26 min
6 / Leflore County: A Road to Redemption (or Damnation) in Mississippi's Most Violent County The DETOURIST
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- Places & Travel
In this dispatch from our virtual road trip through the American South, we travel north from Greenwood into Leflore County, once the most violent county in Mississippi. We encounter overlooked and forgotten stories, including the history of African American emigration, memory and willful amnesia on Money Road, and how a forgotten massacre in the 19th century and generations of anti-Black violence in Leflore County helped to create the culture that enabled the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till. Join us as we run up against the persistent genie-souls of the Mississippi Delta, who continue to turn everything upside-down.
[0:00] Two Roads Diverged in Greenwood
[0:43] The Evacuation of Leflore County
[1:59] Losing it All on the Money Road
[3:34] Choosing What to Remember and What to Forget in Money
[7:20] The Most Violent County in Mississippi
[8:06] Why We Need to Remember Emmett Till
[9:34] The Forgotten Massacre of Leflore County
[18:15] The Power of Memory and the Danger of Forgetfulness
[22:46] A Hall of Injustice Becomes a House of Praise
Get full access to The DETOURIST at adeepersouth.substack.com/subscribe
In this dispatch from our virtual road trip through the American South, we travel north from Greenwood into Leflore County, once the most violent county in Mississippi. We encounter overlooked and forgotten stories, including the history of African American emigration, memory and willful amnesia on Money Road, and how a forgotten massacre in the 19th century and generations of anti-Black violence in Leflore County helped to create the culture that enabled the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till. Join us as we run up against the persistent genie-souls of the Mississippi Delta, who continue to turn everything upside-down.
[0:00] Two Roads Diverged in Greenwood
[0:43] The Evacuation of Leflore County
[1:59] Losing it All on the Money Road
[3:34] Choosing What to Remember and What to Forget in Money
[7:20] The Most Violent County in Mississippi
[8:06] Why We Need to Remember Emmett Till
[9:34] The Forgotten Massacre of Leflore County
[18:15] The Power of Memory and the Danger of Forgetfulness
[22:46] A Hall of Injustice Becomes a House of Praise
Get full access to The DETOURIST at adeepersouth.substack.com/subscribe
26 min