After reading William Alexander Percy’s Lanterns on the Levee and Endesha Ida Mae Holland’s From the Mississippi Delta, we are told two parallel stories of the Mississippi Delta. Percy’s appeals more to the mythical and leisure class of the Mississippi Delta, and Holland’s memoir gives us an idea of the social, economic, and psychology hardships of living under the exploitive race-based economic system of the Delta. Holland’s experiences provide insight on how the exploitation of African Americans and the philosophy of the blues have shaped the region.
Endesha Mae Holland’s memoir paints us a picture of her life with twists and turns of crime, sex work, and becoming an important figure in the civil rights movement. For me, the most gut-wrenching section of Holland’s memoir was her description of being raped at eleven years old by a white man. This man’s despicable act, along with his wife acting as a co-conspirator, can be analyzed from a couple different perspectives. First, it shows that the Delta has not only been a place where wealth and natural resources have been extracted (i.e., the land has been raped for capital) but it also shows how normalized rape was for young black women in the Delta. Not only was their labor exploited, but also their bodies.
Secondly, it reveals the specific relationship of sexuality and racial power dynamics in the Delta. In W.J. Cash’s The Mind of the South, he argues that the “rape complex” that was common in the white South, was actually irrational and it was merely a projection. It was an example of “the accusation is a confession.” Cash’s analysis of the white psyche paired with Holland’s personal experience helps us to more deeply understand this contradiction. This “rape complex” was actually an illogical fear that black men would behave the same way that powerful whites had been behaving for years.
Though Holland’s work shows the tragedy of the Delta, it also shows the transcendent nature of the philosophy of the blues. At a young age Holland is inspired by the performances of the marching band, local carnivals, and the dancing and music in the juke joints. For Holland, this seems to be a release from the trials of the world—the idea of joy amidst sorrow. Later in the memoir, we see how the spirituals of the civil rights movement push Holland and the other protestors onward even in dire moments. This deep spiritual connection of the blues tradition is seen here with the freedom fighters singing “You Can’t Hurry God” while in the jail cell. Decades later, the recent bluesman Reverend John Wilkins would provide his own interpretation of this spiritual song.
While both Percy’s and Holland’s texts were both well written and engaging, I find it interesting which text has had more “staying power” in the literary community. Why is Holland’s work less famous? Is it merely the fact that William Alexander Percy had more economic and cultural capital? Or does it reveal that our culture would rather avoid this type of societal soul searching?
