Spring 2023 Showcase Johnson

Latrice Johnson
Feed Mississippi

Though a native of Oklahoma City, OK, my familial roots are in Holmes County, MS. Formerly the hub of Mississippi’s wealthiest Black folks, I witnessed the decline of the local economies of the predominantly Black communities in this county throughout my childhood and into my early adulthood. The closures of the only grocery store chain–Piggly Wiggly–is one sign of this decline. I want viewers to feel tired and weary like the figure in the commercial. I want viewers to be so curious about food deserts in rural Mississippi that they research what funds are available to create a community garden project. I want viewers to become active participants in local and state efforts to address food disparities in the U.S.

As a food advocate for rural Black folks in Mississippi, I am deeply passionate about bringing adequate resources to those who continue to endure the financial, physical, and emotional demands of food disparity in the U.S.

Latrice Johnson is a native of Oklahoma City, OK. She received her B.A. in English with a minor in Pre-Law from Tougaloo College. Latrice is a third-year student in the M.A. in English program at the University of Mississippi. She serves as a Graduate Instructor of Writing in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric. Her research interests include American literature, African American literature, Black Feminism, Blues literature and culture, Southern Studies, and Film/Media Studies. Latrice’s current work primarily examines how Black women negotiate the intersections of race, gender, sexual expressivity, and class in the South.