anthony: some time ago something crawled, or slithered, or grew like a fungus. something that started small, got bigger, lurched like a swamp thing out of the mud and moist earth and humid nights of the delta. then, it took over the world. so next time some smart ass foreigner, horrified by our latest ham-fisted foreign policy blunder wonders out loud, what good is america? well, you can always pipe up that the blues, rock n roll, r&b, and soul all came out of this place one state mississippi. i took a walk through this beautiful world felt the cool rain on my shoulder found something good in this beautiful world i felt the rain getting colder sha la la la la sha la la la la la sha la la la la sha la la la la la la geno: right now we re in the middle of downtown jackson. farish street. anthony: it is a street with a lot of history. what did it used to be like back in the day? geno: the street was packed with folks. folks all over, they
A new multimedia presentation celebrating soul music in America is now available for free online during Black History Month, officials associated with Tennessee’s Stax Museum of American Soul Music and
food. whether it s called soul food or whether it s called country cooking. anthony: how is the delta the mindset of the delta different than the rest of the state? willie simmons: no one else can compare with us. like there is no other senator who can sit and talk to you and tell you that they represent dockery plantation, where the blues supposed to been born. there s no one else can tell you that in his district is the home of b.b. king. can tell you that he represents the area where fannie lou hamer came from. where jerry butler was born. go on and name others. the staple singers. when we talk about the heritage and the culture and what comes out of the delta, that s all within this little district that i represent. so mississippi delta has that pride. anthony: 46 miles southeast