Mississippi Native: Michael Williams
"I feel a sense of duty to live openly as a queer, free-spirited creative in a state like Mississippi. This is my home, and I should feel comfortable to live and thrive here."
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 gardener, filmmaker, and entrepreneur Michael Williams who lives in West Point, Mississippi.
Where are you from?
West Point, MS
How long have you lived in Mississippi?
I’ve lived in Mississippi 36 years (my entire life).
What does “home” mean to you? How does Mississippi fit into that definition?
Home is a place of comfort. That was actually a major theme that I explored in my first feature film OzLand. The two characters, Emri and Leif, wander a bleak world with no home and each are on their own journey to find what home means to them. As a writer, both of the characters, though each different in many ways, are both reflections of who I am and what I think and feel. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that I am connecting more to Emri than I did when I originally wrote the film. Emri thinks home is a place of comfort. For me, I feel most comfortable at home with my garden. It’s my own little slice of The Shire within Mississippi where I feel comfortable to create, recharge, and allow myself to discover peace and personal fulfillment.
How have you cultivated community in Mississippi?
As a queer creative in Mississippi who isn’t religious, it can be challenging to feel comfortable within a community that can often make us feel unwelcome or misunderstood. However, I don’t need a big community of people to feel rooted. There are great people in West Point and the surrounding areas, and for the most part, I feel very fortunate to live in an area where I can create a happy life for myself despite being in such a conservative state. I think Mississippi is quickly becoming more progressive despite the historically conservative mindset we are known for. Our politicians may not be that progressive, but the people are progressing.
I feel most comfortable at home with my garden. It’s my own little slice of The Shire within Mississippi where I feel comfortable to create, recharge, and allow myself to discover peace and personal fulfillment.
Who are the people who have made you feel rooted here?
I feel rooted in my community thanks to the small group of friends (both queer and ally) that my fiancé and I have made, the friendly and supportive members of the community who make us feel welcome, and the strangers who we can sense are accepting and encouraging. Additionally, I feel rooted in places where I can have a connection to mother nature and plants. I have a very deep connection with my garden and the plants and critters that inhabit it. When I feel like I’m losing my peace or feel uprooted, I just need some time in the garden with my plant companions.
What’s the weirdest question or assumption you’ve encountered about Mississippi (or about you as a Mississippian) by someone who’s never been here?
On my first job within the film industry, one of the Los Angeles-based crew members made a remark that southerners were born racist. I took a lot of offense to that and strongly defended southerners. However, as I grew older, I realized that the statement wasn’t completely false. Over the last seven years, I’ve left religion in favor of a personal spiritual journey, completely changed my political views, and worked to rediscover who I was inherently before the world molded me into who I was as an early adult. I’ve had to unlearn racist, prejudiced, ignorant, and naïve biases that I didn’t realize I had growing up in the South.
I’ve had to unlearn racist, prejudiced, ignorant, and naïve biases that I didn’t realize I had growing up in the South.
While that person was wrong to say I was born prejudiced or racist, there is some truth in that the environment in which I grew up dictated my religious, political, and personal opinions in ways that were not healthy for me or others. In the end, I’ve really enjoyed this journey of changing and rediscovering myself since coming out in 2015. I feel like I am connecting to my inner child more than ever and allowing my spirit to mature in healthy ways.
How has living in Mississippi affected your identity and your life’s path?
That’s a complex question to answer. In many ways, I was negatively affected by growing up in Mississippi as a queer person stuck in a religious and conservative world and masking my true self for a majority of my life. I’m still working through that trauma. However, I really think Mississippi is an amazing place for creatives, storytellers, and free thinkers. I wouldn’t change anything about my upbringing (good or bad) and the experiences I’ve been through for the last three decades. It has molded me into who I am and given me the motivation to improve myself and the world around me. Plus, everything I’ve experienced dictates my storytelling and how I express myself in this world. Mississippi is a place that births storytellers and artists, and I’m so happy to feel inspired and enlightened by a place like Mississippi.
Do you ever consider moving away someday? Does a sense of duty keep you rooted here? Do you have a “tipping point”?
This comes up a lot in my personal and professional life. My answer always dances around the idea of keeping a home here so that I can come back to it. My house is paid for and West Point is a wonderful place for me to work and create from home or travel anywhere in the country when work requires it. That gives me a lot of comfort. Plus, my connection to my home and my garden is so important to me, but I know that one day my fiancé and I will outgrow it. However, I hope to always have this little Shire oasis to return to when I need to find comfort and ground myself. There is something about my home that helps me create.
I love the South, but I can’t live somewhere that makes my existence and pursuit of happiness criminal. In the meantime, I do feel a sense of duty to live openly as a queer, free-spirited creative in a state like Mississippi.
A tipping point would be when I no longer feel safe to live in the state. Florida’s anti-gay laws are terrifying. I love the South, but I can’t live somewhere that makes my existence and pursuit of happiness criminal. In the meantime, I feel a sense of duty to live openly as a queer, free-spirited creative in a state like Mississippi. This is my home, and I should feel comfortable to live and thrive here. I hope my visibility and success can be a beacon of hope and inspiration for others like me who aspire to live authentically in Mississippi.
What do you wish the rest of the country understood about Mississippi?
Despite our laws, politicians, and the overall conservative nature of the state, Mississippi is full of amazing people on all ends of the political spectrum. We are progressing, and we see it with most elections. About three out of every four people across the state voted to approve medical marijuana and change our state flag in the same year. That pleasantly surprised me, and it is a great example of how we are progressing. We may not have the best reputation to the rest of the country, but many Mississippians are trying to make this state better for everyone.
Do you have a favorite Mississippi writer, artist, or musician who you think everyone needs to know about?
In 2020, I discovered Hubert Creekmore and his book The Welcome. It was worth the months it took for me to find a copy and hoard it from the library for as long as I could. Now that the book has been reprinted and made widely available, I hope people will read it and see that Mississippi had queer, progressive voices over 70 years ago. I dream of adapting that book into a film and hope to have the opportunity one day to bring that story to the screen.
If you had one billion dollars to invest in Mississippi, how would you spend your money?
I would invest in a film studio in West Point and create a creative economy for all the types of people who can work in the industry. That would take a fraction of a billion dollars. The rest would be education, infrastructure, food security, community gardens, healthy eating, and nature preservation. Honestly, I’d look at all the issues we face and tackle them. A billion dollars in the right hands could do miracles.
About three out of every four people across the state voted to approve medical marijuana and change our state flag in the same year. That pleasantly surprised me, and it is a great example of how we are progressing.
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.)
I have a lot going on so let me be a little selfish here. I am currently pitching two film projects and trying to find the funding and resources to make them here in Mississippi. One of those is a queer, sci-fi comedy called Out in the Open. (Think: Little Miss Sunshine but set in Mississippi with drag queens, aliens, and a lot of heart.) It’s based on my experience as a queer man in Mississippi over the last few years but explored in a really fun and heartfelt way. I’m documenting the process of getting that film made on my Patreon where I also candidly share my experience as a filmmaker and creative. It’s also a place for me to share tangible resources for fellow filmmakers and creatives to help them thrive and succeed.
Apart from being a filmmaker, I am also an aspiring hobbit and have launched a new business inspired by my muses (or mewses). It’s called The Great Catsby Herb Cartel. It’s a small batch, seasonal herb brand that specializes in herbal teas, spices, and medicinal goods made from the plants I grow in my garden. It’s been a long-time dream of mine to own a herb/spice brand, so please follow the company on social media!
Michael, you are brave and inspiring! Here’s to peace and beauty in the Shire.
As a fellow gardener, I feel drawn to your idea of the garden as an oasis, with your "plant companions" growing all around you - a wonderful image! I hope you stay in Mississippi and continue to make such interesting films!