Jasmine Murphy returned to the Mississippi Delta after years away, driven by the sense she was meant to return home.
But decades of disinvestment in the region by state leaders have made it difficult for residents to find stable housing, good jobs, educational opportunities and for culture to thrive, she said Wednesday at a convening of a national commission at Mississippi Valley State University, a historically Black university in Itta Bena. The commission traveled to Mississippi to hear from local leaders and community members about the challenges facing rural communities.
“The people here are full of talent and passion, and they want opportunities to be able to dream and to have those dreams come true,” said Murphy, an Itta Bena native currently a graduate student studying rural public policy and planning at Mississippi Valley State University. “They don’t have those opportunities and those chances because there’s no one here to invest in them.”
The bipartisan commission was convened by two D.C.-based public policy think tanks, the Brookings Institute and American Enterprise Institute, to craft federal policy suggestions that support rural communities before 2027. The committee is chaired by former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from North Dakota, and former New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.
Commission Co-Chair Heidi Heitkamp, former senator of North Dakota, speaks during a U.S. Rural Prosperity Commission field hearing, hosted by Brookings and AEl, on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi TodayThe group has traveled to other locations across the U.S. and spent time discussing how funding and resource allocation decisions made in Washington are outdated, Sununu said.
“It hasn’t paid attention to rural America, because to do that would mean to look at a different set of metrics and a different form of accountability,” he said. “And what this organization is trying to do is change that paradigm.”
Janti Soeripto, the president and CEO of Save the Children US and a commission member, said each of the group’s site visits has brought new insights about the challenges facing rural communities in America, which are varied and distinct.
“If you’ve seen one rural community, you’ve seen one rural community,” she said.
The commission also heard from Mississippi leaders, including Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons, Corey Wiggins, the federal Co-Chairman for the Delta Regional Authority, and Bill Bynum, the CEO of Hope Credit Union.
Wiggins and Simmons said some of the most helpful federal resources for rural areas are planning funding that supports local communities conducting feasibility studies and pre-development work for infrastructure projects.
Jasmine Murphy gives her remarks during a U.S. Rural Prosperity Commission field hearing, hosted by Brookings and AEl, on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi TodaySimmons said small, rural communities often struggle to apply for and access federal funding for projects. Programs like the Rural Partners Network, which was designed to help rural communities navigate and secure resources by connecting them with federal agency staff, can make a difference. But federal funding cuts have made it harder for communities to tap into those supports, he said.
He suggested a “common app” — akin to the common application used by many colleges and universities — could make it easier for rural communities to quickly apply for federal funding.
“Rural communities are not waiting to be rescued,” Simmons said. “We are building, from disinvestment to development.”
Jaelon Jordan, a Mississippi Valley State University student from Utica, said that rural communities in Mississippi need support. Many of the challenges facing the Mississippi Delta are visible on campus at MVSU, she said, like food insecurity and underfunded education.
Murphy said her resolve to confront these challenges is shaped by the legacies of Mississippi leaders like Ida B. Wells and Fannie Lou Hamer, who inspire her to continue her work in Itta Bena.
“When you’re born around that type of legacy, you feel like you feel the sole responsibility of making sure that that doesn’t die,” she said. “And you want to revitalize what is dying. That’s why I came back.”
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