something to be proud of

i've heard my fair share of mississippi/redneck/southerner jokes. being from the south, i inevitably am asked to "say something" whenever i travel past the mason-dixon line. i vividly remember being on vacation in Hawaii one spring break, and my mother telling me to say "the south" when asked where i was from because i martyred the word "mississippi" when speaking. let's all hope that my accent has improved, although i never would want to mask it or intentionally alter it in favor of sounding more neutral and homogeneous with the rest of the nation. many people don't see what the south, or mississippi has to offer. a good friend of mine (who happens to be from texas) loves to pick and prod on my mississippi roots, and we often go back and forth making jokes on one another's home state. he once jokingly said that "mississippi was the armpit of america"; and while i knew that he was only poking fun (he attends school in mississippi, you see), this is the view that many hold. one of my favorite stories in regard to these comments is one about the beginning of the mississippi believe it! campaign. i've taken this excerpt from their website as to how these public service announcements got their start.

"A conversation between a 12 year-old boy from Connecticut who asked the Mississippi businessman sitting next to him on an airplane if the businessman, “still saw the KKK on the streets every day” … and whether or not he “hates all black people” was all the motivation the businessman needed. This stunning revelation was the catalyst to the businessman fighting back against the erroneous stereotypes that plague Mississippi. After months of research and numerous meetings with prominent citizens across the state, the businessman, who happened to be the COO of The Cirlot Agency, determined that the first step in changing Mississippi’s perception was to change that of its own citizens."

from this conversation grew the mississippi believe it! campaign, which highlights several of the accomplishments that have come out of our great state. i have seen these posters hanging in libraries, and i personally own one of their t-shirts with the slogan "yes we can read. a few of us can even write." the poster that bears this slogan goes on to illustrate mississippi writers like eudora welty, tennessee williams, william faulkner, shelby foote, willie morris, nevada barr, john grisham, and more. if you go onto the website, you can see the host of posters that show such things as:

*Viking ranges began and are still produced right here in Greenwood.

*blues music's birthplace is mississippi.

*mississippians give more to charities per capita than any other state in the union.

*many sports greats like brett farve, archie, eli, and peyton manning, steve mcnair, and jerry rice all hail from this great state.

*we have more black elected officials than any other state (897 in the year 2000).

*the first heart transplant, lung transplant, and kidney autotransplant were all performed in mississippi.

the list could continue on and on, so for more positive facts about mississippians, check out mississippibelieveit.com. we just may surprise y'all.