Children of Cuenca, Ecuador

These darling children of Cuenca, Ecuador took part in a Children's Parade that happens each Christmas Eve. Please enjoy the video below --.
Susan

Why doesn't Mississippi Recognize Civil Rights Leader, Cleve McDowell?

What is left of a small downtown Drew, Mississippi church that was started by the Rev. Cleve McDowell, also a Delta lawyer. McDowell, who once worked for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the SCLC, was murdered in 1997 in his home.

...This is one of many Mississippi photos that I took when living in the Delta, several years ago. The story of McDowell is particularly interesting because he is a forgotten civil rights leader who was murdered in 1997. For all of his accomplishments (see below) why can't the state archivist give me information as to where any of his papers are located, or simply why nothing has been placed in the state's civil rights collection about him?

As the cotton dust flies, Mississippi Delta lawyer (the late) Cleve McDowell, left, gets an assist in his state legislature campaign from Rev. Jesse Jackson, a friend and civil rights colleague. McDowell kept in regular contact with Emmett Till's mother, working to resolve who killed her son in Money, Mississippi in the summer of 1955.

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
1997 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Representatives Coleman (29th), Richardson, Bailey, Banks, Blackmon, Bozeman, Broomfield, Clark, Clarke, Coleman (65th), Ellis, Evans, Flaggs, Fredericks, Gibbs, Green (96th), Green (72nd), Henderson (9th), Henderson (26th), Huddleston, Middleton, Morris, Myers, Perkins, Robinson (63rd), Scott (80th), Smith (27th), Straughter, Thornton, Walker, Wallace, Watson, Young

House Concurrent Resolution 141

(As Adopted by House and Senate)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF DR. CLEVE MCDOWELL.
WHEREAS, Dr. Cleve McDowell was born to the late Mr. and Mrs. Fudge McDowell on August 6, 1941, in Drew, Mississippi, and departed this life on Thursday, March 13, 1997; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Cleve McDowell was an honor graduate of the Drew Public Schools, where he served as class president, editor of the school newspaper, captain of the debating team and a member of several varsity sports teams; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Cleve McDowell was also an honor graduate of Jackson State University in 1963, and while at Jackson State University he worked as a student assistant under the late Medgar Evers, and later became the first African-American student to attend a white graduate school in Mississippi by enrolling in the University of Mississippi Law School with the aid of a federal court order and United States Army troops in June of 1963; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Cleve McDowell later enrolled in Texas Southern University Law School in Houston, Texas, where he became President of the Student Bar Association and received several merit awards; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Cleve McDowell later worked on the Field Staff for the Mississippi State Conference and then later the Chicago Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and served on committees of the National Youth Development of the NAACP as a program director in community relations in Houston, Texas, and as a Subscribing Life Member, McDowell also served as a three-term member of the National Youth Work Committee of the NAACP and served on the committees of the Mississippi State Conference and acted as legal advisor to several branches; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Cleve McDowell was the Senior Pastor of the Greater Holly Grove Missionary Baptist Church of Drew, Mississippi, a member of Sunflower County General Association, the School Board of the City of Drew, Mississippi, Chairman of the Sunflower County, Mississippi, State Democratic Party, and also served as the Public Defender for Sunflower County, Mississippi, Public Defender for the City of Drew, Mississippi, and also served as a member of the Board of Aldermen and past Vice-Mayor of the City of Drew, Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Cleve McDowell was a member of the Mississippi State Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Magnolia Bar Association, and was admitted to practice in the Northern and Southern United States District Courts, Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals and the Eleventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals; and
WHEREAS, in April 1969, Dr. Cleve McDowell joined the Mississippi Head Start Training Coordinating Council as its Executive Director, and in 1973, he joined the Governor's Office of Human Resources and OEO as the Head Start Coordinator for the State of Mississippi, and in May of 1974, Dr. Cleve McDowell became Associate Director of the Mississippi Bar Legal Services Program where he served until he started his private practice of Law in Drew, Mississippi, in 1975; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Cleve McDowell served as Managing Attorney for the North Mississippi Rural Legal Service in Clarksdale, Mississippi, from 1977 to 1979 and later served as a member of the Mississippi State Penitentiary Board of Directors before he was elected to serve as Tunica County Judge in 1978; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Cleve McDowell was an active member of Epsilon Xi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and was Worshipful Master of Drew Lodge Number 6 of the Most Worshipful Stringer Masonic Grand Lodge (Prince Hall) of Mississippi, and was also a member of the Knights Templars, Royal Arch, a Thirty-Second Degree and Shriner Masonic Units; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Cleve McDowell leaves to celebrate his homegoing, one goddaughter, Yolando McDowell; two godsons, Cleve Demarcus McDowell and Kwasi McDowell; five sisters, Mabel Brown of Chicago, Illinois, Juanita McDowell, Gennette (W. L., Jr.) Smith, Nellie (Lacy) Wilson of Drew, Mississippi, and Betty Adams of Los Angeles, California; four brothers, Willie Adams of Los Angeles, California, Douglas (Phelisia) McDowell of Memphis, Tennessee, Robert (Carrie) Wells of Chicago, Illinois, and Otis (Mary) McDowell of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky; three aunts, Cora Walker of Marks, Mississippi, Bennie Franklin of Chicago, Illinois, and Angelia Route of Columbus, Ohio; two sisters-in-law, Ada and Dorothy McDowell of Chicago, Illinois; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives and friends and a special niece, Juanita Shanice Smith.
WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to commend excellence in leadership, especially when it is exhibited by one who has served diligently as a spiritual leader of his community:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend the life and accomplishments of Dr. Cleve McDowell and express the Legislature's deepest sympathy upon his passing.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to the family of Dr. Cleve McDowell and the members of the Capitol Press Corps.

Goin' Where the Southern Cross the Dog -- Mississippi Delta Blues

Where Southern Cross the Yellow Dog...Blues Photo by Susan Klopfer

I actually found this famous Mississippi Delta Blues spot one day while driving around the Mississippi Delta doing research for my book, WhereRebels Roost; Mississippi Civil Rights Revisited.

The story goes that bandleader W. C. Handy was waiting for a train at the Tutwiler railway station around the year 1903 when he heard a man playing slide guitar with a knife and singing “Goin’ where the Southern cross’ the Dog.” Handy later published his version of this song as “Yellow Dog Blues,” and later became known as the “Father of the Blues” after he based many of his popular blues pieces on the sounds he heard in the Delta.

The little town Tutwiler, just a few miles from Parchman Penitentiary where I lived, has been christened “the birthplace of the blues” in honor of  Handy’s chance meeting with the unnamed guitarist who was performing one of the earliest documented blues songs.  

Handy went on to lead an orchestra in nearby Clarksdale from 1903 to 1905, traveling the Delta and beyond, stopping to play dances for both white and African American audiences with music that incorporatd blues into his repertoire, after  hearing the Tutwiler guitarist and a string band playing twangy Delta blues in Cleveland, Mississippi. Although Handy’s writings never gave a specific date for the Tutwiler event, the U. S. Senate accepted 1903 when it declared 2003 the centennial “Year of the Blues.”

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You are invited to read a free chapter from my book, Where Rebels Roost; Mississippi Civil Rights Revisited  -- just Click Here. Your reviews and comments are always welcome.

Thanks -- Susan

Ever Hear of the Mississippi Delta Blues?

Clarksdale, Mississippi Delta Blues Mural (Photo by Susan Klopfer)

Ever hear of the Mississippi Delta Blues? I hadn't, until I moved to the Delta several years ago. This mural appears in the town of Clarksdale today, reminiscent of the town's early blues and civil rights history. One of my favorite Clarksdale residents was not a bluesman, Aaron Henry. He was a man of great character who helped bring dramatic change to his hometown. You won't read much about Mr. Henry in typical civil rights history books, and yet he was fascinating, controversial and certainly an important agent of change. I have written about him, and you are invited to read a chapter here from my book, Where Rebels Roost, Mississippi Civil Rights Revisited. Just Click Here.

I will enjoy your comments and thoughts. Susan

View across the bogue near Drew, Mississippi; free eBook Sample -- Who Killed Emmett Till?

This small bogue is just outside of Drew, Mississippi near the place where 14-year-old Emmett Till was beaten and murdered before his body was dumped into the Tallahatchie River. I once lived near this site and spent many long days talking to people of the Mississippi Delta who remembered when this even took place back in 1955. It is a fascinating history that I share in Who Killed Emmett Till?. You are invited to read a free sample of this eBook ...

Click Here --

Mississippi Delta Slide Show and FREE eBook

Courthouse in Belzoni, Mississippi

CLICK HERE to view the Mississippi Delta Slide Show, and then Click Below and read a FREE online book about the Delta, Where Rebels Roost; Mississippi Civil Rights Revisited, by Susan Klopfer

CLICK HERE TO READ your free online book.

From Cuenca, Ecuador to Loja

...a beautiful trip through the mountains from Cuenca, Ecuador to Loja.

The Mississippi Delta as the sun goes down

I love the Mississippi Delta. We moved there in 2003 and this opened a new door to the world for me.  I am a John Grisham fan, and reading his books while experiencing the Delta was quite a thrill. Each little town could have provided the back drop for a new Grisham novel. People were very friendly and many shared their stories of the Delta, good and bad. We lived next to the site where 14-year-old Emmett Till of Chicago was murdered in 1955 after whistling at a white woman, the owner of a small grocery story in the cotton hamlet of Money. I followed this story and others, and ended up writing a book about the region and the modern civil rights movement (Who Killed Emmett Till?). Today as I live in Ecuador, I still cherish my time spent in the Delta.
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