very far away. Cleveland is a…
Every place has a culture. Mannerisms, customs, traditions, and ways of doing things all vary between nations, states, regions, families, and towns. The variety of cultures across the world is fascinating in all its diversity. The same holds true in our country. The culture of New York is not the same as California, which is…
A year and a half ago, I wrote that Cleveland is a divided land. The legacy of segregation is clearly on display. The white community and the black community seem to exist in largely separate spheres, interacting only at Delta State, Walmart, and Kroger. Otherwise people live their lives totally apart. I haven’t…
One of the first things I noticed about the Delta was how isolated it is. The nearest large city, Memphis, is over 100 miles away. It is also here that ones finds the closest national airport. The only chain stores around are Kroger, Walmart, and various fast food resturants. Even the major internet service…
The Atlantic recently ran an article about the Delta. Titled “How White Flight Ravaged the Mississippi Delta” it chronicles how the out migration of affluent white residents has hurt the region. The tl;dr version is: a lot. Driving through the Delta feels like stepping back in time. This part of the country feels frozen in…
A few weeks ago there was an interesting op-ed from the Advocate titled “No, the South Isn’t a ‘New Frontier’ for LGBT Rights”. The authors points out that there are plenty of people already fighting for those rights, but they don’t make the news (although the Campaign for Southern Equality did so last week) ….