Welcome to Mississipi, part 2

Rebekah:

We went to Jackson Mississippi to visit my God-Brother Jed. Jed works for the Southern Poverty Law Center. He is an amazing warrior for justice. He helps young people, he protests against unjust laws, he organizes to better the community, and he and his labor organizer housemate go around the city and gorilla plant trees in their spare time.

This Is Jed In His House, Clearly Busy Organizer Types Live There

Elijah:

Jed loves Jackson.

His house, in a neighborhood full of beautiful trees, is an adorable white craftsman.

Elijah Backing the Trailer Into the Fence-less Backyard, The Neighbors Greeted Us Nicely

He was thrilled to see us, took us to eat fried catfish, to the capitol, to see several civil rights sites including Medger Evers house.

There Are Civil Rights Walk Sites All Over Jackson

On The Side Window Of Medgar Evers Old House Is This Display of the Details of His Murder

It's A Brilliant Use of Place, The Information Gains Poignancy By Being On An Average Looking Home

This Is  a Civil Rights Monument At Freedom Corner, There Is Another One Across the Street. Jed Explained How This Is Due To Politicking Amongst Different Groups

In Downtown Jackson We Saw the Place Where the Freedom Riders Arrived In Jackson In 1961

The Building Is Now Offices For An Architectural Firm

A Mural At the Cultural Center Honors Richard Wright

Just Around the Corner Is a Row of Empty Houses, The Contradiction of the City

And Just a Few Blocks Away From That the Capitol Building

Jed Tells Us It Is The Only One In the Country Whose Eagle Faces South, It Also Has the Confederate Flag Flying

We learned about how the roads in Jackson are terrible because the mud is alive, and as soon as a road is built it starts to flex and heave.

If you visit someone like Jed in Mississippi, you feel so incredibly welcome that you don't want to leave. And everyone we talked to after the police officer who welcomed us to the state was warm and sociable and a delight.

If you ever get a chance to visit a friend in Jackson, you should seize the opportunity to visit a city that is full of charm and history.

Rebekah:

Mississippi is a fascinating contradiction, as I imagine much of the south is. The legal controls and still obvious race and class issues stands in stark contrast to the generous and friendly character of the people. Most of the time I was in the state I felt like I was holding my breath a little, but my guard went down completely with every human interaction. Even the cop who pulled us over had trouble not being friendly once we got him talking about kids and museums, even with his possibly long list of discretionary possibilities for giving us a hard time. Of course if we had been of color, or if he had noticed the communist propaganda on my purse we probably would have been dealing with an entirely different man. Even so, several times I was almost tempted to take Jed up on his offer to just buy the house for sale down the street from him, near the really cool playground with the zip-line.

Hannah and I Felt So At Home We Were Able To Really Relax

The city may be falling apart in a lot of places, and the rest of the state may have serious dislike for Jackson, but the old architecture is beautiful and just around the corner from Jed's house is Eudora Welty's old house, next to a extremely conservative private university, such interesting contradictions.

Welcome to Mississippi, part 1

Five minutes into Mississippi, a police officer pulled up behind us. He sat there, investigating us. That 2-3 minutes where they sit on your tail and let you know you're being investigated.

Lights. Pull over to the shoulder.

Sit on the shoulder for a while.

Finally he ambles over and asks for Rebekah's license and insurance. Calls in Rebekah's license number on his computer. Stares at our meaningless insurance certificate. Asks us if we know why he pulled us over.

My theory? cause he wanted to make sure we knew we were in Mississippi. That he had more power than we did in this situation. "No sir, why?" I asked.

No license plates.

On account of we're in a suspicious looking brand new minivan and we haven't gotten our plates yet. We point to the temporary registration sticker in the front window.

We learn that in Mississippi, out-of-state temporary registration stickers are not held in high regard. The police officer talks about "sovereignty". I point out that in California getting plates can take a few weeks (later, we look at the DMV site and learn that they recommend giving them a phone call if you don't receive plates within 8 weeks).

"So what's the next step?" I ask. I'm thinking about the cousin vinnie movie, the mississippi mud, going to court, Marisa Tomei's biological clock. Yes, I feel like I'm in a foreign country.

When asked, we explain to the police officer that we're on our way to the smithsonian, to show the kids. He talkes about getting stuck looking at dinosaurs with his kids. Almost like we're having a connection? Hard to say.

It turns out he has discretion. He's going to let us go. Which was nice, but it was unnerving to know that driving a new car that doesn't have license plates yet is against the law in Mississippi. What if officer was having a bad day? What if our skin wasn't white? What if our three kids in the back weren't so cute? I'm not a big fan of discretion.

I'm trying to be polite. We're on our way to the capital, Jackson. So I ask him, "So what do you recommend doing with kids in Jackson?"

"Stay in your hotel room" he says. Completely serious. He doesn't like Jackson. We later learn that this is a common sentiment in certain parts of Mississippi. Race and class probably play a role (Jackson is mostly poor and black).

So lets sum up our welcome to Mississipi: we got pulled over for driving a new car, and were advised to stay in our hotel room when we got to the capital. Yes, we were completely creeped out. Yes, we will have mixed feelings about recommending Mississippi to anybody who asks. On the off chance we're talking about people who want to know whether to visit Mississippi.

Eli Reports On the Coming Storm

There is a tropical storm coming and people are calling it Isaac. It seems to be following us. It might turn in to a hurricane. Here is a list of islands it has hit so far: Montserrat, Dominica, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, and the Bahamas, also Florida. I learned about the storm five days ago. Part of Florida was evacuated. I am hoping that the storm does not kill anyone. We are trying to stay away from the storm. We will drive east tomorrow.

School has started

The playground near where we're staying in Jackson is empty but for Eli, Izzy, and Hannah