Stopped to sing at Helen’s grave yesterday until my hands got too cold. This detour may or may not have saved me from having an even longer ride home than I ended up with. Just before leaving the Delta behind for I-40 I got that feeling. “Something un-fun is gonna happen on the highway.” Sure enough, my back right tire started to shred a few miles later. Against all odds, I safely crept to the nearest exit with my hazards flashing. Drove slowly home on my spare (a first for me) on blue highways through the rainy dark, and made it. Thing is, throughout the experience, I had friends and family checking on me, poised to come get me if I needed them to. Back in 1930-34, Helen didn’t. She was orphaned, imprisoned, sensationalized, and exiled from a community facing extinction at the hands of time and government. Her people were lost to her, and she to them. But her spirit never broke, regardless. I don’t know if I would be able to say the same, had I gone through what she went through in her short life. Those are just a couple of the reasons I made my way to her resting place yesterday, so that I could sing for her again. My song “Girl from the River” (on Bandcamp) is all about Helen, the long-gone Arkansas women’s prison known as the Pea Farm, and the houseboat communities of the lower White River in Arkansas. Search “Daughter of the White River” and “Helen Spence Project” on social media to learn more, and to find out when the next documentary film showing will be. I recommend @bdeniseparkinson’s book, Daughter of the White River: Depression Era Treachery and Vengeance in the Arkansas Delta. Denise is tireless in her mission to keep Helen’s story alive. I wouldn’t know any of what I know about Helen, but for Denise’s efforts. #arkansashistory #pardonhelenspence #helenspenceproject #arkansasdelta #arkansas #beloveddead https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck_EGqKLqee/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
