tidbits, fragments, and ephemera is a usually weekly but not always, sometimes substantial but not making any promises glimpse at some information and news related to Generation X in the Deep South.
The Dirty South of the 1990s, on Hip Hop Music History
excerpted: “Dirty South Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that emerged from the southern United States in the mid 1990s, that drew from hardcore rap, gangsta rap, bounce music, miami bass, chopped and screwed music, and incorporation of live instrumentation found in southern styles. It often blended the more aggressive hardcore rap with slower soulful beats or party-oriented music. [ . . . ] In Atlanta, hip hop acts such as Arrested Development and Kriss Kross found success in the early ’90s. Arrested Development’s style was similar to that of the Native Tongues collective with positive Afrocentric lyrics with a southern flavor.”
The Houston Oilers become the Tennessee Titans, 1997 – 1999
In 1997, the NFL team was moved to Nashville, though they first played in Memphis, while their facilities were being built and readied. They remained the Oilers for two seasons, then were renamed (since the name Tennessee Oilers made no sense).
Mardi Gras, February 1980
This three-minute news clip comes from WDSU-TV. It shows the parade and crowds at the annual Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans. The year prior, 1979, Mardi Gras festivities were cancelled due to a police strike.
Charles Barkley at Auburn, 1981 – 1984
Raised in Leeds, Alabama, the great forward-center Charles Barkley played college basketball at Auburn University in the early 1980s, before being drafted as a junior by the Philadelphia 76ers. Barkley, who was 6′ 6″ tall and weighed 270 lb., was called “the round mound of rebound.” After playing in the NBA from 1984 through 2000, as well as winning two gold medals in Olympic basketball in 1992 and 1996, he is a fixture of sports commentary today.
Georgia’s Charter Schools Act of 1998
By the time Georgia passed its Charter Schools Act of 1998, the youngest GenXers were 18 years old and finishing school. Although the children of GenXers have multiple options for K-12 education – public, private, magnet, home school, virtual, charter – there were only two options for most children in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s: public and private. Magnet schools were being tried in the 1970s, and in those days, home school was mostly for very sick kids or very religious families. But by the 1990s, the mushrooming of new educational options had begun.
level:deepsouth is an online anthology about growing up Generation X in the Deep South during the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. The anthology is open to submissions of creative nonfiction (essays, memoirs, and reviews) and images (photos and flyers), as well as to contributions for the lists.
