Day 4 : Tour Jackson

Once awake on day four of my journey I will begin to tour the places of Jackson in hopes to see what type of childhood Richard Wright may of had and what influenced him to say the things he did about the South. I will likely ask around the town if anyone know if his family still lives here although research has shown that his only true roots to his past are his old schools and the Rucker's Plantation where he was born. I will want to start my day by going to the grounds of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Although it will not be completed until the year 2016 and postponing my journey till then would be rather drastic; the progress on the museum and their plans for what to include will be an interesting thing to see as this will provide valuable insight to the history of Mississippi in one of its most crucial developments and will likely show things seen in Wright's novel. Wright depicted black men and women holding occupations as maids, industrial workers, sharecroppers, and working the cotton fields. The pictures illustrated in his novel will be of use to compare to what I see depicted throughout my trip.

What the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum will look like.

Pictures such as this is what I will mainly be looking for as they illustrate the many black people of the South working on the land. Wright shows them throughout his novel in many occupations but mostly details that of sharecroppers and cotton field workers. During this day I will think hard on how difficult it must of been to work outside in the hot sun of the South day after day in an effort to better your family's position in society. The Civil Rights Movement was an upfront era of activism that came about after the age of slavery and Queen Cotton. Although the cotton industry still existed it was not as brutal as it once was especially with the introduction of the cotton gin. Next on my trip I will visit the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center which celebrates the contributions African Americans have made to society through art, artifacts, photography, work, lifestyle, and music. The museums aim is to give the visitor a greater understanding of the African-American experience in the Deep South. This is exactly what I am looking for on my trip and I hope to find depictions there similar to this which Wright provided in his work. This picture shows the family at home sitting at the dinner table with newspapers for a tablecloth. Most interesting about this picture is the fact that all the children are reading a book and to me this shows a past education and a desire to learn more.

http://www.city.jackson.ms.us/visitors/museums For southern style cooking and live music I will go to Hal & Mals for lunch which is a hidden restaurant in Jackson.

After a satisfying lunch I plan on heading to the Farish Street Baptist Church and speaking to the staff there about its establishment in 1893 and its role towards the community during the 1920's and 1960's. I believe one of the best ways to get the truth out of a cities history is by talking to the people who live there rather than just what a tour group has to say since they are always trying to better the image of the city despite its past. The Freedom Riders comes to my mind when I think of activism and Jackson, Mississippi. One interesting but appalling fact I found out when talking to staff at the church over the phone is how during the Freedom Rider's trip to Jackson, many were arrested and put into jail. While in jail the mosquitoes were so bad that the jailers doused the Freedom Riders with DDT. As many people know today, DDT is a banned substance that is known to be a carcinogen and a cause for many animals near extinction including the bald eagle. Later on this day I will head to the Monument of Medgar Evans who was a Civil Rights activist and veteran of World War II. I see this man as a figurehead of the movement as he was a strong leader in society. He was know to investigate into the Emmett Till murder and unfortunately he was assassinated at his home by a man opposed to his activism. He was later buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

Dinner this day will be at Peaches Cafe which serves traditional Soul food. On the way I will listen to Misty Blue by Dorothy Moore as it was a predominant R&B song rooted in the South. As I drive I will look at the landscape and the buildings and compare them to that which I saw in "12 Million Black Voices", if I come across a field or a farm I will wonder if that once served as a bastion for the cotton industry or if sharecroppers worked the land there. After an early dinner at around 4 in the afternoon I will head to the Rosswood Plantation near Natchez and Vicksburg in order to spend some time at an old plantation with rich history. My other choice for a plantation would have been the Dockery Plantation near Cleveland but it was out of the way and Richard Wright's family at one point moved to Natchez which is right where this plantation is. http://www.rosswood.net/ It is a bed and breakfast so I do not need to worry about my meal in the morning or a place to sleep. My budget at this time along with money saved for gas and food is nearing $1000 so my budget is only half done. The plantation will provide me insight into the southern life especially that of a plantation that specialized in cotton which Richard Wright said ruled the land. The cotton days of this plantation are long gone but I am sure I will see plenty of artifacts to what once took place. The plantation during the Civil War was used as a hospital and was the site of a battle. Staying here for this day will bring the pictures and stories in "12 Million Black Voices" to life and enable me to place myself in their shoes in a sense.