Lusco S News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> anthony: some time ago something crawled, or slithered, or grew like a fungus. something that started small, got bigger, lurched like a swamp thing out of the mud and moist earth and humid nights of the delta. then, it took over the world. so next time some smart ass foreigner, horrified by our latest ham-fisted foreign policy blunder wonders out loud, "what good is america?" well, you can always pipe up that the blues, rock 'n' roll, r&b, and soul all came out of this place -- one state -- mississippi. ♪ i took a walk through this beautiful world ♪ ♪ felt the cool rain on m...

Is greenwood. a town with a lot of history. most of it of the not good variety. known unfortunately as much for byron de la beckwith, and tom brady's infamous speech after brown v. the board of education as anything else, fairly or not, it's hard to get past that. during all the years of cruelty and struggle from 1933 on, through it all and until today, this place, lusco's, was a beloved institution. once a grocery store, it turned restaurant to the moneyed class, serving them in discreet quarters in the back where one could enjoy an alcoholic beverage in what was then a dry state. still going...

Steaks, fish, the famous broiled shrimp. the lusco's special salad with the house italian vinaigrette dressing and a healthy dose of anchovy. onion rings. >> john t. edge: the salad makes me happy. >> anthony: yeah, me too. >> john t. edge: mostly the anchovies make me happy. >> anthony: yeah, yeah, love those. catfish for mr. edge, the famous pompano for me. >> john t. edge: it's the kind of mark of being a great restaurant in the delta, if you have pompano. >> anthony: it's a big damn fish. no way i'm finishing this. sitting here, the booths, the curtains, the whole "ring bell for service" t...

Why? >> john t. edge: this place is like a reliquary of like indiscretions past. you know? >> anthony: but maybe, to really tell the story of this place, you have to start with the story of its most famous employee -- booker wright, who had been working at lusco's as a waiter wince he was 14 years old. >> booker: thanks to y'all. we don't have a real menu. i'd be glad to tell you what we're gonna serve tonight. >> anthony: in 1965, nbc news came to town, making a documentary on race relations. booker's entertaining recitation of the menu at lusco's was famous around town, so they asked him t...

Me john, some call me jim. some call me nigga. oh that hurts, but you have to smile. if you don't, "what's wrong with you?" the meaner the man be, the more you smile. although you crying on the inside. "i'm not gonna tip that nigga. he don't live for no tip." "yes sir, thank you." "what'd you say?" "come back, goodnight, take care." so that's what you have to go through here. but remember, you have to keep that smile. >> anthony: telling the truth was still risky business in 1966 mississippi, and booker wright was not rewarded for his candor. it was not a good experience for him. it did not ma...