historytelling

Our clinical skills course course this term focused on learning to take a medical history. We learned that it takes more than vital signs and physical exam findings to understand why a patient comes in for a visit- we also need to know their backstory. In many ways, taking a medical history comes down to letting a patient be the storyteller of their own past. Yesterday we took a journee (sorry, couldn't help myself) to collect the history of this place where we're spending the week: to hear the stories of Tallahatchie and Cohoma counties. We were graced by the presence of an amazing storyteller- Mr. Bill Sutton. Bill, like us, calls Illinois home, but over the last 2 decades he's spent a remarkable amount of time and energy working with Habitat in the Delta and learning to tell the stories of this place.

Bill first took us to the town of Sumner, a tiny town that played an enormous role in the Civil Rights Movement. The Sumner courthouse was the site of the trial for the two men accused of murdering Emmett Till in an act of racially motivated violence. They were acquitted, but the photos of Till's mutilated body were published and the outrage and sorrow surrounding the situation catalyzed the beginning of the movement. And it happened right here!

Unlike Till's story, many of the stories Bill related wouldn't make the history books. But all the stories, more or less well known, speak to the context of the equal distribution of opportunities and wealth that exist in the Delta today. For instance, we stood on the site of the Friar's Point Coup where violence against freed slaves and sharecroppers cemented a system of economic and social oppression whose legacy lives on 150 years later. And there are enough of these stories to fill a hundred books.

Other sites on our tour with Bill gave me hope that this history of inequity doesn't necessarily dictate disparity for the future. For instance, we saw Habitat chapters across the county that have been changing things for the better for the last 30 years. In the town of Cohoma, we met Mayor Jones and had the privilege of hearing him speak about his dreams for his community: a community center, an after school program, and a revitalization of Main Street.

We watched the sun set over the Mississippi as our tour ended, and I felt hungry for more stories- we're blessed to have the rest of the week here to learn more. I also felt physically hungry (you know I couldn't make it through a whole post without writing about food!). We headed to Clarksdale for ample pizza followed by blues at Red's. If the Delta is "where the blues were born," then Red's is the maternity ward where that baby was delivered, fully formed- wailing, drinking whiskey from a mason jar, and playing a mean guitar. Just amazing, and really beyond description.

We're on our way to Memphis as I write! Stay tuned for a new post following today's adventures.