The Klan

Earlier this year, as part of a class titled "Restorative Justice and Public Education in Mississippi," I made a short documentary about the controversy surrounding the chant "The South will rise again." Since about 2003 this chant was yelled during football games at the University of Mississippi. In the fall of 2009 the chancellor, Dr. Dan Jones, directed the university band to no longer play the song "From Dixie with Love," a song that served as the trigger for the chant. This controversy culminated in a rally, on-campus, of the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Here is the film:

The South Will Rise Again from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

In the making of that film I interviewed lots of people, some of whom didn't make the final cut. Here are excerpts and various bits of footage:

The first few clips are of an interview with investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell:

Intro-Jerry Mitchell from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

The White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi-Jerry Mitchell from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Today's Klan-Jerry Mitchell from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Young People Joining the Klan-Jerry Mitchell from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Poor, Whites in Mississippi-Jerry Mitchell from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Footage from the Klan demonstration:

Ku Klux Klan Demonstration from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Clips of Melissa Cole, one of the students featured in the film:

The South Will Rise Again-Melissa Cole from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

New Generation-Melissa Cole from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Melissa's Email-The South Will Rise Again from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Alma Mater-Melissa Cole from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Outtakes-Melissa Cole from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

David Simon

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to hear David Simon speak. Simon, creator of "The Wire" and "Treme" and writer of "Homicide" and "The Corner" is, along with Alan Moore, my favorite living author. As Simon spoke I took notes. Here are some quotes:

"We pretend to progress when there is no progress."

"It seemed like every year I was getting better at this." - On the crime beat.

"There was a need to walk away from the police as your central source of info." - On writing "The Corner."

"That guy's lazy." - Referring to the moderator's mention of a friend who couldn't understand the dialogue in "The Wire."

"'Ball Four' is a great book about America."

"'The Wire' came out of institutional scandals of self-preservation."

"Even a Baltimore cop knows, 'Bad shooting, throw a pistol down.'" - On the US not finding weapons of mass destruction.

"The great thing about HBO was getting away from the advertising."

"People would watch 'Law and Order' and see that every punch was pulled." - On network cop shows after "The Wire."

"You tell a story once it is a fool's errand to tell it again."

"The only person that's going to mug you in Alphabet City is some four-star restaurant." - On Manhattan.

"Eighty percent of us live in metro areas. We are an urban people... I live in Baltimore among real Americans."

"'Treme' is an argument for the American city."

"They're all 'The Glenn Miller Story.'" - On the music biopic.

"You're not martyrs. You butchered your own industry long before the internet showed up." - On newspapers.

"I feel a great deal of affection for journalism."

"'Clockers' is 'The Grapes of Wrath' in the late eighties in the ghetto."

"I didn't do anything well after, like, 7th grade."

"The ugliest part of writing is you're alone."

"'That shit's wrong' is the most terrifying thing you could say to me." - On writing.

The South Will Rise Again

Here is my latest film, about race and the symbols of racism at the University of Mississippi:

The South Will Rise Again from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Civil War Ball

Regents is a private, religious school here in Oxford, MS. They recently held a 6th grade Civil War ball. Photos, including the one above, were featured in the local magazine "Invitation Oxford." More pics here. Hat-tip to Otis P.