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Appalachia has been a place of movement and migration-for individuals, families, and entire communities-for centuries.
Beginning Again brings together twelve narratives of refugees, migrants, and generations-long residents that explore complex journeys of resettlement. In their stories, Appalachia-despite how it's popularly portrayed-is not simply a region of poverty and strife populated only by white people. It is a diverse place where belonging and connection are created despite displacement, resource extraction, and inequality.
Among the narratives included:
Hear from Claudine Katete, a Rwandan asylum seeker raised in refugee camps who graduated college into the chaos of COVID-19. Follow Amal as she and her family fled war-ravaged Syria and navigated mice-infested housing and unresponsive case workers. Listen to Mekyah Davis, born and raised in Big Stone Gap, as he describes the "slow burn" of everyday racism and his efforts to organize Black Appalachian youth to stay in their communities. Taken together, their stories and more collected here present a nuanced look at life in contemporary Appalachia.
Download the corresponding lesson plans on the Voice of Witness website.
About the author
Katrina M. Powell is Professor of Rhetoric and Writing and founding director of the Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on displacement narratives. She is cofounder of the digital-born oral history initiative, VTStories.org, founding editor of the journal
Roots and Resettlement, and codirector of Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia.
Poet
Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since 1987, she has been on the faculty of Virginia Tech, where she is a University Distinguished Professor.
Summary
First-person narratives of refugees, immigrants, and generations-long residents in Appalachia, highlighting how spaces of belonging, home, and connection are created in the face of displacement, extraction, and structural oppression.
Beginning Again collects the stories of twelve individuals who themselves (or their families before them) migrated and relocated to and within Appalachia. Whether people have lived in the region for a short time or for generations, journeys of resettlement in Appalachia are complex. While displacement and resettlement are not new in the region, popular misunderstandings often perpetuate stereotypes of refugees and immigrants as a drain on resources—and rural Appalachians as monolithically poor, white, and backwards. Within the dominant media, there is an expected Appalachian narrative and an expected refugee or immigrant narrative. Beginning Again adds to the growing body of works that counter damaging myths of Appalachia, illustrating that the region and its people have always been impacted by movement and migration.
With a focus on shared resettlement experiences, Beginning Again presents a nuanced portrait of life in contemporary Appalachia and asks how might we ensure equity, both for people who have lived in Appalachia for generations and for those newly arrived.
