My Great Grandmother’s Story
The year was 1914 in Bigbee Valley, Mississippi; a special seed sprouted from the womb of my great great grandma. Modeska, affectionately known as Doll was born into a family of farmers and cooks. Bigbee Valley was a a small farming place with sandy soil, which was the best place for growing collard greens, corn, melon, tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers. She spent the weekends with her grandpa traveling 34 miles north to Columbus to swap his crops for mill and sugar.
“We didn’t starve. We could go to the woods and get a vegetable. We didn’t get hungry because my grandparents had that big ole garden. We didn’t suffer.”
I captured Doll recalling her story in 2012, smiling as she spoke about her grandparent’s garden and the dishes they cooked from their harvest. But her demeanor changed as she told me about her teenage and young adult years of picking cotton. Getting out to field early to “chop that cotton” in the morning was hard. She laughed as I asked about the bathrooms in the field. “We used the bathroom outside in the cotton patch, Kris. That’s all we had.” Doll got tired of field work, and wanted a better life for herself and her baby. So, she left Bigbee Valley one night traveling through woods until she got to Columbus where more jobs were available.
When I was a child, Grandma Doll had a herbal remedy for everything. A lil salt meat on a boil, maple syrup and baking soda on a burn, a piece of cabbage on a swollen foot, and a shot of apple cider vinegar every morning before eating. She had a garden in the backyard in her house in Memphis where she grew many of the crops she had in Mississippi, except cotton of course.
Growing up cotton always had a negative connotation. I always connected it to slavery and the hard labor of my elders. However, I recently discovered the cotton flower. Every vegetable, fruit, and plant starts with a flower. And the cotton flower is a dynamic twist of pinks and yellow blooming out of a thorny plant that eventually bursts out fluffy pods of cotton. The most amazing part is the flower’s medicinal benefits. The petals are helpful for increasing breast milk amongst mothers. The bark is also used for stimulating menstrual flow, inducing labor and delivery and it acts as a male contraceptive. The flower is sometimes a pink or yellow color, and I think it’s mind blowing that the flower is edible. We only see the fluffy white end results, but it goes through an entire metamorphosis that’s beneficial for our health. I didn’t get to ask Grandma Doll about using the plant as medicine before she passed, but I’m on a mission to learn as much as possible about this crop.
Grandma Doll, my mom, and my other great grandma, Grandma Carrie
Out of all the flowers I’ve painted, the cotton has the most meaning for me. Although it’s not favored as much for the flower as its’ blooms, I love the emergence of the colors and textures of the flower petals. My ancestors saw this flower bloom and transform into cotton every year, so I painted it as an homage to them. The meditative process of this flower coming to life can be seen in the video below. The original painting is available to purchase.