#affrilachia

For Gurney & Anne

thoroughbred racing and hee haw are burdensome images for kentucky sons venturing beyond the mason-dixon

but these mountains whisper to me and have lulled me to sleep since I existed inside of my grandmother

You may pretend to know the pines

but the pines sap brought me to life before my bloodline began, their needles falling with the rain harmonize with the endlessly beating talking drum

You may pretend to know the coal

but upon birth it’s fine black dust was caked onto my tiny body, absorbed into the lungs of my momma and her daddy and his daddy too.

You may pretend to know the magic

Bessie Woodson Yancey (1882-1958) was an African American poet and activist.

Born in New Canton, Virginia to former slaves who emphasized education, she quickly moved through school and became a teacher. She taught in the mining camps of West Virginia, where she also began to write poetry. She only published a single book, a collection of poems entitled Echoes from the Hills (1939), that is a famous--maybe the earliest--example of Affrilachian children's literature.

Affrilachia is the collective cultural contributions of African Americans artists in the Appalachian mountains. This region is, compared to much of the country, poor and rural, with an economy based on logging and mining. While Appalachia is stereotypically seen as White, Black people have been creating culture in the region for centuries.

Thought often included in discussions on the Harlem Renaissance, the cultural revival of Black artists mostly in Northern urban areas, Affrilachian art like Yancey's was unique in tone, identity, and purpose. Both of these Black artistic movements were happening near each other and at the same time, but were diverse in the artistic goals and outputs.

In addition to her poetry, Yancey wrote letters and editorials on civil rights and desegregation.

An African-American poet from Kentucky, Frank X Walker (b. 1961) focuses on the importance of Black people in creating and controlling their own narratives.

Walker was born in Danville, Kentucky, as one of eleven children who lived in public housing projects. He attended the University of Kentucky for his Bachelors and Spalding University for his Masters in Fine Arts in Writing.

Walker coined the term 'Affrilachia' in the 1990s to discuss the unique experiences and perspectives of Black people in Appalachia. He is a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets and the founding editor of PLUCK!, the new Journal of Affrilachian Art & Culture. He has published multiple books, helped make and produce videos, and has changed how the world has thought about Appalachian identity.

Walker teaches English at the University of Kentucky and was the Poet Laureate of Kentucky. He has won, among other awards, the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry.