Magnetic Memphis

Magnetic Memphis culminating the workshop with music, meat and museums

Each of the themes that participants learned about throughout the workshop culminated in a trip to Memphis, which is only a couple of hours away from Cleveland. For the most part, the previous days of the workshop focused on giving the educators a depth of knowledge about a specific topic such as the evolution of the Blues genre or the diversity of races and cultures in the Delta. In Memphis, all of these topics merged, allowing the participants to synthesize their knowledge and draw connections between different themes.

On the bus ride, they watched a documentary detailing the Great Migration of African Americans northward from the Delta to urban cities. Chicago-born educators spoke on the bus about the history of the city and its racial dynamics, answering questions about topics like red-lining and overcrowding of tenements.

Peter Landreth, who is a tour guide in Chicago, taught about how the city has evolved over the past century. He also spoke about the city's current state, maintaining "Chicago is an amazing city."

Dr. Herts and Ami Relf talked about gentrification in Chicago, focusing on a region called Bronzeville which was historically black but has since been gentrified- pushing its original residents out with higher prices of living.

THE COTTON MUSEUM

Having learned about cotton not only as a crop, but also as a major agent of social and economic change in the Delta, this museum gave the educators a chance to learn more about what had interested them.

STAX MUSEUM

A few minutes away from the bustling downtown streets of Memphis lies a neighborhood that has birthed Soul legends like Aretha Franklin and Booker T. In its hay-day, Stax Records identified and launched several Souls artists into stardom, making this neighborhood a cultural hub of music and an oasis of racial harmony. The building where Stax Records operated has now been renovated as a state-of-the-art museum that holds hundreds of artifacts from the Memphis music scene and tells the story of an evolving music form.

LUNCH AT CENTRAL BBQ

Riding the wave of energy set off by the Stax Museum's upbeat music, the participants headed back to downtown Memphis for lunch. Central BBQ wafted the delicious smell of brisket sandwiches and was packed corner to corner with hungry locals and hungrier tourists.

Participants ate and chatted on the shaded outdoor patio, sharing chocolate cake and banana pudding in the humid heat. Diagonally across the street from the restaurant, the Lorraine Motel's retro sign loomed, pointing the way to the area where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and where the National Civil Rights Museum now stands.

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

At the entrance to the National Civil Rights Museum, the original facade of the Lorraine Motel is preserved in shocking detail like a snapshot of time. A large wreath, red and white, punctuated the rail of the second floor balconies to mark the exact position where the bullet struck Martin Luther King. The museum did not simply tell the story of Dr. King, however.

Its timeline began much earlier, with an exhibit decorated like a slave ship to show the horrible conditions that slavery perpetuated from its very conception in the United States. As participants progressed through the museum, the history continued; decade by decade, and sometimes event by event.

It was adorned with features that made the exhibits experiential, including replicas of the bombed Greyhound Freedom bus and the diner counter where brave black students held their ground, asserting their belief in their right to sit at the same place as white people.

The progression ended in silent solemnity as participants walked through the hotel room where Martin Luther King stayed when he was tragically shot and martyred. Visible from the window, the commemorative wreath immortalized King's memory and left the teachers deeply impacted emotionally.

THE PEABODY HOTEL

Some have said that the Mississippi Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and ends at Catfish Row in Vicksburg. Eager to learn about what made the Peabody special, the participants were shocked to see loads of tour buses and cars lined up outside of the lobby doors. The lobby was beautiful and opulent, with marble floors, crystal chandeliers, a hand carved fountain- and hundreds of people. The visitors had come for the same reason: to witness the marching of the ducks.

A bizarre and well-kept tradition in Memphis, the marching of the ducks involves a 'Duckmaster' who directs ducks to and from the hotel's penthouse into the fountain where they swim around. Participants had the opportunity to watch the ducks leave the fountain and waddle into an elevator where they were taken to the penthouse and tucked into bed.

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