ITTA BENA— Mississippi Valley State University is excited to continue its partnership with Khafre, Inc., da’ House of Khafre, and the Mississippi Humanities Council to host the sixth annual “Cotton Kingdom/Sweat Equity Symposium and Cotton Pickers’ Ball.”
Since its inception, the symposium has served as America’s premier interdisciplinary conference on the Cotton Kingdom, exploring sharecropping, tenant farming and the significance of cotton to the successes of both American and European economies.
Last year’s symposium achieved a record-breaking with over 500 attendees, bringing together eight universities, five school districts, two local municipalities, numerous area churches and visitors from 12 cities
This year’s conference, slated for Nov. 9-10 on MVSU’s campus, promises to be no exception.
Themed “Field Hollers and Freedom Songs,” the two-day event will reveal historical truths about the horrors of oppressed African Americans and their ability to cope in spite of their living and working conditions.
The event will also reflect on the historic preservation efforts underway at MVSU. All activities are free and open to the general public.
“The voices of African Americans who labored in the cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta have lay silent for too long,” said MVSU’s Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Constance Bland. The Sweat Equity/Cotton Symposium provides a forum for their stories, contributions, and legacies to be shared and learned.”
Organizer Dr. C. Sade Turnipseed, an assistant professor of history at MVSU and the executive director of Khafre, Inc., said the event will demonstrate how, through interpreted narratives, historians and truth seekers may assess social remedies through cultural investments already made, and thereby have authentic resources to achieve the requisite knowledge for sustainable change within our local communities and throughout the world.
“The Mississippi Delta and the South overall is a cotton pickin’ culture,” said Turnipseed. What is more interesting is the fact that the uniqueness of this region is what many people love best about the American culture and that it is all sourced in cotton.”
According to Turnipseed, the annual event is designed to preserve the history as well as honor the legacy of cotton pickers.
“The body of research presented in this year’s symposium is dedicated to the ancestors and elders who once lived, worked and played in their shotgun houses surrounded by cotton fields, and somehow imagined a brighter day—not for themselves, but for their progeny,” she said. This effort not only thanks them for their work but also promises to give them the dignity of proper research, sincere analysis, and truthful documentation that reflects a measure of love and respect they so rightfully deserve.”
The event will kick-off at noon Thursday, Nov. 9, with a special brown-bag “Art Talk” featuring Mississippi-native Blues Historian Ben Payton and MVSU Speech Communication Professor Barbara Baymon.
The symposium will continue from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, with a special exhibition, including theatrical excerpts, story-telling quilts and historical artifacts that detail slave chains, field hollers and freedom songs.
Both event will be hosted in the Social Sciences Auditorium, located on MVSU’s main campus.
Dr. Curressia Brown, acting chair of MVSU’s Department of Business Administration, will serve as the facilitator.
“The overall goal of the symposium is to unapologetically present the stories of the Delta residents/sharecroppers, et al, in an academic environment as evidence of empowerment for the Cotton Picker narrative,” said Brown. It is critical that we include traditionally excluded points of views and demonstrate inclusiveness as an ideal method of obtaining a collective wisdom for the benefit of us all.”
The event will wrap-up Friday, Nov. 10, with the 6th annual “Cotton Pickers Ball and Ancestral Celebration.”
Hosted at 7 p.m. at the da’ House of Khafre, located at 300 Main Street in downtown Indianola, the celebration will include a special pouring of libation.
Blues and gospel music will be performed, and attendees will enjoy an elaborate selection of gourmet appetizers and “field food” courtesy of Betty’s Place of Indianola.
Inverness-based event designer Linda Rule will provide the décor.
Although a “black-tie” affair, organizers said overalls, period piece costumes and other “cotton pickin’ attire” are strongly encouraged.
Mississippi Valley State University is a Carnegie Classified Master's University that provides comprehensive undergraduate and graduate programs in education, the arts and sciences, and professional studies.
Khafre, Inc. is a non-profit organization engaged in community outreach and operates as a repository and distributor of information on the beauty and talent of and within the Mississippi Delta.
“The partnership formed between MVSU and Khafre, Inc. validates the notion that a tribute and monument to sharecroppers and cotton pickers are not just significant, but long overdue. Honoring the legacy of ‘grandmamma-nem’ in a university setting gives artistic and academic license to the pursuit of gaining more scholarship and international acceptance, of the contributions and sweat equity made by the people who picked cotton throughout the American South,” said Turnipseed.
The symposium and Cotton Pickers’ Ball are organized in support of the Cotton Pickers of America Monument and Sharecroppers Interpretive Center.
For more information about the project, visit www.cottonpickers.us or www.khafreinc.org.
For questions about the symposium/reception, contact Turnipseed at (662) 347-8198 or sade@khafreinc.org.
For questions about the Cotton Pickers Ball, contact Linda Rule at (662) 635-3311 or rocrule01@gmail.com.
Presenters for the 6th annual “Cotton Kingdom/Sweat Equity Symposium will include:
Avotcja—Oakland, CA Poet Laureate Avotcja will visit the Delta, for the first time, to present her highly acclaimed repertoire of poetry to a Mississippi audience.
“Stories from da Dirt”— Directed by Kansas City-based former professor of African American Studies Dr. Nancy J. Dawson, the performance includes music, dance and historical lectures about the enslavement as well as other aspects of the historic African American experience. This program sheds new light on African American resistance through a combination of drama, music, drumming, quilting and dance combined. This multi-dimensional approach to Africana expressive culture is an under researched, undocumented scholarly area. However, it is significant because it provides cultural awareness, healing, transformation and hope – which are essential to the success of disenfranchised communities.
Dr. John Weiss and MVSU “Sweat Equity” Singers— Under the directions of Dr. John Weiss, the Valley “Sweat Equity” Singers will present, in the original Zulu language, the South African traditional song “Ukuthula” (We Find Peace), arranged by Andre’ van der Merwe. Valley Singer Morgan Johnson will serve as the soloist.
Carla Keaton—Owner of “Keaton Fine Art: A Global Encounter” in Phoenix Ariz, Keaton will present a series of 12 triptych's pieces from her collection that reflect stories of four individuals interviewed from Mississippi. A descendant of Mississippi cotton pickers, Keaton states, “I am a product of my grandmother and her circumstances.”
Dr. John Zheng, chair of the MVSU English department, will facilitate a photographic panel on the Delta Blues, presented by MVSU students.
Agnolia B. Gay—A parent, educator, student advocate, speech and drama coach, director, poet and writer, Gay will represent the Theatre Central Region of Little Rock, Ark. as well as teach a unique art integration that can be used in the classroom and transferred to the community.
Dr. Delridge La Veon Hunter, Ph. D, MSCMH, CRC—Dr. Hunter will present a scholarly post-lunch retort entitled, “Ring Shout: A Detail of a Ritual Dance-Song Dynamic The alienated soul-spirit, 1830’s: The beginning of music as we know it today.” Hunter will share his insights on how the necessity to express the alienation, estrangement, depression, self-hatred and wanting to kill somebody ironically kept hope alive.
Dorothy Hoskins— The Hollandale, Miss.-based folk artist will present clay figurines, straw shotgun houses, dolls and other examples of fine Mississippi Delta art.
Helen Sims—The Belzoni, Miss. native will present a tribute to “the spirit of Mama Lula.”
Claudia Stack—The filmmaker will share an excerpt from her newly released film, “SHARECROP.” The excerpt from the short film will focus on Sylvester Hoover's experiences growing up as part of a sharecropping family near Greenwood, MS. The film also features oral histories from nine other sharecroppers from throughout the American South and those who produced a variety of agricultural marketable crops.
Betty Crawford—The Marks, Miss. native will debut and display a phenomenal blues quilt entitled, "Why So Blue.'' The quotes embedded on the quilt will answer the question of the title. The majority of the stories are about sharecroppers in the Mississippi Delta and from them having the “blues” from hard labor out in the hot cotton fields. This quilt is the result of four years of labor. Crawford said it was “priceless bittersweet moments sitting and listening to men and women as they shared their stories.”
Dr. C. Sade Turnipseed—An assistant professor of history at MVSU, Turnipseed will explore the narrative of “Field Hollers and Freedom Songs” and its impact on contemporary cultural expressions.
Gentry High School Choir—The Indianola, Miss-based high school choir will perform a medley of African American spiritual songs