2024 Great Mississippi Road Trip
September 27, 2024 @ 8:00AM — September 29, 2024 @ 2:00PM Central Time (US & Canada) Add to Calendar
Join Us For The 2024 Great Mississippi Road Trip!
Join us from Friday, September 27 – Sunday, September 29, on a journey through time, music, and culture as we learn about notable Civil Rights changemakers of the past. Prepare for an unforgettable journey as we venture on the Great Mississippi Road Trip. This tour will guide you through the most fascinating corners of our state, where civil rights heroes made their mark and pivotal moments in history unfolded. Each day, we’ll visit significant sites to delve into the stories, events, and music that have defined Mississippi. *Participation is limited to 40 guests. Tickets are $1,500 per person, including transportation via motor coach, immersive activities, and meals. Hotel accommodations are not included, but blocks of rooms have been reserved at select hotels. For more information on sponsorship packages contact Tosha Taylor at ttaylor@mscenterforjustice.org or (601) 709-0859.
PLANNED ITINERARY
GUEST HISTORIAN JOHN SPANN OF THE MISSISSIPPI HUMANITIES COUNCIL
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 • JACKSON • INDIANOLA • GREENWOOD
Visit the Farish Street Historic District, an important Black residential and business district of the 19th century.
Tour the modest home of NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers and his wife, Myrlie (Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument). Stand in the very spot where Evers fell after he was fatally shot by an assassin on June 12, 1963.
We’ll be joined by Reena Evers-Everette, daughter of Medgar and Myrlie Evers and the executive director of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Institute, who was just nine years old when her father was murdered. Here, in her childhood home, Reena will share memories and reflections on her father’s legacy and how it has influenced her work today.
Experience a “Social Justice Empowerment Brunch” at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, featuring Southern-inspired haute cuisine by Chef Nick Wallace of “Top Chef” and “Chopped” fame. Engage with veterans of the Mississippi civil rights movement and contemporary social justice leaders.
Evers-Everette and Vangela M. Wade will facilitate a panel discussion with Pulitzer Prize Winner Anna Wolfe and Pulitzer Prize Finalist Jerry Mitchell, investigative reporters with Mississippi Today. Anna and Jerry’s courageous work has exposed many of the terrible injustices committed here in Mississippi, from defrauding the poor to murdering those who dared to fight for equality. Thanks to their work, many responsible for these heinous acts have been held accountable and justice has been served.
Enjoy an informative tour of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum led by John Spann, the creator of many of its exhibits.
Visit MCJ’s Indianola office to learn about our boots-on-the-ground advocacy efforts across the communities of the Mississippi Delta.
Immerse yourself in the blues with a visit to the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, then toast the King of the Blues over dinner/social gathering at Club Ebony, one of Mississippi’s most famous juke joints.
***Tickets to the Social Justice Empowerment Brunch can be purchased separately for $50
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 • GREENWOOD • MONEY • DREW • TALLAHATCHIE COUNTY • SUMNER • CLARKSDALE • GREENWOOD
After stopping by bluesman Robert Johnson’s gravesite at Little Zion Church, relive a dark chapter in American history with stops at sites related to the brutal murder of Emmett Till, including two of the three sites that make up the newly-designated Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument.
Stops include Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market, where Till, a Black child, allegedly whistled at a white woman and later paid with his life; the Milam Plantation Seed Barn where Till was tortured; Graball Landing, the site where Till’s battered body was found in the Tallahatchie River; the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, where his white murderers stood trial and were found not guilty; and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, which uses powerful storytelling to promote racial healing.
Graball Landing and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse are a part of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, created through a designation by the White House on July 25, 2023.
The third site designated a part of the monument is Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Till’s funeral was held.
SOIL Art Exhibit
Enjoy dinner at Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero Blues Club.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 • GREENWOOD • RULEVILLE • RETURN TO JACKSON
Ponder the progress and setbacks of the last 60 years at the Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial in Ruleville, a tribute to the community organizer who became one of the most powerful voices of the civil rights movement.
Stop at Dockery Farms, the most famous of the old cotton plantations. Dockery Farms is included on a list of possible birthplaces of the blues, America’s only original music.
Our final stop takes us to the legendary Devil’s Crossroads in Clarksdale, MS—the iconic intersection where, according to folklore, bluesman Robert Johnson is said to have made a deal with the devil in exchange for his unparalleled musical talent.
