UTICA, Miss.—From a white folding chair at the end of a table in the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production, Angela Stamps Burleigh discussed her struggles with the Reedtown Water Association’s former board. She was one of several residents who said they had experienced problems like high water bills and frequent boil-water notices.
It was Oct. 1, and local residents were gathered for the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Truth, Poverty, and Democracy Tour in Utica, Mississippi.
“I had never had an $800 bill,” Burleigh told one resident. “And we have dogs. We have had over 200 dogs, and I have never had an $800 bill. And my husband waters them twice a week, three times a week. Never.”
But in September of 2023, she received a bill for $389, much higher than the $83 she paid the prior month, which was typical. She paid her regular amount while waiting for the utility to correct the bill. Instead, the interest kept accruing and the bill ballooned even though her monthly amounts dropped back to the normal amounts.
“It was under the old board, and when I brought it to (their) attention, do you know they did nothing?” she said. “It wasn’t until the new board got to be and they kept telling me they were actually reading it. I went down there and told them they couldn’t be.”
By April of 2025, the bill had ballooned to over $1,000, Burleigh told the Mississippi Free Press on Oct. 10.
‘I Liken Us to a Mini Jackson’
Reedtown Water Association President Ken Smith declined an interview with the Mississippi Free Press, but said the new board is working hard to secure grants and loans for the obsolete water system. He confirmed that four of the five current board members are new and took office on March 20.
The new board gave Burleigh credit for a portion of the bill, but still left her owing over $500 on the past-due bill. That board has also increased the water rates, causing an increase in her regular bill amount. It’s all too much for her to pay.
One of those new board members, Monica Bradshaw, sat at the corner of a white folding table, completing a survey as people filed out of the building. She had sat beside Burleigh during the meeting.
“(It was a) lack of infrastructure, lack of funding and oversight,” Bradshaw told the Mississippi Free Press. “I liken us to a mini Jackson—the same issues that plagued Jackson (plague us). As far as neglect, it’s the same issues that we see. So whatever utility (system) that you have, you have to have money set aside to fix and upgrade as you go along, and that hasn’t happened.”
Issues like those raised by residents who get their water from the Reedtown Water Association are ones that the SPLC sought to hear while crisscrossing the state from Sept. 30 through Oct. 4. The five-day tour made stops in the Mississippi cities and towns of Jackson, Utica, Flora, Natchez, Canton, Belzoni, Drew, Olive Branch and Horn Lake. The meetings brought together community members, state legislators, and advocacy groups to discuss topics ranging from rural health and food insecurity to workforce development and infrastructure.
Lawmakers Ponder the Effects of Trump’s ‘Big’ Bill
Mississippi’s legislative minority leaders said the tour was an important step for the state’s most vulnerable residents. The day before the SPLC’s first stop in Utica, legislators, activists and supporters gathered on the steps of the Capitol rotunda.
“We are here in Mississippi today to speak about truth, democracy, and poverty,” Southern Poverty Law Center Interim President and CEO Bryan Fair told those gathered on Sept 30. “The truth is, we could be in any state in this country, because poverty is an issue in every state.”
The SPLC kicked off its 2025 tour that day with participants attending the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus meeting and discussing the effects of President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Mississippi residents. One crucial piece of the tour is to educate residents about the effects of H.R. 1 on their families and communities, Fair said.
“We are in Mississippi with the Mississippi Black Legislative Caucus, because we want to point out all of the challenges that this so-called Big Bill will cause to Mississippians—the hardship that many Mississippians and others in this country will face because food security programs are under attack,” Fair said. “Health care is under attack.”
President Donald Trump signed H.R. 1 into law on July 4. The new law will affect Mississippians in a variety of areas, which lawmakers discussed during the caucus meeting. Those effects include changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid and child care.
Listening and Learning
Mississippi House Minority Leader Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, said that educating Mississippi residents during the SPLC tour was a necessary step to foster change in the state.
“The only thing we have to work with right now is information,” Johnson said at a Sept. 30 press conference announcing the start of the SPLC tour. “And this tour is so important because the way the policies have been set in this state, in this country, they’ve done everything to make poor people so apathetic that they don’t come out to vote. They don’t even know what’s happening to them when it’s happening. It’s our job to let them know that this is about to get really, really bad.”
Mississippi Senate Minority Leader Sen. Derrick Simmons, D-Greenville, told those gathered at the Sept. 30 press conference that state leaders must represent those in their districts. This tour is one way to ensure that those residents are heard, he said.
“We don’t just make laws. We make sure that work for the people that they were designed to work for,” Simmons said. “This tour represents something I believe they need, that responsive government requires direct connection. We’re creating a pipeline between Mississippi families and their Senate leadership. A one-time photo opportunity is not going to cut it. We are looking for sustained conversations that will improve our legislative priorities for just not only one legislative session, for not just only a few months, but for years to come.”
For some in communities across the state dealing with the results of disinvestment, systemic injustice, and historical racism, the SPLC tour was not only an opportunity to learn about community organizing and the power of the vote; it was also an opportunity to share their stories and be heard.
Residents in Utica not only drew up a list of problems—like a lack of funding for repairing and maintaining water main breaks or replacing aging infrastructure—but also potential solutions powered by civic engagement and community mobilization.
Simmons said that collaborations with organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center can help communities voice their needs and also see what that looks like in terms of policy.
“Here’s what I’ve learned in my time serving the state,” he said. “Communities know what they need, but translating those needs into legislative priorities, navigating through legislative committee structures, they don’t know anything about them. … it takes all of us to help formulate what our communities need, and to (take) real action to serve them.”
Bradshaw said the listening session brought hope to communities where resources are scarce.
“It’s good to know that we have other entities out there that we can rely on,” she said. “I would never have thought to go to the Southern Poverty Law Center because of the title ‘Law Center.’ I mean, this is why, but the resources that are available to us now, I never knew about.”