Work > The What's Good Project

Marks is a small town of about 1500 residents in Quitman County, the heart of the Mississippi Delta. In June, I spent time with Mrs. Velma Wilson, the current Quitman County Administrator, to hear her stories and experiences of the area.

A few months before his assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr visited Marks, Mississippi and spoke at the Eudora AME Zion Church to rally support for the Christian Leadership Conference’s “Poor People’s Campaign,” a nationwide march to Washington, D.C. in the spring of 1968 to raise awareness of economic disparity and persistent poverty, which was so evident in the Mississippi Delta. The Eudora Church also provided meeting space and hot meals for Freedom Riders and PPC organizers.