IDKMYDE: Stolen Cities Jasper County

Todays episode of IDKMYDE takes you on a wild ride through history, where thriving Black communities were burned down—literally—and their land stolen by greedy corporations. But don’t worry, we’re not just here for the shade; we’re here to remind you that Black excellence is too strong to burn away.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
On today's episode. If I didn't know, maybe you didn't either.
We're gonna take a trip back in time to Jasper County, Mississippi.
Black folks was out there thriving, bought land, built businesses,
created their own little empires. But then some white folks
saw this and thought, you know what this needs a
little bit of violence entered the KKK. These dudes were like, Oh,

(00:24):
your farm is successful, we're gonna burn it. Oh your
house is nice, We're gonna burn it. Your happiness, Oh yeah,
that's gotta go to I didn't know. Maybe you didn't need. No,
I didn't know. Maybe I didn't know. I didn't know.
I didn't know. I didn't know. Even after all that,

(00:46):
the Klan wasn't done. In nineteen thirty two, they burned
down the Paulding Courthouse. Now this wasn't just some random arson.
That was strategic because that courthouse held the land records
for the black families in Jasper Caunty, Mississippi. Meanwhile, the
records for the white families were chilling in another courthouse
miles away, untouched. Real convenient, huh. Then a few years later,

(01:10):
along comes a company called Masonite. They're like, oh, Wow,
look at all this land just sitting here. Guess it's ours.
They ended up with over ninety five hundred acres of land,
and we've already done the measurements of acres this season.
One acre is roughly the size of a football field,
so nine thousand, five hundred football fields worth of land

(01:32):
they used to belong to black families. And let me
tell you that land wasn't just sitting there looking pretty.
It was full of oil, timber, and gas. Millions of
dollars came out of it, but not a dime went
back to the original owners. You see, this is the
stuff they don't teach you in school. That's why we
have I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either, because see,
they'll give you dates, wars, and treaties, but they skip

(01:55):
over the part where entire black communities were systemically erased
because they weren't successful. But because they were successful in
this situation, it was titled imminent domain. And this ain't
just some dusty old story. It's a reminder that the
game has been rigged for a very long time. So
if you're sitting here listening today, thinking what can I do?

(02:16):
Learn these stories, share these podcast episodes challenge the systems
that allowed us to happen, and keep showing up because
black excellence isn't just a moment, it's a legacy, and
no matter how hard they try, they can't burn that
a way. And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either.
I didn't know.