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Erickson Blakney:
Photographers go down and they take pictures of the poverty. Journalists go down, they write about the poverty. Yes, the poverty is there. The crime is there, that troubled history is there, but they’re also people who are making incredible contributions.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
That’s Erickson Blakney, today’s guest on Everywhere Radio. Everywhere Radio is a production of The Rural Assembly, and I’m your host, Whitney Kimball Coe. Each episode I spotlight the good, scrappy and joyful ways rural people and their allies are building a more inclusive nation.
Erickson Blakney is a filmmaker, journalist, and program officer with the New York based the Pinkerton Foundation. He joined the foundation following a career as an award-winning writer and reporter, having worked for Bloomberg and CBS News. A member of the National Press Club, EB is the co-founder, along with author and award-winning filmmaker, Dr. Lee Quinby of the True Delta Project, which produces documentaries about the Delta region, which air on Mississippi Public Broadcasting Television, and screen at film festivals around the country. His most recent documentary, Zip Code Matters produced in 2001 in partnership with Sena Mourad-Friedman and the Fair Housing Center, Toledo examines Racial and Socioeconomic Inequalities and Health. EB traverses multiple geographies, serving as a board trustee of the DreamYard Project, an arts and social justice organization in the Bronx. And he’s on the board of the Clarksdale Animal Rescue Effort and Shelter in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
He’s on many other boards as well. He also helped launch the Community Book Talk lecture series, a joint project of the Coahoma County Higher Education Center and the Carnegie Library in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Speakers for that series have included poet Nikki Giovanni and Ambassador Caroline Kennedy. Because of his filmmaking and philanthropic work in the rural Delta, EB was invited to serve as a board member for my own organization, the Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, Kentucky. And it’s a real honor to have him on our show today. EB, thank you so much for saying yes to Everywhere Radio.
Erickson Blakney:
Thank you for having me, Whitney. It’s good to be here. Good to see you.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
Good. Yeah, it’s great to see you. How are things? I can hear music wherever you are. Can you tell me where you are?
Erickson Blakney:
Oh, don’t get me started. So my office, the Pinkerton Foundation offices reopened in October. They actually closed in 2020, March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic. And so I fled New York and went out to Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, where I was born and raised. And so I was working remotely. And so the offices opened back up in October, and I returned at the end of October. And here I am at Rockefeller Center. It is Christmas time in the city, outside my window on the Promenade you have the… What? Salvation Army with all their tunes. Billy Joel, Mariah Carey, and then Saks Fifth Avenue, which is across the street, has some really big extravagant, loud light show. And so music comes blasting up Channel Gardens into my office.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
Since we’re talking about geography, and as I was reading your bio, I was thinking a lot about how you have traversed geographies. You’re from Toledo, Ohio, you live in New York City now and you spend a lot of time in Clarksdale, Mississippi and in the Delta and I wonder how do you introduce yourself to folks and say, “This is where I’m from,” as part of your identity. “This is who I am.”
Erickson Blakney:
Yeah, that’s a great question. So I grew up in Toledo, Ohio. So my parents moved there in the early ’60s. My dad was a professor at the University of Toledo and went on to chair the math department. My mother, who had a degree in library science actually ended up working in fair housing for the Fair Housing Center at a time when there was some really major pieces of legislation coming out at that time. And then she went on to open a restaurant, but they were originally from Mississippi. So I would spend part of my summers down in Mississippi, down in Waynesboro, Mississippi, in Shubta, Mississippi, Wayne County and Clark County. And so that’s in southeast Mississippi. So as an adult, when I was living in New York and I’d go down to visit my grandparents, they both died in ’97, I would always carve out some time to go and explore the rest of the state because it was still such a mystery to me. And it was such a such complex place.
I mean, it’s just almost a study in contrast. The tall tales, sordid truths, wealth, poverty, love, hate, the smells, the extreme heat and the music, the art and the land. And it all just really fascinated me and I just needed to learn more. So as I would travel around the state, I kept returning to the Delta. And I joke with people that it’s the Clarksdale quicksand that pulled me in. And there was just a unique cluster of folks there really striving to make a difference, to make it a better place for them and their families and for other folks. And there’s a commonality there, I guess. In the Midwest, people are trying to do the same thing. In New York, they’re trying to do the same thing. So you just see there’s this thread of people just trying to make where they live better and then also create opportunities for themselves.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
We’ve had Tim Lampkin on this show. Tim Lampkin’s the president of Higher Purpose Co, which is based in Clarksdale, Mississippi. And he and I had a long conversation about the Delta Delta, the history of the Delta and its present and what his hopes are going forward for Mississippi. And I asked him if we were telling a story of Mississippi in the future into the future. And a lot of your filmmaking and I think journalism and then of course just your presence in that region has been focused on the mysteries and the complexities of that place. So I just wonder if you have a thought about what is it that you see there currently and what are your hopes for the future, how it would be described?
Erickson Blakney:
So with the filmmaking, Lee Quinby and my film partner, our purpose was to tell the poverty stories, tell the story from an asset based point of view rather than the deficit based point of view, which is often what you see. I mean, photographers go down and they take pictures of the poverty. Journalists go down, they write about the poverty. Yes, the is poverty there, the crime is there, that troubled history is there, but they’re also people who are making incredible contributions. They are incredibly talented as far as whether they’re artists or painters or musicians and that’s what I see. And my hope is that people will begin to focus on the assets and what the people in the region has to offer. I mean, philanthropy needs to do that. Philanthropy really doesn’t seem to have any sort of strategy as far as rural areas. I mean, most philanthropic organizations are focused on cities, big cities that have a lot of social service organizations that they can support, or youth development organizations that they can support. And the infrastructure may not necessarily be there in lot of rural areas.
Interesting thing about Clarksdale though is that they do have a number of youth development organizations and Higher Purpose Tim Lampkin’s organization working to build black wealth. There are organizations there that are making a difference that if philanthropy was interested, they could actually find something to dig into.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
Are there any stories or individuals in particular in your work right now, whether it’s in the Delta or in another more rural place perhaps, that are giving you insight into what the future could look like, what’s possible, and giving you hope?
Erikson Blakney:
That’s the journalism piece. I mean, I love talking to anybody and everybody because everybody holds an important piece of information. I mean, it’s all very rich and fascinating. Everybody just holds a piece of the puzzle, and each piece has value and merit and is necessary to flesh out that picture. So it’s really about just digging in and listening to folks and listening to what they hope to achieve and what they want to do and the challenges that they run into. But they continue dreaming and continue pushing and building and making a difference.
There’s Anne Williams and Chuck Rutledge who have the Travelers Inn and the collective Seed and Feed, Feed and Seed, which is this gardening center general store. I mean, so Chuck grew up in Clarksdale and is from Natchez. They lived much of their lives in New Orleans, but came to Clarksdale and it’s incredible what they’re doing and what they have planned. So whatever they say they’re going to do, they end up doing it. And I’m always steps behind them. And I’m just surprised whenever I get down there and see how much that they’ve actually done and then just hearing about their plans. It’s really pretty remarkable.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
We’ll be right back with Everywhere radio, but first, a special message from our partner, the Daily Yonder.
Xandr Brown:
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Whitney Kimball Coe:
You were talking about storytelling and listening, and I can imagine that this is something that you’ve been in tune with since you were probably very young. Where is your love for an awareness of the importance of stories come from? Where does that come from?
Erickson Blakney:
So southerners are big storytellers, just listening to aunts and uncles and grandparents telling stories and their friends telling stories. There’s always just this beautiful color where they could really flesh out. They could really flesh out a story in such clever and engaging ways where you just lean in, where you’re sitting out on a big porch and people are just talking. And they hadn’t seen my dad in a year or two or however many years it had been since he’d come down and they would just talk. And that was always a lot of fun. And also my parents. They read a lot, not fiction, but they just read a lot and just that interest in reading anything and everything came from them.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
What are the stories you’re taking in these days, whether it’s media or films or books or podcasts, and what are your favorites and why?
Erickson Blakney:
Okay, so in October during our board meeting, the time that we went down for the board meeting, I had a wedding also in Oxford that I went over to. And I had the pleasure of meeting Curtis Wilke, who I think he’s still teaching a class at the University of Mississippi. But he wrote about the civil rights back in the ’60s for the Clarksdale Press register. He’s an author and he just wrote… This book just came out. I wonder if you can see that. Whoops. No, that’s upside down. Anyway. No. Well, anyway, it’s called When Evil Lived in Laurel by Curtis Wilke. And it’s about the murder of Vernon Dahmer in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. Hattiesburg is in Forest County, and Vernon Dahmer led the NAACP in Forest County and he worked closely with Medgar Evers before Medgar was assassinated. And then Vernon Dahmer was murdered in 1966.
And so there was an FBI informant who infiltrated the plan, and this book is about that. So I have just started it. So with all the craziness of coming back into the office, I haven’t had a chance to dig in, but it is so, as far as I’ve gotten, it’s pretty riveting. Curtis Wilkie is just an incredible person because a week later, after I met him at the wedding, he came to Clarksdale and he spoke at the Tennessee Williams Festival. He was being interviewed by Ralph Eubanks, the author. And so he was asked about the state of Mississippi, the politics and all, and he said it’s, “That currently, it’s the worst it’s been politics-wise and the policies coming out of Jackson. It’s the worst it’s been since the 1960s.” And that really stayed with me, especially when you think of who is in office and who was in office before.
You had Phil Bryant who was before him, and then you have Tate Reeves in now, and there’s this… And then even their senators, what is it, Cindy Hyde Smith, I believe is one of the senators. They’ve just been this steady chipping away of… Or attempts to chip away at all the achievements that have come out of Mississippi or that have come to Mississippi.
That is one of the things that actually really concerns me. But I also see the work that young people like Tim Lampkin and others are doing to fight against that. My hope is that some of the organizations really begin to focus on voter education and voter registration because I see so many people who could be registered to vote, who aren’t. Young people who could be engaged, but they’re not.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
And when you think about these other places where you visit often and where you live, do the stakes feel the same in New York City and in Toledo, Ohio? And is there a similar urgency around that issue or around others that tie these places together in this moment?
Erickson Blakney:
In some way. I think holding on to gains, that seems to be the common thread. And if it’s not people losing an interest in voting, it’s the public education system failing folks or people not demanding more from the public education system. Part of it is just people demanding more and understanding what they’re being deprived of and what people are trying to take away from them, whether it’s books or the study of history. People really have to plug in. I mean, I feel that urgency, but I’m not clear on how other… Sure, there are other folks who understand the urgency, but the people who are being directly impacted by having that direct impact that really stand to lose so much. I don’t have that sense that they understand what’s at stake. Every region it’s something different. That’s being chipped away at, voting, education, housing rights.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
Yeah. So holding onto those, the gains is a common thread there.
Erickson Blakney:
You have a Fair Housing Act of 1968 when one of the things that we explored in the Zip Code Matters was looking at how people are trying to chip away at that, and that can’t happen.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
Well, since you mentioned one of your films, I just want to take a turn here and ask you about films and especially films maybe in 2022. It’s the end of the year, so there are a lot of best of lists coming out right now, and I wonder if you have best of maybe films, maybe rural films-
Erickson Blakney:
Best of-
Whitney Kimball Coe:
… track.
Erickson Blakney:
Okay, so what was it… Where the Crawdads Sing with David Strathairn which takes place in rural North Carolina, I guess The Swamp Lands and it’s about this young woman who was abandoned and raised herself. It’s just beautifully shot and well acted. David Strathairn is, I’ve always liked his work. So that came out in 2022. Now, there are some other films, older rural films that I absolutely love.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
Do share those.
Erickson Blakney:
Oh, okay. There’s a film that came out in, it was 1964, Abbey Lincoln and Ivan Dixon called Nothing but a Man and it’s rural Alabama and just beautifully acted African American man and his wife. And just the struggles to survive and make it at that time. And it’s so beautiful. And the love between the two of them is so strong. And the fact that he is just this capable man, this capable individual, really fighting for his family, trying to figure things out along the way. It’s surprising that in ’64 they were creating films like that with the two lead characters being Black. It’s just a beautiful film. There’s a horror film from like 1971 called Let’s Scare Jessica to Death. I think it takes place in Lake New Hampshire or upstate New York. Still just gives me the creeps. It is a dream or is it real? We really don’t know. It’s just a real mind twister. I absolutely love it and hate it, so.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
What is your criteria for a really great rural film? Or is it the same criteria no matter what film?
Erickson Blakney:
So the sound. The cinematography and the sounds, like, if you can really take me there. A lot of the films with John Sales, you’ll hear the crickets, you’ll hear the frogs. You can kind of feel the heat of the South, and then just the peace of the movies. You don’t have something happening every minute. There’s a moment to actually pause and listen and to think. I find that there. I do first I am able just to carve out some time just to stop and think. In New York, I’m kind of running around a lot. The work is here, they’re board meetings here and there. In Toledo, I can actually pause for a moment and it’s by the lake or by the river, and that’s always really very nice. But if you can take me down south and make me feel like I’m there yet I’m in a movie theater in Ohio or New York, then that’s a success.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
Oh wow. I think maybe going back to that first question about how you introduce yourself. You’re kind of a southerner at heart or I hear the longing-
Erickson Blakney:
I know.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
… for it. At least-
Erickson Blakney:
I know. Well, it is kind of funny. My mother says, “I just don’t understand. I don’t understand your attraction to the Delta, of your attraction to Mississippi, a place that your father and I left years ago.” But of course, I mean, she’s still very much attached. She has a good bit of family property which is part of her identity. And that’s, again, Mississippians and land. I mean, there’s something about the land that becomes a part of their identity. It’s been passed down from grandparents or great grandparents and people are very in for African Americans to actually have larger tracts of land. There’s a lot of pride in that and you’re not going to give that away. You’re going to hold onto that and really be very proud of that. So yeah, maybe, a little bit of a Southerner, also a Midwesterner, a bit of a New Yorker, kind of just a mix.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
You can have it all. You can have it all. EB, thank you for talking to me today and letting me introduce you to the Everywhere Radio audience and so glad we get to work together at Rural Strategies.
Erickson Blakney:
Absolutely.
Whitney Kimball Coe:
Well, that does it for Everywhere Radio for 2022. We’re going to take a quick holiday break and be back in January 2023 with more goods, scrappy and joyful ways rural people and their allies are building a more inclusive nation. If you enjoyed Everywhere Radio, we’d love for you to consider subscribing to the General Rural Assembly Newsletter where we promote new offerings from the assembly and amplify the good work of our many partners across the country. We also have an advocacy newsletter that comes to inboxes on Mondays to help you start each week with a quick take on the top issues that we’re tracking across the nation, everything from broadband policy to reproductive justice. Just head over to ruralassembly.org to sign up.
If you’re a true fan of Everywhere radio, please let us know by rating us wherever you get your podcast. And if this isn’t your cup of tea, no biggie, it’s fine. We’d like to thank our media partner, the Daily Yonder. Everywhere Radio is a production of The Rural Assembly. Our senior producer is Joel Cohen, and our associate producers are Xander Brown and Teresa Collins. And Anya Slepyan is our assistant producer and we’re grateful for the love and support of the whole team at the Center for Rural Strategies. Love you. Mean it. You can be anywhere. We’ll be everywhere.