“Kanye West hasn’t really done anything worthwhile–except maybe musically, I haven’t heard him. But he hasn’t overthrown the government.” I am a fugitive from the chain gang, and we live by night.

In July 2004, I went on a nine-day driving and reporting tour of Mississippi. On my itinerary was a pilgrimage to the house in Clarksdale where Sam Cooke was born. Cooke has been an obsession of mine ...