Mississippi Civil Rights Museum Opening
I’m so grateful to have been able to attend the opening of the Civil Rights Museum in Mississippi last weekend, along with my family. This is my grandmother, Harriet Causey DeCell Kuykendahl, who is an amazing woman. She was a teacher in Yazoo City, Mississippi, teaching all levels and focusing on college prep and English. My grandfather, Herman Brister DeCell, was one of the U.S. State Senators who passed integration in Mississippi. When he was a young man he was drafted to serve in World War II. Upon returning, he finished his university studies in Mississippi followed by a law degree from Harvard and returned to Mississippi to practice. My…
Dispatches From Pluto Book Review + Lemuria Bookstore
Mississippi. The softly sibilant state most often spoken in the shortest span of time. When was the last time you said it without counting in the same breath? My mother’s family is from Mississippi, and for as long as I can remember in our youth we would make a yearly visit to my grandmother and cousins. First in Yazoo City, then in Jackson when my grandmother relocated after my grandfather passed away. Southern magical realism is a popular writing style – and one of my favorites. The truth is always stranger than fiction, and a tall tale doesn’t cast as long of a shadow or light as a child’s imagination playing…
