I’ve created this site to display my undergraduate thesis — A New Fashioned Delta Revival: Somebody Ought to Say Somethin’. The thesis includes a four-part feature series on Helena-West Helena, Ark. Helena-West Helena is located in Phillips County — the poorest county in Arkansas. Nearly 30 percent of the population lives below the national poverty line.
The series highlights the economic boom and decline of the Delta region since the early 20th century and the current revitalization of the city. The stories feature community leaders, non-profit organizations and citizens demanding change.
This historically divided town is known for its southern-fried politics, corrupt school system and its most redeeming attribute: the blues. The community sits in the Mississippi Delta where the blues was born out of cotton fields and where, from the same fields, a system of poverty flourished.
I’d like to say thanks to following folks for putting up with me and forgiving my sudden mood swings as dictated by my work; those who’ve helped me along the way; and all of my interviewees : Mom and Dad, Chris, Mollie, Shana, Kevin, Zo, Ben and Leonora Newell, Tracy Davis, Howard Newsome, Chris Maloney, Mike Mullally, Will Tate, Jaime Holland, Mayor James Valley, Luke VanDeWalle, Scott Shirey, Michael Cormack, Jason Rolett, Joe Black, Bonnie Thrasher, Janis Kearney, Dr. Lillie Fears, and Dr. Gil Fowler.
To CBF, Together for Hope, The Boys and Girls Club, KIPP, SFP: You are doing revolutionary work. Keep it up.
And to my summer kids in Helena: You keep me going — Nakita, Josiah, Jack, Caleb, and Jodi. This is for all the kids who don’t know they have a chance, that there is hope.
– Catherine Bahn
