Dr. C. Sade Turnipseed, Assistant Professor of History at Jackson State University travels to Cookeville, TN to acquire the largest known collection of framed Cotton-Picker fine art and Sharecropper artifacts, from retired professors Drs. Leo and Gloria McGee.

The Annual Sweat Equity Investment in the Cotton Kingdom Symposium

“400 YEAR’S OF BEING WHO WE BE … THE GULLAH GEECHEE CONNECTION TO THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA”

Featuring:

South Carolina-based historian/storyteller, actress, singer and comedian Anita Singleton Prather AKA Auntie Pearlie Sue; world-renowned Griffin Lotson and the Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters from Georgia; and Gullah Ambassador, Artist, Lecturer and Legacy Preservationist John Jones; among many other notable Mississippi Delta-based scholars.

For more information please call 662.347.8198

or email: [email protected], or, [email protected]

Past EVENTS

SWEAT EQUITY SYMPOSIUM

Join us for the Annual Sweat Equity Investment Symposium at Mississippi Valley State University.

The tradition of the Gullah Geechee is significant for this year’s symposium because it reveals how over time, place and space their forefathers and mothers developed a language as a means of communicating with each other and enabled them to preserve many African practices through the arts, crafts, cuisine and spiritual practices. This evolving story of self-determination, persistence, resilience, innovation, isolation, and enslavement captures the theme for the annual Sweat Equity Investment in the Cotton Kingdom Symposium. The BrownBag session kicks off the two-day event at 12:00 noon. Later the same afternoon the organizers shall officially open John Jones’ exhibition, Confederate Currency: The Color of Money, Images of Slavery in Confederate and Southern States Currency, at 3:00pm. This fine-art exhibit will be housed in the J. H. White Library.

Get your tickets for the 2023 Cotton Pickers Ball!

LABOR DAY 2023 | 7pm | in the “newly renovated” da’ House of Khafre | Indianola, MS

da’ House re-opens LABOR DAY 2023!

Play Video

WATCH OUR STORY | SEE OUR VISION

This project, like none other, documents the history of field hands, landowners, and the usually forgotten mule that worked from “kin to kain’t” (can see in the morning to can’t see at night), and their truth and reconciliation about the “Old and New South.”

This Monumental project presents an opportunity to not only give dignity to those who made cotton “king,” but also to say “thank you” to those who with their sweat equity investments established Wall Street and made cotton production the number one industry in America … All other industries combined did not equate to the value and profits of cotton for over two-hundred years. Yet, they were NEVER paid for their sweat equity investments.

IT IS TIME!

ATTENDEES FOR SEIS

DONATIONS MADE

LEGACY BRICKS PURCHASED

HONORING THE COTTON PICKERS

We Have Been Busy!

As Khafre, Inc’s vision, scholarship, and educational plans matured it became important to also include in these films the narrative of, the making of a national park; and, the formation of a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), in several African nations, beginning with Nigeria. This narrative will demonstrate to young and older audiences how to be respectful of thy own history and culture; as well as, instructive of how to respect others’ rights to free and fair lives around the world.

As such, issues such as: gender justice, abolition, and reproductive justice frameworks are sustained in monumental projects that shall come under both the protectorate of the United States of America, and within the cultural context of Nigeria, and other countries, for the life of these countries.

“It is time that we do something about the cotton legacy in this country … WE HAVE DONE NOTHING!” Dr Jon Jarvis, former NPS Director (Obama Administration)

Khafre, Inc’s Past Projects/Youth Initiatives (include, but not limited to):

Fannie Lou Hamer Historical Marker—MVSU/Sunflower County (partners)
Sweat Equity Investment in the Cotton Kingdom Symposia—MVSU, et al (partners)
Cotton in My Hands exhibit—MVSU, Drs. Lee and Gloria McGee (partners)
The Healthy U Gourmet Academy for Youth in the Mississippi Delta—da’ House of Khafre (partner)
The Fannie Lou Hamer Empowerment Project—B.B. King Museum (partner)
Harmonica Parade, performing Indianola Seeds—B.B. King Museum (partner)
Young Publisher’s Network (YPN)—da’ House of Khafre (partner)

What Our Attendees Say

Read a few of the responses left by people who attended our Sweat Equity Investment Symposiums in the past.

It was truly an experience. There was so much knowledge and information I received that I would have never thought to consider. It really helps to have this insight so you can be aware and informed of our country's history.

Emily R.

SEIS 2015

I really didn't know what to expect at first but after attending the Symposium I can honestly say that I can't wait for the next one! It really helped me appreciate being from the Delta and learning the importance of paying respect.

Mike D.

SEIS 2016

I've heard great things about the symposium and I'm planning on going this year. As a student, I don't often get to share experiences with my peers that focus on historical aspects outside the classroom.

Dominic J.

SEIS 2017

Reserve Your Place on the Historic Site with a “Brick of Honor,” in Tribute to Grandmama’nem’s Legacy.

On the Cotton Pickers of America Monument & Memorial Plaza

Why We Need Your Support

Help us honor their legacy.

It's Purpose

It is essential for America to not only pay their respects, but to honor those who lived their lives confined to plantations.

It's Potential

By erecting this monument and many others, we can help this country move forward with acknowledging the suffrage Cotton Pickers and all enslaved experienced.

It's Importance

Beyond the educational and social value this monument will provide, it will be a necessary extension of the Mississippi Delta; adding to its historical significance and tourist economy.

About the Organizers

In 2009, Dr. C. Sade Turnipseed founded KHAFRE, Inc., a not-for-profit entity in the state of Mississippi, USA. Led by a team of African American legal minds, scholars, and community folks the organization articulated its mandate to establish a series of historic sites dedicated to the Cotton Pickers of America, the place, the world-renowned Cotton Kingdom, AKA the Mississippi Delta. This mandate became a Delta-wide social movement based in Indianola, MS, with the catchphrase “Transforming America, one monumental step at a time.” Thereby becoming the international movement known as The Cotton Pickers Monument and Sharecropper Historical Trail project … and Sankofa Empowerment Initiative (SEI).

KHAFRE, Inc’s positioning at the epicenter of this movement facilitates a powerful, positive, and profound shift in the perceptions about the African American experience in the cottonfields of Mississippi Delta; a shift that will necessarily reverberate throughout the state of Mississippi, the United States of America and beyond. KHAFRE’s intent is to transform lives, build communities of equality, and operate as a hub of hope and healing through its historical preservation projects – ones that seek out, connect to, and strengthen individuals, organizations, and groups of consciousness inside and outside of the Mississippi Delta … and it all begins with the narratives of the people who worked the cottonfields of the Mississippi Delta.

Here are the people that help make this possible!

C. Sade Turnipseed is a public historian (educator) and community outreach (Public Relations) specialist. She holds a BA in Radio/TV Communications, SFSU; a MS and MBA in Telecommunications and International Business Management, GGU; and a PhD in Public History, MTSU.

It is through the vision and leadership of Dr Turnipseed and the Khafre, Inc team that Grandmama’nem will finally be honored for picking all that damn cotton in the American South.

Linda has been working in Special Project Management for over 15 years and currently serves as Project Director for CPOA

Ed’s sculptor will display the rigorous history of “Cotton Picking” and farm labor in the Mississippi Delta.

Check out Ed’s AMAZING portfolio at eddwight.com

Clarice is a longtime teacher and youth advocate with a focus of getting kids excited about history in the Mississippi Delta.

Get in touch!

How can we help you help us to build this monument to Grandmama’nem?