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
john t. edge: you know, i moved here from georgia, and the thing that struck me when i moved here driving through the delta the first time was just how empty it was. like, you know, it s like everybody left. anthony: the great migration. three factors. automation the invention of mechanical means to pick cotton. the call of better-paying jobs in the industries of the north. and, of course, freedom. john t. edge: you know, people think about the blues as a lament. a lot of blues songs are about freedom, about getting the hell out of mississippi. you know, and there were a lot of reasons to get the hell out of mississippi. for a long time. now there s a return migration. and there s that whole period in the late 60s, early 70s where kids are buggin out of brown university to come sit at the foot of an ancient bluesman in mississippi. there s a cyclical pattern to that. now, you know, you see people kinda doing the same thing with food, like there s a whole generation that want
kids are buggin out of brown university to come sit at the foot of an ancient bluesman in mississippi. there s a cyclical pattern to that. now, you know, you see people kinda doing the same thing with food, like there s a whole generation that wants to come down here and sit at the foot of an ancient catfish cook. anthony: state senator willie simmons has been an elected official of the mississippi delta for 20 years. and he s been running this place, senator s place, for 11. now what s the difference between soul food and southern, traditional southern food? willie simmons: it depends upon the culture. and what neighborhood you was in. if you were in the black neighborhood, then it became soul. we probably put a little bit more of the throwaway in our cooking the pig feet, the pigtail, the neck bones, and all that s fatty. anthony: now you re making me hungry. now you are definitely making me willie simmons: we got some neck bones over there, okay.
there s a cyclical pattern to that. now, you know, you see people kinda doing the same thing with food, like there s a whole generation that wants to come down here and sit at the foot of an ancient catfish cook. anthony: state senator willie simmons has been an elected official of the mississippi delta for 20 years. and he s been running this place, senator s place, for 11. now what s the difference between soul food and southern, traditional southern food? willie simmons: it depends upon the culture. and what neighborhood you was in. if you were in the black neighborhood, then it became soul. we probably put a little bit more of the throwaway in our cooking the pig feet, the pigtail, the neck bones, and all that s fatty. anthony: now you re making me hungry. now you are definitely making me willie simmons: we got some neck bones over there, okay. anthony: oh, excellent. so greens willie simmons: turnip greens. anthony: i ll have some of
there s a cyclical pattern to that. now, you know, you see people kinda doing the same thing with food, like there s a whole generation that wants to come down here and sit at the foot of an ancient catfish cook. anthony: state senator willie simmons has been an elected official of the mississippi delta for 20 years. and he s been running this place, senator s place, for 11. now what s the difference between soul food and southern, traditional southern food? willie simmons: it depends upon the culture. and what neighborhood you was in. if you were in the black neighborhood, then it became soul. we probably put a little bit more of the throwaway in our cooking the pig feet, the pigtail, the neck bones, and all that s fatty. anthony: now you re making me hungry. now you are definitely making me willie simmons: we got some neck bones over there, okay. anthony: oh, excellent. so greens willie simmons: turnip greens. anthony: i ll have some of