Memphis First Stop Candidate For National Preview Tour For Five Part Documentary Series About Mound Bayou, Mississippi “The Most Remarkable Town In The South…” (Chicago, IL) – The Chicagoland Journal has learned that Memphis is the top choice to be the opening city for a 2026 Black History Month Tour about historic civil rights town Mound Bayou, Mississippi. The producers confirm they are now finalizing the schedule for private screening in Memphis, Chicago and Atlanta.
Entitled “Mound Bayou: The Most Remarkable Town In The South,” the series takes its name from a famous statement by President Theodore Roosevelt after visiting Mound Bayou on a whistle stop campaign tour in 1908. Founded by formerly enslaved cousins Isiah T. Montgomery and Benjamin T. Green, Mound Bayou was created as an independent, economically self sustaining black town, and it remained so through the mid-1960s. Astounded by the successful economic model, Roosevelt told the nation time and time again about the “remarkable” daily lives of the black led city.
Creator and executive producer Kahari “The BooRay! King” Nash confirms, “Memphis, Chicago and Atlanta are the chosen cities for the preview tour, with Memphis slated as the preferred opening city. The Chicago date is already set, but we’re not releasing any pertinent information until all the dates are set.” Entertainment heavyweights Radar Pictures CEO Ted Field Founder and Sir Tony Brown KM (Knights of Malta) are co-executive producers.
Nash is directly connected to that history. A professional investor, entrepreneur and activist, his family’s many personal connections to the city’s rich history led to the film’s creation. The story of his great uncle Ezell Anderson is a perfect example. The mother of civil rights martyr Emmitt Till, Mrs. Mamie Till-Mobley, was housed and protected at Dr. T.R.M. Howard’s home for two weeks as she traveled under armed guard back and forth to the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi for the trial of her son’s murderers. The all white jury found them not guilty, sparking the civil rights movement when she demanded an open casket funeral to expose the horror of racial hatred to the nation.
A military veteran and Mortician, Mr. Anderson Funeral Director Delta Burial Mound Bayou, also went into action when he smuggled Dr. T.R.M. Howard out of Mound Bayou in a casket. Dr. Howard had to escape because he had doggedly pressed authorities to prosecute the case and would not let up until a trial was set. Described as a renaissance man who played a major role in many pivotal civil rights actions, Dr. Howard kept Mississippi’s White Citizens Council upset, organizing annual civil rights rallies drawing up to 10,000 attendees, including Thurgood Marshall. He also mentored civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Charles Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rev. Jesse Jackson and more.
A surgeon, activist, and entrepreneur, Dr. Howard migrated from Nashville to Mound Bayou, where he joined other talented black medical professionals at Taborian Hospital. Founded in Mound Bayou in 1942 by Mrs. Priscilla Anderson Smith and Sir Perry Monroe Smith Chief Grand Mentor of the International Order of Twelve Knights & Daughters of Tabor, Kahari “The BooRay! King” Nash’s Great Aunt and Uncle, it was the first (1st) All-Black staffed hospital and HMO in the nation, and for decades was the only hospital willingly serving the black population of the Mississippi Delta and farther regions.
Founders Montgomery and Green, Uncle Ezell and Dr. Howard are just two of the dozens of remarkable and inspiring stories making up the five part series, including Mound Bayou’s oldest living citizen, 102 year old Rosie Lee Ross, who vividly retells the story of Till’s murder, Howard’s escape and much more. (She is now 105 and still in good health.)
“The next step is to engage with the major streaming services. We hope for a full airing date sometime next year,” Nash says.
The Chicagoland Journal Readers may be remember Nash from The BooRay! King Becomes the Face of Artist Tony Barone’s Portrait Series (https://thechicagolandjournal.com/the-booray-king-becomes-the-face-of-artist-tony-barones-portrait-series/) and BooRay! Card Game Claims $100 Million Valuation, Eyes Spot Among Gambling Industry Giants (https://thechicagolandjournal.com/booray-card-game-claims-100-million-valuation-eyes-spot-among-gambling-industry-giants/) a segment with former sports reporter Avery Braxton’s interview with ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins. Nash was featured in the interview in his guise as “The BooRay King!”, a casino gaming enterprise venture with Perkins launching in 2026.
Memphis First Stop Candidate For National Preview Tour For Five Part Documentary Series About Mound Bayou, Mississippi “The Most Remarkable Town In The South…”
