Our
Collaborators
Foxfire Ranch is on the ancestral homelands of the Chickasaw people in what is now northern Mississippi. Before the Chickasaw arrived, Mound-Builders constructed many earthen mounds along the length of the Mississippi river. The Chickasaw migrated to this region from west of the Mississippi River, sometime around the year 1300.
We appreciate all that the Chickasaw people contributed to the bounty and ecology of this place. We acknowledge that the Chickasaw would have continued to steward this land according to their ancestral practices had they not been forcibly removed in the 1830’s. We acknowledge that the US government violently removed the Chickasaw Nation to Oklahoma. These are just some of the shoulders we stand on. Wherever we stand, we stand in solidarity with the Chickasaw people and indigenous people everywhere.
From the river to the sea.
Our People
Annette Hollowell
Executive Producer
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Annette Hollowell (executive producer) is a skilled facilitator from the target community and a civil rights attorney with extensive experience in movement lawyering and liberation work—anchors our efforts in the cultural, political, and spiritual traditions of the South. Annette’s leadership is grounded in community trust and accountability, informed by decades of work with BIPOC communities across sectors. Her knowledge is derived from organizing around legal issues, educational training, community-focused leadership development, and practices for healing and renewal. Annette is a manager, land steward, and advisor to Foxfire Ranch, an 80-acre recreational farm and entertainment venue in the North Mississippi Hill Country that has been in the Hollowell family for over a century. She is an excellent hostess committed to holding intergenerational spaces for rest, retreat, deep learning, connection, healing, and celebration. Her storytelling and co-production of the We Are the Promised Land podcast is rooted in ancestry, culture, and Mississippi’s long-standing legacies of Black land ownership.
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She is the proud descendant of farmers and sharecroppers, animal whisperers, medicine makers and bootleggers. She is the granddaughter of Connie Mae and Mark Nunnally, and Albert Hollowell and Wilmer Guinn Hollowell Faulkner Jones (“Wilma didn’t kill nannn husband, the good Lord took every last one of em”).
free feral
Podcast Producer,
Host, Poet, Score
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free feral (podcast producer/ host, poet, score) plays with sound and lyric to curate multidimensional experiences. As a musician and composer, they create scores for film, theatre, and dance using strings, loops, and vocals. As a writer, they like to explore non-fiction narratives through a poet’s eye view.
They hold a BM from Oberlin Conservatory, a Certificate in Documentary Studies from the Center from Documentary Studies at Duke, and an MA in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi. free has participated in numerous fellowships including Found Sound Nation’s OneBeat, AIR’s New Voices, and Whistle Space’s inaugural residency.
They conceived of and developed We Are the Promised Land with Annette Hollowell.
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They’d like to shout out their late father, Allen Bonet, their grandmothers, Myra and Marilyn, their grandfathers Weldon and Samuel, and their great-grandmother, Héloise whose image connects them to the dark matter in their lineage.
Alleyha Dannett
Altar Activation
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Alleyha Dannett’s (they/them) work is expressed in a variety of roles, including budding community herbalist, Afro-Indigenous healing practitioner, intersectional Black feminist, researcher, communications specialist, event coordinator, and cultural worker.
They bring over a decade of experience in creative direction, event planning and design, and multidimensional digital communications.
Born in Connecticut with deep roots reaching the red soil of South Carolina and the lush air of the Guyanese Amazon, Alleyha dedicates their career to creating inclusive, healing spaces for Black folks both online and in person. Their intergenerational work reflects the spirit of Sankofa, reminding us of our ancestral wisdom, collective power, resilient creativity, and irrevocable agency.
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I send eons of love and gratitude to my most benevolent ancestors, those whose footprints remain in the red clay, whose dreams float on in the salt water.
Those whose beauty marks blossom on my skin with the passage on the time. Who gifted me the gaps in my smile as a reminder of their bones, their memory, and gleam. My grits and sardines folk. My fish scales and leather. Mustard greens and crossword puzzles. Fridge magnets and baby powder. Polka dots and sweet potatoes. On both sides. I love you all. I thank you all. Axé.
Rhondalyn Peairs
Historian
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Rhondalyn Peairs (historian) is a public historian and founder of Historich, an educational services and tourism company headquartered in Oxford, MS. As a fifth generation Mississippian, her passion for the complex history of Mississippi started early and runs deep.The central focus of her public history work is to expand the narratives often told about Missississippi with much of her research centered on marginalized groups and Black placemaking. Through her work as a certified social studies educator for over two decades and cultural entrepreneur, she has brought the untold stories of North Mississippi to light for students and visitors alike. Peairs obtained a B.A. in history from Tougaloo College and is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi.
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She wishes to acknowledge her ancestors the Echols.
muthi reed
Sound Design
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muthi reed (sound design) is an ethnographic artist and sound producer living and working in Philadelphia, PA (Lenapehoking) and New Orleans, LA (Bulbancha).
Working in sound, visual media, public art and design, their work explores rhythm, memory, gesture, embodiment and sound. They use personal and public information and ephemera to create speculative situations that can inspire healing and release from past pain and a portal into future possibilities.
“Aint nuthin prettier than a nigga in white”--Loretta Marie Reed, muthi’s mother
“You concern yourself so much with how you think things should be. We have to learn to work with what is” --Gary Grant Reed, muthi’s father
“I choose me.” --Carol Dianne Dennis, muthi’s aunt
An aspiring DJ, muthi performs their soundscape practice in the lineage of Alabama Black Primitive Baptists, their grandmother's people. At Canaan Hill Primitive Baptist Church in Lowndes County, Alabama, muthi learned the tradition of fellowship, prayer and community devotional singing led acapella from the floor by church elders which preceded every Sunday morning sermon.
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muthi would like to acknowledge their Great Aunt Irene who just passed IBATARUN; she was from Alabama.
Cedric Wilson
Sound Design and
Mixing Engineer
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Cedric Wilson (sound design and mixing engineer) is an audio engineer, musician, and producer.
Born and raised on Long Island, he went to study music and sound recording at SUNY Fredonia and pursued graduate studies in The New School’s Media Studies program, where he expanded his work in sound and into cultural studies. Since then, he’s worked on a variety of podcasts in roles ranging from mixer, to composer, sound designer and editor.
His most notable work includes The Nod from Gimlet Media (2018 - 2020), Driving the Green Book from MacMillian (2020) and Candyman: The True Story Behind the Bathroom Mirror Murder from Sony and 48 Hours (2024). Music is his first passion, and you can listen to DREAMLAND, his self-released instrumental album on most streaming platforms.
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Cedric would like to shout-out his late great-grandparents, Mamie and Joe Johnson, as well as his late grandmother, Dolores Wilson.
Jai Williams
Photographic Artist
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Jai Williams (photographic artist) has advanced degrees in Southern Studies and in Documentary Expression from the University of Mississippi. Her focus touches upon the erasure and reclamation of Black land ownership, the spiritual connection of Black people within the southern landscape, in addition to metaphysical archival methodologies concerning the African diaspora through visual and literary analysis.
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To my great-great-great grandmother Sarah K. from the shores of eastern Virginia, thank you for your indelible knowledge as a root worker and medicine woman. Your courage has passed through many generations, and continues to bear fruit. You are deeply loved.
Vitus Shell
Portrait Artist
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Vitus Shell (portrait artist) is a mixed-media collage painter born in Monroe, LA, where he lives and works. His work is geared toward the black experience, giving agency to people from this community through powerful images deconstructing, sampling, and remixing identity, civil rights, and contemporary black culture.
He received a BFA from Memphis College of Art, in 2000 and an MFA from the University of Mississippi, in 2008. Vitus Shell has been in residencies at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Hermitage Artist Retreat, Mass MoCA, Joan Mitchell Center, Skowhegan School of Art, and Masur Museum of Art. To date, he has accumulated an impressive list of achievements, some of which include: participating in exhibits at universities, museums, and private galleries across the country; painted murals, and being commissioned to do public art by the Memphis UrbanArt Commission. Shell has received numerous grants, including the Joan Mitchell MFA Award.
As of 2024, Vitus Shell is an Assistant Professor at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
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Vitus wants to shout out his grandma, Marion “Big Mama” Lemons. “Big Mama was always the life of the party, and I’ve inherited her love for joy and giving.
As she got older, I would have conversations with her about her colorful life as a young black woman growing up in rural north Louisiana and her day-to-day adventures.”
Brad Bernard
Portrait Artist
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Brad Anthony Bernard is a mixed media artist who has established himself as an exhibiting artist, muralist, and educator for over 3 decades.
He has worked in a variety of 2D and 3D media as well as various subjects in his work ranging from symbols of identity, culture, geographic location, conventional portraiture, to abstract forms representing the industrialization of human behavior, sexuality, and spiritual phenomena. His public art mural commissions vibrantly celebrate and depict the diverse history and culture found in the city of Milwaukee.
Bernard has been a devoted mentor and educator with over 15 years of experience as an art professor. He is currently teaching as an Associate Professor of Art at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Bernard graduated from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design with a BFA in Painting, and the University of Mississippi, Oxford having received a Bachelor of Fine Art and Master of Fine Arts, respectively.
As arts advocate, he has founded Community Arts & Funk Festival Productions which activates public green spaces, parks, and vacant buildings, to showcase local and regional urban visual/performing art talents and organizations that serve to promote arts awareness and education to their greater respective communities.
Examples of his murals and exhibited works can be seen at https://www.bernardartstudio.com/
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Geraldine (Gerry) Bernard, was born in St. James LA, and was the first Black woman hired to Madison, WI public schools when she migrated into the system from New Orleans, LA in 1962.
She taught for 35 years in that district and is the widow of Compton Bernard, (dec. Jan. ‘89) who was a veteran of WW2 and Korean Conflict and served a number of years in law enforcement as an officer and licensed private investigator.
Damion “Yella P” Pearson
music
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Damion “Yella P” Pearson is a Memphis-born harmonica virtuoso, multi-instrumentalist, and educator whose sound blends blues, soul, jazz, funk, and hip-hop, shaped by influences ranging from Marvin Gaye, John Coltrane, Stevie Wonder, Billie Holiday, and George Clinton to Southern rap icons like 8Ball & MJG and Playa Fly.
Equally at home playing gospel in a Baptist church, gritty Southern Soul in a Mississippi juke joint, or hip-hop on an underground stage, Yella P is known for his rare versatility and deep cultural range. Self-taught from age 13, he honed his craft busking on Beale Street alongside blues legend ‘Big Jerry’ Parnell before earning a Music Education degree from Tennessee State University as a member of the renowned Aristocrat of Bands.
A fixture in the Memphis music scene, he has collaborated and shared stages with artists including Eric Gales, The Bar-Kays, Kirk Whalum, Eddie Floyd, Bobby Rush, and Robert Finley, and co-founded the award-winning duo Memphissippi Sounds with Cam Kimbrough—whose debut album Welcome to the Land charted internationally and fueled tours across the U.S., Europe, and Canada.
Now fully dedicated to his art, Yella P continues to release new music while delivering powerful, genre-bending performances that honor tradition and boldly push it forward.
Social Media Links:
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/MO.Yella.P
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/mo.yella.p/?hl=en
TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@mo.yella.p
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@MO.Yella.P
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Damion would like to shout out his Grandfather, Daddy James, who was a deacon and singer in a gospel quartet group, and his Grandmother’s Naomi Weddle and Bernice Pearson both of who maintained a garden and plants, which are central themes in his music.
He also wishes to acknowledge his parents Bobby and Carolyn Pearson who nurtured his love for music and encouraged his pursuit in music mastery.
Cameron Kimbrough
music
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Cameron Kimbrough is a Blues Artist, & Hill Country Legacy Keeper.
The grandson of the legendary North Mississippi Hill Country bluesman Junior Kimbrough, Cam was raised around the hypnotic rhythms of his grandfather’s juke joint, where he absorbed a deep musical heritage from an early age, including a rare ability to converse in Cherokee.
He began in church playing drums, later teaching himself guitar and vocals. A multi-instrumentalist, Cam excels on drums, guitar, vocals—and dives into songwriting, rap, production, and beat-making. His sound blends North Mississippi Hill Country Blues with Memphis soul and hip-hop, delivering a heavy groove, trance-like rhythms, sharp guitar riffs, and evocative lyrics. He co-founded Memphissippi Sounds with Damion “Yella P” Pearson.
Their duo mixes blues, harmonica, and hip-hop — cutting-edge yet rooted in tradition. Cam bridges generations—carrying forward Junior Kimbrough’s trance-blues legacy while injecting fresh energy through folds of rap, percussion, and modern storytelling. He is a cultural custodian and innovator, building on ancestral grooves with his own creative imprint.