An essay on race, place, why we leave, and why we stay.
Brian Foster
Dr. Brian Foster is a writer and storyteller from Mississippi. He earned his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and currently works as Assistant Professor of Sociology and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. His book "I Don't Like the Blues: Race, Place, and the Backbeat of Black Life" (University of North Carolina Press) tells the story of blues development and Black community life in the Mississippi Delta town of Clarksdale. Brian also serves as co-editor of the journal Sociology of Race and Ethnicity and Director of the Mississippi Hill Country Oral History Collective. His public writing has appeared in local, regional, and national outlets, including Oxford Magazine, Mississippi Folklife, Bitter Southerner, Gravy, CNN, and The Washington Post.