Originally published in the Clarion-Ledger on Sunday, November 2,2014.

Poet Nikki Giovianni described her good friend Margaret Walker as “the most famous person nobody knows.” While known for her signature poem “For My People,” her novel Jubilee was the first modern novel on slavery.

Walker’s parents were both teachers and always encouraged her to do well in school as they moved from Birmingham to Meridian to New Orleans. By the Great Depression, Walker had finished college at Northwestern and was working for the WPA Writer’s Project with Richard Wright in Chicago. Her collection of poems, For My People, was published in 1942 by Yale Press and she became the first black woman to be awarded Yale Younger Poets Prize. Her literary reputation was established.

Despite this literary success, Walker had an even greater and perhaps an even more personal ambition: to write a novel based on the life of her grandmother. Jubilee was a thirty-year labor of love for Walker. The novel was to span slavery, civil war and reconstruction. She immersed herself in historical records and slave narratives, collected the stories of her family and visited old home sites while juggling the responsibilities of teaching and raising a family with four children. Sadly, Walker’s grandmother died before the Jubilee was published in 1966.

Jubilee is significant because until the 1960s black historical fiction had hardly been attempted by black writers. Jubilee was the first novel to be written by a black writer from slavery to reconstruction from the daily perspective of the black population. That Walker took 30 years to research it from a historical perspective while maintaining the heart of the story gleaned from her grandmother’s stories is no surprise. Scholars have credited Walker with paving the way for other black historical novels like Ernest Gaines’s The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Toni Morrison’s Beloved.

Margaret Walker devoted her life to teaching and her community at Jackson State University for thirty years before retiring in 1980. As Walker was involved in her community, many may cherish signed copies of her work. For collectors, first editions of Jubilee can be found at a reasonable price though signed copies are scarce.

Learn more about Margaret Walker November, 5 at 5:00 at Lemuria Books as Carolyn Brown signs her new biography on Walker. Also, stay tuned—the Margaret Walker Center will celebrate Walker’s Centennial in 2015.

Written by Lisa

The year was 1999. I was just seven years old, and the world was my oyster; or so I’m told. Maturity hasn’t been helpful in decoding that saying. It was early, and I was awake. But oddly enough, that was ok, because that day was going to be special. A day to be remembered in the annals of childhood experience. A day where imagination was my text book. That’s right people; I’m talkin ’bout field trip day.

As per my usual habits, I had neglected to ask any questions about the day or come at all prepared. Turns out, it was a choir field trip, which was good news to me. Choir day meant we ate fast food,  and not those peasant sack lunches. Not necessarily pertinent to this story, but a definitive milestone in my life nonetheless is the fact that I enjoyed my first Chic-fil-a sandwich that day. Hold the pickles. So I boarded the bloated yellow caravan to my musical destination. The usual trip activities transpired. Paper throwing. Book reading. Singing. Underground Pokémon tournaments. (Pokémon was strictly forbade at my school.)  Then, “Whoa, look!” I was seven years old, so look wasn’t as much a suggestion as it was a command, and my adolescent head rose automatically and stared out in the direction the looker had indicated. Glittering shapes danced before me like fire. Presumably buildings, their silhouette had been blurred by the radiance of the sun. What the heck was this place? So I asked. “Mrs. Adams, what is,” hand pointed out “that?”

“That’s Jackson you little dummy. Why don’t you ever read the handouts?” Oh. So this was Jacks– wait a minute. Jackson? That place on the news where people went to get shot and/or robbed. This was that? And thus two important thoughts arose in my mind. “What if the tv doesn’t always tell the whole truth?”, and “Maybe there’s more to this Jackson thing than most folk know about.” As the day progressed, and then days after that, my second thought was affirmed. I had seen the place, walked the downtown streets. Met the people. And for the first time in my life, I knew something my parents didn’t. – Jackson was cool.

It’s been a while since my more formative years, and I have come to understand the apprehensions expressed by non Jacksonians about the city. It does have its fair share of problems. But you should know, this city hasn’t fallen to hell. In fact it’s on the rise, with plenty to do and plenty of great people to enjoy. Art. Food. Entertainment. All here. So I challenge you, reader, if you haven’t in a while, come check out the city. It’s better than you remember it.

Written by Joey 

Jackson: photographs by Ken Murphy is available now for purchase. To order a copy, call Lemuria Books at 601.366.7619 or visit us online at lemuriabooks.com. 

Written by Scott M. Crawford, Ph.D

Friends of mine Rachael Taylor and Kelly Cook from Broadmeadow United Methodist Church approached me this morning as I arrived for church.  They were leading the Children’s Bible Study and asked the kids, “What are you grateful for?” The answer was a unanimous, “I’m grateful for my LEGO’s!!!”  Of course, being a bit of a LEGO fan myself (ever so slightly), this made me smile.  Rachael and Kelly asked if there was some way to incorporate LEGO’s into a spiritual message to teach the children.  This blog is my answer.

As fans of LEGO JACKSON may already know, it is an idealized version of Mississippi’s Capital City, in which all are welcome, everyone cares for each other, and people bring about justice and equity for all.  One of the first buildings I wanted to create was my home church, Broadmeadow United Methodist.  It’s a very traditional looking church, with a tall white steeple.  Unfortunately, that kind of steeple is very difficult (almost impossible) to recreate in the right scale, proportional to the minifigures that populate LEGO JACKSON.

Building with LEGO often results in this kind of quandary.  Having a great idea but not having the pieces available (if they even exist at all).  Complicating everything is that the more one builds, the fewer pieces you have left in the collection, no matter how carefully they might be organized for easy retrieval.

Living with a chronic, progressive, debilitating disease like multiple sclerosis is a lot like that.  It can be described as “the gift that keeps on taking.”  Ones strength, cognitive resources, coordination, and stamina are all taken away slowly but surely…sometimes quite abruptly.

Yet, we are all called to “BUILD” something meaningful with our lives.  None of us have the same set of pieces, and although we may try to get more through education, hard work, and creativity, there are always limits.

My life as a clinical neuropsychologist ended when I got a severe form of progressive MS.  It was not unlike the time when vandals broke into my storage unit and destroyed a large part of LEGO JACKSON.  It was devastating.  I’d worked very long and hard to create a life I thought was meaningful, and it was taken away.  I was left to “pick up the pieces” and “start over” with “plan B.”

I now have a lot fewer “pieces” than I had before.  MS affects my cognition, although most people do not notice.  Chronic exhaustion limits what I do despite my “workaholic” personality.  Some days it is hard to get out of bed, and it is always a struggle to speak loud enough to be heard (my vocal cords are paralyzed).

There are very few things that I’m absolutely certain of, but one of them is that we are all tasked with creating something meaningful with what we have available.  To me, that means serving on various disability related boards and committees, and inspiring others to care for each other and our city through LEGO JACKSON.

I couldn’t build the exact likeness of my own church, so I examined what I DID have, and came up with a design for a “Cathedral” to represent a place where the people of LEGO JACKSON could revere their Creator.  LEGO JACKSON’s Cathedral debuted in 2010.

If I had the pieces, I’d like to someday build a Mosque, Jewish Temple, and other places of worship.

You’ll notice I repurposed “wheels” for stained glass windows.

I scrounged enough clear pieces to create a “stained glass cross” behind the altar.

I worked hard to recreate details like the altar cross, pipe organ, baptismal font, and bread/wine.  Jedi Knights serve for “monks”.

It didn’t turn out to be my church, but it serves the people of LEGO JACKSON well.

Remember, in life, we are asked to build something meaningful using fewer pieces than we wish we had.

Be creative.  Keep building.  Never stop.

-Scott

Jackson: photographs by Ken Murphy is available now for purchase. To order a copy, call Lemuria Books at 601.366.7619 or visit us online at lemuriabooks.com. 

My parents were not the type to leave my sister and me at home on the weekends.  If they were going to antique stores, the Art Museum for a show, or out on the Natchez Trace to the Craftsmen Guild shop, Sanders and I were strapped into the back seat of the station wagon and off we went.  There was not a holiday that we were not given a piece of Mississippi art to go along with whatever toy we wanted that year.  While I was young I didn’t appreciate it, but I have certainly learned to; and in fact I am making my own trips now to art shows at the Mississippi Museum of Art and galleries around town. More often than not I find myself hanging out with different Jackson artists and craftsmen drinking a beer or two.

I got a phone call one day from my friends, Nell Linton Knox and Ellen Rodgers Johnson, saying that they had this great idea to put together a book about Jackson artists and their studios.  These ladies and I became friends when they both worked at Lemuria, and since I am still at the bookstore, they asked my advice on whether or not I thought people would be interested.  My immediate response was YES!!

Looking through an advance copy of Studio Jackson, I was so proud of Nell and Ellen, and the hard work they put into the book really shows.  Nell’s interviews with the artists and Ellen’s photographs will transport you to the studios where the artists work their magic.  You will visit Wolfe Studio, Pearl River Glass, where many Jackson artists have worked, and Richard Kelso’s studio above Hal and Mal’s that he affectionately calls “The Box”.  You will cruise through Fondren, Midtown, and Downtown where William Goodman, Roz Roy, Davaine Lighting, Light & Glass Studio and Fletcher Cox are hard at work. You will even get invited to the home studios of Teresa Haygood,  Justin Schultz, and Ginger Williams-Cook.  These are just a few of the Jackson artists and craftsmen featured in Studio Jackson but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t leave you just curious enough to come and buy the book!!!

Studio Jackson: Creative Culture in the Mississippi Capital is a book that everyone interested in the arts will want to have in their collection.  This is not an art history book; it’s a book that tells what is happening right now in Jackson’s art community and how we can look forward to its growth as long as we continue to support creative culture.  Nell, Ellen, and many of the artists featured in Studio Jackson will be at Lemuria on November 4th at 5:00 P.M. so come on by; be a part of Jackson’s creative economy and join us for the signing and possibly a beer or two!!

Written by Maggie

Written by Scott M. Crawford, Ph.D

Friends of mine Rachael Taylor and Kelly Cook from Broadmeadow United Methodist Church approached me this morning as I arrived for church.  They were leading the Children’s Bible Study and asked the kids, “What are you grateful for?” The answer was a unanimous, “I’m grateful for my LEGO’s!!!”  Of course, being a bit of a LEGO fan myself (ever so slightly), this made me smile.  Rachael and Kelly asked if there was some way to incorporate LEGO’s into a spiritual message to teach the children.  This blog is my answer.

As fans of LEGO JACKSON may already know, it is an idealized version of Mississippi’s Capital City, in which all are welcome, everyone cares for each other, and people bring about justice and equity for all.  One of the first buildings I wanted to create was my home church, Broadmeadow United Methodist.  It’s a very traditional looking church, with a tall white steeple.  Unfortunately, that kind of steeple is very difficult (almost impossible) to recreate in the right scale, proportional to the minifigures that populate LEGO JACKSON.

Building with LEGO often results in this kind of quandary.  Having a great idea but not having the pieces available (if they even exist at all).  Complicating everything is that the more one builds, the fewer pieces you have left in the collection, no matter how carefully they might be organized for easy retrieval.

Living with a chronic, progressive, debilitating disease like multiple sclerosis is a lot like that.  It can be described as “the gift that keeps on taking.”  Ones strength, cognitive resources, coordination, and stamina are all taken away slowly but surely…sometimes quite abruptly.

Yet, we are all called to “BUILD” something meaningful with our lives.  None of us have the same set of pieces, and although we may try to get more through education, hard work, and creativity, there are always limits.

My life as a clinical neuropsychologist ended when I got a severe form of progressive MS.  It was not unlike the time when vandals broke into my storage unit and destroyed a large part of LEGO JACKSON.  It was devastating.  I’d worked very long and hard to create a life I thought was meaningful, and it was taken away.  I was left to “pick up the pieces” and “start over” with “plan B.”

I now have a lot fewer “pieces” than I had before.  MS affects my cognition, although most people do not notice.  Chronic exhaustion limits what I do despite my “workaholic” personality.  Some days it is hard to get out of bed, and it is always a struggle to speak loud enough to be heard (my vocal cords are paralyzed).

There are very few things that I’m absolutely certain of, but one of them is that we are all tasked with creating something meaningful with what we have available.  To me, that means serving on various disability related boards and committees, and inspiring others to care for each other and our city through LEGO JACKSON.

I couldn’t build the exact likeness of my own church, so I examined what I DID have, and came up with a design for a “Cathedral” to represent a place where the people of LEGO JACKSON could revere their Creator.  LEGO JACKSON’s Cathedral debuted in 2010.

If I had the pieces, I’d like to someday build a Mosque, Jewish Temple, and other places of worship.

You’ll notice I repurposed “wheels” for stained glass windows.

I scrounged enough clear pieces to create a “stained glass cross” behind the altar.

I worked hard to recreate details like the altar cross, pipe organ, baptismal font, and bread/wine.  Jedi Knights serve for “monks”.

It didn’t turn out to be my church, but it serves the people of LEGO JACKSON well.

Remember, in life, we are asked to build something meaningful using fewer pieces than we wish we had.

Be creative.  Keep building.  Never stop.

-Scott

Jackson: photographs by Ken Murphy is available now for purchase. To order a copy, call Lemuria Books at 601.366.7619 or visit us online at lemuriabooks.com.