An inconspicuous address in the heart of the Mississippi Delta turns out to have enormous significance for American politics and history. This is the story of 626 East Lafayette St. in Ruleville and what it means for us. Join me as we explore Sunflower County, Mississippi, a region rife with contradictions, with villains and saints—home to Mississippi's notorious state penitentiary, site of the until-recently erased site of Emmett Till's final moments, the home of one of America's most prominent voices for white supremacy and segregation, and also the home of one of the nation’s most powerful voices for freedom. This is the DETOURIST.
[00:00:00] An Inconspicuous Address
[00:02:00] Same Street, Different Worlds: Fannie Lou Hamer and James O. Eastland
[00:04:00] A Revolution Begins in a Brick Church in Ruleville
[00:06:37] A Simple Song Lights a Flame
[00:09:29] Misruleville: Sunflower County
[00:11:17] A Procession to a Barn
[00:15:58] A Tale of Two High Schools
[00:17:57] Chinese Groceries, Tamales, Italian Beef Sandwiches: The Delta’s Micro-cultures
[00:21:49] The Civil Rights Movement Hobbles into Atlantic City
[00:24:17] The President is Getting Antsy
[00:29:41] A Black Sharecropper Helps Capsize 20th Century American Party Politics
[00:33:21] You Are Warmly Invited to a National Crisis of Conscience
7/ Ruleville: Saints in Ordinary