Not Just A Museum

The museum’s exercise program is a godsend for a place plagued by juvenile obesity. PHOTO BY PHILLIP WALLER

To passersby at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, this silly copycat game might seem out of place. But in the Mississippi Delta, where obesity, diabetes and related health issues kill people at a record pace, exercise for kids is nothing less than a godsend.

Since it opened its doors in 2008, the B.B. King Museum has pumped new life into a little town that desperately

needed it, luring busloads of tourists and folks from surrounding cities to ogle a museum that is the envy of the Delta. And now, without much fanfare, the museum has embarked on something even more ambitious. It offers a wide range of educational programs, an attempt to provide the kind of hope and opportunity that the young Riley B. King was often denied. It has become a sort of community center that seeks to improve the lives of young and old alike. Exercise. Dance. Art. Math. Reading. Healthy eating and cooking. And so much more. To hear them tell it, the museum’s founders never expected it to double as a community center. It just evolved. “I did not realize the impact that would have,” said Randy Randall, a co-founder. “It’s just been a real important nucleus for the community. It’s given so much opportunity, and just a wonderful venue for the youth, especially.” The lively dance class in the old cotton gin was a part of Spring Fling, a program held during the one-week spring break for local schools. It offers instruction in art, music and dance, culinary arts and physical fitness. “These programs go out of the realm of education and academics so as to build the child all the way around, the whole child,” said the museum’s education coordinator, Verna Ransom. Spring Fling is just one part of what the museum offers. There is an ambitious afterschool program and an eight-week summer day camp.

Jim Abbott, left, and B.B. King at the dedication of Indianola’s King statue. PHOTO COURTESY JIM ABBOTT

It’s all part of “The Art of Living Smart,” an attempt to improve the life of every kid who wants to come, free of charge. “Where the school stops, we pick up every day in our afterschool,” said Gloria Macintosh, the director of education, better-known as “Dr. Mac.” “When the school is not in session during spring break, we pick the children up and bring them here with us.” The B.B. King Museum has 80 children – ages 8 to 17 -- at both the summer camp and Spring Fling, plus 45 students in the afterschool program.

Even in summer, children are encouraged to keep learning. The summer camp teaches reading and math, an opportunity to get extra help outside the pressure of a grade school classroom. “If you just did it for the summer and then we get to the next summer, you can’t make a change,” said Bill McPherson, chairman of the museum board. “It’s got to be year-round to make a change. And they measure results.”

It’s a sleepy summer day in Indianola, the kind of hot, humid day when people seem to move in slow motion. Suddenly, a small army of children invades a grocery store, zipping up and down aisles, startling shoppers. They snatch healthy snacks off shelves, scrutinizing the labels carefully, just like bargain-conscious mommies in a hurry. It’s not all fun and games. These kids are counting calories. Museum teachers give them each $3 and take them to the store with orders not to go over budget and not to buy more than a specified number of calories. “Once they hit the calorie limit, they are through spending. They don’t think they can do it, but they come back with change in their pockets,” said Dion Brown, the museum’s executive director. The idea is to help them identify nutritious food. Dieticians reinforce the lesson by teaching them to decipher nutrition labels. Along the way, children brought up on fast food discover things such as eggplant and asparagus for the first time.

“It was amazing, just common vegetables, that they didn’t even know

Bill McPherson, president of the museum board of directors, says the interracial cooperation couldn’t have happened even two decades ago. PHOTO BY JARED BURLESON

Kids have fun at the museum’s Spring Fling event in Indianola. PHOTO BY PHILLIP WALLER

what they were,” said McPherson. In an area where the poverty level is 38.8 percent and grocery stores are few, many people struggle to maintain healthy lives, turning instead to fast food and cheaper processed foods, often purchased at convenience stores and gas stations. No wonder that obesity levels are sky-high, heart attacks are common and Mississippi is known for the fattest children in America. The museum seeks to tackle the problem by changing how kids eat. Eating fresh vegetables and drinking water is a much better diet than sugary sodas and fast food.

Kids are taught to make healthy snacks in the museum’s kitchen. But it doesn’t stop there. They take the information home and teach it to their families.

“I had a grandmother come to me one time, and say, ‘Because of this program, I have to start eating healthier because my granddaughter is reading the labels,’ and

that’s what we teach the kids, to count the calories, so they pass that on to their parents and grandparents,” said Brown. “One of the reasons we went with health is that B.B. has diabetes,” said McPherson. “It was a natural connection to him, and grant funds were available for health, especially in the Delta.” The museum pays for the programs with grants from the Delta Health Alliance and other groups. Ransom puts the money to good use on planning speakers, crafting agendas and advertising. She also goes into the community to tell people what the museum has to offer and get them to come see for themselves.

“I see us as being a great asset to the community, which is what I like,” said Macintosh. “I like promoting education because I know education is the key to getting out of poverty. It’s the key to success.”

The museum tries to develop future leaders through the B.B. King Youth Leadership Program. It gives high school students a chance to become one of B.B.’s Bridge Building Ambassadors. Students spend two Saturdays a month studying the museum and earning up to 48 hours of community service credit. They’re also trained to lead museum tours and are eligible to participate in a national youth leadership program “Once they hit the calorie limit, in Washington, D.C. “The ambassador they are through spending. They program doesn’t just teach you don’t think they can do it, but about B.B. King, they come back with change in but it teaches you about the Delta and their pockets.” music and culture,” said 16-year-old –– DION BROWN Dantarrius Collier, who recently graduated from the year-long program.

The programs are not just for kids. For example, adults can take music lessons. Macintosh found a teacher to give keyboard lessons every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. The 30-minute sessions cost $10. Guitar lessons are offered in 30-minute sessions for $20.

A recent federal grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, partnered with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Bridging Cultures, brought the museum $1,200 for a program called, “Created Equal, America’s Struggle for Civil Rights,” a topic of some interest in a place where the vast majority of black people couldn’t vote until 1965. It requires that the museum host three documentary films with a facilitator and

The museum’s after school program is increasingly popular. PHOTO BY PHILLIP WALLER

panel to lead audience discussion.

They’ve gotten good attendance. One recent panel on the documentary “Slavery by Another Name” included former NAACP leader Carver Randle, civil rights activist Charles McLaurin and newly elected school board member Deborah Johnson.

“They did a really good job at getting the audience involved,” said Macintosh, “just exchanging and having a really good dialogue.” So far, the kids and the audiences have been mostly African-American. But the museum is working to increase white participation.

“If we continue with our programs, encouraging people to come of all races,” said Macintosh, “I think it will get better and better. It’s a process. I know we’re making a little progress at a time.”

When the museum opened, some black residents suspected it might be just another white community project. Since then, the staff has tried hard to create an environment where everyone feels welcome. Dion Brown experienced the problem firsthand when he arrived in 2011.

“When I got here, I was told, ‘So you’re the token they’ve brought in here,’” said Brown. “That’s what the black community told me, ‘So you’re the token.’” Instead of getting angry, Brown went to work. He expanded programs and worked to lure more local residents to the museum. Once they see it in action, they become fans, he said.

“I like changing people’s minds by action, not sitting here trying to argue to get you to see my point of view, but though continuous work,” said Brown. When people say they love what the museum is doing, Brown has his reward. He remembers one little girl in particular. “She had so much fun here during the summer camp, she says, ‘I cannot wait to get up so I can come to the B.B. King Museum,’” said Brown. “That’s powerful, and that means we’re doing something right.” Design by Jessi Hotakainen

The museum is an attempt to give kids the kind of opportunities Riley B. King never had. PHOTO BY PHILLIP WALLER