Deanna Lyle dances alone to Elvis Presley's 1957 hit "Jailhouse Rock" at the Amory Main Street Opry's first-annual Sock Hop on Friday, July 29, 2022, in Amory, Mississippi. Jessie Betts, a North Mississippi gospel musician and preacher, reopened the Opry after working on its renovation for 18 years in July, 2022, to provide an entertainment venue for the rural town. Full feature-length article and photo-essay, reported by Lukas Flippo, linked here - https://www.mississippifreepress.org/26259/the-town-is-coming-back-amory-musician-reopens-opry-holds-sock-hop
Hurricane Zeta’s storm surge inundated the landscaped grounds of the Golden Nugget Biloxi Casino and Resort in Biloxi, Miss., October 28, 2020.
Pascagoula Panthers' football players and cheerleaders embrace following their season-ending defeat to West Jones 18-16 in the MHSAA 5A South State Championship on Friday, November 27, 2022, in Pascagoula, Miss.
Jonathan Curry, who organized a roadside protest against police brutality in response to the murder of George Floyd, argues with a motorcyclist who identified as a member of the Three Percenters, anti-government, far-right extremist group, September 7, 2022, in Gulfport, Mississippi.
The California Zephyr, an Amtrak train which runs from Chicago to San Francisco, passes an Idaho farm after sunset on December 20, 2021.
Dottie Wheeler looks out the front door of Sherman Creek Grocery toward the desolate two-lane between Charleston and Oxford, Mississippi. Wheeler has managed the grocery store, which is the sole grocery store for the community and has operated since 1933, for 40 years following her marriage to its owner, Jim Wheeler, in 1981. Full feature-length article, written and photographed by Lukas Flippo, linked here - https://www.mississippifreepress.org/24767/sherman-creek-grocery-provides-food-retains-history-of-rural-enid-community
Brittany Conrad prepares to dive into the pool Monday, June 21, 2021, in Zionsville. Conrad lost her leg in a lawnmowing accident when she was four years old. The Conrad family rule was that the kids never went outside while Brittany's father, David, was mowing. But Brittany slipped out the backdoor. "All I remember is being under the lawnmower," Brittany said.
After recovering from the amputation of her left leg and a fungal infection that has an 80% mortality rate, Brittany has dedicated the last seven years of her life to competitive swimming, with her high-water mark being her inclusion in the Move United Junior Nationals Swim Meet in Colorado.
"I knew when they were going to ride, and I would tell everyone to stay inside...that they are coming tonight."
Ledell Montgomery was a bricklayer in South Mississippi in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His job and status in the community afforded him social access to the White community long before other Black Mississippians were welcome. He always drove a new car and had a "clean" look.
He used his access to keep his community safe. The KKK was highly active at the time, and Ledell would hear about their planned night rides in advance. If they were unhappy, he knew. And he would spread the warning across the community, likely saving lives in a tense and unfair time. Over the years, Ledell had a cross burned in his yard, his home shot at, and faced many other racial challenges. However, he is still here, living in the same community in South Mississippi.
Pink panels on the exterior of a closed furniture factory which once served as the gym for the now-defunct school system of rural Wren, Mississippi, begin to fall off and reveal wooden boards in January, 2022, in Wren, Mississippi.
(From left) Kyla Farmer, Cadence Nickey and Catherine Jim pose for photographs following Nickey's crowning as the new 2022-2023 Choctaw Indian Princess at the Choctaw Indian Festival on July 13, 2022, in Choctaw, Mississippi. Feature-length article and photo-essay, reported by Lukas Flippo, linked here - https://www.mississippifreepress.org/25743/stickball-world-series-and-princess-crowning-bring-choctaw-tribal-culture-to-center-stage
Barrett Axe prepares to compete in the Neshoba County Fair Rodeo on Friday, July 22, 2022, in Philadelphia, Mississippi.
The Pope family of Bloomington, Indiana, returned to Speed’s New Hope Dragway for the first time in thirty years on July 2, 2021. The track has been resurrected outside rural towns Spencer and Freedom, Indiana, by Jerry Stewart, an Indianapolis-based racer who believes tracks should be locally-owned to be more accessible to unconventional and beginning racers. Full article and photo-essay, reported by Lukas Flippo, linked here - https://redlightshum.substack.com/p/fast-cars-and-a-deer-in-the-headlights