This is a cold war, Do you know what you're fighting for?

Memphis, Tennessee, a large city in terms of its population (approx. 650 thousand) and boosting numerous skyscrapers, the trade mark architectural feature of the American city, is very much a ghost town now.

Walking around what clearly used to be a culturally vibrant city, the only thing really left is Beale Street and even its authenticity is questionable. The neon lights and gift shops overshadow what Beale is meant to be about, the blues. Downtown, most of the big buildings are now boarded up, bars and restaurants have closed down and shops have moved out of town to the suburbs. I envisioned Memphis to be like the other big cities I’ve been to in America but I was quick to forget how hard things have been in the South since the recession, perhaps even before this. Memphis has been hit badly, and is crying out for help.

The city is slowly being revived though. The South Main Arts District is an area receiving rejuvenation. There are a few art galleries, coffee shops, restaurants and boutiques and a farmers market takes place each Saturday in October near the Central Station. The weekend just gone I was fortunate enough to see artists setting up for an Arts Festival held in the district. I wasn’t around to see the festival on Saturday or Sunday but the district was really bustling on Friday afternoon with some beautiful artwork and talented artists. The architecture in this part of the city is very inspiring. I can picture in the near future the district being the new hip area to hang out, peruse art work and drink chai tea. It made me feel the way I feel in Camden market in London, relaxed and content. I was also told the Cooper-Young district is a very creative area but I am yet to make it there. Hopefully when I return over Thanksgiving I’ll get a chance to check out Midtown.

The National Civil Rights Museum is a must see in Memphis to really take in some of the city's history and culture. Also in the South Main Arts District, the museum is within the renovated Lorraine Motel. This is the motel at which Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in 1968, the day after he gave one of his most famous speeches; I’ve Been To The Mountaintop. Memphis was a city at the heart of the struggle for Civil Rights. Martin Luther King Jr was in the city to protest for the rights of sanitation workers, who campaigned under the famous slogan I Am A Man. The museum chronologically details the plight of African-Americans in the United States, and has a special focus on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr and the quest for Civil Rights in Memphis. There is a lot of heart-wrenching information in the museum, revealing America’s darkest period of history. It is clear that even forty to fifty years on, segregation of the races, especially in a city like Memphis, is still a major issue. While it is no longer systematic, it is quite obviously now a major socio-economic issue.

To attempt to take in some of Memphis’ musical past, Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley, is definitely worth a visit. I imagined it to be awfully tacky but it isn't too bad. You are bombarded with gift shops but don’t let that overshadow the visit. While the house itself is not very big, it is beautifully kept and the tour is very well laid out. The site has pretty much all of Elvis’ belongings, all of the gold records, sparkly outfits and even his planes! Elvis is the King of Rock and Roll and at Graceland you get to feel quite how big a deal this style of music was to the city of Memphis and America as a whole.

Another stop to make is Sun Studios, the famous recording studio at which the likes of Elvis and Johnny Cash recorded some of their biggest hits. While we only got to walk by, I imagined these artists recording in this tiny studio, the creativity of the 1950s and 60s, which is very much forgotten now. Music is most definitely part of Memphis’ past, all of the big recording artists now have moved to LA or Nashville. Long are the days of song writing by the Mississippi River and spontaneous performances on Beale.

While most people here in Oxford have advised me to stay away from Memphis, I say go and see it. I walked around for three days with my pretty daft parents and it wasn’t as dangerous as everyone told me it would be. Don’t draw attention to yourself as a tourist but I would tell anyone this even in Birmingham. Go and take in Memphis’ wonderful cultural and musical history. Go and give the city some business so one day soon, it will be the city I believe it can be again.