Following the American Civil War, a group of freed people fled violence and bought land in Western North Carolina. In the summer of 1873, these people formed a Black communal society they named “The Kingdom of the Happy Land.” A new novel tells a story set in the kingdom, both in the past and in the present day. It’s titled, “Happy Land.” Host Mason Adams spoke with its author, Dolen Perkins-Valdez.
2020 presented new levels of outrage over police killings of Black and brown people in this nation. Police killed George Floyd and Breonna Taylor which prompted protests, marches and rallies to denounce racially motivated police brutality.
A Black Lives Matter (BLM) march in Kingwood, West Virginia set up a flash point for that tiny town. Black protestors and their allies faced off with white people who say Kingwood has no race problem. The angry white crowd outnumbered BLM marchers and showed the raw seam of rage that has come to define racism in this country.
In this Us & Them episode, host Trey Kay speaks with West Virginia Del. Danielle Walker, D-Monongalia, a woman pushing back at the fear and outrage of racial hatred in America.
This episode, which was originally posted in Jan. 2021, has been honored with a 2022 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation and the CRC Foundation.
Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.
Chris Jones
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100 Days In Appalachia
Kingwood BLM March organizer Frank Goines walks with West Virginia Del. Danielle Walker. Walker wears body armor under her shirt.
Chris Jones
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100 Days In Appalachia
BLM marcher at the Kingwood Rally passes a counter protester wearing a Nazi SS shirt with a swastika tattooed on his hand. Other counter protesters shouted insults and racial slurs at BLM marchers.
Chris Jones
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100 Days In Appalachia
As BLM marchers made their way through the streets of Kingwood, they passed armed counter protestors shouting racial epithets .
Chris Jones
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100 Days In Appalachia
West Virginia Del. Danielle Walker marches with a BLM activist on one arm and a counter protester on the other in an attempt to deescalate tension during a Black Lives Matter march in Kingwood, West Virginia in September 2020.
Following the American Civil War, a group of freed people fled violence and bought land in Western North Carolina. In the summer of 1873, these people formed a Black communal society they named “The Kingdom of the Happy Land.” A new novel tells a story set in the kingdom, both in the past and in the present day. It’s titled, “Happy Land.” Host Mason Adams spoke with its author, Dolen Perkins-Valdez.
This week on Inside Appalachia, the setting for a new novel is a communal society founded by freed people in North Carolina. It was a real place called The Kingdom of the Happy Land. Also, when a West Virginia pastor got assigned to a new church, some folks tried to warn him. And, the online world of Appalachian memes — and what they tell us about folks who live here.
