First Black Mayor In Alligator, Mississippi

Robert Fava defeated by Tommie Brown for mayor of Alligator, Mississippi.

Written by OddCulture on July 13th, 2009 in Odd Culture.

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The Mississippi Delta rules!

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Robert Fava was the white mayor of small town Alligator, Mississippi, for the past 30 years. Now, in a town of only about 220 people (as of the 2000 census), Fava has been defeated by Tommie “Tomaso” Brown, 38, thanks to what some people are calling the Obama effect. The UK Telegraph has the story:

Mr Brown’s surprise victory was a milestone for Alligator, which is named after the curving lake nearby rather than the alligators that once occupied it. Although the only three businesses in the shrinking, tumble-down town are run by whites, three-quarters of the population is now black. “They wanted a black mayor,” said Fava, 71. “Another Obama – I think that’s what brought it on. I ran on 30 years of dedicated service and he ran on Change. He promised a swimming pool and a recreation center, which he can’t do. “He beat me by 10 votes because he had enough family folks to put him in. But we get along good. He used to work here at the store and there ain’t no problems between us. They were ready for a change and I was too – it’s a weight off my mind.”

Alligator's new mayor, Tommie Brown

About Alligator
Alligator, 90 miles south of Memphis, was once a thriving town whose population swelled to more than 1,000. Its economic backbone was provided by European immigrants who came to work on the plantations in the Mississippi delta at the start of the 20th Century. In the 20s, the railroads ran eight trains a day that stopped at Alligator, dropping off and picking up salesmen who would gamble all day in the town’s Gibson Hotel. Other visitors would arrive on boats transporting timber and grain as well as people. Blacks would play the blues along the town’s Front Street and labor in the fields but everything was run by the whites. The trains stopped in the 1950s and the hotel closed down around the same time. Trailer homes now occupy the space where it once stood. Most of the old store fronts are boarded up. Most Alligator residents are farm workers, producing agricultural commodities that are shipped 350 miles down the river to New Orleans.

About Alligator

Alligator, 90 miles south of Memphis, was once a thriving town whose population swelled to more than 1,000. Its economic backbone was provided by European immigrants who came to work on the plantations in the Mississippi delta at the start of the 20th Century. In the 20s, the railroads ran eight trains a day that stopped at Alligator, dropping off and picking up salesmen who would gamble all day in the town’s Gibson Hotel. Other visitors would arrive on boats transporting timber and grain as well as people. Blacks would play the blues along the town’s Front Street and labor in the fields but everything was run by the whites. The trains stopped in the 1950s and the hotel closed down around the same time. Trailer homes now occupy the space where it once stood. Most of the old store fronts are boarded up. Most Alligator residents are farm workers, producing agricultural commodities that are shipped 350 miles down the river to New Orleans.

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Mr Brown was the first black man ever to stand for Mayor of Alligator and it took Barack Obama’s election to galvanize him into action. “Obama was a major influence on everybody,” he said. “He inspired me. If we don’t look after our youth, what do we have? The population is dying out and I want more people here. I want better living conditions. I just want the people to be comfortable. Small towns like this depend on government funding and that’s what we’re seeking.” The town’s facilities were substandard, he said. “There isn’t even a phone or a fax machine in there. How can we communicate with the outside world and ask for things?” There was jubilation among the town’s blacks after Mr Brown’s victory. Some youngsters ran into Mr Fava’s store to taunt him. “They was pulling down their pants, shouting, “Kiss my black ass, because we got a black mayor”, swinging their things around and throwing stuff,” said Jennifer Green, 31, a black mother of 10.

Alligator's old mayor, Robert Fava

Miss Green is dubious about whether Mr Brown can deliver. “He says there’s going to be lots of changes and everything with all these kids running around here. But he do the same thing they do, drinking beer and stuff. Alligator is the kind of place where if you leave your door open, when you come back there ain’t nothing in your house. Kids knock on your door asking for a beer at three and four in the morning. I get 14-year-olds asking me if I want weed or whatever. Tomaso won’t do anything about any of it. He’s going to put his hand in the cookie jar just at the wrong time and get caught.” “Alligator is a quiet town, except when we get that Voodoo and Rap music.”

Up at Bruno’s, at the entrance to Alligator beside Route 61, known as the Blues Highway, dozens of the town’s blacks were spending their Saturday evening outside the store drinking beer and whiskey and dancing to music blasting from a boom box. The scent of marijuana hung in the warm air.