The link immediately below will take you to the poetry reading in the title. It is well worth your time and effort.
https://uacvoice.org/dont-cry-for-us-j-d-vance-a-reading-by-ohio-appalachian-authors/
On December 3, 2020, at 7pm, former Cincinnati Poet Laureate Pauletta Hansel headlined and moderated a group poetry reading on Facebook which was cosponsored by the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition, Downbound Books, and West Virginia University Press. The event featured readings by Hansel, Gregory Kornbluh of Downbound Books (co-host), Pauletta Hansel of the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition (co-host and author), and Omope Carter Daboiku, Kari Gunter Seymour, Richard Hague, Michael Henson, Michael Maloney, Dale Marie Prenatt, Bonnie Proudfoot and Sherry Cook Stanforth (authors). Each of the authors read at least one of their works and a few read more of their writing. The title of the event, "Don't Cry For Us J. D. Vance", should be self explanatory for anyone with a solid awareness of current issues related to Appalachia and the Appalachian Studies movement. I have added my own opinion of Vance and his scurrilous work at these two links. In addition to taking the time to watch the recorded version of the Cincinatti reading by the authors above, I would suggest to everyone that you also read the books "Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds To Hillbilly Elegy", "The United States of Appalachia" by Jeff Biggers, and "Appalachian Values" by Loyal Jones which I consider to be the most important book for any person to read who hopes to come to understand Appalachia and Appalachian Culture. In fact, "Appalachian Values" is the first book I ever recommend to anyone who knows little about Appalachia and expresses a desire to understand our homeland and our culture.
My wife Candice and I watched the reading we are discussing here in its live version and enjoyed it greatly. Dale Marie Prenatt read her powerful poem about Buffalo Creek in Logan County West Virginia which is her childhood home and the destruction of the communities there by a coal company generated flood was actually experienced by her mother, Gail Amburgy, her maternal grandparents, and most of her maternal extended family. It is one of my personal favorites from the reading and, in some ways it is personal to me also, since I worked on Buffalo Creek a great deal as a traveling salesman a few years after the disaster and met many of the survivors during that time. My other personal favorite from the reading was the work of Omope Carter Daboiku, an African American poet originally from the Ironton, Ohio, area. She is a refreshing and powerful voice of those African American natives of Appalachia who sometimes refer to themselves as Afrilachians although I do not know that Ms. Daboiku takes that position since we have never met or conversed by any means electronic or otherwise. But based on hearing her read a couple of her highly artistic and expressive poems, I can assure you that I will learn more about her and her work.
Please consider following the link above to the recorded version of the reading and partake of the entire presentation. You will find it well worth the time.
1 comment:
I loved this poetry and book reading so much.I smiled,laughed and cried as I listened and appreciated my ancestors and my own life in Appalachia. And, I loved the way the UACC approached J.D. Vance by overriding (or writing over?) his voice. My Great-grandmother was Margaret Hicks. She was born in Letcher county Ky, later lived in Lawrence county and then Buchanan county,Va. I've lived my entire life in the Appalachian counties of Ohio. I am proud of my heritage because of my mother, Nell Presley. thank you.
Candee
Post a Comment