Amy M. Alvarez, Jameka Harley: How Black poets and writers gave a voice to ‘Affrilachia’
A turning point took place 30 years ago, when Black Appalachian culture experienced a renaissance centered around a single word: “Affrilachia.”
Adrian Blevins: Appalachians Run Amok
I’m impatient like you to get to the bottom of the problem
of what to call the vacant feeling of our long-ago deportation
from the goats & their creamy milk & the meadows & pastures
they would frolic in each Sunday when my father would
metaphorically herd them…
Mason Adams: Appalachia’s Deep History of Resistance
Protest runs through the region’s veins like coal seams through the mountains.
Video: Nora Brown plays two old-time banjo tunes
In a mesmerizing set, musician Nora Brown breathes new life into two old-time banjo tunes: “East Virginia” and “John Brown’s Dream.” An evocative performance paired with a quick history of the banjo’s evolution.
Mason Adams: How to Restore a Million Acres of Strip-Mined Land? Bring in the Elk
Central Appalachia reintroduced the species to restore wildlife habitat—and help devastated economies. Here’s what happened next. The camera wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Clad in chest waders and … Continue reading
Robert Gibb: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
“Sharecropper’s Work Shoes” —Photo by Walker Evans, 1936 . The Magritte who took issue with the ordinary Would have tipped them with toes. Evans, deferential, simply sets them before … Continue reading
Appalachian Voices: Mountaintop Removal 101
Mountaintop removal is any method of surface coal mining that destroys a mountaintop or ridgeline, whether or not the mined area will be returned to what is legally described as … Continue reading
Vox Populi 