Affrilachia: Testimonies - Hardcover

by Chris Aluka Berry (Author)

"Affrilachia," a term first coined in 1991 by Kentucky poet Frank X Walker, refers to the cultural contributions of African Americans who live in Appalachia, a largely mountainous region stretching over thirteen states from Mississippi to New York. Although Black Americans have greatly influenced the popular culture landscape in this region, their stories, trials, and triumphs are often undocumented because Appalachia is perceived as wholly white.

In this stunning visual history, photographer and curator Chris Aluka Berry gives voice to the broad spectrum of African Americans who have lived in the Appalachian region over the centuries. Berry, who spent six years in western North Carolina, northeast Georgia, and eastern Tennessee, immersed himself in the communities and lives of Black Appalachians to present the diversity and commonalities of the proud people in the region. His intimate and revealing photographs capture African Americans in various settings--churches, homes, revival services, family gatherings, and homegoing celebrations.

Completing this comprehensive collection are powerful narratives from the people who inhabit these places, and contributions from Appalachian writers Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam, whose poignant and powerful poems and essays offer historical perspective and broaden the book's archival importance.

The first book of its kind, Affrilachia: Testimonies is an inspired historical artifact that honors, represents, and celebrates the proud people of color whose history and existence has greatly contributed to the broad tapestry of Appalachia.

Author Biography

Chris Aluka Berry has worked in the South as an award-winning documentary photographer for more than twenty years, and his images have appeared in major American and international publications. A Guggenheim Fellow, he currently lives in the Appalachian Mountains in western North Carolina with the love of his life and two beautiful dogs. Kelly Elaine Navies is a poet, writer, and oral historian. Her oral history projects and interviews are located at the Southern Oral History Program, the Reginald F. Lewis Maryland Museum of African American History and Culture, the Washington DC Public Library Peoples' Archive, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, where she currently coordinates the oral history program. Maia A. Surdam is an historian, educator, and author who lives in western North Carolina. She holds a doctorate in US history and her work centers on rural communities. She is currently the programs director of the Partnership for Appalachian Girls' Education (PAGE), where she empowers adolescent girls in rural Appalachia.