In episode 26, We talk about cases of mass hysteria throughout history in our first episode of “itty bitty mysteries”. Get ready for some crazy stories.
All Cats is part of the Truthseekers Podcast Network.
In episode 26, We talk about cases of mass hysteria throughout history in our first episode of “itty bitty mysteries”. Get ready for some crazy stories.
All Cats is part of the Truthseekers Podcast Network.
David Horton expresses emotion while speaking to a group of protesters during the Attorney General Lynn Fitch protest in downtown Jackson, Miss., Friday, June 5, 2020.
A crowd of about 150 protesters repeatedly chanted three words — “No free kill!” — on Friday afternoon outside Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office after her decision last week to drop the manslaughter charge of a white police officer who killed a black man in 2015.
“We’re not asking permission,” organizer Danyelle Harris of the Poor People’s Campaign said of the rally. “We demand answers. This is not a pep rally. We mean business.”
Former Columbus Police Department officer Canyon Boykin was indicted in 2016 by previous Attorney General Jim Hood after shooting and killing Ricky Ball, a 26-year-old black man, during a traffic stop in 2015. During the incident, Boykin and the accompanying officers did not turn their body cameras on. Few details have been released publicly about what happened that night.
The administration of Hood, a Democrat, was actively prosecuting Boykin when Fitch, a Republican, was elected in November 2019. Fitch was the first Republican elected to the position since the 1800s.
In a two-sentence statement, Fitch explained that the evidence in the case indicated “necessary self-defense.”
“The Attorney General’s Office did a thorough and independent review of the thousands of documents in this case file and concluded that there is not evidence on which to prosecute the case against Officer Boykin,” the statement read. “In fact, all evidence, including forensics and the sworn statements of four separate MBI investigators, points to necessary self-defense.”
Along with the Poor People’s Campaign, several groups sponsored Friday’s event, including FWD.us, Black With No Chaser, People’s Advocacy Institute and others.
Speakers passionately appealed to the crowd’s frustration, not just about Ball’s death but about other black Mississippians who lost their lives during police confrontations, including Marc Davis in Petal, Ronnie Shorter in Greenville, Antwun Shumpert in Tupelo, and Jonathan Sanders in Stonewall.
“It is your God-given right as a human being to protect and defend yourself at all costs,” shouted David Horton into a megaphone, his voice choking up. “I am not afraid to stand up for my child. I am not afraid to speak up for my people. I am not afraid to be killed, if it’s for a right cause.
“I am not afraid. You want me to be afraid,” Horton said, facing the attorney general’s building.
Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today
Protesters gather outside the Capitol in downtown Jackson, Miss., Friday, June 5, 2020.
Several elected officials, including Columbus District Attorney Scott Colom, Rep. Kabir Karriem, D-Columbus, and Rep. Cheikh Taylor, D-Starkville, spoke at the rally. Karriem spoke about failed attempts in the state Legislature to pass reform around racial justice and criminal justice reform.
“Every day the first thing we do is pray, and then we turn around and do some of the meanest things to people,” Karriem said, specifically calling to shutdown Parchman – the Mississippi State Penitentiary – and change the state flag, which is the last in the nation containing the Confederate battle emblem. “Something’s got to change, folks.”
Lea Campbell, co-chair of the Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign, addressed other white Mississippians about their role in the movement.
“This is about a system of oppression that people that look like me and you built,” she said, “and it’s past time for people who look like me in Mississippi to put some boots on the ground and fight to bring it down.”
The protest, which lasted about two hours, was peaceful throughout, although at one point organizers learned of a white man with a firearm in an adjacent parking lot. Protesters shouted towards the parking lot, but the situation didn’t develop any further.
A letter Rep. Kabir Karriem addressed to Attorney General Lynn Fitch regarding her decision in the Ricky Ball case.
“He has come to intimidate us,” Harris said in the megaphone.
The group had brought a letter addressed to Fitch, but state security didn’t let anyone inside the building.
After moving the rally across the street to the Capitol building, protesters demanded for at least 30 minutes to be let in. Capitol Police blocked their entry. Eventually, Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, spoke to the crowd and assured that she would distribute the letter to lawmakers.
“The public needs to know what (Fitch) had access to so we can determine whether or not there was some kind of cause or premeditation that took place in this case,” Summers said.
Harris assured attendees that rallies would continue until they received more details about what happened the night Ball was killed.
“I felt a shift,” Harris said after the rally. “We’ll be back next week and the week after that. We’re not going anywhere.”
As protests against police brutality and discriminatory policing practices unfold across the country, organizers in Mississippi this week are following suit.
These events come in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless other black people who have been killed by police or vigilantes this year.
Community organizers across the state in Clarksdale, Cleveland, Tupelo, Meridian, Jackson and Gulfport, among other towns and cities, are also scheduling rallies and protests against police brutality, racism, and discrimination and inequity in the criminal justice system.
“A lot of people are questioning what are we protesting? Why are we so angry?” said Arekia Bennett, longtime community organizer and a mentor to students planning a protest in Jackson on Saturday. “But the truth of the matter is black folks in Mississippi have been fighting this fight for a very long time, and black people, particularly in Jackson, are fed the fuck up.”
Protests are occurring across the state this week, with several specifically regarding Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s decision to drop charges against Canyon Boykin, a white police officer who shot and killed Ricky Ball, a black man, during a traffic stop in Columbus in October 2015.
“It could be anybody, plain and simple,” said Calvert White, 20, a co-organizer of the Jackson protest and rising junior at Alcorn State University. “Our thing is to get people aware and get people to understand that lynchings aren’t just something that happened during the civil rights era, it’s still happening.”
Calvert White and Maisie Brown discuss logistics for the Black Lives Matter Mississippi protest on Wednesday, June 3, 2020.
Together with a group of about 15 young people, co-organizers White, Maisie Brown, and Taylor Turnage are planning a Black Lives Matter Mississippi protest in downtown Jackson. The event will start at the Governor’s Mansion on Saturday at 3 p.m. Participants will begin at the mansion and move a few blocks north to the Mississippi State Capitol.
“We’re hoping to be a buffer between civilians and the powers that be, especially (Gov.) Tate Reeves,” White said. “Because there is such an elaborate process just to get to him, and so we have to make ourselves seen. We have to make our own space.”
Organizers hope Saturday’s protest is only the beginning; that it will spur action and involvement from state leaders and community members alike. They noted that while the governor has condemned Floyd’s killing, they want his actions to match up with his words.
“I want (the governor) to start taking care of people who look like me,” said Brown, 18, a recent graduate of Murrah High School in Jackson. “That’s what I want Tate Reeves to do. Don’t talk to me, do for me.”
The group put out a call to action asking people to donate to the Black Lives Matter bail fund, hold their community leaders accountable, vote, and educate themselves. Separately, the group has a list of demands that include removing Confederate symbols and memorabilia, reopening the Ricky Ball case, decreasing the state’s prison population, and centering public health in decisions involving schools returning in the fall because of the coronavirus. The full list can be viewed here.
“Black Lives Matter isn’t an exclusive movement to black people,” White said. “It’s more about exploring the power dynamics between black and white people, especially in Mississippi.”
Organizers Yasmine Malone and Tyler Yarbrough, both students at the University of Mississippi who are planning a Saturday protest in Clarksdale, expressed these same sentiments, noting “power” as the reason for this fight.
With Clarksdale being a predominantly black town in a predominantly black region, Yarbrough said the rally couldn’t “strictly be a protest.” It had to be more: an empowerment rally.
Yasmine Malone
Clarksdale native, Yasmine Malone, majoring in Political Science with a minor in Journalism and Public Policy Leadership University of Mississippi
“My vision of it is less of a protest and more of a rally because I think protest has more of a reactionary stance whereas we want something to have a lasting impact,” Malone said.
While honoring the lives of black people who were killed by police officers, the co-organizers wanted to fold in other issues affecting the Mississippi Delta. Both Clarksdale natives, Yarbrough and Malone saw how inequitable systems of poverty, healthcare, education, criminal justice, food access, and workforce and economic development impacted their family, friends, and the entire region. These issues influenced the students’ college decision to enroll at the University of Mississippi and pursue advocacy work on behalf of their communities.
Tyler Yarbrough
Clarksdale native, Tyler Yarbrough, 21-year-old senior Public Policy major at the University of Mississippi
“We want to use the space to call those systems out, call those issues out, and empower the communities so that they have the ability to one, re-imagine these systems, two, acknowledge they are systems, and three, come together and unify in the times we’re in,” Yarbrough said.
The rally, planned for 5 p.m. on Saturday in downtown Clarksdale, will include a line-up of speakers, a voter registration and 2020 Census drive, and a march, mimicking the initiatives civil rights activists like Vera Mae Pigee and Aaron E. Henry implemented in the 1950s and 60s.
“I think I’m excited for after the moment where we have people to come together in a more intimate space and a more diverse space where we talk about our community problems and to really arm the people,” Malone said. “If this is the opportunity to arm the people with knowledge, the next time we meet is a chance to arm people with action.”
Kelsey Davis Betz
Police officers take a knee with protestors in Cleveland, Mississippi.
In Cleveland, a peaceful march took place Wednesday, June 3, after Bishop Carey Sparks organized an evening that originally was just meant to be a prayer vigil. At least 200 people gathered to listen to religious leaders, college students and a county supervisor talk about racial inequality and civil rights.
“I wanted Cleveland to try to be a model,” Sparks said. “I wanted to put us on display in a positive light of where you (hold a protest) and make it look good and not loot.”
Like the rest of the nation, Sparks was compelled to organize the demonstration because of Floyd’s death, but also because of long-held racist policies and his own experiences of being discriminated against.
Overall, he said he felt the evening was loving and peaceful.
“I wanted it to be about healing. I wanted it to be about making Cleveland a better place,” Sparks said.
Mississippi has a long history of demonstrations and organized protest, but civil rights veteran Leslie-Burl McLemore sees this time as unique. McLemore said he sees a number of parallels between what happened during the 1960s when he was marching and organizing as an activist and the present day.
Ashley F. G. Norwood, Mississippi Today
Dr. Leslie B. McLemore, Veteran of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement at his home in Walls, Miss.
“There are fundamental differences, too, of course,” McLemore said. “The young people in the street today, they are much more integrated from the standpoint that you have greater participation by non-black people in the movement in the marching.”
He continued: “And quite frankly, we’re at a different moment in world history. Because in the 60s, we did have nationwide and worldwide impact, but nothing to the tune of the impact that the movement is having now, that it’s had over the last two weeks. I think it’s a new phenomenon.”
McLemore said that he’s struck by the degree of racial sensitivity that he’s seeing right now, using the public outcry over Drew Brees’ recent condemnation of athletes kneeling during the anthem as an example.
“My basic point is this: We are experiencing a moment in world history that we have not experienced before. These demonstrations, these movements have been going on for days and I have no idea when the marches are going to stop. I just hope that the marching continues for the next number of days,” McLemore said.
“Because the marching is clearly good for the nation,” he continued. “The marching is good for the world. The marching is unearthing issues that we have failed to discuss. Hopefully out of these discussions there will be some action taken, because in the final analysis we have to not only talk, but we have to act.”
Up-and-coming Canton attorney and politician Ed Blackmon and his friends left a 1978 New Year’s Eve party to go to the Red Lantern in South Jackson, then a popular nightclub for black professionals.
Not long after his group arrived, Jackson police swarmed the club from several directions, sending people scattering.
Blackmon, now 72 and a longtime influential member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, said he was attacked by police that night — they knocked out several of his front teeth with a baton — for no other reason but his skin color. It was one of two times in his life that police officers physically assaulted him.
“The one at the Red Lantern was the worst,” he said, adding that he dropped to his knees and locked his hands behind his head. “That is what we were taught because hands can heal, but your head might not be able to.”
Gil Ford Photography
Rep. Ed Blackmon, D-Canton
Blackmon spoke of the incident when asked about the recent events surrounding George Floyd, a black Minnesota man who was killed by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer who pressed his knee onto Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. Floyd’s killing, and other recent police killings of black Americans, has spurred protests across the nation, including in Mississippi.
“Not much has changed,” said Blackmon. “Nothing has changed.”
More than 40 years later, Blackmon and other African American members of the Mississippi Legislature say they are hopeful the cell phone video of Floyd’s death in broad daylight on a Minneapolis street will lead to not only changes in attitudes but changes in policy.
Mississippi Today asked several members of the state Legislature for their reaction to Floyd’s killing and the actions that his death spurred, as well as whether the state Legislature can and should do anything to address police brutality and inequity in the criminal justice system.
At a Thursday news conference held by the Legislative Black Caucus, Rep. John Faulkner, D-Holly Springs, read off a list of criminal justice reform bills that black members introduced in recent sessions that have died.
They included:
Requiring body cameras for police officers.
Requiring a special investigator and prosecutor for officer-involved shootings.
Restoring the right to vote to felons once they have completed their sentence.
Blackmon added it also should be a fireable offense for an officer to turn off a body camera while on duty and that changes in law should be made to lessen the degree of immunity from civil lawsuits that law enforcement officers have.
In a statement, the caucus said: “Given the grave importance of relations between law enforcement officers and our communities, the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus will seek to engage the heads of the various law enforcement agencies and state government to discuss law enforcement training, qualified immunity and best practices going forward.”
Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America
Rep. Robert Johnson III speaks to media concerning the coronavirus Tuesday, March 17, 2020.
Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, suggested raising the qualifications and pay for police officers as well as requiring more sensitivity training to ensure better personnel. Gov. Tate Reeves also has the authority through executive order to release inmates with nonviolent offenses, which would decrease the prison population, Johnson said. And “if (Reeves) is not willing to do it, we ought to be willing to do it by legislation,” he said.
Mississippi House of Representatives
Rep. Bryant Clark, D-Pickens
Like Johnson, Rep. Bryant Clark, D-Ebenezer, said the state should put more of an effort into releasing and rehabilitating nonviolent inmates, although that likely would not happen without the federal government getting involved, he said, because “Mississippi, we love stumbling into the future walking backwards.”
“Racism is America’s Achilles heel,” Clark said. “It’s that one issue that keeps reoccurring that we can’t seem to find the solution to.”
All legislators, both black and white, interviewed by Mississippi Today acknowledged the tragedy of the Floyd case. All supported the right to protest, but some expressed disappointment that in some instances laws were broken in the midst of the protests.
Eric J. Shelton, Mississippi Today/ Report for America
Rep. M. Kevin Horan speaks during a special session of the Legislature at the Capitol in Jackson Friday, August 24, 2018.
Rep. Kevin Horan, R-Grenada, spoke of how “terrible” the Floyd case was but “that does not excuse the conditions after the fact that are taking away from the seriousness of the original crime.”
When asked if it was fair to paint all the protesters by the actions of a few, he said: “Unfortunately from an optical standpoint it is hard to separate” for some Americans.
Rep. Nick Bain, R-Corinth
“That’s their constitutional right, and that’s something that should be honored as much as we honor gun rights, as much as we honor freedom of speech,” said Rep. Nick Bain, a Republican from Corinth. “… I’m all for people protesting. There is a line between protesting and rioting and that’s been evidenced in some of the stuff that we’ve seen.”
Sen. Chris McDaniel of Ellisville, a favorite of the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, said Floyd’s murder was “a tragedy” and there is no excuse for it.
Sen. Chris McDaniel, R – Ellisville
“We have a small number of bad apples in every profession, including law enforcement,” McDaniel said. He said people protesting is “a quintessential American act. It is a very important part of our country, but violence, looting and lawfulness cannot be allowed.”
House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, said: “I believe that the incident is shameful. It is appalling. There is no justification for it.”
Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said: “I am proud of the people who are peacefully protesting.” He called the incident leading to those protests “revolting.”
Hosemann said he has met with senators to discuss whether legislation should be considered this session or in the coming sessions to address issues surrounding the incident. He said those conversations would continue, but exactly what that legislation would be – if any – is not clear at this point.
Gil Ford Photography
Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula
There would be a strong likelihood that any legislation dealing with establishing guidelines for police officers would move through the Judiciary B committees, where Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, is the chair in the Senate. Wiggins expressed outrage at the Floyd killing, but “we must all acknowledge… law enforcement put their lives on the line every day to protect us.”
In terms of legislation to try to stop instances of police misconduct, he said: “I am more than willing to sit down and talk about what, if any, legislation needs to come down.”
Bain, the Judiciary B chair in the House, shared a similar sentiment. The deadline to introduce legislation has already passed, which means lawmakers can’t bring forth any new bills to address issues without two-thirds consent of both chambers to suspend rules and take up new legislation. Lawmakers could still make amendments to general bills by the June 17 deadline, but the legislation would need to have a pertinent code section in it to make any changes.
“We’re past the ability to do anything really as a Legislature (in the current session),” Bain said. “But sure. I think that it’s incumbent upon us as lawmakers to always have discussions about current events, current policy issues.”
House of Representatives
Rep. Angela Cockerham, D-Magnolia
Rep. Angela Cockerham, I-Magnolia, said she feels for Floyd and his family.
“Sadly, what happened to Mr. Floyd in Minnesota can and does occur in America in other states far too often. What we are experiencing right now is a resounding cry across the country to be heard, to be viewed, and to be treated as human beings,” Cockerham said. “These aches must be addressed by the leadership across all fifty states, nationally, and all U.S. territories.”
Cockerham, chair of the House Judiciary A and Judiciary En Banc committees, said she hopes that the demonstrations occurring will lead to lasting change.
“As a lawmaker, I support community review boards that work closely with law enforcement and the judicial system,” Cockerham said. “Additionally, criminal justice reform measures that promote rehabilitation and allow individuals to re-enter society without stigma should always be a priority. This is a tipping point for our society, and now is not the time to be passive. We should all use our voice to bring about equality in our great nation.”
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve been eagerly awaiting a return to normal. We want to be able to go out again, see our friends, and be in public places without feeling like we’re risking our health or that of others.
Now that Covid-19 case counts have gone down and restrictions are starting to lift, it seems we’re at last on the path back to some semblance of normalcy. But as recent events have shown, the status quo before the pandemic wasn’t all that great for large swathes of the population, both in the US and around the world.
Do we really want to get “back to normal,” or should we be focusing on building a more just and inclusive future?
Last week at Singularity University’s digital summit on the future of work, SU chair of Future Studies Paul Saffo and chair for the Future of Work Gary Bolles discussed a piece of the old normal they think needs to change: the structure of the economy.
Over the last few decades, we’ve increasingly distanced ourselves from the values our ancestors built into post-World War II society, and it appears that in many ways, we’re worse off for it. Rather than sticking to the winner-take-all capitalism that’s gotten us where we are, Bolles and Saffo believe, the future will be far more promising—for everyone—if we re-orient towards a moral economy.
What Is a Moral Economy?
A simple definition of a moral economy is an economy that’s based on justice and fairness.
The term, Saffo said, is almost two centuries old. James C. Scott was one of the preeminent thinkers in this area, and he framed the concept of a moral economy like this: imagine you’re a farmer in a small agrarian village. You’ve had a bad year, but your neighbor is also a farmer and he’s had a good year. So you go to your neighbor and he freely shares some of his surplus with you, not because he’s just being nice, but rather because next year he may be the one who needs help, and you can be the one to help him then.
Essentially, a moral economy respects interdependence and relationships rather than leaving everyone to fend for his or herself with no regard for how others are faring. The other standout expert on this topic is E.P. Thompson, and he wrote about the moral economy in England before and after the Industrial Revolution. Moral contracts existed between landlord and peasants before the Industrial Revolution; but the rise of free-market thinking did away with putting these moral concepts first, and the long-standing contracts between people and groups were broken.
“The important thing about the concept of a moral economy today is that whenever there’s a big idea in the zeitgeist, we usually ask ourselves the wrong question,” Saffo said. “Back in 2009 everyone was asking ‘will robots steal our jobs?’, but then people realized that that was the wrong question, and we should be thinking about the future of work.” Now that we’ve shifted to focusing on that topic, the way to tie in the myriad issues around it—including the environment, equity, diversity, and technology—is to discuss the future of work within the context of a moral economy.
Then and Now
When looking at big disruptions to the economy, we tend to focus on the technologies that brought about massive change; the steam engine, nitrogen-based fertilizer, the incandescent light bulb, etc.—but it’s equally significant to examine the laws and norms that went into place during these historical shifts.
In England before the Industrial Revolution, Bolles said, there were a lot of small farms, and in between the farms there was a common space where the farmers are allowed to graze their animals. When the Industrial Revolution and mass production techniques came along, the farms started to get bigger, and laws called the Enclosure Acts were created to hand the common areas over to large landholders; they unsurprisingly ended up having the most land and the most money.
“A lot of the interconnections of those economies were lost, and they rewarded ‘more bigger faster stronger,’ and that echoes down to today,” Bolles said. Giant tech companies have created platforms, and we’ve rewarded them by putting more and more content and information and data on their platforms. The big get bigger, which ultimately leads to the small being forced out.
“Today, we should ask ourselves what the new Enclosure Acts are,” said Saffo. “There are always forces trying to do enclosures, and moral economies don’t appear by accident. People fight for them.”
After the Great Depression, American workers unionized and organized to demand a moral economy. World War II prompted the creation of one that lasted for several decades, until, Saffo said, the early 1980s, when laws were passed that began systematically dismantling it. The Gini coefficient measures how far a country’s income distribution deviates from being perfectly equal, and in the US this number has steadily risen since the 1980s. In 2015, the top 1 percent of earners in the US averaged 40 times more income than the bottom 90 percent.
“In the 1980s everybody took the order that had been created in the previous decades so much for granted that they didn’t fight to preserve it,” Saffo said. “In my opinion, we’re at the breaking point today.”
How Do We Fix It?
The world has changed dramatically since the 1980s (not to mention since January). Technological advancement has brought abundant food, resources, and income to many more people than ever before, but it’s also made us value independence (that is, a movement towards an individualistic society that de-emphasizes depending on and helping others) at the expense of interdependence, and now we’re seeing the fallout.
“We’re in the middle of this independence bubble, and independence has become a very dangerous myth,” Saffo said. Granted, in a small agrarian community it’s easier to make a moral economy work, because people see the consequences of their actions and get feedback from other parties. The massive global economy we’re living in, on the other hand, is a society of strangers, with little to no feedback and consequences that are invisible—until they’re not.
How, then, can we use technology to foster social solidarity and interdependence? How do we encourage the balancing of economies to benefit the most people possible? How would the world look different if it was built on these precepts?
Digital technology has done its share of harm to democracy and to social cohesion—how do we turn it around and harness it for good? “It’s not going to come down from the top,” Saffo said. “It’s going to have to come up from the bottom, with individual communities leading by example.”
Our current economic structure and reward system doesn’t take into account the most important factors for our collective well-being, like justice, equality, the environment, and our physical and mental health. We need to trade in our defunct system for one that pulls these things into the equation in a meaningful way.
As sci-fi writer William Gibson famously said, “The future is already here; it’s just not evenly distributed.” Building a moral economy may be the first step towards righting that imbalance.
It is frustrating when you begin a new endeavor or with gospel music, your new ministry and you can’t seem to play in places where the people are. You spend all of your free time searching for material, maybe writing your own, and no one seems to be showing up to hear you? We have been there and we know that frustration. Honestly, your hard work away from the date you booked at a church or community center doesn’t just start and end with rehearsal. There are some other things you can do to help grow your audience and hopefully in the next few minutes we will give you a few tips that just might help. Please do us a favor and like and share our facebook, youtube and our podcasts wherever you are watching or hearing us – we would definitely appreciate it. Also, if you have a youtube channel please send us a link so we can check it out! Also, if you want us to evaluate your performance you can send us a link to a youtube video or facebook live event and let us know that you want us to help you with your stage communication. At the end of the day – what matters to you – MATTERS to us!
Personality All of us connect to an artist in some way or another. Their sound, their delivery, the song choices and how they conduct their interviews makes us want to meet them in person. We have all heard the stories and we may have some of our own where that artist was met away from the stage and the encounter wasn’t that great. They had a bad attitude or maybe they just acted like you were bothering them. All of a sudden you don’t like their music anymore. Personality is a key element to gaining a bigger audience. It’s the time you take getting to know the people that purchase your Cds or bring you something to eat. This is a sacred area of trust for the artist that should never be taken for granted or taken lightly. Now, we know there are some people that believe they are your biggest fan and they demand more than what is considered normal time. You need to develop a love for those around you that donate to what you do, book your programs or invite you to their communities or churches. It should never be shallow. If you want people to connect with the music you record you must must must connect with them on the same level. Because we simulcast our Podcast on the ourtupelo.com website I wanted to give an example of a couple people from different genres. The first is a gentleman named Matt Nolan. Matt is a rock and roll from the get go guy but he plays a lot of different types of music. One thing Matt does great outside of being a great musician is that he communicates with the people that come out to his shows around town. You constantly see him on Facebook asking his page followers what they want to hear at his next show. Next, he goes live from his venues and even interacts with his online friends that might not could make it. The guy plays nearly every venue in town that has live music. Another artist is a quartet from North Mississippi that have become really popular in a short amount of time. Their sincerity and music choices gets them invited to a lot of venues. I am talking about the Unity 4 Quartet from Iuka, MS. One thing that I absolutely love about these guys is their genuine love for the people that show up at their concerts. Their facebook page is filled with selfies with those that attend their concerts. The guys are naturally humbled by how everyone enjoys them. That connection is what helps.
From time to time we will be using other local examples and people that we have met over the years. I honestly don’t expect to pull any punches with some of the folks that we’ve opened for in the past. That brings us to our next tip –
KNOW Your audience
How many times have we gone to hear a band or gospel group that may be a national touring artist and have to suffer through the opening act that forgot that everyone wasn’t there to see them? I’ve even seen bands or groups do covers of the people they are opening for! THAT IS A NO NO! If you are booked to open for someone keep in mind that this is an opportunity for you to introduce what you do to an audience that really didn’t come to hear you. You want to spend as much of your 20 minutes doing your best material and it best not be something the headliner recorded. You may get away with grace in a church somewhere and it may get people talking about your band – but I guarantee that it’s not positive talk. It’s Waffle House I can’t eat my pancakes without syrup coming out of my nose laughing at you, talk. Just don’t do that. Know the audience you are standing in front of at the moment. You were chosen to open and that’s what you need to do. The quartet that Michi and I sing with opened for the Nelons about a year ago and while everyone was gathering into the building a group of people stopped just inside the foyer. I was the only person there and one of them said, “Excuse me, but what time does the Nelons go on stage?” I said, “Well, the concert starts at 6.” They interrupted me and said, “I wasn’t talking about the warm-up group I don’t care about listening to them.” It never dawned on them that my face was on the poster. It didn’t bother me that much, I’ve been in that situation before. However, we knew we were there to be the opener and we sang our best songs that would allow the audience to participate in why were there to begin with and that was to have church. Even the Nelons got involved and had a good time and even invited us back on stage when it was over. If you know the audience isn’t in to what you are doing – don’t waste your time trying to win them over. They know within the first 2 songs whether they want to hang around or move on to something else. That happened with us once opening for another group. The crowd was more than ready for the concert to start and our style of music and the group we were opening for wasn’t the same by no stretch of the imagination. We were allotted 25 minutes as an opening group. Once the audience seemed to start enjoying what we were doing about 15 minutes into our set – I called it and we did our finale song and exited the stage. The church actually invited us back to a regular service that featured just us because they claimed we didn’t sing enough. We’ve gone back a few times since and have always had a good crowd to share our music with.
If you will work on those 2 things then you will be on your way to growing your audience. Don’t take advantage of relationships and don’t outstay your welcome. If this was a help to you- please like and share our post on facebook, and our podcast. Also, please subscribe to our youtube channel – shayandmichi.
TUPELO, Miss. — Northeast Mississippi residents plan to march from the Lee County Courthouse to Tupelo’s Fairpark Saturday, June, 6, and 2 p.m. to fight against inequality and injustice in our systems of government.
The group, led by activists at Indivisible Northeast Mississippi, are marching in solidarity with activists all over the world who want to see an end to the violent mistreatment of black- Americans at the hands of police.
“We know that people are hurting, people are angry and people just need to have an outlet to show that we care. I think that this protest that’s being led by Indivisible is giving people a sense of empowerment to do that, regardless of what race you might be.” said Teresa Roberts, an Indivisible Northeast Mississippi organizer.
At Fairpark, marchers, community members and elected officials will hear from guest speakers from the Northeast Mississippi community, including Dr. Richard Price, Tyson Quinn, Rev. Charles Penson, Father Phillip Parker, Cee Cee Jackson, and Marika Baliko, will speak about systemic racism, how it affects our communities, and what collective action can be taken to turn the tides.
Following the speakers, time will be made for open remarks from the community before Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton closes the event with his response.
Indivisible Northeast Mississippi will provide sign materials and bottled water for marchers, and anyone wanting to offer written comments or register to vote can do so during the Fairpark listening session.
Since this even is taking place during the global COVID-19 pandemic, organizers require all participants wear face masks and maintain a safe social distance.
Indivisible Northeast Mississippi is part of a grassroots movement of thousands of local Indivisible groups with a mission to elect progressive leaders, rebuild democracy, and defeat the Trump agenda. The organization is nonpartisan and works to keep all elected officials — local, state and federal — accountable for their policies and votes.
All are welcomed to join protesters as they seek equality, inclusion and justice through action.
