We Are the Promised Land

Annette heeds the call to return to the land and begins to dig into the Hill Country’s legacies.Music“deep down” by free feral“Jamma” by Cameron Jones and free feral“Gathering Speed” by Damian “Yella P” Pearson“Jumper on the line” by RL Burnside, courtesy of the Association for Cultural Equity and Wixen“Foxfire” by Lightning Malcom, courtesy of the artist“History” by free feral“The Old Days” by Damian “Yella P” Pearson“History Repeats” by free feral“Pluggin Along” by free feral“Sweet Ride” by free feralSounds and sources are available on our multimedia altar at www.wearethepromisedland.netToday’s episode features Annette, Selah, Ida and Ruthie Hollowell and Rhondalyn Peairs. Sound design by muthi reed with assistance from Cedric Wilson who also mixed the episode.Our Virtual Altar was brought to life by Alleyha Dannett of Ancient Future Fourest with photography by Jasmine B Johnson and Jai Williams. Our house historian is Rhondalyn Peairs.We Are the Promised Land is produced by free feral, in collaboration with Annette Hollowell. Special thanks to the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, The Yoknapatawpha Arts Council and the Mississippi Presenters’ Network, and to the Association for Cultural Equity.We Are the Promised Land is made possible by generous support from the National Performance Network, the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production, Carpetbag Theater, The New Orleans Center for the Gulf South at Tulane, The Panta Rhea Foundation, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, Alternate Roots, The Big We Foundation, The Mississippi Humanities Council under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and with financial assistance from the National Park Service and the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Alliance.

Our host, free feral, sifts through memories of their father to find a connection to their hidden roots.Music:Ricochet, Smokestack, Waves and Depths, and Suite Maria written and performed by free feral“Gathering Speed” by Damion “Yella P” Pearson, recorded by muthi reedAbschied from Schwanengesang D957 by Franz Schubert, performed by Allen Bonet and Andrea LiguoriFor sound design sources as well as poems, photographs, and more visit our multimedia altar at www.wearethepromisedland.netWe Are the Promised Land is produced by free feral, in collaboration with Annette Hollowell. Sound design for this episode by muthi reed assisted by Cedric Wilson; Cedric also mixed the episode. Our virtual altar was brought to life by Alleyha Dannett of Ancient Future Fourest, with photographs by Jasmine B. Johnson and Jai Williams. Special thanks to the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, The Yoknapatawpha Arts Council and the Mississippi Presenters’ Network, and to the Association for Cultural Equity.We Are the Promised Land is made possible by generous support from the National Performance Network, the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production, Carpetbag Theater, The National Black Food and Justice Alliance, The New Orleans Center for the Gulf South at Tulane, The Panta Rhea Foundation, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, Alternate Roots, The Big We Foundation, The Mississippi Humanities Council under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and with financial assistance from the National Park Service and the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Alliance.

Nestled upon 80 acres in the Mississippi Hill Country is a little family business called Foxfire Ranch. Keeping with the local traditions of Sunday night juke joints, the Hollowells have hosted Blues shows at Foxfire for nearly two decades; the land, however, has been in their family for more than a hundred years. For the last decade, Annette has been collaborating with her parents, Bill and Annie, to turn their homey family event venue into a destination for artists and organizers throughout the South and beyond. She knows her vision requires a great deal of collaboration not only with her living community, with her ancestors, and her descendants.We Are the Promised Land is a multimedia altar to Black land legacies in the Mississippi Hill Country that centers the Hollowell family and their land, Foxfire Ranch. With all the Black land loss stories in Mississippi, we look into how the Hollowell family has kept their land for over a century, and what it has cost them. Producer, free feral, rides shotgun with Annette as she sifts through a hundred years of her family’s labor on the land to inform the foundations she lays for her descendants in the next century. Together they explore how music, food, and other Sunday customs have kept Black communities in North Mississippi going strong for generations. and ask:What echoes of our ancestors suggest that we are their afterlife?How do we create the afterlife they deserve?We Are the Promised Land will serve up fresh offerings throughout Spring 2026. To experience the full altar, which includes photography, video, poetry and more please visit wearethepromisedland.netWe Are the Promised Land is produced by free feral, in collaboration with Annette Hollowell. Sound design for our audio altar was created by muthi reed and Cedric Wilson; Cedric also mixed each piece. Our virtual altar was brought to life by Alleyha Dannett of Ancient Future Fourest, with photographs by Jasmine B. Johnson and Jai Williams. Special thanks to the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, The Yoknapatawpha Arts Council and the Mississippi Presenters’ Network, and to the Association for Cultural Equity.We Are the Promised Land is made possible by generous support from the National Performance Network, the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production, Carpetbag Theater, The National Black Food and Justice Alliance, The New Orleans Center for the Gulf South at Tulane, The Panta Rhea Foundation, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, Alternate Roots, The Big We Foundation, The Mississippi Humanities Council under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and with financial assistance from the National Park Service and the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Alliance.