Remember2019
The Remember2019 collective works to memorialize the centennial of the 1919 mass lynching in Elaine, Arkansas, to celebrate present victories, and collectively call for healthier, more free futures.
We are heartbroken to learn about the passing of our beloved friend and collaborator Phillip Stackhouse. As a musician, teacher, and cultural worker, he touched the lives of many in Phillips County, Arkansas and beyond. As the saxophone player for Black ‘n da Blues and a contributor to our Callin Down The Road residency program he was a generous and thoughtful professional. We will miss him dearly.
08/01/2021
We are proud to share our latest collaboration “Black Cypress: A Phillips County Survival Guide.”
From the book’s introduction: “We remember. Roots everywhere, beneath our feet, beneath all that is seen, an alluvial floodplain masquerades as delta. Arkansas Delta land, more arc than triangle, the river spills over onto this land, once inhabited by the Quapaw, depositing minerals, clay and silt, which hold water and aerate the ground. The ground breathes. Annual floods replenish silt, create tributaries. Sometimes when the river retreats, lakes form, saturating what was once deep forest, into trees that grow in water. That is one origin story of this place. There are many. As an act of love, we want to think with the bald cypress, who stands at the convergence of all these processes. Black Cypress: A Phillips County Survival Guide was borne out of a need to gather, in this time of a global pandemic.
We recall. Quartz and feldspar. Silt people. Roots everywhere, dreams and songs, fold into prayer and scripture. Driving along Arkansas Hwy. 44, from Helena West-Helena to Elaine, one is struck by the cypress trees in Lake View. The trees have knees, a distinctive feature of cypress trees, breathable roots jut from the ground beneath the lake, forming a barrier around the trunk of the tree, catching sediment, aerating the soil. Black Cypress calls us to think of the people, the traditions, the institutions, that nurture and nourish us, that catch us up, giving us breath.”
Here are pictures of the book being delivered to some of our beloved contributors earlier this month.
09/14/2020
JOIN US: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020, 5 p.m. CST
The early way of civil rights: learnings for today
As part of The Elaine Legacy Center pre-anniversary zoom series Judge Olly Neal will speak and take questions growing out of the intersection of his book, Outspoken, and today’s struggles. Judge Neal is a friend and powerful speaker for the Elaine Legacy Center. He grew up in nearby Marianna, Arkansas and is known to all who work in civil rights in this country. Order the book and be ready with your questions for one who is a legacy in his own time. This zoom session will be facilitated by James Deke Pope, inaugural president of the Black Student Association at Memphis State University where he was also a member of the ‘Memphis 109” who integrated the undergraduate classes.
06/19/2020
Happy Juneteenth! Here are some pictures of our celebration two years ago in Elaine.
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