Literacy Shapers

A Voice for Professionals in Mississippi

Mississippi is perhaps the most complex state in the country. Nobel Prize winning author and native Mississippian, William Faulkner, is often credited for saying, “To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.” Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Gwendolyn Brooks, wrote, “Nothing and nothing could stop Mississippi” in her ballad about the murder of Emmett Till. In the iconic song, “Mississippi Goddamn”, Nina Simone protested the murder of Medgar Evers and other injustices, chanting, “Everybody knows about Mississippi”. The Magnolia State is rising from an undeniable, documented history of brutality and bigotry. Her landscape is being redesigned by a more inclusive community. A rotten, malodorous symbol of hate has been ripped from the vision and replaced with our beloved magnolia, a symbol of nobility and perseverance. The Literacy Shapers blog is for and about Mississippi professionals who use their platforms to share meaningful messages while making a difference in the Magnolia State.