Country Blues: The Mississippi Delta

Country Blues: The Mississippi Delta

The Southern United States has been a treasure chest for U.S. culture. African-Americans were and continue being tremendous influencers in various areas of art and culture, particularly in the music industry. As African-Americans began migrating north their music transformed along the way. This movement really took off during WWI as the demand for industrial workers pulled southerners and women to jobs. Country blues evolved from the Folk and Blues scene in the south. Country Blues itself transformed in the 1960s to Folk Blues which was mostly targeted towards white, college aged people.

For my final week I drew inspiration from Robert Johnson's "Sweet Home Chicago." Johnson recorded this song in 1937, making it an anthem for those leaving their homes because of the Great Depression. "Sweet Home Chicago" references a variety of cities and states including Kokomo, California, and Chicago. My favorite interpretation of Johnson's song was that "the song was intended to be a metaphorical description of an imagined paradise combining elements of the American north and west, far from the racism and poverty inherent to the Mississippi Delta of 1936" (Knopper, Steve).

"Sweet Home Chicago" is also very much about longing for the place you have left. During the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl most of America was forced to leave the homes and places where their family lived for generations. They moved to places where they were not always welcomed, making their move that much harder. The lyrics "oh baby don't you want to go" sounds like the necessary pleading needed to convince someone to follow them away from their home and the people they love.

For my piece I made an abstract black and white city. I imagined looking at a city for the first time whilst acknowledging that I may never return to the life I use to know. I entangled the buildings, and railways together to illustrate feeling overwhelmed by a new place, especially a city.

Immigration, migration, or simply movement is a natural part of surviving. Whether it is towards colder or warmer climate (for the animal kingdom) or away from the governing elite that are no longer serving the values its residents want to be a part of. It is incredible that some of todays society is fearful, and against migration, even though it is something that allowed humans to survive and thrive above other genera.

With the early morning sunlight I wake to read about Syrian refugees and the hostility and discrimination some people and countries have made so clear. I hope things will change and the importance of migration historically is acknowledged. I hope we welcome these refugees with open arms because entering into a new place and having to call it home is not easy.