W. Ralph Eubanks

“Yes, there are lots of places with grand mythologies. The American West is a place of incredible mythology. But in the Mississippi Delta, it's that the myth seems so powerful that it can erase pieces of the past.” Big thanks to @agwaterdesk.bsky.social for an engaging conversation.

The Fight for Economic Justice and the Pathway Out of Poverty More than twenty years ago, I slowly pushed a clattering shopping cart out through the lazy automatic doors of a Williamsburg Food Lion, with no groceries, just my hungry toddler looking up at me w…

The pathway out of poverty can only be cleared—and forged—when we all are involved and recognize parents in poverty as capable and worthy. The parents Nicole Lynn Lewis refers to are student parents who are raising kids while getting a degree. @literaryhub.bsky.social

The focus on the covers of this deal has completely neglected the role of writers and creators in building the value of these companies.

The Mississippi Delta Is a Testing Ground for the Nation W. Ralph Eubanks' book “When It’s Darkness on the Delta” examines the economic inequality and racist history that shaped the region and why it is a mirror to America.

Contrary to the collective mythology, the American South isn’t a regional “other.” According to @wralpheubanks.bsky.social, the South has actually come to the rest of the nation. @capitalb.bsky.social

Dr. Don Cole is a retired UM professor of mathematics, administrator & LOU community leader. Come see a film created by Dr. Castel Sweet & Antonio Tarrell at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, 3/3 in Fulton Chapel at the U of Mississippi. There will be snacks & a reception afterward in the Ole Miss Union.

The academic freedom fight has entered the classroom From public syllabi to surveillance, universities across the country are embracing unprecedented policies that professors say are undermining their academic freedom.

"From public syllabi to surveillance, universities across the country are embracing unprecedented policies that professors say are undermining their academic freedom. And North Carolina is front and center."
www.wunc.org/podcast/the-... | @wunc.org

Words on Water - Mississippi Humanities Council Join the Mississippi Humanities Council for “Words on Water: Reading, Reflection and Journeying on the Mississippi.” This two-week experience will bring together readers, students, educators, and comm...

An innovative program that connects story, history, and place in a powerful shared experience. So honored to be a part of it.
www.mshumanities.org/words-on-wat...

The Mississippi Delta Is a Testing Ground for the Nation W. Ralph Eubanks' book “When It’s Darkness on the Delta” examines the economic inequality and racist history that shaped the region and why it is a mirror to America.

Ralph Eubanks argues the nation can no longer disregard the Mississippi Delta because we are all living with one foot in the South. Until we confront the challenges of the Delta, only then can we address similar issues in other "Deltas" across the country.

capitalbnews.org/mississippi-...

The Mississippi Delta Is a Testing Ground for the Nation W. Ralph Eubanks' book “When It’s Darkness on the Delta” examines the economic inequality and racist history that shaped the region and why it is a mirror to America.

“I want [readers] to remember that this is not just a book about the Delta. It’s a book about America….I knew that I was writing about the Delta, but I also reminded myself that I was also writing about America.”
capitalbnews.org/mississippi-...

Hungry for Affirmation, Vulnerable to Scams: As a Writer, I Know the Feeling

So glad someone wrote about these literary email scams www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/b...

Hungry for Affirmation, Vulnerable to Scams: As a Writer, I Know the Feeling

Writers: watch for scam artists. While email scams are common, I recently got pitched a possible promotion scam by voice mail.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/b...

Letter | No, Mellon Is Not Part of Some Woke Conspiracy Tyler Austin Harper mischaracterizes good grantmaking, writes Michael S. Roth.

“Harper follows in the grand tradition of Senator Jesse Helms in mocking areas of research he expects will be unpopular with the general public. “ Preach it, Michael Roth!

www.chronicle.com/blogs/letter...

Financier Starts Sentence in Prostitution Case (Published 2008)

A remarkable historical document from 2008:
the NYT on Jeffrey Epstein’s plea and jail sentence. The last paragraph will be interesting to readers of the recent release of his emails.

www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/b...

Ralph Eubanks in Conversation with Allison Vick | Hub City Writers Project Join us for evening with W. Ralph Eubanks in conversation with Dr. Allison Vick. They'll be discussing Eubanks's new book When It's Darkness on the Delta, with a signing following directly afterward.

I’ll be inSpartanburg, SC, Thursday February 26 at Converse University in conversation with Allison Vick. Thanks you, @hubcitypress.bsky.social for the invitation . www.hubcity.org/events/640/r...

The Most American Place: W. Ralph Eubanks on the Pain and Love of the Delta Podcast Episode · Plague Remedy Podcast · 17/02/2026 · 58m

New Episode Alert 🚨

The Most American Place: W. Ralph Eubanks on the Pain and Love of the Delta

This week on Story, we sit down with W. Ralph Eubanks to discuss his new book, 'When It's Darkness on the Delta.'

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...

Casino Lights W. Ralph Eubanks on the promise—and failure—of casino gambling to lift Tunica, Mississippi, out of poverty

When Rev. Jesse Jackson visited the Mississippi Delta town of Tunica in 1985, gambling was the last thing on his mind. He was “disappointed about the collapse of government at all levels on the problems of these people.” @wralpheubanks.bsky.social

This is a great group of Willie Morris Prize winners for this year. I'll be moderating a conversation between this year's winners on March 24, 2026 at Off Square Books in Oxford Mississippi at 4:00 pm. It should be a great event so join us.

olemiss.edu/news/2026/02...

The Most American Place: W. Ralph Eubanks on the Pain and Love of the Delta Podcast Episode · Plague Remedy Podcast · 02/17/2026 · 58m

Thanks for a great conversation, @plagueremedypodast.bsky.social . Yes the Mississippi Delta is not just the most Southern place on earth, but the most American place.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...

A conversation with author W. Ralph Eubanks about his latest, 'When It's Darkness on the Delta' Delve into the rich and layered stories of the Mississippi Delta, exploring its ties to Blues music, Civil Rights struggles and ongoing societal challenges.

“Everyone underestimated the ways that the plantation power structure would work so hard to maintain their dominance. It is in that struggle for power that we see the problems in the Mississippi Delta.” — @wralpheubanks.bsky.social

Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Leader Who Sought the Presidency, Dies at 84

In 1973 I visited DC at 16 as the only Black Boy Scout in my Jamboree troop from MS. I walked into the Capitol rotunda and saw Jesse Jackson standing tall and proud. I could summon nothing to say to him. But I know he made me stand taller in that moment. Rest easy. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/u...

Rubio’s version of the U.S. did not include Black Americans at all…and even though he called out the Rolling Stones, who built their body of work on that of Black American blues musicians like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, as part of “western civilization.”

The Myth of the Perfect Writer’s Room For aspiring writers, the rooms of literary figures—Virginia Woolf, Maya Angelou, Joan Didion—are talismanic sites. But the quest to find the ideal creative space is often self-defeating, Joshua Rothm...

I've had numerous writing spaces over the years--I write about the South whether I am in the region or not--so I have had to do exactly what this article suggests: make myself at home in the very act of writing, no matter where and how it happens. #TheWritingLife
www.newyorker.com/culture/open...

Spent my day, along with many others, in federal court telling the truth in defense of free speech.

The University of Mississippi spent its day in that same court not defending free speech.

That’s the math.

'There is Light Again!': Reflections on the Mississippi ice storms of 1994 and 2026 Professor writes that moments like the ice storm "invite us as a society to collectively reimagine when, how and to what extent we should care for one another."

‘There is Light Again!’ An insightful reflections on the Mississippi ice storms of 1994 and 2026 by my University of Mississippi colleague Eric Solomon. mississippitoday.org/2026/02/13/i...

Today in 1633, Galileo arrives in Rome to defend his evidence of a heliocentric universe. He is forced to recant to those who denied the science. At his sentencing he allegedly muttered, Eppur si muove—"And yet it moves.” @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social

W. Ralph Eubanks, "When It's Darkness on the Delta: How America's Richest Soil Became Its Poorest Land" (Beacon Press, 2026) - New Books Network Also Hosted By Sullivan Summer

NBCC member Sullivan Summer interviewed award-winning writer W. Ralph Eubanks about his book "When It's Darkness on the Delta: How America's Richest Soil Became Its Poorest Land" for the New Books Network:

Further evidence of the lack of promise and failure of casinos in Tunica, Mississippi: the now-closed Casino Way Court shopping center. And I would add that Sam's Town in Tunica is now closed as well.

If you’re in Columbus, Mississippi, today stop by for my conversation with poet C.T. Salazar and stay for Delta blues from Edna Nicole and Rev Slim.

And there was cake!

Across the South, Residents Grieve for Thousands of Storm-Ravaged Trees

These are great photographs but if you imagine this kind of destruction on every corner you get a true sense of the damage. In Oxford , MS, it truly looks as if a bomb went off. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...