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.net

We 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.

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 Arts, and with financial assistance from the National Park Service and the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Alliance.

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 reed

Abschied from Schwanengesang D957 by Franz Schubert, performed by Allen Bonet and Andrea Liguori

For sound design sources as well as poems, photographs, and more visit our multimedia altar at www.wearethepromisedland.net

We 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.

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.