He recalled that it was like going to Walt Disney World. Hall wasn’t even close to Disney World when he felt the same thrill that inspires children as they enter the Magical Kingdom. He was separated from the majestic castles, the whimsical rides and the palm trees that make America America’s happy spot. He instead sat in a Mississippi Delta school, about 20 miles east the Mississippi River and 115 mi north of Vicksburg on Highway 61. This part of the country is known for its low level of poverty, life expectancy, and history of racial oppression. His school was built on a hill, and the land was cleared. The town was settled by freed slaves. It would become Mound Bayou, a settlement that was exclusively established by African Americans. Mound Bayou was for Hall a Disney World. It filled him with wonder as he was a child. Benjamin T. Green and Isaiah T. Montgomery, two ex-slaves who were owned by Joseph Davis (brother of Confederate President Jefferson Davis), went on to create a place that would be a beacon of success and autonomy for African Americans. “Being there and seeing it being built by two ex-slaves,… I see a man with a vision and who created something. Hall, 21, said that he sees (Disney World) and Mound Bayou as basically the same. The town is still 98 percent African American today. It has a vision of what Mound Bayou should look like, and it must continue to fight for that vision. It was a struggle for autonomy, excellence, and peaceful existence in the past. Recent legal action has been necessary to save the school’s iconic high school. The people who live there see the two things as inextricable. They want to settle the post-slavery settlement. They also want to save the high school. The history would not have been possible without the high school. This history could be lost if the high school isn’t there. Montgomery and Green started recruiting settlers after they paid the down payment of 840 acres in Bolivar County, July 1887. The land was “covered with thick trees and undergrowth, through the only way of moving was by hatchets or machetes.” “The forests were full of wild animals, and there was the ever-present threat of swamp fever. Some settlers fell prey to it,” the history document details. Early settlers established a supply store and sawmill, a post office, a school, and a church in the area. Montgomery was elected the first mayor of the town in 1898. Three more settlers were elected aldermen, and two more were named marshal and treasurer. It was an effort to help you find a place where your self-government and independence are possible, rather than working for the master or someone else. Eulah Peterson was the mayor of Mound bayou. Peterson’s grandfather was a slave who moved to Mound Bayou back in 1903. Although Mound Bayou was considered a haven for white autonomy in the post-antebellum period, Peterson was there during the Civil Rights period, when it was an oasis from racism and oppression. The streets were lined with shops and businesses. Education was valued. The town had a hospital that employed black doctors, nurses and surgeons. There weren’t separate, dehumanizing water fountains, bathrooms, or schools. There was no need to be afraid of being trampled by a white person. Mound Bayou’s safety didn’t make it any less dangerous for its residents. However, this did not mean that they were ignorant of racial injustice that was happening beyond their borders. It didn’t mean that white people never attacked the town. White people took mules from the settlers in the beginning and poisoned their water wells. White people began to boycott Mound Bayou’s oil mill around the turn of century. Peterson’s uncles spent the night in jail once to defend themselves against a white mob after they helped a black man, who was being accused of shooting a white person. The Mound Bayou community was taught to not allow fear from the outside to affect their sense of worth. We were never taught to be subservient. My parents taught me that no one is better than you, but you are better than everyone else. Peterson stated that he was taught by his parents that you could do anything and be whatever you want to become. Peterson uses stories like these to show what it was like in Mound bayou during the Civil Rights Era. “We would be at my father’s printing shop assisting, and I recall one day when dad wasn’t there. He came in and asked Isaac if he was here. (My sister, Isaac, and I looked at each other but said nothing. He asked him again, almost as if he didn’t hear what I said. (My sister) replied, “I don’t even know Isaac.” “Mr. Peterson crossed the street and then turned around and left.” Wanda Stringer is a Mound Bayou native who was once principal at John F. Kennedy Memorial School. She also recalls how she gained dignity from her hometown in a way that she could not have at other places in America. “Our personalities were shaped by the fact that our town was self-sufficient.” She said that most people grew up believing they could achieve anything, because they didn’t live in places where there were limitations on their potential. “Students have left this school, and they are now graduates. It was nothing to say that I am going to school to become a doctor, a lawyer, or one of the best teachers. That was our attitude. These were lessons instilled in us from those around us.” The power and importance of storytelling. Current John F. Kennedy Memorial High School students say that these are still important lessons. They learn about the history of their community in both class and in the classroom. Isaiah T. Montgomery still teaches the lessons of independence, grit, and knowing your worth. Kylan Hooker, a sophomore at JFK, said, “We really grew on that, and it’s what we discuss every day — how they made an way out of nothing and how we can make the same with their legacy.” “It’s instilling young black children like us to have an appreciation for education… and that really made us feel special about our school’s history.” It’s important to think about what it means to be empowered through the stories of your past, but it’s also important to think about what it means to lose the great men of your history to be boiled down to one sentence in a textbook. An analysis by The Hechinger report in October 2017 showed that most public schools used outdated textbooks to teach Mississippi History. These textbooks minimize the Civil Rights Movement and do not mention Mississippians who played a pivotal role in that time. You learn from watching people like you. Maureen Costello is the director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance program. If you don’t do this, it sends the message that you don’t count and you are invisible. Research shows that if you don’t acknowledge the identities of people and deny them, you perpetuate a system racial dominance. Present Day Mound Bayou now faces a new threat: losing its historic high school. Maurice Smith, North Bolivar Consolidated Schools District Superintendent, announced in January that Mound Bayou’s high school would be closing due to budget constraints. Students from Mound Bayou will have to attend Shelby high school nearer to the closure. Mound Bayou residents have filed legal action to preserve their high school, but the judge has not yet made a decision. Some fear that the closure of the high school will weaken the community’s identity and vitality. Hooker stated that without our school, it will feel like they are taking away all the special things that were bestowed on us. Mound Bayou’s history has been shaped by the struggle for justice. A flood almost destroyed the 90-acres of land cleared in the first year of settlement. The price of cotton dropped in 1914, causing farmers to lose their land and forcing the banks to close. The town was devastated by the Great Depression in the 1930’s and the increased mechanization of farming. In 1941, a fire destroyed much of the downtown. The hospital, which was home to Civil Rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer, was closed in 1983. Mound Bayou, like all small towns in rural America has struggled with declining populations and lessening economic stability. According to U.S. Census data, approximately 44 percent of Mound Bayou residents are living in poverty today. This is a poignant paradox: One that complains that the town isn’t as it used to be, but also knows that fighting for it is worth it. Stringer stated that there is so much to be proud about and that they are working hard to preserve our school system. “We won’t go silently into the darkness. “We will not go quietly into the darkness. It’s part of our heritage and an important part our history. We feel that if our community is to survive, we must do everything we can to fight this thing until it ends.”