In my last blog, I wrote of being commanded by the land owner, “H”, to set up one of my older sisters to have sex, and if I told anyone he would kill me. I was shocked to the level that I do not remember what I said or done afterward. Thinking back over how […]
As a reminder from my earlier blogs, my family sharecropped on H’s farm in Lincoln County, Mississippi for 5 years. We were neighbors to Lamar Smith who was gunned down on the Lincoln County courtyard in Brookhaven, Mississippi August 13, 1955. The gunman was never prosecuted. It was very easy for a White person to […]
The first home I lived in was across the road from our church. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior around ten years of age. A revival was in progress. The church was poorly lit with oil lamps. The minister was preaching a fire and brimstone message, as most did back then. I went […]
I can recall from a child up to age 15, three reoccurring events in which I was the happiest: going to church on Sunday, gathering wild fruits on the farm lands and freedom to roam about. I will write about them in three different blogs. Starting with freedom to roam about. Being the oldest boy […]
As documented in blog VIII, the elderly White, brother and sister, farmers with last name “W” lived less than a quarter of a mile from us. They supplied our large family of 13 plus with necessities such as milk, eggs and sweets. As a teenager, I kept pocket change by doing chores for them such […]
In summary of my last seven blogs, I grew up in Southern Mississippi, Lincoln County, in a community called Caseyville about fifteen miles West of the county seat, Brookhaven. My mother being a single parent, could not properly raise me early, so I was raised in part by my father and mother’s family members until […]
As sharecroppers it was our responsibility to take care of the crops from tilling the fields to harvesting them. That included planting, keeping the weeds out, and protecting the crops from insects. Often the landlord hired outside help to get all the work done. The major crop was cotton, but corn and watermelons were also […]
It was common for adult children to continue living with their parents even after marriage. Houses were limited and so was work outside of the farm. When my mother married and moved from my grandmother’s house, I continued to live with my grandmother and uncle until I was ten years old. I also lived much […]
Two cultures living in the same area, segregated, but not in isolation. After slavery ended in 1865, white land owners did not have workers to work their farms. African Americans without farm land had to make sharecropper agreements with White farmers to make a living. Cotton was the major crop. The agreement was for the […]
Born to a single parent, during my preteen years I was blessed to be raised by 4 different family members who instilled in me dignity and self worth. They were my mother, my maternal grandmother and uncle on my mother’s side (same home), my grandmother and grandfather on my father’s side and father and stepmother. […]