Mississippi Transplant: Caitlin Brooking
"I came to Mississippi with ideas, energy, and eagerness, and Mississippi wrenched my heart open, and still challenges me to keep it open every day."
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 CEO and President of the Refill Jackson Initiative, Caitlin Brooking, who first moved to the Gulf Coast to help start an AmeriCorps program to rebuild East Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina. Caitlin has built a life and career in Jackson that is rooted in community service and creativity.
Where are you from?
Methuen, Massachusetts—a small city located in the northeast part of the state. It was a textile mill town on the banks of the mighty, meandering Merrimack River—my most memorable field trip was visiting the Textile Museum and learning about the wonders and horrors of the Industrial Revolution.
When did you move to Mississippi and why did you move here?
I arrived in Biloxi, Mississippi on March 6, 2007 to spend the next two years at “hurricane camp”—helping to start an AmeriCorps program to rebuild East Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina. We had a construction program, and also did every kind of community work imaginable—building green spaces and community gardens, working in schools and after-school programs, rescuing animals and doing trap-neuter-release projects, working with single moms and elderly residents, case management, mold remediation—the whole shebang. I learned a lot about different ways to get dehydrated.
A few years ago, a sassy young idealist asked me, “Do you think you actually did any good on the Coast after Katrina?” and all I could say is, I damn sure hope so. It was the first time I realized that sometimes, the people who know how to fix things don’t quite exist yet—it was a wild, terrifying, devastating and jubilant ride.
What does “home” mean to you? How does Mississippi fit into that definition?
Home is where you can wear pants without buttons and belly laugh as loud as you want. I’ve been able to find home all over the state from Biloxi to Oxford, but my loudest belly laughs emanate from Jackson, my beloved chosen hometown.
What do you miss most about the place where you’re from?
The gritty scrappiness of the Merrimack Valley—we are a proud, tough bunch of people who like to fight with each other and laugh at the same stories over and over again. Cracking somebody’s tough-guy demeanor with a story or a joke is still one of my greatest pleasures. People un-ironically wear Carhartt jackets. I remember my slice of Massachusetts as gray and brown—the winter sky, the slushy roads, and the slate gray, freezing water of the Atlantic that is still my favorite way to slough off the heat of the South in the deep summer. There’s an occasional shimmer of glittery snow, or shock of red, yellow and orange foliage against a cloudless, relentlessly bright blue sky. The mix of immigrant communities from the Caribbean, Cambodia, and Lebanon with the earlier waves of Irish, Italians and Eastern Europeans made for a colorful and boisterous mix of cultures, businesses and cuisines that I can only now look back on and appreciate.
The people who have rooted me here are the creative folks—the artists, musicians, writers, chefs, bakers, baristas and bartenders, event planners, zine-makers, art teachers, skate park builders, and roller derby team founders.
How have you cultivated community in Mississippi? Who are the people who have made you feel rooted here?
There is the most incredible DIY culture in Jackson that has truly adhered me to the city. It’s also a fraught issue because I recognize that the reason there is so much room here to “DIY” is because of historical divestment and white flight from Jackson, balanced with the fact that the ability and resources to create, as well as the consequences of creating outside the rules, aren’t equally distributed. Among the community that I’ve tried to cultivate, it’s an ongoing conversation that I appreciate very much being able to have. That said, the people who have rooted me here are the creative folks—the artists, musicians, writers, chefs, bakers, baristas and bartenders, event planners, zine-makers, art teachers, skate park builders, and roller derby team founders. I thought I would miss the vibrancy and culture of living in a big city when I moved from Boston to Mississippi, but the major benefit to living in Jackson has been the ability to not only consume culture, but participate, cultivate and create it. As soon as I arrived, people were welcoming and genuinely eager for me to be a part of the creative community even though I’m only mildly talented at best.
How has living in Mississippi affected your identity and your life’s path?
Sometimes it feels like being a person born in Massachusetts and living in Mississippi *is* my identity. I hadn't realized that until I read this question, honestly—I didn't mean for that to define me at all, and it feels like Mississippi crept inside my heart and burrowed there while I wasn't looking. I wasn't planning to live here forever, I wasn't even sure if I would make it the two years I had mentally committed to.
Moving to Mississippi totally and unexpectedly rerouted my life's path—I decided to move here with three weeks' notice, broke my lease, put all my stuff in storage, went on one last ski trip, and hopped on a plane with two suitcases. I wasn't even 100% sure if my job paid or not (sorry dad). I wouldn't say the path I was on before I moved here was clear, but Mississippi threw a big wrench in the works, and that's become another part of my identity.
I learned quickly that if you think you have the energy to pitch in, Mississippians are like "Oh, bet, hop in right here and start working," and you better be ready for the ride.
When I arrived I wasn't sure how to know what was the right thing to do really, just awareness of a few sets of rules (the Catholic faith I was raised with, awareness of how other religions worked, social mores, laws, my family's and friends' stories, smatterings of advice, limited life experience) that never gave me a firm set of directions on how to conduct myself. Living and working in Mississippi gave me the extra practice in trusting myself because people were willing to let me pursue ideas and work as hard as I let myself, which was exhilarating, terrifying, and exhausting.
The communities I entered through my disaster response and community work also quickly let me know when I'd made mistakes and articulated the impact of those mistakes, feedback that I deeply appreciate because it also shaped my path. I came to Mississippi with ideas, energy, and eagerness, and Mississippi wrenched my heart open, and still challenges me to keep it open every day.
What is something that you’ve learned about Mississippi only by living here?
Living in Mississippi has refocused my fight on the long-term. Working and living with some of the baddest change agents in the world has shown me that change is a constant, frustrating, meandering process, the scale of which is far beyond my personal experience and work. Mississippi gave me a place to stand and dig my feet in. I learned quickly that if you think you have the energy to pitch in, Mississippians are like "Oh, bet, hop in right here and start working," and you better be ready for the ride.
In what ways has Mississippi lived up to your expectations?
I don’t really remember having expectations when I moved here—it was a very quick turn around time, and it was two years post-Katrina, which was still pretty gnarly on the Coast. I had been to Biloxi in March 2006 to volunteer for one day doing mold remediation, so I knew there would be sweaty Tyvek suits and respirators, and I was right.
Sometimes it feels like being a person born in Massachusetts and living in Mississippi is my identity.
Have you ever thought about moving away? Does a sense of duty keep you rooted here?
I don’t think I’ve seriously thought about moving away from Mississippi since I moved to Jackson. I had planned to stay in Biloxi for two years, and then go to grad school in 2009, with a lil’ road trip to Alaska in between. Shockingly I was rejected from the one grad school I applied to about three weeks before leaving on said road trip, and I had already left my job and ended my lease, mailed my cat Bootsy Collins home, and returned all my belongings to the Goodwill from whence they came. I left for Alaska in my truck with no home and no plan—I stayed with friends, acquaintances and a few strangers (pre-AirBnB) on my way to Alaska, with a vague intention to live and work there, but as y’all know, Mississippi is sticky, and I ended up getting a job and a wonderful friend-family in Jackson.
Do you have a “tipping point”?
If I have a tipping point, I haven’t reached it yet—I have been angry, frustrated, and scared, but I’m not ready to consider leaving. As a white, straight, cis person with no children, I am often sheltered from (and in some cases, by) the policies and practices that result in danger for many others in the state. In terms of duty, I feel more of a sense of awe of those who are constantly in danger and still stand and fight for change, and I want to stand alongside them and fight too, with joy, curiosity, and hope.
What do you wish the rest of the country understood about Mississippi?
Honestly, Lauren already said it best: “The most radical, progressive, forward-thinking, change-making people can be found right here in Mississippi.”
Do you have a favorite Mississippi writer, artist, or musician who you think everyone needs to know about?
Well my all-time favorite Mississippi artist is this guy named Chip Sheppard. He is a fantastic artist, creative thinker, slight curmudgeon and pretty spectacular husband. Mississippi is absolutely lousy with wonderful writers and poets (Lauren Rhoades, obvi, and some of my faves: Jesmyn Ward, Kiese Laymon, Natasha Trethewey, Angie Thomas, Derrick Harriell, Aimee Nezhukumatathil). My art heroes are Church Goin Mule and Adrienne Brown David, and there are so, so many talented artists and craftsfolk around (love you Summer Nation, Rebecca Wilkinson, Casey Jennings, Sara Sullivan, Sarah Warnock, and many, many more). The music is outstanding as well—the young folks reviving the music scene in Jackson are doing the most right now (@goodgigs_jxn) and us elder millennials and Gen Xers are trying to keep up and stay up past ten. I am proud to be the loudest woo-girl fan of Waterworks Curve. It’s always a great day to be in Jackson.
If I have a tipping point, I haven’t reached it yet—I have been angry, frustrated, and scared, but I’m not ready to consider leaving.
If you had one billion dollars to invest in Mississippi, how would you spend your money?
Making sure everyone in Mississippi has access to adequate, safe, medically accurate and inclusive healthcare. If we happened to decide that we value that and make it publicly available before I spend my billion, then affordable, safe, and accessible housing next.
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.)
Refill Jackson Initiative, of course. If you don’t know, we are a workforce training program for 18-24 year olds based in West Jackson. We currently have a nine week training program (we pay a stipend!) that incIudes classroom instruction on workforce skills, on-the-job training, and wrap around social services. I am extremely proud, blessed, and humbled to be surrounded by young folks who are working hard to change their pathway forward. Also they have the best catchphrases and most devastating shoe game. Our 20th (!) cohort starts on January 23: 18-24 year olds can apply here: https://refilljackson.org/apply/. We are launching an AmeriCorps program in the fall, which will be a small team of AmeriCorps members completing conservation and community improvement projects in West Jackson for five months at a time—we plan to start with water quality monitoring and watershed improvement at Lynch Creek with the Pearl Riverkeepers, and listen and respond to the needs of residents from there. Lastly, Refill thrives on the support we’ve received from the community—donations are always welcome, loved, cherished, celebrated, and prudently-spent: https://refilljackson.networkforgood.com/
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What an amazing Massachusetts-born Jacksonian changing the world for the better! Loved reading this one!