Change is all around us. Are you on board?
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I'm not sure about the shape of your recent conversations, but within my circle of friends we've discussed a range of topics (some difficult, some celebratory) but each one has been about something changing.
This isn't unlike the collection of stories I'll share this week. For instance, this piece on the changes to alcohol laws in many Southern states post-pandemic. Are you a fan of to-go cocktails or do you prefer the experience of being at a bar or lounge? 🍸
Then there is the change in how we are discussing marijuana in the South, not just in Louisiana but in Mississipi as well. In the space of music, our reporter Andrew Yawn visited the popular New Orleans Jazz club Snug Harbor to witness another change— its first show since the pandemic, which honored the late jazz icon Ellis Marsalis.
And changes aren't always easy. The National Park service knew this when they decided to launch a two-year research project aimed at creating a permanent digital archive of existing slave cabins across the Southeast. One consultant said, we should accept that stories of Southern plantations are hard, and that we shouldn't aim to make them easy.
Lastly, I'm pleased to share our final story in the Shaping the South series. We spoke to Chavi Khanna Koneru, the co-founder of North Carolina Asian Americans Together, a group that works to provide the Asian American population a voice in politics. Chavi is candid with us about the changes she has seen in North Carolina, the impact of discrimination and the importance of cross-racial coalitions.
Thank you for reading!
Ashley Hopkinson (Editor, The American South)
What's the South talking about?
- Gov. Tate Reeves supports 'will of MS voters' on medical marijuana
- Historical marker dedicated to Montgomery Alabama's Bricklayers Hall
- Art exhibition aims to promote the stories of Black Cowboys in the South
National Park Service project documents existing sharecropper, slave dwellings in the South
The loss of the “little houses” has diluted the rich history of Black sharecroppers, tenant farmers and enslaved people who once lived on those lands, said Elvin Shields, who runs educational tours at the Oakland Plantation in Louisiana.
But now that is changing.
There is a growing movement led by historical preservationists to preserve sharecropper and slave cabins in order to present a fuller narrative of the families who lived in those dwellings and to discuss the enduring legacy of slavery and the Jim Crow-era in modern-day America.
In October 2020, the National Park Service launched a two-year research project aimed at creating a permanent digital archive of existing dwellings across the Southeast.
'The house that Ellis built': Jazz great honored at New Orleans club's first show since pandemic
If anyone was supposed to play Snug Harbor jazz club’s first public show in more than a year, it was Ellis Marsalis. Friday nights had always been reserved for him at the New Orleans' Frenchmen Street club.
Instead the famed venue opened on June 4 with a tribute show to Marsalis, whose death from pneumonia and COVID-19 complications on April 1, 2020, sent shockwaves through the jazz community. He was 85.
Marsalis’ son Jason Marsalis sat at his drum kit in the venue he “practically grew up in” and prepared to play his father's songs. Alongside him were members of his father’s quintet and Shea Pierre, one of Ellis' former students.
"The only word for it is bittersweet. My father is not here to open up on what would have been his night," Jason Marsalis said. "But he left behind a lot of great music that we’ll be playing for you tonight."
How the role of Asian Americans has transformed politically in the South
Excerpt from conversation with Chavi Khanna Koneru
The American South : What are the most pressing issues for Asian Americans in North Carolina and across the South?
Chavi Khanna Koneru: It is a very diverse group. We knew it would be hard to bring the community together on a single issue, so our focus from the start has been on increasing civic engagement from a non-partisan perspective. Following that, obviously over the last year there's been some increase in hate crimes. That is the one time I've seen the entire community come together on an issue.
We promise, this will warm your heart
Office bathroom small talk can be awkward, but the conversation between two coworkers in their Atlanta office bathroom ended up saving two lives.
Susan Ellis and Tia Wimbush had worked together for years in the IT department at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Both of their husbands went into renal failure around the same time and both of them needed kidney transplants.