Po'Monkey's Lounge: America's Last Authentic Jook Joint

Po' Monkey's Lounge

The word “Juke” comes from the Gullah word joog which derives its origins from the West African dialects of Wolof and Banbara meaning “to lead a disorderly life or to be a violent and wicked person.” The etymology of the word has been famously promulgated by anthologists such as Lorenzo Turner and Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston attempts to define the “Juke Joint” phenomenon in her essay, Characteristics of Negro Expression. She writes, “Jook (or Juke) is a word for a Negro pleasure house. It may mean a bawdy house. It may mean the house set apart on public works where the men and women dance, drink and gamble. Often, it is a combination of all these.”

There are only a few genuine “Juke Joints” left in the world and probably the most authentic of those remaining is Po’ Monkey’s Lounge located in the rural Mississippi Delta. Mapquest and Google Earth are of little help when trying to find this semi-dilapidated shack located miles off the highway on the edge of a dusty cotton field. It is best to seek the help of a local when venturing out among the mostly unmarked Mississippi crossroads. Very few would claim to be in their element in a place like Po’ Monkey’s Lounge, but it only takes a few minutes inside to realize that all are welcome and that Southern Hospitality lives on in the Deep South.