MS HR80

Commemorates the Shake Rag neighborhood, an historic African-American community in Tupelo that was culturally significant to the development of blues, jazz, gospel, and rock and roll music.

Recognizes that Shake Rag residents influenced Elvis Presley's music, with evidence that Elvis's father worked in the area and Elvis may have been exposed to blues musicians in the neighborhood.

Documents that Shake Rag was demolished in the late 1960s under eminent domain and urban renewal, displacing 169 families and closing 43 businesses to clear 60 acres for revitalization.

Notes that musician Stephanie Stubbs organized young performers to record a song titled "Shake Rag" at FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to honor the neighborhood's historical influence on American music.

Directs that copies of the resolution be provided to Shake Rag community residents and members of the Capitol Press Corps.