This week, Inside Appalachia, a West Virginia man is reviving a Black coal camp through farming. Also, the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan includes a summer camp for teens to study their heritage. And, the Reverend George Mills Dickerson of Tazewell, Virginia, was born in the years after slavery ended. He’s remembered during Juneteenth through his poetry.
Us & Them host Trey Kay joined a small group to travel through America’s southern states learning about the country’s racial past and the impact of the civil rights movement today. This immersive journey took them across several states to places that have come to define periods in America’s racial history — from Charleston, South Carolina’s slave trade market to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
The group visited sites that put this country’s racist history on display, and Kay was along to hear them reflect on our nation and themselves.
This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and CRC Foundation.
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James Person, one of the original Freedom Riders, in Atlanta, GA, with Us & Them host Trey Kay.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingProf. Todd Allen speaking to a tour group at King Center in Atlanta, GA.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingUs & Them host Trey Kay at Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingFinal resting place for Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King in Atlanta, GA.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingBetsy Disharoon in her art studio in the suburbs of Boston, MA.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingMcLeod Plantation is a former slave plantation located on James Island, near Charleston, SC.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingJohn Gardiner stands in front of small cabins, which once house enslaved people, and speaks about the history of the McLeod Plantation and the slave trade in Charleston, SC.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingAziz Abu Sarah, founder of Mejdi Tours, rides on a bus heading to Charleston, SC and tells travelers about his experience as a Palestinian growing up in Jerusalem.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public BroadcastingMejdi Tours’ Civil Rights Journey stops at the site of the future International African American Museum in Charleston, SC.
Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
This week, Inside Appalachia, a West Virginia man is reviving a Black coal camp through farming. Also, the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan includes a summer camp for teens to study their heritage. And, the Reverend George Mills Dickerson of Tazewell, Virginia, was born in the years after slavery ended. He’s remembered during Juneteenth through his poetry.
Marion County native and playwright Cody LeRoy Wilson is returning to his home state to stage a production in the Contemporary American Theater Festival.
On this West Virginia Morning, we hear about a new play from a West Virginia playwright, plus listen to the musical stylings of Paul Thorn for our Song Of The Week.
State borders are now all important in determining access to abortion. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, West Virginia’s only abortion clinic has moved across the border to Maryland to continue providing abortions. This Us & Them episode was recently honored by the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters as Best Podcast of 2024.