Stop 5 – Jackson, Mississippi - “Blind Busking” Live Stream Music Tour

A recap from November 11-12, 2020

Dec 28, 2020

Overview:

Mississippi! Another state neither of us had ever visited before. What an exciting time to venture first hand through the Mississippi Delta. A place from song dreams formed over years of mystery about a place that all in all is about as American-History Textbook as you can get.

Along the drive down i55 South from Memphis to Jackson, we noticed fields and fields of what looked like growing twigs popping up from the farm ground. Little white balls of fluff sat sprinkled throughout the brown stick-like branches. Cotton!! It was the first time I had seen a field of cotton growing.---This moment remains vivid to me even today as I try to catch up with the writings to pair with the various stops of our “Blind Busking” journey.---There was something about being in the deep south during 2020 when racism is still very much a thing and glancing over during a drive to see those fields. Fields that once were filled with enslaved, unpaid workers. Fields that helped to hold so many lives captive. Fields that stole tears and souls for hundreds of years.

The fields were empty that day as we drove by. Change from that dark time in history did end up happening even though struggles still remain today. Remembering the past can continue to spark hope for a stronger and better future. Movements like Black Lives Matter regardless of the source of “funding” or motives of their “founder” can be an everyday reminder to us all of where we started and where we are headed. Working together brought a change in the past and continuing to see each other as teammates in the game of life will help us move into the future together while enjoying the present as much as we can.

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Once we finally arrived in Jackson, Mississippi we enjoyed some hotel life and some local food – shout out to fried CATFISH!! The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and set up the live stream on the street corner across from Union Station and our hotel from the night before. A few songs into playing, a man walked by in a somewhat strange-looking jumpsuit attire that in Brooklyn is completely normal so initially I didn’t think twice. After staying for several songs, the man told Anthony to thank you for the music. He mentioned how he “just got his freedom back today” and “this is the best way to celebrate with some live music”. Putting two and two together it seems the man just got out of jail and off the train making Anthony’s music the first thing he saw since being recently “free”.

Feeling the sunshine and closing up the live stream, Anthony and I begin packing up to move on to our next stop. A man walked over and put a $20 in the tip jar. “I heard you from my hotel room and looked down and saw you. I watched for a while and decided to come down and give you a tip.” Sharing our thanks with him he smiled from what I could see under his mask and walked over to his car and left. Another blessing from seemingly out of nowhere. What a wonderful way it was to continue our journey south!