Tommie Brown Elected as the First Black Mayor of Tiny Town of Alligator, Some Youngsters Tell Outgoing Mayor Fava to "Kiss My Black Ass"

Tommie 'Tomaso' Brown, new mayor of Alligator.
Photo: JULIAN SIMMONDS, UK Telegraph

Change has come to the Deep South town of Alligator, Mississippi, (population 220) with the Tommie "Tomaso"Brown defeating Robert Fava, the mayor since 1979. He beat him by 37 votes to 27. His victory is a milestone for the tiny town, which is named after the long curving lake nearby, and is about 90 miles south of Memphis. It was once a thriving town with its population swelling to more than 1,000 residents at its peak. It's economic girth was provided by European immigrants, particularly Italians, who came to work on the plantations in the fertile Mississippi delta at the start of the 20th Century. Tommie Brown is the first black man to be elected as mayor of Alligator and he attributes much of this to the historic election of President Barack Obama. It is amazing that the mainstream media completely missed this story and that it was picked up by the UK Telegraph.

"They wanted a black mayor,” said a philosophical Mr. Fava, 71. “Another Obama - I think that’s what brought it on. I ran on ’30 years of dedicated service’ and he ran on ’Change’. He promised a swimming pool and a recreation center, which he can’t do. "He beat me by 10 votes because he had enough family folks to put him in. But we get along good. He used to work here at the store and there ain’t no problems between us. They were ready for a change and I was too - it’s a weight off my mind.”

A yellowing newspaper cutting, in Mr. Fava’s Mary Ann’s Country Store, tells how Alligator once boasted “two schools, two churches, 16 brick store buildings, two blacksmith shops, two lumber yards, two doctors’ offices...and three modernly-equipped gins.” The trains stopped in the 1950s and the hotel closed down around the same time and was demolished. Trailer homes now occupy the space where it once stood.

Most of the old store fronts are boarded up and grass grows on the pavements. Vacant buildings have been broken into and vandalized. The alligators in the lake have also gone, chased out by beavers whose dams now have to be blown up by farmers because they cause fields to flood.

All that remains of the town’s once teeming commercial activity is Mr. Fava’s Mary Ann’s Country Store, named after his wife; Gator’s grocery and diner owned by his younger brother Ronnie; and Bruno’s liquor and convenience store owned by his cousin Vito Sbravati. Source: UK Telegraph

What was shocking to me was the fact that the town hall does not even have a telephone or a fax machine. How can they communicate with the outside world or even ask for help? I was also saddened to learn that some of the town's black residents were disrespectful in their jubilation of Mr. Brown's victory. Some youngsters reportedly ran into Mr. Fava's store to taunt him. “They was pulling down their pants, shouting, ’Kiss my black ass, because we got a black mayor,’ swinging their things around and throwing stuff,” said Jennifer Green, 31, a black mother of 10, in an interview with the UK Telegraph. Now, was that really necessary? That was disrespectful and downright rude.