Been Down into the South

Friday, May 16, 08
David James here

Photograph by Sara Jane Lowe, of the crowd of us singing in Hollis Watkins's office. See below to listen to the song.

When I was growing up, and in the '60s, or on through my activist life, I'm not sure I would ever have said I miss Mississippi. The place held for me the image of too much fear, too much baggage of murder, racism, and you-name-it all around hell for progressive Blacks and whites. This evening, in Selma, Alabama, I can honestly say I ALREADY MISS MISSISSIPPI!

It has wormed its way into my heart. I love the people we met. I love the friends we made. I'd love to go back again. Today, former Governor William Winter said it was a new day in Mississippi, and he was proud of the race relations, proud of how much the political system in Mississippi has opened up and become more reflective of the racial and class population demographics. Of course the state is still dreadfully poor, but at least you've a start when people of the quality of those we have met are holding office and planning for the state's future.

This morning we covered a march route followed by Jackson State University students and others after the June ’63 murder of Medgar Evers. We spent some time at the Masonic Temple/NAACP office just beyond the university, where Medgar worked and where his funeral was held, then marched—or more properly put for our group—strode, strung-straggled toward the State Capitol, passing by the very important COFO—Council of Federated Organizations—office on Lynch Street.

We drove—or rather Tony drove and we rode—to the Southern Echo office, where two—at least—very skilled activists from the SNCC/CORE days are still at work doing leadership training for indigenous activists, and other great work in Mississippi. Their home page is: http://www.southernecho.org/
check 'em out.

Hero #1: Jimmy Travis: Has transformed his activities from the civil rights movement to the human rights movement and HIV-AIDS education.

Hero #2: Hollis Watkins – Says, communicate with people, if it’s about sharing it’s about life experience – cause a positive experience to make the person you’re communicating with take one step beyond where they are to make the world a better place. In order to do that we have to share our life experiences.

In answer to Dane’s “most important issue question” [Dane has been asking everyone we have interviewed what he or she thought were the most important issues in which the young people of today should be involved] – Watkins answer was the issue they [the activists of today] define for themselves. Determine what you (they) want to start with – find someone else who’s interested and move the process. See how it has the interconnections with the other important issues.

Jimmy Travis’s answer – come back to Mississippi in march to the conference, last one was Mar. 27-29, 2008 – they will have the DVDs of presentations and workshops of this last one available through Hollis Watkins and Southern Echo.

Then the fun began in earnest. Mr. Watkins feels the singing is very important to the movement, so we sang, as an opener, Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round. He came back with the SNCC adaptation of Harry Belafonte’s Banana Boat Song, Freedom Coming and It Won’t Be Long. Then he taught us one I have not heard before, Been Down Into the South. I had the good fortune of recording it (and having no glitches) so HERE it is if you are interested, right from the conference room of Southern Echo! Hollis Watkins, Jimmy Travis and the Freedom Summer 08 Singing Chorus (that is, all of us). That's what we're doing in the

We left the Southern Echo office and drove to Schimmel’s Restaurant in Jackson where we had a wonderful lunch (best coffee—besides mine—that I’ve had in a long time) and an encounter with former Governor of Mississippi, William Winter.

The Measure of our Days: Writings of William F. Winter. Ed. by Andrew P. Mullins, Jr.

The Governor lists among his most important accomplishments that he worked for a strong bi-racial coalition from '65 forward until '79 when he gained the governorship. He is proudest of his work for education – he established full day kindergarten in Mississippi. “Break the cycle of cultural deprivation . . . get the children prepared intellectually and physically . . . to absorb the knowledge. We have to attract more of our best and brightest to the classroom and give them support in the classroom to transform the social background of the children.”

The Governor described his political career in the Mississippi legislature as a “moderate” who managed to avoid being run out of the state during the civil rights era, and later during his tenure as governor founded an institute for racial reconciliation. The bus has been buzzing with controversy since, over whether he should be judged for not speaking out unequivocally during that time. But he maintained that he swallowed a lot in order to retain his political career and eventually become able to do what he wanted, what he thought was right. He described a process whereby the virulent racists would box he and other moderates in a corner where they were forced to support segregationist programs or expose themselves, and be run out of office.

He said, of those who fled the cities and established private schools, “People remove themselves from the opportunity to associate with people who are different from them.” Nicely put. “If Obama can be elected it will change the whole paradigm of race relations in the United States.”