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Join us as we welcome W. RALPH EUBANKS in conversation with ARAM GOUDSOUZIAN on TUESDAY, JANUARY 26 at 6:00 PM to celebrate the release of his new book WHEN IT'S DARKNESS ON THE DELTA: HOW AMERICA'S RICHEST SOIL BECAME ITS POOREST LANDABOUT THE BOOK:
For readers of The Sum of Us and South to America, an essential new look at the roots of American inequality--and the seeds of its transformation
Once the powerhouse of a fledgling country's economy, the Mississippi Delta has been consigned to a narrative of destitution. It is often faulted for the sins of the South, portrayed as a regional backwater that willfully cleaved itself from the modern world. But buried beneath the weight of good ol' boy politics and white-washed histories lies the Delta's true story.
Mississippi native and award-winning writer W. Ralph Eubanks unearths the region's buried history, revealing a microcosm of economic oppression in the US. He traverses the Delta, examining its bellwether efforts to combat income inequality through vivid portraits of key figures like
- Theodore G. Bilbo and William Whittington, segregationist congressmen who sabotaged federal reparations for former sharecroppers in the 1940s and '50s
- Gloria Carter Dickerson, founder of the Emmett Till Academy, whose parents were instrumental in desegregating schools in Drew, MS, where Till was murdered
- Calvin Head, a community organizer who runs a farming co-op in Mileston, who revived the legacy of his hometown, the only Black resettlement community in Mississippi
Eubanks delivers a powerful and insightful examination of how racism and economic instability have shaped life in the Mississippi Delta. He traces the enduring consequences of political decisions that have entrenched inequality across generations. At the same time, he brings attention to the resilience of local communities and the grassroots movements working toward meaningful change. The book offers a thoughtful framework for policy reform and community investment, underscoring the need to support those who have long sustained the region through their labor and lived experience
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
W. Ralph Eubanks is a faculty fellow and writer in residence at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. He is the author of When It’s Darkness on the Delta as well as three other works of nonfiction: A Place Like Mississippi, The House at the End of the Road, and Ever Is a Long Time. He is a writer and an essayist whose work focuses on race, identity, and the American South, and his writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, the American Scholar, and the New Yorker. He is a 2007 Guggenheim fellow, a 2021-2022 Harvard Radcliffe Institute fellow, and the recipient of a 2023 Mississippi Governor’s Arts Award for excellence in literature and in recognition of his role as a cultural ambassador for the state of Mississippi. Eubanks is also the president of the Authors Guild.
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER:
Aram Goudsouzian is the Bizot Family Professor of History at the University of Memphis, where he writes and teaches about the twentieth-century United States with a focus on race, politics, and culture. His books include The Men and the Moment: The Election of 1968 and the Rise of Partisan Politics in America; Down to the Crossroads: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Meredith March Against Fear; and King of the Court: Bill Russell and the Basketball Revolution. He has also co-edited an essay collection with Charles McKinney, entitled An Unseen Light: Black Struggles for Freedom in Memphis, Tennessee, and collaborated on the graphic novel Man on a Mission: James Meredith and the Battle of Ole Miss.
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Event venue
387 Perkins Ext, Memphis, TN, United States, Tennessee 38117
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