The Land Mass Between New Orleans and Mobile
Dear Weather Channel, NBC, CNN and the rest of the “media”,
From: Jill Gunn Brown
I know you’ve been mocked and derided the last 24 hours or so for REPEATEDLY exposing yourselves as Geography deficient.
And….I would like to apologize for all those giving you such a difficult time. As a born and raised Mississippian, I would like to say I’m sorry. We have forgotten our manners and apparently forgotten that the main stream media HAS acknowledged Mississippi before…
The T.V. talking heads are all up in our “landmass” when they want to talk about racism, civil rights, lynching blacks, teen pregnancies, bottom of the barrel people of poverty, poorest state in the country, religious “nuts”, or the HORRIBLE education system in Mississippi…
So, I would just like say to The Weather Channel, NBC, CNN, etc…
Bless Your Heart…
You folks really aren’t dumb as a post…
You just have a tough job, you meteorologists and weather girl types…
We KNOW you didn’t just fall off a turnip truck yesterday…
You’re just busy…what with all the weatherish stuff you gotta report…
I mean, where would we be without your nuggets of wisdom?
For Example:
Jeff Morrow (TWC), you da man…
if not for you, we backwoods, uneducated, redneck Mississippians wouldn’t know that “beaches are filled with sand” .
I mean y’all ain’t just sittin there like a bump on a log…you got stuff to do…those hurricanes don’t just report themselves. Y’all are ALL OVER those things…like stink on a pole-cat.
And those of us who have lived through multiple hurricanes wouldn’t have a clue that hurricanes are WINDY and WET if you guys didn’t show your bravery by standing out in the mess to report back to us…
EXCEPT, WE WOULD.
We KNOW.
Because unlike most of you so called professionals, many of those toothless, inbred, backwood rednecks in “The Land Mass between New Orleans and Mobile” have experienced the OTHER SIDE of the hurricanes.
You see, standing out and playing in the rain as the hurricane comes to shore is nothing compared to losing a loved one, your home, your place of business, your job…or watching your family suffer for days/weeks with no power, no gas, no water, no food…
But, you all wouldn’t know that any of them have ever suffered through anything like that.
Because, after the hype and the hurricane parties, you dash off to your big cities and posh offices and forget about THOSE people and go back to your mocking of the dumb folks down south.
But hey, you actually hung around after Katrina…Yet, you chose to stay and report the more dramatic people from the crap hole in New Orleans.
And America was bitter and distraught because those poor people in New Orleans couldn’t get the “gummint” to come save them.
However, America could have been encouraged and uplifted had they seen some of the devastation in Mississippi… because they could have seen the hope and resolve of those folks who didn’t cry and whine to the TV cameras about the government not saving them. The men, REAL MEN, didn’t run off and leave their families in a “save yourselves or let nanny government do it” fashion.
Those folks in MS, of every ethnicity, every color, every religion, banded together and one thing you would have found had you actually looked, was not only total devastation, but the morning after scenes of men and women stepping out to survey the damage, check on their neighbors, praying with their neighbors, conducting search and rescue with a few neighborhood folks to help a stranger find a an unaccounted for loved one.
That morning after, you would hear the hum of chainsaws as the men got busy cleaning up and building back…and if they were lucky enough to not have suffered major damage, they NEVER sat back to breathe a sigh of relief, hanging their chainsaws up for the next round of storms…no, they just head on down the road to the first person they could find in need of their services…
THAT’S how things work in Mississippi.
Those good folks don’t need YOU teaching them anything about hurricanes. They’ve had too many crash courses than they care to remember.
2 of the top 3 worst hurricanes known to man decided to enter the U.S. through the that “landmass”.
Katrina and Camille.
With horrible devastations in between…Elena, Frederic, etc. etc.
And that landmass doesn’t even deserve the mention of their state’s namesake when another hurricane is heading their direction???
Ok.
We get it.
But while I have you attention, let me remind you of a couple of things about My Mississippi.
The next time you want to “report” or do a “special” on one of the subjects that will actually cause you call us by name, remember this.
The next time you report about how RACIST Mississippi is or was, note that Mississippi has the highest percentage of blacks of all the states. Mississippi is SO RACIST, that the blacks don’t want to leave. Yea. And once you’re over THAT mental hurdle, consider this:
We are so racist and oppressive that no blacks are allowed opportunity to be successful here…
Well, if you don’t count Oprah, Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones, Charley Pride, Walter Peyton, Bo Diddly, Jerry Rice, Robin Roberts, and many more….
And when you want to talk about how we rank the highest in the nation in teen pregnancies, please be sure to mention that it’s because most of us don’t kill our babies…Take the abortion clinics out of New York and see how fast their teen pregnancy rates sky rocket….will you call them ignorant rednecks?? We have one lone abortion clinic in the state and it’s on its last leg… Those evil Christians down south don’t force their daughters to have abortions… they embrace them and love them and help them and are not quite the “judgmental religious nuts” you make them out to be.
And before you talk about how horrible it is to have those babies and that’s why Mississippi is the poorest state in the union, yadda yadda, yadda…
Please remember to mention that even though Mississippi may have ranked as the #1 poorest state, it also ranks as #2 Top GIVING state when it comes to charity.
So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
And one more thing, before your next special or article on the how Mississippi has the most HORRIBLE education system in the country, obviously only producing idiots when compared to the rest of the country, recall the following folks who are from and products of Mississippi, who turned out to be big leeches on society, with all their ignorance and such:
Rod Paige, Former U.S. Secretary of Education
Clarence Otis, CEO of Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn, and all the Darden Restaurants
Ken Lewis, President of Bank of America
Fred Smith, Founder of Fed Ex
Arthur Guyton, author of The Textbook of Medical Physiology
James Hardy, performed the first Lung Transplant ever.
John Grisham, author
William Faulkner, author
Jim Henson, Muppets creator
Tennessee Williams, playwright
and the list goes on….
And also,
remember that most of us in Mississippi learn the 50 states, their locations and capitals before or in the 5th grade.
So, we don’t expect you media types to pass a High School Geography level test or anything, we don’t even expect you to be as smart as us ignorant rednecks… but could you at least be smarter than a 5th grader…??
Photo of destruction in Mississippi from Katrina, that made landfall in Mississippi…and decimated the entire Gulf Coast.
Photo: H/T http://www.photosfromkatrina.com/
Also, check out: https://www.facebook.com/#!/TheLandMassBetweenNolaAndMobile
Jillology 101 
We Mississippi folks like this!
So did it make you feel better? You seem to be very upset by the term “landmass.” I live in New Orleans and I take offense at your term, “craphole.” Please state your case and let go. No need to start calling names.
I live in Mississippi and like to visit New Orleans whenever I can but I think at that time after Katrina New Orleans was a craphole just as the Mississippi coast was a third world country.
I don’t live in Mississippi, but have worked there for several years and I can testify to the hard working, giving spirit of the people in this “land mass.” These people don’t wait for you to ask for help -it is inherent in their character to come and assist where they are needed. I can assure you that in a crisis, I’d rather be with the people of Mississippi than anywhere else!!!
To Moralvic 59 … I agree with you about the crap hole. She was too easy. My term for NOLA is a cesspool. Or as my husband calls it, “the armpit of the nation”
You in the City knew you were below sea level, I am 59 and from child hood I have heard how the levee system was in poor condition, why did you all wait till it broke to fix it, oh that’s right you all were to busy lining your pockets with tax payers money instead of improving your fine city. But your sure know how to cry poor me!!!
I called no one names, I said they reported from the crap hole in New Orleans…. You know, the part that’s so far below sea level, it’s where they (local govt/politicians) stick all the poor folks, then blame the federal government when the place is flooded and turns into one giant bowl of sewage…
I can truthfully say this is the greatest letter I’ve ever read. Ty so much
I like it , too !
Thank you, that’s very sweet.
If the truth hurts so be it!! TY Love loved the letter!!
Wish this was posted on the front page of every newspaper in the country…..read out loud on PRN, and written in every history textbook!!!!! (and I’m not originally from MS, just happily transplanted here from CA)
________________________________
Thank you!
Way to go. Truly a wonderfully confirming reminder of our beautiful culture. Hope the world sees this. Especially our country’s news media. Thanks so much!
Amen!!!!! You said a mouthful girl, preach on!!! Proud to be born & raised in this great state, err I mean “land mass”!!!!
Ty girl, i was also born 11 years ago in this great state, oops i mean land mass, and havent moved anywhere else. This state is full of hostpitality, life and hardwork. I am proud to live here. But i dont see why they didt let the country see what mississippi, oops again i mean land mass, did instead ofrun and cry to the media about what the government didnt do for them. We got of our bottoms and worked to rebuild our woderful coast. Oh and by the way, olympic gold medalist brittany reese was born and raised on this ” land mass”. She went to pass road elementary, bayou veiw middle school ( my current school) and gulfport high school or as the media calls it, golfport high school which is the home to our precious admirals. I am so mad that the media cant even get our name right, much less our history and how our state is morally, mentally, educationally and skin color wise.
Well said. Love it.
That’s why we love the South. I hope everyone has a chance to read this and pass it on. My dad was born and raised in Mississippi and he was the best Father,Husband Grandfather and Soldier ” who served to protect ALL People” I could have. I myself went thru Camille in the Fifth grade and still remember everyone helping each other. I don’t remember anyone complaining or blaming others. Thank you again for the words that all of us in Mississippi would say “Amen” to.
I really enjoyed reading this!! Thank you!!
Thank you much for writing this!!! Being from there and moving away you have no idea of what I have heard about most what was talked about in the article.
Thank you!!!! Greatest piece of writing I have read in a long time.
Very well said!! I have lived in many states but there is nothing like home!!!! MY MISSISSIPPI!!!!
Amen
Love it!
And we Mississippians are so proud of Brittney Reese, recent gold medal winner at the 2012 olympics.
I’m not even from Mississippi, and I love it.
Wow wow wow!
This is absolutely fabulous!!! Or, er, should I have said: “Shugah, you done ya Moma n’em right proud!”
thats good
One of these days they’ll learn….it simply does not pay to make a Mississippi girl mad! You wrote so eloquently the thoughts of so many of us! Kudos to you, my Dear!
Very well said!
We’ve seen the other side of hurricanes and tornadoes. I’ve lost part of a home to not having electricity for weeks on end, having to huddle in one room because it was too dark to seperate. The flooding was unreal homes, cars, trucks ruined, the gravel roads had washed away but what we didnt have our neighbors did, visa versa. You needed to go to town? There were tractors to horses bc here in this landmass we like to call mississippi our parents taught us how to take care of one another, to take care of ourselves. I mean really how many others actually know their neighbors by first, last names? Or help their nieghbors rebuild their lives from scratch? The entire state of Mississippi can, and has. This land mass has held itself together and will continue to. When the uneducated, unsympathetic people who has forgotten about who we are (mississippi) need our help without a question we will have those chainsaws ready, hugs in tow and cornbread for all.
Best letter EVERRR!! Proud to be a Mississippian!!
Thank You!!
LOVE IT!!! proud to From Alabama, Mississippi and the South!!!
You go girl!!!! You speak for me.
I live in Louisiana….but I say to you from Mississippi…..I would be PROUD to live there with you!!
This is awesome! !!
Wow! Way to tell ’em. I’m a redneck from Vestry, Mississippi (population 120 at least in 1980) and a product of the George County School System and I can name the great ole big land mass. (of course many call me the map lady now.) Way to go Jill.
i so enjoyed this. so well written, so very very true. I ‘ve live in mississippi my entire life an i am so proud to be mississipian…..thank you.
I am crying as I read this! Wow……….nothing else needs to be said but THANKS!!!
ATTAGIRL! I REALLY do like the way you think, madame. Truly do! Thank you!
We lost our home in Katrina but rebuilt….Worked as you said, didnt whine to government for help. Got out side with our neighbors and enjoyed their company…..cared about others…helped each other. was like it should be all the time.
Well said!
Thank you…….
An awesome put-down to all those intelligent, air headed folks who report the news and weather on all the liberal networks.
Well done!
I’ve been in Nortrh Carolina 24 years, but I’m still intensely proud of being a Mississippian , born nd breed. Misssisspi has it over alot of arrogant people and other states.
Amen,Couldnt of said it any better.This was VERY well said and every bit VERY true Ive lived in Mississppi for years and love it wouldnt change it for any other state:) Thank you so much for writting this!Mississippi,Mississippi,Mississppi…YEAH!!!!Home of all us redneck caring loving people!!!And just one more thing we were hit by the eye of the storm when Katrina hit we had no power for more then 8weeks and no water thank God we stocked up on bottle water and gallons and our neighbors helping because it was very scaring but we all pulled together and made it through..LOVE MY MISSISSIPPI!
I am proud to be from the” land mass ” . We are Mississippi
God Bless the South!!!
AMEN, I knew American Geography backwards and forwards by age ten! Cheers from Pascagoula, Mississippi!
Woohoo! from Biloxi, Ms. I was gonna post something, but? you people who are bashing our state, really need to take time and get to know us, we are not stupid! We are just good country people, who are from the old school,and we go out of our way to help our neighbor…So if you treat your neighbors, like you have done here, to all the Mississipians! I’ll stay in Mississippi…At least we know
how to treat a person like a human….
Beautiful written words that speaks volumes!!! Thank You for writing this I LOVE, LOVE IT!!!
You go! Thanks for your wonderful words! You spoke the truth.
We(Mississippians) would be to proud, but actually it is what we are! After Katrina we cooked and fed our neighborhood for days, got ice for those who could not, cut trees, washed clothes that were covered by love bugs, emptied garbage from houses in neighborhood-Why- because that is the way Mamma and Daddy raised us in the “Land Mass” People care. Thank you for these words and for all the people who commented because we care about what happens to our friends and family.
Wow. Thank you !! I’m one proud Mississipian!
And very proud of you. !
Absolutely love this letter! I was born in Alabama but lived in North Mississippi during my school years. PROUD to say that I’m a product of a Mississippi public school education! The South is where I will stay – tornadoes, hurricanes, and all!
I teared up reading this! I’ve been born and raised in MS, now living in MO with my hubby’s job moving us, and I am so thankful that other people in MS feel the same way I do!!!
I totally agree with you this is what they need to hear way to go and God Bless you Iam a GRITS girl through and through
BG all the way
Well said, well said!!!! Proud to be from Mississippi~
Well said!! Awesome!
I love love love this! Dead on! I lost my home during Katrina, my children, myself, and my dogs stayed because no place would allow us to bring our family pets. I felt water on my toes and 3 mins later I had 5 foot in my home. Thank the lord we had an upstairs to retreat to. We lost everything, along with 90% of my relatives. We had to stay in our flooded home for a few days before the water retreated. We had rescue people come and try to get us via boat, but the alligator farm down the road had flooded and there were several dozen of them on our street glaring at the boaters trying to get to us. A few days later we found dry land a few blocks up and the nice people we ran into fed us and drove us to my mothers home, who lived right by the beach in Pascagoula. She ran out of her home crying and hugged me because she didn’t know if we were alive or not. It was devastating to say the least. We Mississippians pulled together and helped our fellow neighbors do what needed to be done to rebuild. I, now, with my business partner ( Aletta Donigan, who also lost her home in Katrina ) have rebuilt our business and we are now selling the Land Mass shirts. Please check it out if you will. 🙂 https://www.facebook.com/LandMassBetweenNolaAndMobileShirts
Thanks for sharing your story…. I will check out your page and good luck to you!! Capitalism rocks!
That is an inspirational life you had to go through with your children!! It is wonderful to be included that you and your children made it out safe and rebuilt your business……Can’t imagine what you went through….hope all is well in your life now!
Amen and Amen! Thank God that I am from MS!
Brilliant!
Hopefully the news casters will actually read this! I’ve lived in gulfport, ms my whole life and this could have not been said better!
Absolutely amazing! You hit the nail on the head!
I so.enjoyed this story I’m so sharing
Wow, way to complain. And, for crying out loud, Katrina was in what year? If your men/women got out there and fixed it and moved on then stop bringing it up. Oh, and let’s not forget about “landmass” over there where men and women are rolling up their sleeves, go to thatwork, and pray they don’t die so that you can live freely in your “landmass.”
HOWEVER, I agree with your comments that you chose to describe your “landmass.” But, I believe that the North and the other sophisticated folks tend to forget how great the South really is. So could’t we stand up for the whole south, not just one “landmass?” And even further, couldn’t we stand up for the whole country? God Bless America!
So you are leaving a comment complaining about the post because you are opposed to people complaining? ;0)
Cool. But, Mississippi has put up with A LOT more than they have dished out….
Just remember that a HUGE chunk of military personal hail from Mississippi…disproportionate in comparison to MOST other states…. they have a clue where their freedom comes from because many of them have lost loved ones fighting in the war. And a great many more still having fighting loved ones over there now… It’s never cool to assume that because they have a little STATE pride, then they have somehow forgotten their nation… that’s just poppycock.
Thank you for reading and commenting….
I find that some parts of this letter warrant a raised eyebrow here…
It doesn’t seem fair to bash our neighbors in Louisiana for the lack of media coverage in the damages we sustained during Katrina. It’s not even fair to them to bash them for TWC calling our state a land mass. Not everyone in New Orleans should be regarded as whiny and dramatic. I think it’s pretty fair to say that every city has its share of those people.
Honestly, I think New Orleans got the most coverage because out of an 1800 death toll, 1400 of those were in Louisiana. Folks from the surrounding areas there deserved equally as much coverage but they aren’t complaining about that. Before you say, “Well they should have evacuated,” consider this: A LOT of New Orleans residents AND those in the surrounding areas are extremely poor. I wouldn’t be surprised if AT LEAST half of those people that were killed or stranded could barely afford bus fare and probably didn’t have family to help them. It breaks my heart to even think that people out there are in this situation and it really hurts to know that there is such a disregard for human life. I think the value of human life far exceeds that of property value…. Think about that when you call yourself “pro-life”.
I can see why people would be in an outrage because Mississippi was referred to as a land mass. And I do not have a problem with that. We each have our own opinions, and I just happen to think it’s not that big of a deal.
Stay safe during this storm, I will be hoping for the best for the entire Gulf Coast.
To the person who suggested that we Mississippian’s are complaining, let me give you an update on patriotism in this state! I was 6 months pregnant during Katrina and went through it alone because my husband was sent to Gulfport to ride out the storm with the 890th Engineers so they would be ready for search and rescue. I didn’t complain about it, i waited to hear that everyone was safe! i have sat out every major and minor hurricane that has hit Mississippi because my husband and our middle son have served our state and country in the Mississippi Army National Guard. My husband has served 16 months in Iraq, and he and our son both served a year in Afghanistan while i was here at home raising our 3 year old autistic son by myself. My husband has been in the MS Army National Guard for 34 years, and by the way is a Brigadeer General, our son is on his second enlist, our daughter-in-law is in the army and our nephew is in the Air Guard. i think you can safely say we are covering the bases on serving OUR state and country. we are proud of both and i applaud the lady who wrote the most eloquent letter regarding this LANDMASS called MISSISSIPPI! so, be careful when you insinuate that Mississippian’s are not thankful for our freedom, we take it extremely seriously, but we do it quietly and reverently! I hope you can say you have served your state and country so well!
Randy, I understand what youare saying. But, after Katrina all you heard about was the 9th Ward. What about those who were wiped out south of New Orleans or whose homes were destroyed in Slidell? Or how about the towns West of New Orleans all the way to Lake Charles that were wiped out by Rita. Very little if any reporting on those disasters. Just the 9th Ward.
Claude, I think you missed my point- this letter is completely deragatory towards Louisiana residents.
As I’ve previously stated, I can see why people are angry but it’s not our neighbor’s fault.
I could care less what kind of media coverage new orleans got or anyone else for that matter. I am just happy to have made it through the dang thing! 🙂
This letter isn’t derogatory towards LA residents. It’s derogatory towards the media and the Politicians who MADE N.O. a crap hole. I never said LA didn’t go through any hardships…heck, we ALL know they did, duh…CNN, NBC, etc reminded us for years… I was just shining a little light on MS’s plight also… sheesh!.. LOL… calm down, no one blamed LA on their press coverage…I blamed the media… and if I were a N.O. resident, I would be ticked at the media also for portaying my city as a bunch of helpless losers. Just like I get ticked when southerners DO get media attention, they always seek out the most ignorant white trashy people to interview. No one is “hatin'” on his neighbor here man… Many of us (me included) helped to feed clothe and shelter folks from New Orleans after Katrina… so back up and rethink your assumptions. :0) Good Luck and I hope weather this storm without scratch!
Believe me, I am probably the calmest person on this page! I don’t recall showing signs of anger or hostility in the previous posts. 🙂
I will definitely take your word on that; however, this letter would have been more tasteful had there not been name calling towards anyone or heck, leave the people of new orleans out of it. That has zero relevance to the land mass statement. Besides, I along with many others believe it was taken out of context. But as I’ve said before, it is merely an opinion.
Anyhoo, I hope you and yours fares well during this storm. The rain and wind went from zero to100 in a matter of seconds here in Forrest county so it’s pretty much here now! Not looking forward to this ha
As I recall folks from all over the nation came to assist. I really didn’t see many people making light of this whole matter. We need to come together and stop nit-pickin.
Listen, I had a close friend in N AR who was shocked to hear that Mississippi had damage! Those people in NOLA were told to evacuate & they should have, but didn’t. Their mayor let busses sit idle when they could have been used to get people to safety…..& they still reelected him! Stupid! I resent being called a landmass, it was an insult & we all know it. Later the next day, they spoke of the Louisiana-Alabama border! That was some wild wind. It blew the state out of the nation & then blew LA & AL together! I’m a Pascagoula girl, with a Maxie husband, & we have lived in, & gone to, many different states & countries, & there is No place like home. I love America & I’m proud of my country, but there is something so very special about being from the South, & especially being a Mississippian! You have to live it to understand.
It was in 2005, FYI, but we still have many, MANY things as a result of Katrina that we are still living through today.
Also, it seems to me, as someone who sees economically tough times all around me, that if it came down to me spending my last $150 on 3 tickets to get my family out on a Greyhound, or stick around bc it’s my last money…I pick the bus. I would sell everything I own to get that $150, if that’s what it took! That’s what most of us mean when we say, more people could’ve gotten out. Many people choose to stay bc they have the mentality of, “It’s my house, and I’m not going anywhere”.
AMEN!!! AMEN!!!!
This is a good letter. It would make a bigger impact if it were proofread and the grammatical and spelling errors were fixed…IMHO…I mean if we want to seem smart, we should at least use spell check….I will be happy to offer my proofreading services for free.
I am going to take you up on that… My “editor”…who is my cousin…was busy getting ready for the storm today and I threw this at her at the last minute…and she kindly glanced over it and gave me a list of 30 things to correct, lol…. looks like I missed some…well, I know I did, but I can’t find them now… Here’s my FB page, feel free to private message me any spelling errors….or grammatical…. https://www.facebook.com/#!/jillgunnbrown
VERY NICE!!!
love it, a well,”GO TO HELL letter”from us folks from Mississippi.. Awesome. I Wld love to get a copy of this letter to keep…
Well Bless Your Heart VERY WELL SAID !!!!!! P.S. and birth place of ELVIS PRESLEY TOO!!
Yes, my mother in law is probably going to chide me for the not mentioning him, lol… i was just trying to name some of the more “intellectuals” they may not be as well-known or at least not know they are from MS! Ok, I just basically said Elvis wasn’t an intellectual, lol. I will be in so much trouble for that…forgive me! But you all know what I mean…. ;0)
Don’t know what Elvis’ IQ was, but his compassion IQ was off the map. He quietly gave to many causes. He also held a benefit concert in Hawaii for the USS Arizona memorial. He never forgot where he came from or what being poor felt like.
Not to mention the birthplace of origianl American music!
Can I get an “AMEN, SISTA!??”
This is the best comment or letter anyone has wrote about us proud Mississippians!. May God Bless and keep all of you in the effected area safe. We are proud of our state~~
Amen Amen and AMEN!!! From a fellow proud LANDMASSIAN!!!
May I simply say Thank You! We LOVE our Mississippi!
I for one denounce this piece. If we let people in on how great Mississippi is, the Yankees will all move down here and ruin it. I make sure I tell every Yankee I see (specially the big-city types) that Mississippi is one large festering pustule of ignorance, poverty, and violence. So, pass the word: Move to Mississippi, catch a weird tropical disease.
hehe hahaha
You may be on to something!
Bobster, I know a transplant from New York who does exactly that. Said he does not want all of those New Yorkers moving down here.
LOVE IT!!!!
As a transplanted northerner I take offense at this comment…. having been referred to as a damn yankee for 15 years now I find it quite offensive….. sadly the one thing that you can’t say about mississippians is they sure don’t seem to be too kindly to northerners looking for a better place to raise thier families. I was feeling pride in being from mississippi till I not only read the slam towards yankees but also seeing how every one is cheering it on….. everyone saying they don’t like being the land mass and yet you make hateful comments towards those that move here….. don’t worry this damn yankee gets the message and will leave the sooner the better how insulting !
It was a joke…. Another problem with Yankees… No sense of humor ;o)
Please do not leave, Lori, as we need people like you here. Our country is too divided and I find it refreshing to have people from areas outside Mississippi living here. Most people are joking when they refer to someone as a damn yankee just as, I think, people from the North are joking when they make negative statements about us. It’s not funny to me, however, but maybe this is because I married a girl from Kansas.
Love This!
Thank you for writing this. A lot of people in the media wouldn’t know intelligence or hospitality, even if it bit them in the rear end.
You did yourself proud and I am proud of you! And don’t forget to remind them that many of us landmassians, with farmily and friends in Louisiana took them in, cared, fed, clothed, cried with, and went back with them to help clean up and rebuild after the storm and will again!
mom? lol, but really, is that you?
ACtually… it seems like they described it correctly. WOuldn’t it include towns in Louisiana east of new Orleans, and in Alabama west of mobile. I agree that Mississippi should get more recognition, but let’s not proud the stereotype that we are stupid to be true.
I migrated to northern Mississippi after the 2006 hurricanes from south Louisiana. The entire coast of Louisiana was devastated by Katrina and Rita. Entire towns were wiped out, and all you heard about was New Orleans. I hear ya, girl. I hear ya.
God bless you honey, you gave ’em what fer and I hope they take a good long look at how the see us “Landmassian’s” from now on. We are proud to be here and are no different in that respect than they are. They just need to really see us – even on the map!
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
very well said, i love Mississippi and all the folks that live in it.
Beautiful letter from Land Mass, where nobody can read but everybody can write! Thank you.
Thank you all for your sweet comments… I am not currently living in MS, as I am in Houston, TX at the moment. Mississippi is “home” though and I miss it and my family like CRAZY. I will always be Mississippi through and through and being away from there a few years and in a large city, I can tell you that I have learned to appreciate my home and my roots…. Prayers for all you in the path of Isaac… And forgive my late response…I am still learning the ins and outs of word press, the phone app, etc…
This made me want to clap at the end!
I’m from MS and very proud. This was kind of hateful though and actually seemed pretty racist. I’m a little embaressed and wouldn’t show any of my MS bashing friends this…
It wasn’t racist at all, you spelled “embaressed” wrong (oops, you must be EMBARRASSED now), and I had a MS bashing friend once….then I STOPPED being friends with them!
WOW!!!!!!!!! NICE VERY NICE
Proud Mississipian!!!!!!! Get em girl!!!!!!
Great Article! Thanks for taking the time to write and make MS proud.
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! THANK U FOR ACTUAL STANDING UP FOR US MISSISSIPPIANS!
Mississippi Math and Geography Test:
If Billy Bob starts at the city limits of Mobile Alabama and drives to the city of New Orleans Louisiana, name the states he will drive in.
A. Mississippi
B. Alabama
C. Louisiana
D. All of the above.
Good Job, D is the correct answer.
How many states does that make (you can use your fingers and toes if need be)
Good Job, 3 is the correct answer.
They can’t describe it as Mississippi because that leaves out part of it and they can’t name all 3 states because that covers Texas to Pensacola.
Now right this sentence on the board and stare at it until you think you have the correct andwer!
Why are you so paranoid and insecure about the national perception of Mississippi?
It’s “write” not “right”…..don’t use your nasty sarcasm to show the stupidity of Mississippians if you can’t even use the correct word in a sentence! Now stare at this sentence until you think you can remember the difference between “write” and “right”.
It really hurts me to have to inform you otherwise of some details. I am sure it is mostly the fault of your 2nd grade teacher but Texas isn’t located between New Orleans and Florida. It is west of New Orleans. Bless your little pea-picking heart, it’ll all come out in the wash.
I never knew that Pensacola is a state. Must get this “write” the next time I refer to Pensacola.
Maybe we’re paranoid and insecure because people don’t give us credit for knowing the difference between write and right! Krystal, you beat me to the punch!
Couldnt have said it better myself…….
Just to let the rest of the world & some of the reporters, reporting on this storm. 1. Hurricane Katrina did not, & repeat, did not hit New Orleans! It hit Waveland, MS! There was NOTHING left!! 2. Also, this land mass they keep referring to is MISSISSIPPI! 3. Our “Hurricane Hunters”, come from Keelser Air Force Base which is based in this land mass, BILOXI. MISSISSIPPI! They are the ones that risk their lives going out to get information! My hat is off to you, our Hurricane Hunters & a BIG THANK YOU for the job you do!
P. S. During Katrina, in Louisana, they mayor of the great city left his city! WTH?!
Well said !!!!! Proud to be a Mississippian !!!!!!
Very Well Written, and so true, Thank You !
We shouldn’t even let the weather reporters in our state.
I am from La. and when Katrina happened my husband and I were constantly talking about how bad the gulf coast was in Mississippi and how the media was just ignoring that and focusing on New Orleans, just like they are doing now…you guys are awesome and should be proud. Oh and I love the song that says “y’all I’m still a Mississippi girl”. My mother in law and all of her family were born and raised there.
Thank you for the time and effort taken to compose this response to the ( once more) slight to Mississippi. I do hope this is printed, passed & shared. It dies appear that loyalty & gumption is alive & well in Mississippi. Thank you again! GOD bless.
wow! I love this! Proud to be from this amazing “Land Mass” 😉
Not to nit-pick, but when did we lose our position as #1 most giving/charitable in the country? I’m pretty sure that still stands. I don’t know where you got #2.
Um, I think Utah is number 1 …. they just came out with the new stats…if I can find that article again, I’ll post it for you… If you find a source contradicting what I said,let me know and I’ll be happy to fix the error. Thank you though…. and don’t worry, I tend to nit pick with facts too… ;0)
I wish I had written this.
It’s about time someone spoke some truth,I love it!!!!!
AMEN. I COULDN’T HAVE SAID IT BETTER!!!
Reblogged this on jaw749 and commented:
Amen! Nicely worded, but they are still not going to get the point…
Wow from one proud Mississippian to another, great job!!!
Thank you so much for sitting down and writing this exceptional article!! I am so tired of hearing about how backward Mississippi people are and how we have most over weight people in our beautiful state!! I am very proud to be a Mississippian. When Katrina devastated our state and we were without power and water for so long, my husand took his truck along with many more people and delivered ice every day to the elderly and shut ins. Yes we are a caring state and yes we are Christians that believe in helping others!!! I thank you again, and I very much enjoyed reading your article.
Thank you,
Tina Westrope
This is great!! MISSISSIPPI is GREAT and its people are GREAT!!
Wow!!! That was an amazing letter!! Heart felt and straight to the point!! I am not from here, but Mississippi has been my home for the last 11 1/2 years…… That was an impressing, bold, and VERY TRUE letter! Thank you for standing up for all of us! I loved it!! 🙂
We also, somehow managed to shelter most of the New Orleans refugees!!!! Something else that makes us an awesome “STATE” not “LANDMASS”!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for this. Long live Long Beach!
Thank you!!! Very well said!!!
I am a Mississippian and enjoyed this article and believe our state should have been mentioned more. However, seeing how New Orleans and Mobile don’t border Mississippi, in fact half of Alabamas coast falls between Mississippi and Mobile, I believe he was not referring to just Mississippi as a land mass. I bet he was just referring to all of the land between the two cities including la and al
Steve, can you explain your comment that half of Alabama’s coast falls between Mississippi & Mobile? I don’t know how you get to the Alabama coast, but traveling there from Laurel, MS, means that I have to go through Mobile, over Mobile Bay, and then on to Gulf Shores.
Very well written! Being raised in Mississippi taught me a lot. Honesty, hard work, the world don’t owe me anything, giving, caring and etc. All I can say is I am and will always be proud to call Mississippi home.
I am a proud Mississippian and this letter speaks the absolute truth. It makes me sick to hear about all the devastation that happened in New Orleans when Mississippi was nearly knocked off the map. But we as Mississippians pulled on our boots and took care of each other not because we felt neglected by the goverment, but because we take PRIDE in our state and we genuinely care about our neighbors.
Thank you.
Well said about our land mass…:)
I’m from Mississippi and have been for 48 years now and I wouldn’t live anywhere else in the world if I had a choise. Ms. is the best for Hospitality, and thats exactly what we show. Your post SHOULD be on the front of EVERY newspaper thats published. Thanks again for the HONESTY.
Thanks so much for representing so well!
Thank you a bunch for sharing this with all folks you actually realize what you are talking approximately! Bookmarked. Please also visit my site =). We will have a hyperlink trade agreement between us
AND the home of THE World Famous Hurricane Hunters of the 403rd Wing – Keesler AFB – MS!!
Love it!! I was born and raised in MS and truly believe we don’t deserve all the BS the media decides to dump on us. If they were half as intelligent as they think they are, they’d think THEN speak, not the other way around. They need to stop worrying about being politically correct. It makes them look foolish.
Awesome! You go girl!!!
Hey more power to Mississippi, they may be poor, but I have lived in a lot of different states and never was treated better than they treat you in Mississippi.
Well written.
Very well put
Awesome! Thanks for writing this!!!
Wonderful letter! I left MS in 1997, but I come home every chance I get as all my family still live in McComb. God bless all of you! I so wish your letter would be read on TV as well as like the other post said front page of every newspaper! Way to go.
When this was written it was saying what a whole lot more people were thinking. Good Job an don’t cut them any slack and make them see how really stupid the news reporters are.
I appreciate this.I was born & raised in MS and still live on same street. Proud to say I’m from the great state. You expressed my feelings better than I could have myself!! THANKS!!!
You beautifully wrote everything I have wanted to say since Katrina. I never understood why the dam/levy (whatever) breaking in N.O. took presidence over the devastation Katrina caused in Mississippi! I am with you, we are left out of everything unless we are depicted as inbred, backwoods, rednecks. We can take jokes, but you know, enough is enough when it comes to important issues.
Thank you for so eloquently writing what ALL Mississippians have been thinking for years!
Thank you for so eloquently writing what ALL o
Well done! Thank you!
Wow! Well said. Just ignore the mainstream media. We do.
Awesome letter!
Amen sister!! I am born and raised in Mississippi on the Gulf Coast and proud of it! Apparently some of the people who have responded negatively to your letter are not familar with sarcasism. No matter what the national perception of Mississippi is, we will stand together and make it through Isaac and any other storm that comes our way. Our families, friends, neighbors and Our God will help us!! Hail, Hail to the great state of MISSISSIPPI!!!
While playing in a golf tournament in Sasebo, Japan, a player commented: “oh, you’re from Mississippi”! And tried to start in about all the bad rep my State gets. I quietly told him, “yes, you are so right, and we Mississippians want people like you to believe all the things you hear do we don’t have to worry about you visiting us”! That’s the way I feel about it. I can’t wait to get back to Mississippi!
I really appreciate everything you said in this letter because I love My State. We deserve better treatment than this. Thank you so much for having the courage to speak up for us.
I LOVE this!!! You hit the NAIL on the HEAD!!! Thank you for posting this! Oh, and GIRL, you AIN’T just WHISTLING DIXIE!!!! God bless you!
I’m a born and raised “land mass” girl…and PROUD to be!!!
Fred Haise, born in Biloxi, MS. Haise was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 13 (April 11-17, 1970) and has logged 142 hours and 54 minutes in space.
Stennis Space Center MS, were every Space Shuttle engine ever flown was assembled and tested
I am a Kentuckian and we suffer some o the same stereotypes and all I can say is ‘wow’!! This it amazing! I’ll take the southern landmasses anyday, including the one they call Mississippi!
Kudos,that was a mouthful. Thank you for saying everything that we have fought, and couldn’t put into words. Continue speaking for us. I like the way you speak.
signed,
A true grits
I am proud to have an independent daughter who has had to work so hard after getting pregnant at 17. We chose life because without love you have no life. Love you Katie n BabyGirl Grace
Love it
I can hardlly type my comment through tears. That was beautiful. Thank you Jill.
Sigh. I’m sorry, but I have to.
Okay. I was with you when you started. Yes, we are most often in the news for our negative aspects, and that sucks. We have a lot of cool stuff going on here, we’ve produced some great minds, we have beautiful country. We all helped each other out after Katrina and it was beautiful stuff. Yes.
But then, this started.
“The next time you report about how RACIST Mississippi is or was, note that Mississippi has the highest percentage of blacks of all the states. Mississippi is SO RACIST, that the blacks don’t want to leave. Yea.”
– Dude, that’s racist as all get out. “We have a bunch of blacks, so we can’t be racist”? Buh? Number one, most of our black families are too poor to move. (Believe it or not, the idea that “if you don’t like it here you can just leave” isn’t realistic, as it does take a significant amount of money and resources to pull up roots and go elsewhere.) Number two, there are plenty of African-Americans here who would LOVE to leave. Heck, most people here of all races have at least thought sometime in their lives “Gah, I HAVE to get out of Mississippi.”
“And when you want to talk about how we rank the highest in the nation in teen pregnancies, please be sure to mention that it’s because most of us don’t kill our babies…Take the abortion clinics out of New York and see how fast their teen pregnancy rates sky rocket….will you call them ignorant rednecks?? We have one lone abortion clinic in the state and it’s on its last leg… Those evil Christians down south don’t force their daughters to have abortions… they embrace them and love them and help them and are not quite the ‘judgmental religious nuts’ you make them out to be.”
– 1: Eroding access to a legal medical procedure is nothing to be proud of. 2: Nice straw-Yankee. People in New York aren’t “forcing their daughters to have abortions.” Plenty of Mississippians do, or they force their daughters into loveless marriages, or else they judge those girls right out of the churches. Plenty of folks north and south love and help pregnant girls. More often, yes, they do get a tad judgmental and downright hateful. The North is not some abortion paradise, and we are not some bastion of morality.
“America was bitter and distraught because those poor people in New Orleans couldn’t get the ‘gummint’ to come save them. However, America could have been encouraged and uplifted had they seen some of the devastation in Mississippi… because they could have seen the hope and resolve of those folks who didn’t cry and whine to the TV cameras about the government not saving them. The men, REAL MEN, didn’t run off and leave their families in a ‘save yourselves or let nanny government do it’ fashion.”
– The government failed its people in New Orleans. They should have fixed their mistake, or at least have been more “on the ball.” THAT’S what people were “whining” about.
Yes, we should have gotten more attention and help and acknowledgement after Katrina…those two weeks in the 100-degree heat with no AC, having to drive to Alabama to take showers, begging folks for their extra ice so we could keep my dad’s insulin chilled were terrible. Plenty of folks lost everything they had. But couldn’t we do something about it in a way that doesn’t remind the world why they love to forget our name?
No one owed those “poor people” in New Orleans anything and it was their responsibility to take care of their own families. You can bet that most of them are on welfare and have been for generations. They drop out of school in the 9th or 10th grade and make no effort to learn a skill because they want to live on the dole. Bus fare is not that much so they could have left the area before the hurricane hit. They always have the money to buy beer and cigarettes. If you ask most of them, you will find that they had made a bus or train trip somewhere in the year prior to the storm. Of course, anyone trying to say otherwise will pick out the few people who were unable to do so for some medical or similar reason. How can one feel sympathy for a person who will not help themselves and is a drain on our society.
More strawmen. You’re not helping.
Some people just will not admit what the real problem is. Instead, they try to silence anyone who does not agree with their position.
Awesome. Just Awesome.
The best article I’ve read in a long time. Thank you so much for sticking up for us.
Bless their hearts… They TRULY have no idea how much pride we take in living in Mississippi. I would love to welcome them in our home and offer them a glass of sweet tea. They would walk away with an entirely different mindset once they realized our hearts and sincerity. This article moves me, as I’m sure it does the rest of us. ( See, in MS we are all one) Wonderful read.
Thanks for a terrific letter. My husband served over 20 years in the U.S. Navy. Fortunately, most of our time was spent in the south. However, he served one tour of duty in Staten Island, N.Y. That was probably the most enlightening 2 years we ever had in the Navy. The people there were amazed that I wasn’t dumb as a brick, wasn’t barefoot and pregnant, and could actually speak English as well as they could.
I couldn’t think of a more beautiful way of putting it – Thank you, I enjoyed reading every word.
I could not have said it better myself!
Cassandra Bowen, EdS, NCC, LPC, NCSC
Hometown: Nettleton, “Landmass” Mississippi
Thank you! From Rosebud, MIssissippi
***VERY WELL SAID, RANDY!!!
I find that some parts of this letter warrant a raised eyebrow here…
It doesn’t seem fair to bash our neighbors in Louisiana for the lack of media coverage in the damages we sustained during Katrina. It’s not even fair to them to bash them for TWC calling our state a land mass. Not everyone in New Orleans should be regarded as whiny and dramatic. I think it’s pretty fair to say that every city has its share of those people.
Honestly, I think New Orleans got the most coverage because out of an 1800 death toll, 1400 of those were in Louisiana. Folks from the surrounding areas there deserved equally as much coverage but they aren’t complaining about that. Before you say, “Well they should have evacuated,” consider this: A LOT of New Orleans residents AND those in the surrounding areas are extremely poor. I wouldn’t be surprised if AT LEAST half of those people that were killed or stranded could barely afford bus fare and probably didn’t have family to help them. It breaks my heart to even think that people out there are in this situation and it really hurts to know that there is such a disregard for human life. I think the value of human life far exceeds that of property value….
*** I was born and raised in Mississippi. I now live in Louisiana. Proud to call BOTH states “home.” Although, I agree with a lot of what was written here by Jillology 101, I think that bad mouthing and degrading the people in what you called “craphole” was completely uncalled for. There were plenty of men and women out in Louisiana with chainsaws as well. Just like there are plenty of people in Mississippi who whine and complain about the “gummint’, as you said. I just think if you are trying to get a positive point across, you do not need to bash or talk ugly about anyone else, or their home in the process. Just my opinion. I hope and pray that the entire gulf coast stays safe and is spared in this storm. I have family throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. God bless everyone!!!!
Thank you! Very well said.
This is so great! Thank you!
Why would a state with, as the author accurately states, highest % of African-Americans in any US state (37.1%) keep the Confederate battle flag on the official state flag? A new flag was voted down in 2001 by the remarkable rate of 64% to 36%—-those actions reinforce stereotypes.
Because the confederate flag has nothing to do with racism…..easy answer….
You are kidding right? It was created so that state had the right to keep slaves.
Mississippi had a state flag before the Confederate flag (there was not CSA when they first left the union). Why not use the “Blue Bonnie” or the “Magnolia Flag”—if it just about history?
Really??? That’s all you got out of that???
martinl2937 the Bonnie Blue (not Blue Bonnie) flag was used during the “War between the States”.
Does it occur to you that the Confederate flag represents the end of slavery. I believe if I had been a freed slave, I would salute that Confederate flag every day.
It sure doesn’t occur to me. Because it’s ridiculous.
The majority of blacks did not show up to vote in that election. They did not care because they know that it is not about racism.
AMEN!!!! Well said.. Thank you on behalf of all
Mississippians!!
I love this and hope that you do not mind that I am going to share this as much as I can. I pinned it to pinterest and reposted on face book.
Thank you for saying it so well. I’d like to add Leontyne Price and Eudora Welty to your list of notables.
Very well said. I am so thankful and proud to be from Mississippi- a little piece of heaven on earth
Fantastic. You have my sentiments! I am from the New Orleans area and have often taken offense at how the media portrayed Katrina and the devastation on NOLA. Katrina devastate the Mississippi Gulf coast. I have friends and relatives there that were “over-looked” thanks to broken levees in NOLA. The media is ridiculous! Be proud, stay proud, Mississippi!
Haha thank you…I’m laughing because I’m getting a lot of email and feedback from people not from LA OR MS…upset because they said I bashed LA….and are offended by the crap hole comment… Thank you for “getting it”… Of course I have no hatred for LA… A huge chunk if my family is from there (N.O. To be exact), and as far as N.O., the city has some cool aspects but the problem there can be traced back to the source of a whole bunch of problems… POLITICIANS AND GOVERNMENT…especially, LOCAL ones…so if they stop electing nincapoops, I’ll stop calling it a crap hole. ;o) Thanks again for the kind words!
Amen Sista!!! So glad you put this out there for everyone to read, it is so touching along with everyones comments.. I am proud to say Mississippi has been my home for the last 23 years!!! Mississippi- the Hospitality State!!!
Preach it Sister! Thank you for saying what so many of us are thinking! Brought tears to my eyes! One proud Mississippi Girl right here!!!
You left out the biggest asset if ALL…..ELVIS….
Please don’t tell my mother in law haha!
Woo-hoo, Darlin’! You told ’em! I’m a MS girl transplanted in LA, but I still love me some good ole Mississippi Land Mass and its fine people. Blessings!
I absolutely LOVE your letter. As a member of a family that lives south of New Orleans, I was upset about the people who were waiting for the government to come clean up. That is not the Louisiana I grew up in, know, and love. When we returned home from Gustav, we saw an “amazing” thing: debris and branches stacked neatly by the road in front of all the homes of those who stayed. We and our neighbors busied ourselves with cleaning up our yards and homes. No news crews recording the teeth gnashing about the lack of government people cleaning up our property. And I, like you, am pretty darn proud of that….even though we are just a bunch of dumb Cajuns.f
Thanks for such an articulate letter that will hopefully be an eye-opener to the rest of the lower 48. (Wait, how would a dumb Cajun know something like that?)
Haha… It’s a southern thing! And I know it’s not exclusive to MS, it’s the southern mindset….
Great article! I go home (Tupelo) every chance I get to see my family and friends…sometimes the whole trip is worth it just to hear someone say “You want slaw on that Mam’ ?” Mississippians are diverse and full of love and compassion for all. I have no shame and am proud to have been born and raised in the “land mass” also called Mississippi!
I love this !!! this needs to be printed in Usa today!! We are not dumb as*es. We are highly educated!
Mobile and New Orleans are the 2 large cites that the storm path WAS projected to go between. Mobile is twice the size as Gulfport and Biloxi combined, NO is 4 times the size of Gulfport and Biloxi combined. There is land between those two cities that is NOT Mississippi.
martini2937, why does the size of the cities matter? The Mississippi Gulf Coast consists of not only Biloxi & Gulfport, but there are Pascagoula, Ocean Springs, Pass Christian, Long Beach, and Waveland in that “land mass” as well. Anyone with any knowledge of geography knows that Mobile is not on the border between AL & MS nor is New Orleans, but if a hurricane is projected to hit between those two cities, wouldn’t Mississippi be the obvious center point?
Standing ovation!
Love this!!!! Thank you for voicing this for all of us that were born an/or live here.
LOVE THIS!!!
Oh, my goodness, this is so awesome. You have topped the charts with this letter. Thank you so much for the time, effort, love you put into this. God Bless Mississippi.
Stop crying like a bitch !! I live in Mississippi and 90 % of the people here doesn t know where Uruguay is located geographically , so what you get so mad about them calling your State a “land mass” ?
Diego… I am going to take a wild guess that you were not born in Mississippi. If you don’t like people being proud of their home and their state then move!
How can you make a statement that 90% (or any percentage) of the people here do not know where Uruguay is located? You have no way of knowing anything about people you have not met. If I had to guess, I would say that you and the people you know are surely uneducated. Be very careful about making general statements. As to the Weather Channel comments, it appears they have an agenda to show Mississippi in a bad light. We know there is a small amount of Alabama and Louisiana in the area between Mobile and New Orleans but it is clear they meant Mississippi when they used the “land mass” reference. One would think that saying the name of the state would leave a bad taste in the mouth of the speaker.
See, I find this funny because upthread on my comment you said that MOST of the people in NO were on welfare, were lazy, had money to take trips & buy beer and cigarettes but were too lazy to evacuate. How can you make such a statement about people YOU haven’t met?
Are you on medication? I said nothing to the effect that MOST of the people in NO were on welfare, were lazy, and had money to take trips & buy beer and cigarettes but were too lazy to evacuate. My message was in reference to the ones who stayed in NO expecting someone to transport them elsewhere and take care of them. Did you listen to what those people said when interviewed and did you personally talk with any of them as I did? All seemed to think that someone owes them something. I have relatives in NO and know many people there, and they say exactly what I said about the ones I was referring to. Do not try to distort what I said.
Damn, Weather Channel! You just got pwned!
….by the way all those famous black folks you name above, they made it big outside the State of Mississippi,same as most of the last list u mention too !!
Also having less abortion clinics in Mississippi got little or nothing to do with the rate been so high, please,bring some real argument to this conversation if you want to be taking seriously, you mention in this letter the creator of the Muppets ?? ….really??? wow!! that ;S an amazing world game changer !!
Diego, could you revisit 3rd grade language class and check your word usage. “Got” is not a verb and “people doesn’t” makes no sense. My 3rd graders know these simple rules!
Leave the Muppets out of this friend, or you’re gonna have a real fight on your hands! But seriously, you should probably take some grammar and punctuation lessons before you start burning the keys up with your mindless rambling.
Has anyone ever been “taking seriously” as Diego states? Maybe he does not know that “taken” is the word to use.
This is one great article that caught my attention and I too am so very proud to be from Mississippi…the best *land mass* this side of the *bible belt*. lol 😉 Thanks for sharing!
And all the good people said Amen!
So true maam. I lived thru katrina and get upset when people say only new orleans got it bad
Awesome. Thank you for rreminding folks of the significance of our beautiful and courageous state! God bless!
great letter.i am 52 yrs old and i have never heard Mississippi said this many times on twc .thank god for technology and giving rednecks a voice!
Oh wow….Grade A++++ WHeTHer PeePle….Grade: EPIC FAIL Love you, Jill…we got your back~!
You got it right thank you
SHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Let’s keep our Mississippi a well kept secret! , OK? Not all states have a LAND MASS llike we do!!
What a GREAT letter! Bravo
well written im from mississippi and i live on the gulfcoast i went thru katrina lost my home and all my belongings and sleep in a paster in a tent but never once did i complain we all helped each other out and shared what we had with the nighbors and made sure everybody had what they needed we were taught at a very young age how to survive and help others that are in need regardless and that is why this land mass has survied and will continue to. thank you for defending us red neck mississipians
As someone who has lived on and off in that landmass as an atheist, I would like to say to hell with Mississippi. I hope a new Katrina wipes it of the map. Never before have I lived in a state so intolerant and blinded by their bible belt, and I’m from Texas originally. The people you try and claim for Mississippi’s greatness did not become great in Mississippi. They became great by leaving that landmass.
So sad to think how miserable it must be to live with such a hateful heart. Praying that your heart is lightened so you can see the beauty and joy in life…God bless you.
Mike…. you would make a great Yankee.
wow and there’s that insult again so much for being proud to be in Mississippi ….. why is it you people find it necessary to insult people from the north? i HAVE NEVER DONE NOTHING TO YOU, but you insult ME because of where I WAS BORN just when I was getting over being pissed about the last insult you though it out again
Do you understand term “just kidding”? No one hates you dear.
An atheist saying “to hell”; that makes good sense.
Yes, where would “to hell” be if you are an atheist?
As a RN, I have met a few atheist who, right before they took their last breath; cried out to God…..just in case! My prayers go up for you Mike, even though you probably would rather I would not. As far as all of the arguing back and forth…..it is just natural for people to be sensitive when it comes to their homelands. I was born, raised, and have lived here in this great state of Mississippi a;; of my life! I appreiciate this letter and feel that the mannerism and even the wit in it is warranted…since we have been looked down on and made to appear less than when compared to the other states….even our neighboring southern states. Lori, I have a next door neighbor that is from the North…..he is a wonderful man and I love him so much!! He loves me as well, and would do anything in the world to help me or anyone else. I pick at him sometimes and call him a damned yankee! He smiles and lets me have it right back!! I Just saying…..God bless you all!!
Amen! Proud to be from Mississippi.
My hat’s off to you. Seriously. -Born and raised in that landmass-
Wow! You hit that nail right on the head! I’m proud of you and I’m proud to be a Mississippian!
Thank you! I am proud to be from MISSISSIPPI
and I’m in tears reading this! I love my state!
Do you feel famous yet? Becuase this blog has enveloped my facebook page from my friends who are sharing it and I have no clue who you are!
From a fellow blogger, I quite enjoyed this post and I’m so happy you are getting such positive reviews!
Excellent job!
-Mississippian
Thank you! I’ll be happy to check out you’re blog if you post the link here!
well written..I am from rural Mississippi. My family lived thru Camille. It was horrible..afterwards the government never showed up, no money – no handouts..It was neighbor helping neighor and that’s the way it should be..
Thank you, could not have said better, I have always felt Mississippi was done wrong about
Katrina. But that’s ok we have been taught to take care of ourselves,family,friends and neighbors.
Thank you for this!!
I have lived all of my 58 years 30 miles north of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The day after Katrina I listened to the radio for hours. I needed to know what had or hadn’t survived the storm. I heard stories of human survival and heroism. It was heartbreaking to hear of the personal losses, but I knew that southerners would rise and be stronger. The next day I cleaned out my freezers which is a nasty job especially without air conditioning. Afterwards I sat on my front porch feeling sorry for myself until I asked the good Lord to forgive me because I had so much to be thankful for: a roof over my head and family that had damage but no loss of life. I asked Him to show me a way to help others. My sister-in-law had two large thawing freezers put up with garden produce that needed cooking so we started on a couple of camp stoves. The first day we took food to nearby relatives. The next few days we had more than our family could eat so we delivered warm meals to the elderly in our community. My son, who was studying at Ole Miss, brought us 50 gallons of gas so we could continue our deliveries. About a week after Katrina, the Red Cross started serving hot food in our community center. I’m not telling this story to brag on myself, but to share what southerners do for one another in difficult circumstances. Helping others blesses you more than those receiving the help.
That is amazing Teresa!! Thanks for being a giver!!
Wonderful letter! Let’s just wish Mr. Jim Can’ttori (hmmm new name spelling) the same success as he encountered in Katrina! By using his vehicle as a flotation device during Katrina, yes that is why he wasn’t shown much immediately after Katrina. He attempted to use his vehicle as a boat…without any effort other than parking it way to close to the Gulf on what is now know as the Land Mass! Not only do casinos float, so do cars and vans!
Absolutely love it l
awesome! Thank you!
Absolutely love it!!!!!
Poor Diego, he must be tired after asking 2,680,660 people where Uruguay is. No wonder he is so grumpy. Bet he is green and furry and lives in a garbage can. It’s ok Diego, we all know its not easy being green. Diego, I bet most of them folks you asked were just messin with you. Shame on them, they know that’s rude. I’m sure 90% of their mamas taught them better than that. If not, Big bird, Bert and Ernie ( and more recently Elmo) has shown them that you need to be considerate of how you talk to and about other people. One thing that can be said of Mississippi is that much of the state hasn’t had diddly in the way of cable and such.. thank goodness for public television and ole Mr. Henson for being such an integral part of helpin all our young folks on learnin their letters and manners and such. Guess what, they have them kind of shows in Uruguay too- and over 120 other countries that don’t have the luxury of paid television programming. Elmo thinks you need a hug. I think you need to stop making such ignorant comments.
Well you about covered it all. Thumbs up to you!! And yes, even 50 years ago, I was learning the states and capitals of these great United States – all 50, BY NAME
An ex-pat of the beautiful Gulf Coast of Mississippi.
Raising a glass of sweet, iced tea to you Jill and your cleverness!!!
Well said! Proud to be from Mississippi. What a wonderful landmass it is!
Fabulous job!!! Couldn’t have said it all better myself!!!!!
That was amazing!!!! I loved it!!
You might want to mention that we don’t eat dirt either!! Actually, we should probably just be quiet or some of them might find out how wonderful our state is and ……dare I say it???…have a desire to move here.
I grew up in MS and I am proud to say so! Thank you so much for your letter. A note to the people who have had rude comments and have corrected your grammer and spelling, all I have to say is “Bless your Heart”.
AMEN ……….
I have never been to your state, but would love to see it!! I grew up in the NORTH and moved to NC when I was in my 40’s…..that is when I REALLY FOUND OUT WHAT GIVING WAS!! Thank you sharing what you know about YOUR STATE!!
Very eloquent………thank you
After a devastating divorce I was invited to stay in Mccomb,Miss, by friends I had met Twice,Twice !! in my life,given a place to stay,friendship,moral support and one of the best times of my life,,,Thank you again to the Haygoods, McCrums,Dee and Sonny,,,I love you all so much,,such wonderful,giving people exist no where else on Earth,,, and you “news” casters can kiss my yankee ass,,,,,
lmbo!!!! 🙂
I am not from MS….. I am one of those darn Yankees, lol. But I did live in MS for 13 years, including the time that Katrina hit…. In fact, I weathered the storm in Vancleave, MS. I will always be a Yankee at heart (don’t hate me, I just love the snow and couldn’t handle the four seasons of early summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas, lol), but I do have to say that in the aftermath of Katrina, I was proud to be living where I was. As I helped friends and family and friends of those friends and family tear down walls and rip out carpet, as we dug through wreckage in an attempt to find family portraits that hopefully were not completely ruined, as we found this and that person that was missing for days, sometimes weeks, and as we covered bodies with what sheets, towels, and sometimes clothes if we had nothing else, as we found them so that when the crews could get by they could easily find them, and as I drove a 4-wheeler with a chain tied around parts of tree trunks as other chainsawed through them so we could clear the roads enough that those crews could actually pass……. Yes, all I could feel was pride that I lived in MS….. I may not like the weather (actually, I think I really hated it, lol), but the people are amazing. And I truly felt sick when we got power back over 3 weeks later, when the first thing I saw was N.O……. Glad I didn’t move down there a couple years before when I was offered a job….. Really, truly glad 🙂
Kara, I loved your write up!! Thank you from a proud Mississippian…born and raised!!
Absolutely love this!!!!
Love it!!!!! Thank You for a great letter!!!
Thanks for your letter. Alabama is portrayed the same way. They didn’t stick around to see all the folks from central and north Mississippi and the neighbors over in Alabama who came week after week giving their time, energy and money to help out. People came bringing food, water, clothing, saws and other equipment to help. A lot of it came from those “religious nuts” you mentioned. People removed trees,cleaned yards, helped replace roofs and rebuild homes. All just because they cared. No pay, no recogniton, just hard work in the sweltering heat. I had the privilege of going over from Mobile, AL. I remember one lady who hugged me and thanked me for coming. She broke down and cried. She told she had to be strong for her family through all of the destruction and that was the frist time she had broken down and cried. I was glad to be there for her. I can guarantee you this, if Alabama was to take the brunt of hurricane in a direct hit, it would be those Mississippi neighbors who would be on our doorstep to help; religious nuts, rednecks, and all!!!
Thanks so much for writing this! Excellent! Makes me more proud than ever to be from that wonderful Land Mass. 🙂
I lived in Mississippi for 18 years, my wife and I moved there from Louisiana. Everything was fine, well actually I can’t say fine, it was ok, at least untill we starting having children, and they started school. That’s when the problems began, I won’t go in to all the details of everything but I will tell you this. It was bad enough that we moved back to Louisiana and we are not looking back. Almost 2 years have passed and my kids are doing great in school. If we would have stayed in Mississippi, my kids wouldn’t have made it. That is the worst school system ever, completely horrible. All those people that were mentioned in this letter, well they left too. Now you can put that in your pipe and smoke that!
Diego,
Really? Really? I think this blog is not to brag, but to say that we are important enough to be called by our land masses’ name. MISSISSIPPI. You really should consider what you write before you post it.
My momma always said ” the weather and news people never mention Mississippi” It is good to here so many others think the same way. We are proud.
I loved parts of this letter. Having lived in MS for 11 years and during Katrina, it saddened me that we did not get the attention and care that our neighbors did, especially after witnessing how amazingly well Mississippians behaved and helped one another in comparison to other regions of the country during times of crisis.
HOWEVER, as a New Yorker, I was quite taken back by your abortion remarks. Firstly, even if you add in the number of NY teen abortions (i.e. count them as teen pregnancies), which btw only account for less than one in five abortions performed, New York’s teen pregnancy rate is still far below that of Mississippi…I know because I just did the calculation myself using the information from the CDC.
I greatly understand your frustrations of dealing with baseless, discriminatory stereotypes that are in place against Mississippians; but you are not going to successfully convince many ppl outside of your state that you do not fit the stereotype of simple, ignorant southerner if you too generalizations about a group of people with merit…referring to the remarks that New Yorkers make children ‘kill their babies’. You may not have thought it through when writing this letter, but you applied the exact same method of thinking that your entire letter speaks against.
Amen
I can understand how people are disgruntled at being called the land mass and all. And i can understand the way Mississippi has taken pride in being so helpful. I even understand Mississippians wanting to be acknowledged in the national media when there’s a storm growing in the Gulf…… But seriously do you want the media coverage New Orleans got after Katrina? Did ANYONE see anything nice being said? I saw people stranded on rooftops shooting at volunteers trying to help them, I saw looting, even by the police, I saw murder in the dome and reports of rape, I saw people sitting around dead bodies waiting for someone to rescue them…. they didn’t show the folks that got out on thier own, or helped the elderly neighbor that was drowning, or the chain saws that came out and the folks dug out alive. The networks don’t want to show the heroism, or the bravery, or the helping hands extended to strangers they want the blood and gore and the human race misbehaving …… Is that what Mississippi wants the nation to think of them?
Lori, The beef isn’t so much about lack of attention as much as it is about lack of information. I am from south MS and have half my family in south LA. I lived just outside of Memphis ( Southaven MS) when Katrina hit. My family was scattered to the winds in the chaotic aftermath. I remember getting up the morning after the MS landfall and seeing my true home in pieces- all of it. Being in north MS puts you at the mercy of TN news stations, so their priority was not on MS, it was on the big story which emerged a day or so after the storm hit- New Orleans. I had a 12 year old cousin and an 81 year old aunt who was unaccounted for about 4 days.The only way we were able to get in touch with people who had information was through church groups that went down and set up centers where there were still working cell towers and land lines. And the thing is, many people on the MS coast have ties to the city -and family scattered along all the shorelines and bayous. It is usually a collective effort to rebuild- helping hands and open hearts come from all over LA, MS, and AL- the coast is the coast. It was very frightening and frustrating to try to find out what was happening at ground zero when most of the information and news reports focused on the civil and structural failures in New Orleans. No body wishes for the mess that went on in New Orleans, but counting the lower parishes, MS and AL coasts, there was over 300 miles of devastated areas and thousands of people denied adequate information about areas with broken infrastructure and communication.
Way to go!! Way to speak your mind for all of us fellow Mississippians. I’d love to know what that persons boss had to say to him once the uprising from our Mississippi folks started.
I am 76 years old. Moved from Mississippi many years ago and lived in many towns and states
but theres no place like “HOME”.
I just read on Facebook wlox’s page that the weather channel “can’t find” the video of anyone calling MS a “LAND MASS”. So now aplogies will be made. So if ANYONE can come up with the video of this ( I didn’t not see 😦 ). TO BAD I wish I did. Please send it to wlox so they can show the weather channel. Do not send to weather channel cause it will disappear again.
Amen sista. Shout it loud and proud!!!
Thank you for so graciously stating how it really is in OUR Mississippi. Oops. (land mass). Here we love our neighbors, we love God and we love you reporters (bless your heart!)
I cannot say AMEN enough times.
You go! Sorry I didn’t write it>>The media has always been that way>>>They only write about the negative stuff and play up the bad stuff. A craphole is a place that has destruction like in Katrina and all the people can think to do is rape and murder and loot, instead of helping each other out. The craphole officials confiscated buses to help get other officials out of the path of the floods and left their people to fend for themselves. And THAT is what everyone in the media wanted to report on. GOD forbid if they should point out the caring and brotherly love and Christian concern of REAL neighbors!! I was BORN in Baton Rouge and when we moved to MS I was thrilled with the welcoming spirit of Mississippians, of which I consider myself one. My formative years were spent BEING a Mississippian and to this day THAT is who I am and PROUD OF IT!!
Excellent post, maybe could have shortened it, and possibly the use of craphole was a bit too strong. I love the Big EZ.
VERY,VERY well said! Thank-you!
This is a great letter and photograph. I agree with so many other comments stating how great it would be if it could be widely published. Thank you for sharing.
The fact is we as Mississippians are sick and tired of all the negativity toward our people as well as our State. They didn’t want to report the good that happened here after Katrina came through with all the neighbors helping one another. No..they wanted to show the bad. Love the letter above. Goes to show that we are tired of being dumped on by the media. I am proud to be from Mississippi and gladly stand by my fellow Mississippians. Proud to be from that glorious land mass between Mobile and New Orleans..I hope that our neighbors from New Orleans will be in good shape through Hurricane Issac. Praying for our neighbors there.
Excellent article! Tammy you have always been a good writer. I am never disappointed.
Well Jill, I might say it better, but I love how you said it. After Katrina hit, I remember seeing a clip of Gov. Barber saying to his staff, let’s get to work, how do we handle this? No, wringing of the hands and saying where is FEMA, etc.
Very cool, thanks for helping out the smart folks at TWC. I use Accuweather BTW. 🙂
AMEN girl!!!!
Well Said.
jdt36109@gmail.com
Mississippi is the best kept secret in the world!!!!!!
Let them keep slamming us,showing the guy in a wife beater holding a beer hanging out the trailer door saying, “that Thera tore na dur went over yonder!”. That way people won’t move here and mess up what we have.
Right on! Thank you for writing this! I’m a proud Mississippian of 26 years. I’m also a proud soldier who has served over seas. I’m currently at a school and unable to assist with the hurricane but my old and current unit are down here right now prepped and ready to assist in what ever way needed. As in Katrina, not only are the people of Mississippi ready and willing to help out but so are the National Guard soldiers who serve this great state! Those who remain in the danger area risk their lives and health to help and be the first there to start rebuilding. Mississippians have always been self sufficient and resillient, natural disasters are just one example of when we pull together. Sorry didn’t mean to get so long winded : )
Thank you for your service to our country!
Right on!
One of my best online friends (of around 12 years) is a resident in Mississippi. I live in Western New York … and occasionally we talk on the phone. I love her accent! Hope you are well Jill. And what you wrote is so true.
After reading this I will have to sew the button back on my shirt and get a larger hat…filled with pride!!!!
Thank you so much, well said! I’ve lived in Texas longer than Mississippi, but it will always be home.
My Grandma’s TV has been stuck on the weather channel ever since my cousins and I can’t find “you can’t do that on television” on television. G-daddy used to point this very pickle out just before he took his afternoon nap, right after G-ma cooked dinner(For most respectful people that’s noon).
It’s too bad the IRS knows where MS is. Secession anyone? We don’t need these ya-hoos.
Outstanding! Its my Mississippi, too! Greatest kept secret in earth.
Florida did not get much damage.
Thank you for this! You just made my day! I’ll be passing this along to others.
I wish I had written that letter!!! Sounds like something I would say. You can add Connie Stevens to the list of famous people, too.
I met Haley Barbour our last governor several years back after Katrina. He was and still is a man of integrity who got to work helping his fellow Mississippians rebuild their lives. He and his wife worked with their hands, sweat, and even bled some to build our coast line and all the way to Desoto County up top. WE DO NOT EXPECT ANYONE TO HELP US. IM A REAL MAN AND HELPED THE PEOPLE WHO MIGRATED NORTH AND GAVE THEM FOOD, SHELTER, WORK. Even those from Louisianna were welcomed and cared for. Tons of them are still here for the love we showed them. Take your northern attitudes and come see us. We welcome you too so you can experience our great state and “land mass”. We will blow you away with hospitality. Thank you and see you soon if your brave enough to become infected with a good virus…. LOVE. Jeff Wright
Mississippi has always been the brunt of all jokes for the national media. I’d say after Jill’s eloquent writing, that the joke IS the national media. God Bless Mississippi.
Thank You……I was born and raised in Mississippi, by 2 of the most giving, caring people in the world….who helped their neighbors, black or white. I sat through Camille as a teenager, Frederick as a young mother, Katrina as a grandmother. I have watched our state be bashed by the media. I am strong, proud, not afraid to tell people of my love for Jesus Christ, nor am I willing to bash people for their mistakes, but willing to love others as I was taught. In fact, being a Mississippian is like being a Christian, you don’t understand until you have been there. Glad to be both……..we pretty much look at the media as they look at us…….we’ll pray for ya’ll!!!!!
Great letter, MS neighbor. As Katrina headed to the NOLA metro area, we packed up our family and headed to a hotel in Jackson, Mississippi, where we stayed for about 4 weeks. I was deeply touched by the warm, opened arms that greeted, welcomed, and comforted us throughout our stay in the beautiful state of Mississippi. We experienced genuine southern hospitality at it’s very best. This from the very same people who were living and working without power and water themselves, because KATRINA ALSO HIT MISSISSIPPI!!! A trip to the grocery store brought me to tears when an elderly couple, hearing we were from the NOLA area, asked if we had a place to stay and offered to share their home without even knowing our names. Before we knew that our home was unharmed, I was ready to begin again in Jackson, Mississippi. We’ll never forget you, Jackson, and will always appreciate your kindness.
I am a little southun born and bred; watermelon, fried chicken, turnip green and cornbread eatin’, sweet tea drankin’; MISSISSIPPI redneck girl from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet! I am ALSO an educated, hard working tax paying American woman! I try to live my life to please my God, and help others that are in need….but, ONLY IF they try to help themselves! I love to travel and visit other places, but am always glad to get back home!! I have lived through Camille, Katrina, and many other hurricanes. Katrina was a nightmare that I hope to never have to go through again, But, we were very blessed compared to so many others. The Ms Gulf Coast was ALMOST wiped off of the map…..BUT IT STILL STANDS!!!I We have been through too much, and have worked too hard not to offended when we are so easily overlooked! Thanks for your letter. It touched my heart and made me smile. I am proud of my homeland and don’t owe anyone an apoligy for that, but, I will add that EVERYONE that was in Katrinas path was harmed in some kind of way. I was and still am sad for the loss of lives in Ms and La. May God bless us and keep us all safe!
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