Sharecrop: Delta Cotton

“Sharecrop: Delta Cotton” features stories from the life of Sylvester Hoover, who was born into a cotton sharecropping family in the Mississippi Delta in 1957. Hoover recounts his family’s struggles to access education and voting rights. He also paints a vivid picture of daily life and the unrelenting toil of even the young children on cotton plantations. Scenes include the plantation where he was raised, the church he still attends (burial place of Blues music legend Robert Johnson), and Hoover’s school in Money, MS, where Emmett Till had his fateful encounter at Bryant’s Grocery. Hoover reflects on his upbringing, the peonage system, and his feelings for the land and Blues music.

Directed by Claudia Stack (USA)