BlackNatchez.org Hosts The Local Revolution: How You Can Save Your Small Town
Community Workshop on Revitalizing Historic and Rural Neighborhoods with Author Deb Brown
Neighbors, business owners, and community leaders from across the Mississippi -Louisiana (Miss-Lou) region are invited to gather in Natchez, Mississippi on Saturday, February 21, for a day of conversation, collaboration, and envisioning new possibilities for rural neighborhood communities.
BlackNatchez.org will host author and rural development advocate Deb Brown for tours of local neighborhoods and an interactive conversation. Drawing from her new book, From Possibilities to Reality: Save Your Small Town with These Uniquely Do-able Ideas, Projects, and Success Stories, and from years of work with rural communities, Brown will provide practical, actionable steps people can take to improve their neighborhood or community.
Brown, who lives in Biloxi and co-founded SaveYour.Town, works with small towns nationwide to help people start local projects with what they already have in their own communities. She said, “My role isn’t to tell anyone what to do — it’s to listen, learn, and share some frameworks that make it easier for communities to move forward with their own ideas. Natchez is already doing important work, and I’m honored to be part of the conversation.”
Planned activities for Feb 21 include:
- 10:30 a.m. – Neighborhood Possibilities Bus Tour with Deb and BlackNatchez.org to dream up ideas for historic neighborhoods in Natchez, including Woodlawn, Concord, Minorville, and the Forks to Freedom Corridor (MLK and Saint Catherine Streets). Meet at 1720 Gallery, 227 N. MLK in Natchez. The tour is free, but registration is required.
- 12:30 p.m. – Community Lunch and Social Hour @ 1720 Gallery presented in partnership with Communities Unlimited, https://communitiesu.org/ Lunch is free, but registration is required.
- 1:30 p.m. – An onstage conversation with BlackNatchez founder Joseph A.C. Smith and Deb Brown on how storytelling, local partnerships, and hospitality can drive inclusive economic growth. The conversation will be followed by an interactive audience activation in which community members collaborate to dream up simple ideas to improve their neighborhoods.
Joseph A.C. Smith
“I’m excited to finally have Deb on the ground here in Natchez and especially excited to have her help local change makers think through possibilities for their neighborhoods. I like touring historic neighborhoods in general, but doing a possibility tour of historic black neighborhoods in Natchez, during Black History Month, is going to be epic!” said Smith.
Since its founding in 2021, BlackNatchez.org has helped to fast-track the revitalization of Natchez’s MLK Triangle, an area once plagued by decades of blight and disinvestment. Under Smith’s leadership, the organization has reimagined an old mechanic shop and garage as an event venue – Doll Baby’s Praise and Dance Hall– and transformed the old Williams & Williams building into a community cafe and gift shop- 1720 Gallery and Gifts. Financed primarily by Smith’s personal savings and his mom’s retirement income, the organization completed the massive renovation project debt-free, with more enhancements to come.
“My philosophy is that done is better than perfect. If you change just 1% of something every day, by the end of the year, you see a 365% change. Just get started, and once you do, God, the ancestors, the angels, and the entire universe will rise to support you. The haters rise, too, but haters are just proof that God is using you. Just get started!” Smith said.
All events are free and open to the public, but registration is required. Visit Eventbrite or BlackNatchez.org to register.
This program is made possible with support from Tourism Currents, SaveYour.Town, BlackNatchez.org, and Communities Unlimited.
About BlackNatchez.org
BlackNatchez.org is a Mississippi-based nonprofit dedicated to uplifting and celebrating African American heritage in Southwest Mississippi through community development, education, tourism, and historic preservation. For more information, contact blacknatchez@gmail.com.
About Deb Brown
Deb Brown of Biloxi, Mississippi, works with rural communities across the U.S. to support locally driven revitalization efforts. Her book, From Possibilities to Reality: Saving Your Small Town, offers practical steps for residents to identify local assets, spark collective action, and sustain community pride.
Tourism Currents provides training and consulting for tourism, hospitality, and economic development professionals on using social media and digital destination marketing to attract visitors in ways that tell authentic local stories and support community goals.
Communities Unlimited connects rural Americans to solutions that sustain healthy businesses, healthy communities, and healthy lives. The organization maintains that access to opportunities should not depend on where a person lives, how much money they have in the bank, or what they look like. Communities Unlimited takes a holistic approach to economic development, combining human connection with technology and expertise to foster self-reliance and economic impact for people and communities.
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