Voices from the Mississippi Hill Country

Voices from the Mississippi Hill Country is a book about life before, during and after the Civil Rights Movement, as told in their own words by the residents of a rural county in northern Mississippi. It examines one of the most revolutionary periods in American history through the voices of farmers, teachers, sharecroppers and students. Rather than the polished words of the movement’s icons, we hear the simple eloquence of an elderly woman recalling her long days toiling in the cotton fields. We hear the courage of a sharecropper remembering voting for the first time. We hear the determination of parents deciding to send their children to integrate an all white school. We hear the terror in a first grader’s voice, walking into an all white classroom on the first day of school. We hear the resolve in a janitor recalling his first civil rights meeting. And we hear the wisdom and grace of a community talking about justice, equity, and the promise of a better future.