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Center for the Study of Southern Culture

Our mission is to investigate, document, interpret, and teach about the American South through an interdisciplinary approach that reveals the cultural, historical, geographic, and demographic complexity of the region.

Frank Kirtley is a Methodist minister, living historian, and firearms enthusiast.  In this chapter of “Mississippi Stories”, Frank weaves his position on gun control through American history and his myriad of life experiences to explain why he is A REPRESENTATIVE OF MYSELF.

(Source: vimeo.com)

The Southern Foodways Alliance has a mission to “document, study, and celebrate the diverse food cultures of the changing American South.” What exactly does that mean? Here a new video, made by Joe York and Andy Harper of Media and Documentary Projects, answers the question.

WHOLE HOG, a 2006 film by Joe York, is a paean to the barbecue pitmasters, hog farmers, and butchers of rural western Tennessee, who everyday transform the lowly hog into the edible embodiment of two of the greatest human virtues, patience and hard work.  Ricky Parker, pitmaster of Scott’s BBQ, featured in the film, passed away recently.

(Source: vimeo.com)

A panel from the 2013 OCB on recent books on the civil rights movement.  From left:
Curtis Wilkie, moderator; Barbara Matusow editor of SCOOP: THE EVOLUTION OF A SOUTHERN REPORTER, a memoir by Jack Nelson; Michael V. Williams, author of MEDGAR EVERS: MISSISSIPPI MARTYR; and M. J. O’Brien, author of WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED: THE JACKSON WOOLWORTH’S SIT-IN AND THE MOVEMENT IT INSPIRED.

The opening talk of the 2013 Oxford Conference for the Book. W. Ralph Eubanks of the Library of Congress presents “Of Books and Libraries: Why Libraries, Publishing, and Storytelling Still Matter.”

The talk begins 6:45 minutes in, following introductions.

The 10th Annual Oxford Film Festival in association with the University of Mississippi’s Media & Documentary Projects Center presents a short film by Joe York about the joys and trials of being ten years old.

Philadelphia, Mississippi is notorious for the 1964 Civil Rights killings of Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney, and Michael Schwerner. In I CAN’T AFFORD TO FUMBLE THE BALL, Mayor James A. Young talks about the responsibility he feels as Philadelphia’s first black mayor and how the city has moved forward from its ignoble past.

A film by Rex Jones.

The video documentary, THE TROUBLE I’VE SEEN, was produced for the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice project at the Northeastern University School of Law.  It examines three cases of race-based murder from the pre-civil rights era, and efforts by NU School of Law students to seek justice for families and communities.  Optik Nerve took their cameras to Mississippi, Alabama and East Texas, to meet the victim’s families and members of the communities where the murders took place.  The program is tremendously moving as aged family members recount the stories of murder and justice denied.  Local officials also comment on the cases.  Professor Margaret Burnham puts these cases in their historical context and NU School of Law students review their work seeking restorative justice. The program has an outstanding music track featuring over 20 original cuts of delta blues performed on guitar and harmonica by Adam Gussow, of University of Mississippi with Bryan W. Ward, and Thaddeus Hogarth of Berkleee College of Music, Boston.  The music track also weaves in melodies from negro spirituals. Civil rights legend Julian Bond reads the narration.  The program was directed, written, designed and edited by Rebecca Miller of Optik Nerve and premiered at an event at Northeastern, January 18, 2013, honoring Dr. Martin Lurther King, and featuring the writer Toni Morrison.

David Frazier is a fly fisherman who favors the small rivers and streams of Mississippi. For him, it’s not necessarily about the catch, but the experience. Join him on the Chunky River one beautiful Fall morning to see why SIZE DON’T MATTER in this latest edition of Mississippi Stories.

(Source: olemissmedia.com)

The story of Leola Dillard, the centenarian community activist who founded the nationally recognized Make a Difference Day Free Flea Market in Yazoo City. A film by Rex Jones.

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