Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek

“This intimate film tells a gigantic story—about race, about power, about so-called development. But it is also a saga of community, resilience, resistance, and hope. It’s not just the drama of a small creek in Mississippi—it’s about everything that matters in our society.” —Bill Bigelow, Rethinking Schools

“The language of power and oppression is omnipresent in Come Hell or High Water, and it doesn’t get any better as Katrina pounds Gulfport in 2005. Still no better when the BP oil disaster happens five years after that. The documentary captures Turkey Creek’s responses to all of these tragedies—and a few remarkable victories against the powers that be.” —Brentin Mock, Grist

Come Hell or High Water: The Battle for Turkey Creek follows the painful but inspiring journey of Derrick Evans, a Boston teacher who moves home to coastal Mississippi when the graves of his ancestors are bulldozed to make way for the sprawling city of Gulfport. Over the course of a decade, Derrick and his neighbors stand up to powerful corporate interests and politicians and face ordeals that include Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil disaster in their struggle for self-determination and environmental justice. [Producer’s description.]

Read “Looking for Justice at Turkey Creek” by Gulfport teacher Hardy Thames in Rethinking Schools (Winter 2013/2014). Thames describes the field work his high school students have done in Turkey Creek.

Credit: Produced by Leah Mahan. 2013. 60 min.