Why I Love Mississippi

Just today I was asked why I love Mississippi. It is not that I don't realize that everybody is from somewhere, but being from Mississippi means something. And when I say it means something I don't mean to the person who actually is from Mississippi, I meant to everybody else! I learned this when I was younger and went with my parents and my brother to Jackson, Wyoming. We walked in to a restaurant and the hostess offered to seat us. Upon opening my mother's mouth to offer a gracious Southern thank you, the hostess replied back, "Yoouu'rrreee, waaahhlcooomme, maaa'aaam!" We simply have an accent unlike any place on earth. I mean essentially if you are British, Australian or Southern and speak the English language, you are going to stand out.

But standing out because you speak differently is not always a good thing I realize. Some people think you are slow thinking when you are slow speaking. For those folks in that category, I have one simple piece of advice: If somebody you meet offers in a humble, gracious apology that he is just a dumb country boy, just know you are about to get a colloquial screwing! Southerners and especially Mississippians have brought some of the best musicians to the world and some of the greatest writers. Not only do we know how to read, but a few of us can even write, as they say.

Here it goes:

I love Mississippi because we have four seasons, the winter's are mild and snow is rare but the air is cool enough to remind us that we are thankful for those few months because the summer sun is coming and we are going to get hot. Hotter than a coon dog after a Saturday night hunt to use a metaphor. Or better yet, hot, humid and soaking wet from perspiration which makes linen and seersucker infamously popular and socks less than mandatory between Easter and Labor Day.

I love Mississippi because fashion is dictated by the weather and the crops we grow. Cotton is king and if you ever hear someone mention Skiing Mississippi they only mean they were in a cotton field all day! The women dress more revealing the hotter it gets and the boys are thankful for the heat.

In Mississippi a bed is usually a flat bed as in pick up truck. Every family owns at least one truck or at the very least an SUV because we like to carry stuff! Tools, wood, scraps, Wal-Mart bags, they all go in and aren't hurried out. The best way to get your girl close to you is to have a middle seat for her to sit and that only happens in a pick up truck!

I love Mississippi because we are in touch with hardships and reality gives us a sense of humor. Nobody knows what the world is like, like we do. We are in touch with ourselves. Why? Because we know what it is like to feel pain. We work hard. We don't expect anything to be given to us and we talk about our circumstances. Nobody can tell a story like a person from Mississippi. Story telling means capturing the broader message, the one that looks inside your soul and asks the dark question that nobody wants to admit. We don't have anything to lose and even if we did, we would be willing to lose it. We are earthy and familiar with our roots. The land is part of us even as our agrarian society fades, we know where we came from.

Nobody told stories like Faulkner and Ms. Welty was pretty good too! People from all over the world read about folks from the rural world of our State and the conflicts we faced. They were amazed. They stood in awe. Sometimes that we did what we did but always because we endured and grew and got better. A walk through Mississippi today would remind you of the past in many ways. So many buildings and roads and customs have not changed, but the people have. Once a segregated society, people of all races and creeds who live in the same communities are friends who eat together, work together, and play together. Mississippi's new found tolerance is a contrast from forty years ago and a testimony to the love of the human heart.

I love Mississippi because you don't have to wear shoes if you don't want to. But even better, if you are like me and my granddad before me, you can wear Italian Ferragamo shoes and look right nice without getting any comments, except maybe from my dad who knows nothing about fashion!

I love Mississippi because we have a coastline, an agrarian delta, the piney woods and the northern hills. Four distinct universes. The Appalachian region is rooted in custom and religion even some superstitions. The Delta is the most fertile farmland in the world and is the home of the Blues, the root of all modern music. The pines are a strong people who are true and honest and self-reliant. After Katrina, the world now knows how much our Coast residents are filled with love and strength and without a complaint they keep on moving forward at all costs.

I love Mississippi because it has a heart and a soul. Only Elvis could go on stage in front of national television and gyrate his hips in the 1950's. He got away with it because he was not trying to start a movement or create a cause or play the victim. He was just a small town American boy that wanted to "boogy". And did he ever. Now the King of rock n'roll, there is none more widely known and loved all over the world, even today, than Elvis.

Only B.B. King, an African-American blues musician could take a form of music that was so raw and so pure in both its rhythm and its lyrics, while at first singing only before African-American listeners, and spread it to the world, influencing such greats as Bono of U2. The King of the Blues can lay down on Lucille, his guitar, even now in his 80's as good as anyone that has ever been seen. Saying humbly on video footage in Rattle and Hum "I don't know what to do there" with Bono replying "Is that a joke!?" No, just an artist whose creativity is so unique and unchallenged that he is always looking for new guitar licks and ways to make music more enjoyable to its listeners.

Only Jerry Rice or Walter Peyton could have the kind of grace that made them look like they were floating as they raced across the football fileds with the bright lights and huge crowds in the National Football League.

And Morgan Freeman with his soothing voice and easy-going style that graces the big screen. Need I say more?

From Mississippi, you will find ordinary people who do what everybody else seems to be doing but in extraordinary ways. In recent years, we have made vast improvements in race relations and job growth and such, but we have also had our setbacks. Hurricane Katrina ravaged our Gulf Coast but could not break our spirit. We are building back and have met many new friends from around the world who have assisted us in doing so. We hope you take the message of the Mississippi people back to where you live and keep a special place in your heart for us.

There is much left to be done and we are going to accomplish our goals of better education for all our children, better jobs for their parents, and a better life for all of us. We welcome those who want to reach out to us and support us in our efforts. We need new folks to tell our stories to. And we love to recruit others to say the word "y'all"!

God bless Mississippi!