Mississippi Expat: William Ferris
"While my home is geographically in the state of Mississippi, it also exists inside me as a spiritual presence that sets it apart from the state in which it is located."
What does it mean to call Mississippi home? Why do people choose to leave or live in this weird, wonderful, and sometimes infuriating place? Today we hear from the founder of the field of Southern Studies and the region’s most important folklorist, William Ferris.
Where are you from?
Vicksburg.
When did you move away from Mississippi? Why did you leave?
I first moved away in the fall of 1957 when I entered Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts, at the age of fifteen.
What does “home” mean to you?
“Home” for me is the farm where I grew up, where I learned the smell and feel of changing seasons, where familiar voices of family and neighbors, of animals, birds, and insects were constantly in my ears, where I return each day in my mind to revisit the people and place that shaped me so deeply.
How does Mississippi fit into that definition?
While my home is geographically in the state of Mississippi, it also exists inside me as a spiritual presence that sets it apart from the state in which it is located.
What do you miss most about Mississippi?
I miss the warmth of people whose voices and interaction with each other offer a kindness and care that are both familiar and nurturing.
How have you cultivated community in the place where you live now?
I cultivate community where I now live—Chapel Hill, North Carolina—with tools I learned as a child—to respect all people, regardless of their background.
Do you still feel rooted to Mississippi?
Mississippians are like a tribe. When I meet a fellow Mississippian, the first question I ask is, “Where are you from?” Once I know that, I try to find a person whom I know in their town or community as a way to bond with them. The families of both my mother and my father have lived in Mississippi for over a century, and I am proud of those roots.
What’s the weirdest question or assumption you’ve encountered about Mississippi (or about you as a Mississippian) by someone who’s never been there?
The most frequent assumption I encounter as a white Mississippian, is that I am racially prejudiced. Often when I enter a taxi in New York, if the driver is white, he will hear my accent and ask, “Where are you from?” When I answer, “Mississippi,” he unloads his racist views and assumes that I agree with them.
How has being from Mississippi affected your identity and your life’s path?
Being a white expatriate from Mississippi is a burden that I have carried through my life. In my work as a folklorist, I try to build a bridge across the troubled waters of Black and white worlds through music, stories, and art that we share.
What is something that you’ve come to understand about Mississippi by living elsewhere?
It is said that “a fish never thinks about water until he is out of it.” Living outside Mississippi makes us realize that the state is different in both good and bad ways. That perspective makes us more sensitive to both Mississippi and the world in which we live outside the state.
Have you ever thought about moving back?
I often think about moving back to Mississippi.
What would need to happen in order for you to move back to Mississippi?
At my age—81—I would probably have to die and be buried in our family cemetery on the farm.
What do you wish the rest of the country understood about Mississippi?
I wish the rest of the country saw Mississippi as a microcosm of both our nation’s problems and their solutions. The long, tragic struggle to overcome racism and poverty in Mississippi is a story that is common in every state in the nation.
Do you have a favorite Mississippi writer, artist, or musician who you think everyone needs to know about?
To choose a favorite Mississippi writer, artist, or musician is like being asked to choose your favorite child. Mississippi is uniquely blessed with writers, artists, and musicians who are known and loved throughout the world. William Faulkner, Richard Wright, Eudora Welty, Margaret Walker, Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth Spencer, Barry Hannah, and Larry Brown are my favorite writers. Lawrence Jones, Carrie Mae Weems, George Ohr, James “Son Ford” Thomas, Walter Anderson, Andrew Bucci, and William Hollingsworth are my favorite artists. And Jimmie Rodgers, B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters, Mose Allison, The Tangents, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Rufus McKay and the Red Tops are my favorite musicians.
I keep a CD of Mississippi Fred McDowell in my car and play it when I am homesick.
If you had one billion dollars to invest in Mississippi, how would you spend your money?
I would invest every penny in education and focus the curriculum on literature, music, and the visual arts.
What or who do you want to shamelessly promote? (It can absolutely be a project you’re working on, or something you are involved in.)
The box set Voices of Mississippi of my field recordings and documentary films won two Grammy Awards and has been transformed into a musical that features Bobby Rush, Shardé Thomas, Luther and Cody Dickinson, and other Mississippi artists.
Our inaugural performance of Voices of Mississippi was at the University of Mississippi on September 14, 2021. On February 25 and 26, 2022, Jazz At Lincoln Center hosted four remarkable, sold-out performances that were previewed by The New Yorker and reviewed in Elmore Magazine. We recently confirmed a performance of the musical in Jackson at St. Andrews School on September 13, 2023. The performance will be sponsored by the Mississippi Center for Justice with production and promotional support from Arden Barnett and his company Ardenland.
Wonderful article! Thank you so much for posting this! ❤️
I would love to see the Voices of Mississippi performance. Maybe it will come to Boston?