According to Greenville writer David L. Cohn, the Mississippi Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee and ends on Catfish Row in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The geographically isolated “Delta”, as called by locals, is an alluvial plain used historically for cotton plantations in northwestern Mississippi along the Mississippi River. It is deeply complicated place – home in the nineteenth century to hundreds of white millionaires who created their wealth on the backs of African Americans. In the twentieth century, socioeconomic inequity and Jim Crow hamstrung Black communities, the effects of which are still felt today. Blacks and whites often are educated in unequal institutions, worship and socialize in different locations, and often lead separate lives in many Delta communities.
The beauty and the cultural richness of Delta are palpable. The proximity to the Mississippi River attracted Chinese, Lebanese, Italian, and Jewish immigrants, which in turn shaped the local cuisine and the regional economy. Many of the most celebrated blues musicians of the twentieth century were born in Coahoma, Issaquena, Tunica, Yazoo, and Sunflower counties. Established by former slave Isaiah T. Montgomery in 1887 as an autonomous, resilient, visionary all- Black community in the middle of Mississippi, Mound Bayou served as a beacon for African Americans during Jim Crow and was influential to Medgar Evers’ evolution as a civil rights activist. Tennessee Williams based much of his work on his childhood experiences in and around Clarksdale, and mentioned Moon Lake Casino in nearly every play. Storytelling and folklore are hugely important in Mississippi communities, and the best storytellers I know are Mississippi Deltans.
Mississippi has over 130 cypress swamps dotted throughout the landscape. These magical swamps provide refuge to large animal populations, as well as sites of eco-tourism for paddlers and fishermen.
Magical in their own right, many of these ancient Mississippi cypress trees are over 1000 years old. They are super trees: they trap pollutants; suck up floodwaters (up to hundreds of gallons a day per tree); are rot and pest-resistant; house black bears in their hollow cavities; provide good living for alligators, amphibians, waterfowl, and raptors; and they look cool as hell.
If you’ve ever spent time in the Mississippi Delta, you likely noticed, among other things, the presence of tamales on nearly every menu and tamale stands in most towns. Sometimes literally driving down the highway.
A Delta staple, tamales are as prevalent as booze and catfish, and folks across the world visit the Delta to take advantage of the Tamale Trail and the Delta Hot Tamale Festival.
According to Amy C. Evans, oral historian for the Southern Foodways Alliance, “The history of the hot tamale in the Mississippi Delta reaches back to at least the early twentieth century.
Reverend Moses Mason, recording as Red Hot Ole Mose, cut “Molly Man” in 1928.
Bluesman Robert Johnson recorded “They’re Red Hot” in 1936….
Some hypothesize that tamales made their way to the Mississippi Delta in the early twentieth century when migrant laborers from Mexico arrived to work the cotton harvest. African Americans who labored alongside Mexican migrants recognized the basic tamale ingredients: corn meal and pork.
Others maintain that the Delta history with tamales goes back to the U.S.-Mexican War one hundred years earlier, when U.S. soldiers traveled to Mexico and brought tamale recipes home with them. Others still argue that tamales date to the Mississippian culture of mound-building Native Americans….
Whatever their origins, hot tamales have been a staple of Delta communities for generations. Tamales proved a hearty food, easily transported warm to chilly cotton fields during the fall picking season. Once the cotton harvest was complete, African American vendors exploited streetcorner economic opportunities to sell bundles of tamales from pushcarts and stands. Today, African Americans are the primary keepers of Delta tamale-making tradition.”
In 2019, I spent several weeks traveling around the Delta interviewing folks about what’s good in their communities. My process is simple: I connect with residents by asking them to consider and share with me “what’s good” where they live. Some participants I know prior, but many I don’t, having been recommended to me by friends, or friends of friends. A few interviews transpired after coincidental meetings. I transcribe these interviews, transform these conversations into drawings and paintings, and upload them to this website. Each participant receives a signed print of a painting from our conversation and identifies a local non-profit organization to receive a portion of sales of any sold artwork. In the coming months, I’ll be sharing the stories and art inspired by these conversations.
Like what you see? Invest in a painting or a limited edition print of the Delta.