[UPBEAT MUSIC]
ANTOINETTE LILES (VOICEOVER): The New South is really about,
like, forging your own path, you saying,
like, hey, I respect tradition.
Tradition is what made me who I am,
but I'm just going to put, like, my own spin on it.
And so it's about creating new ways to do things
that we already love and enjoy.
And so it's about creating your own business,
creating your own way, and respecting tradition,
honoring tradition, intentionally not disrespecting
it but also, like, [INAUDIBLE].
Yeah.
Welcome to the New South, baby.
LATESHIA PEARSON (VOICEOVER): The New
South means just a new outlook, new faces, new businesses--
just everything new.
The New-- whatever you thought the South
was, honey, that's not what it is anymore.
This is the New South here.
So whatever you put in your head that you
thought Mississippi was, uh-uh.
This is the New South, and we welcome you.
LATRICE ROGERS (VOICEOVER): The New
South is a new way of living.
Of course, they took the Confederate flag down.
We have more interracial relationships.
So it's just all of the things that the 1950s--
it's the complete opposite.
Like we have powerful women.
We have women that are judges, lawyers.
Certain things that you wouldn't deem
that was absolutely necessary in Mississippi, like, we have it.
Like it's the New South.
I feel the term the New South means that it's common for men
to be leaders.
MARIE HAMILTON ABSTON (VOICEOVER):
And today, we as women can lead, as well.
So that's what the term New South means, that women
can lead just as well as men.
TAMBRA CHERIE (VOICEOVER): The New South means, to me,
we're breaking stereotypes.
All of those stereotypes that you
hear about Mississippi and Jackson
and-- we're breaking those stereotypes.
We want you to see what we've known
and what we've experienced living in Jackson.
I do travel a lot, and I have a lot
of people that definitely act--
like, I would go to LA, do the Grammys, do the BET
awards, and all of that. And they're like, you know what?
You stay in Jackson?
I'm like yes!
And they would ask me the strangest questions
about Jackson.
And it's those stereotypes that we absolutely want to break.
We know we're a striving city.
We're growing.
Like we're just like every other city, to me,
that has, like, great restaurants.
We have a community of business owners and entrepreneurs.
We have a lot of talent here in Jackson, and I'm proud of that.
[LO-FI TRAP MUSIC]
Oh, my goodness.
Everyone assumes that Mississippi
is just, like, honky-tonk or, like, just
like farmville or something.
And so it's so incredibly important that, like, we show
them, like, oh, no, no, no.
We have the juice to compete with other cities.
Like the big ones, the major ones?
Look, count us in.
Mississippi isn't what you thought it was,
and we'll show you.
A lot of times, we hear things about Jackson,
Mississippi, like it's just a broken-down state.
We hear all about racism.
We hear just, like, it's the last on the poll, all types
of things, that it's country and just bad things about Jackson.
And that's not totally true.
A lot of people feel like it's this poverty-stricken state
and it's just so much violence and people
that are not for each other, and we are a community.
LATRICE ROGERS (VOICEOVER): Because Jackson has embraced
me, and I absolutely love them.
Because without them, I wouldn't be who I am today.
My hope for people to take away from "Belle Collective,"
the fact that there are women here in the South
that are leading successful businesses,
that we are winning and doing positive things
in different industries as well as other states in the North.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
Ooh, if you're visiting Jackson
for, like, the very first time, we're
going to feed you so good.
We're going to feed you so well.
It's more of, like, a greens, beans, potatoes, tomatoes,
and we'll put a little weight on you.
And so the restaurants are aplenty.
Someone visiting Jackson for the first time,
for me, I would definitely say--
LATESHIA PEARSON (VOICEOVER): --check
out our Civil Rights Museum.
Definitely check out our restaurants,
but I would definitely say, for me, the soul food.
Check out the museums here.
We have two.
We have two museums here, even the Civil Rights Museum.
It's super amazing.
That's a big one.
But we have so many things.
Check out the blues here and definitely Farish Street.
Go down to Farish Street and just enjoy that scenery
and just kind of visualize what it was.
So definitely check out the Farish Street district and food
and just entertainment and everything here in Jackson
and just that down-South feel, you know?
Coming to Mississippi, there are so many places
that you guys should visit.
Like, for one, we have the historical Medgar Evars House.
Like, if you haven't been there, it's a must-go--
so much information.
Like, it's absolutely amazing.
So that's my one place that I would
tell everybody that they must visit
if they come to Mississippi.
If someone is visiting the city for the first time,
I would recommend them go to the Civil Rights Museum.
And when they go, they need to have time to really
read and not just walk through.
So I would highly recommend the Civil Rights Museum.
A lot of artists that come here, the first thing they want
is really good food, soul food.
They want all of that.
TAMBRA CHERIE (VOICEOVER): And we
have so many Black-owned restaurants here
that I absolutely love it.
Yes.
So I would tell anyone, if you want soul food,
Bully's is great.
Everyone likes to go to Bully's.
[LAUGHS]
They want to know-- that is like, hey,
where can I get some really good soul food?
Sugar's.
Like they want to a really good-- and Johnny T's.
That's a really great spot.
The chef is great.
He's phenomenal.
There are quite a few great restaurants that you can go to.
Like, we can spend a week going to restaurants, really
good restaurants, in Jackson.
And that's just being honest.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]