deltabluesdelight

[deltabluesdelight]

preacher boy

(EDIT: now on inprnt!)

[deltabluesdelight]

we are all sinners

[deltabluesdelight]

Sinners (2025) History book recommendations:

Ok so I saw one post going around of books they recommended for the history behind Sinners but I know of books closer to the history of that era and sharing is caring and I hope this post will spread the knowledge forward, and if anyone else knows of additional books to recommend then feel free to add, so without further ado here is my small list:

"Dark Journey: Black Mississippians in the Age of Jim Crow" By Neil R. McMillen

When doing online research about Jim Crow era in Mississippi, you'll see this book show up a lot under sources as it covers a massive amount of topics about black lives during this era. It delves deep into the Jim Crow system and how its oppression effected the lives of black mississippians in every aspect of life, even the gap of education and how little the government spent on black children vs their white counterparts. Despite the era the book also highlights the feats of black folks ability to not just survive but to create something for themselves such as the historic town of Mound Bayou (mentioned in the movie!!!)

"Lynchings in Mississippi: A History, 1865-1965" By Julius E. Thompson

Ok heavy trigger warning for this book yes, but also Thompson delves deep into Mississippi's history of lynching, the government and politics that encouraged the violence, as well as the many black voices that fought against it from Ida B Wells to 1965, I am still working on this book as I am writing notes as I go. The book does not focus solely on the violence aspects of jim crow Mississippi,but also of historical black figures, such as black lawyers, of historic black schools and colleges, and of the progress black folks made building things for their community despite the forces against them. For the author I would recommend others look at his other works as well, as he has one book focusing on the black press in Mississippi, and another named "Black Life in Mississippi: Essays on Political, Social, and Cultural Studies in a Deep South State"

I debated on adding this one due to the gravity of the subject matter but in the movie they say "What if someone scuffs their shoe or looks at their woman too long" and how they refused to let Remmick in the juke joint when he showed up and how this is an era of horrific violence and fear, this is not an era of "lets hold hands and sing/we don't see color" because even if Remmick was not a vampire the danger would still be there, there was already risk with Mary's presence there.

"Chopsticks in the Land of Cotton: Live of Mississippi Delta Chinese Grocers" by John Jung

I am only halfway into this one but the author goes so far to even include oral histories of these groceries, how they came to be, the people that worked and lived there, the risks and hardship they faced, and how the delta chinese moved and navigated a jim crow system. (Do not bad mouth Grace Chow in my tags)

Other books in my read list that I plan on reading:

"Mississippi: Conflict and Change" James E. Loewen (yes that Loewen of "Lies my Teacher Told Me" and "Sundown Towns" Had worked on it at Tougaloo College and released in 1974 as new Mississippi history textbook (the state rejected it to the surprise of no one) that is said to include more on the indigenous history and the African American history, sadly it is so hard to get a copy as it has been out of print BUT! , In August a new edition will releases that is updated to cover more modern history and it will not make your wallet cry compared to the prices people want for the previous edition.

I plan on making more posts in the future with some resources and details I noticed in the movie (maybe idk for sure yet), consider this post my flare in the darkness. I'm trying to find others posting about the movie, characters, themes, and details that are not about remmick, I'm sorry but he should not be flooding the tag like that. This movie is such a love letter to the delta blues in a way that makes me lose the ability to lose words even with the small amount I know of the delta blues. THEY EVEN HAD A CREDIT FOR SOMEONE PLAYING THE DIDDLEY BOW!! I have to stop rambling otherwise this post will never end, Ryan Coogler you did so much research with the details you have in this movie, what a story, absolutely amazing work it is beyond stunning.

ALSO! Does anyone have high quality pictures of the patches on Sammie's jacket and vest? I know a little about embroidery and I have been trying to see the stitching on the patches to figure out what stitches were used.

also Ryan Coogler and movie crew thank you so much for costume details like that, in an era where so many movies and shows seem to have forgotten about details such as that, to see them here is so wonderful.

But also everyone reading this, go listen to Wang Dang Doodle sung by Howlin Wolf, im sorry movie crew but Howlin Wolf has the best version of it you cant beat perfection.