When Tyler Yarbrough penned an open letter inviting the Sinners film cast and crew to the birthplace of the blues, he sensed that something magical or culturally significant would unfold.
However, he didn’t anticipate that, nine months later, people would still feel inspired to contribute to their movement to reinvigorate the culture and heritage of his hometown Clarksdale, Mississippi.
Last week, director Ryan Coogler’s Sinners broke Oscar records and received the most nominations in the Academy Awards’ history. In honor of the film’s critical acclaim, Fear of God, a high-end, luxury streetwear brand based in Los Angeles, dropped limited edition, Sinners-inspired merch with 100% of the net sales donated to Clarksdale Culture Capital, a platform rooted in Clarksdale that centers its stories, culture, and history, while building creative infrastructure and community across the South. While there’s been other Sinners apparel collaborations with StockX and Bridgeforth Cotton, a fifth-generation Black farm in Alabama, this drop is directly helping the Clarksdale community.
“The fact that they worked on a product, and designed it, and kept Clarksdale in mind — with Proximity Media [co-founded by Coogler] and Warner Bros. in collaboration with this brand — I just think that’s pretty cool,” Yarbrough said.
This is the second Sinners collaboration with Fear of God.
The first capsule collection was released in April during the film’s opening weekend last year. The proceeds from that collection went to support the Altadena Community Fund to help victims of the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles.
Clarksdale Culture Capital is the engine created by Yarbrough and other Mississippians that created the three-day festival that brought several screenings of the blockbuster film to Clarksdale last May. The donations during this event helped to fund the first-ever Clarksdale Day Festival, an idea birthed by locals for locals.
Since that weekend, Clarksdale stakeholders went to congressional leaders with a $3 million ask to build the Griot Center, a project to transform abandoned buildings, one being the historic, once-segregrated, Paramount Theater, to create a state-of-the-art youth performing arts center.
While lawmakers denied the request, Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer provided an undisclosed amount to support the Griot Center.
It’s been difficult to get people who live in Clarksdale to see value in the project, said Rebekah Pleasant-Patterson, executive director of Griot Arts in Clarksdale, the youth nonprofit overseeing the Griot Center project. It has also been a struggle to get natives who moved away to give back to their community.
Seeing people like Coogler and even Spencer, an Alabama native, believe in this place “is inspiring,” she said. Pleasant-Patterson said she hopes these efforts push others — within and outside of the state – to invest in the community, she added.
“I know how special this place is. I know the stories that come from here. I know the power of the people and the heart of community and the heart of creativity that’s here, and how that has literally stirred American culture,” Pleasant-Patterson said. “But to see other people acknowledge it, it’s been very impactful.”
Spencer also made a contribution toward Clarksdale Culture Capital and a college tour of Justin Hardiman’s SOIL, a photo exhibit on Black farmers in the Delta, Yarbrough added.
“I’m just very bullish on our culture and that it can be better, and it takes being bold to see it come to fruition,” Yarbrough said, reflecting on the past few months. “When you really think about it, if we didn’t write the letter, if [Capital B] didn’t publicize, they wouldn’t have came, right? We and the ancestors intervened and changed the whole course.”
For Jaleesa Collins, one of the Clarksdale organizers, the contribution from Fear of God is more than financial — it’s one of hope.
“This affirms what we’ve always known,” Collins told Capital B. “Clarksdale is powerful, and that our city and culture matters and that our future is worth investing in.”
These efforts put resources directly into the hands of people on the ground. But the national spotlight on Clarksdale also places the entire state in a broader conversation about how Mississippians never stopped building, said Jasmine Williams, founder of ‘Sipp Talk Media, a creative cultural agency that centers Mississippi stories and curates immersive experiences. Williams served on the committee for the Sinners weekend. She hopes the investments help move Mississippi out of an era of “strictly exploitation” and toward appreciation.
She encourages people to stay engaged with Mississippi.
“I’m all about folks being able to engage with us in a way that is genuine and whole. [Fear of God] giving money back also shows that the industry can be inclusive, and it can center the people who they talk about,” Williams told Capital B. “I’m just super appreciative of what the film did and what the folks at Proximity Media are continuing to do to make sure that Clarksdale and Mississippi benefit some from this beautiful body of work.”
With this investment, Yarbrough hopes to continue the Clarksdale Culture Capital festival, bringing creatives from across the country to the small city, which is about 75 miles from Memphis, Tennessee. He also envisions a space to build cultural platforms and infrastructure in the Mississippi Delta.
“What would it look like for creatives to descend on Clarksdale and pay homage to not only the blues being the backbeat of all American music, but also agricultural roots in this place?” Yarbrough questioned. “We don’t have to go to Africa to feel connected to our ancestors. Come to Mississippi.”