Civil rights tourism may safeguard the history of Mississippi

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

From all over the world, the Mississippi Delta draws blues fans. Also, the Delta is a big part of the civil rights story of America. Few locals of Mississippi are keen to entwine both things together in a profound way. Debbie Elliott of NPR covers the American South, and Kirk Siegler reports on countryside of America. From the Mississippi Delta, they have this report:

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE: As the fable goes, Robert Johnson, the blues man, had traded his soul to the Clarksdale evil spirit.

ROBERT JOHNSON: He went to the juncture where he fell down on his knees.

ELLIOTT: The Highway 61 and 49, that precise crossroads from Memphis, is only about an hour’s drive, in the enormous, pancake-flat Mississippi Delta.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: Today, Clarksdale is all in on blues tourism. It’s a way to assist this struggling rural region for a long time.

SIEGLER: You walk next to John Lee Hooker Lane. You feel the chills and memories with all the history here and the legit juke joints with live blues at night like ground Zero and Red’s.

ELLIOTT: Shabby sofas and classic concert posters give signal to anyone inside Ground Zero from the wide front portico.

TAMEAL EDWARDS: This is Ground Zero – the writing on the walls, the tablecloths not matching the ambience, the flags and all the enigmatic lights of Christmas.

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