The Waymakers Collective is dedicated to supporting community arts and organizations in the heart of Appalachia that are historically underfunded: those led by BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color), youth, LGBTQIA+, and non-English speakers/immigrants. Earlier this month, we held our Annual Gathering to celebrate our community of Appalachian artists, culture workers, organizers, activists, doers, and creatives who are committed to building a just and equitable Appalachian future.
Last year, our Annual Gathering was disrupted by others from our own Appalachian community who had politically conservative and outdated views about Appalachian identity – and who had the right to celebrate it. Waymakers was forced to end our 2023 Gathering early in order to leave the venue we had rented and get our members to safety.
And so, our approach for the 2024 Annual Gathering was twofold: how do we honor what had happened the year prior and take necessary precautions, while celebrating the diversity of the region:
Our Performance Showcase featured a lineup of all women. This year, we thought it was especially important to uplift and amplify Appalachian women’s voices while also highlighting the multiculturalism of our home.
We had musicians sharing some of their music and the stories behind them. Some spoke specifically about the isolation felt by so many rural artists. A comedian brought humor to her stories of supporting her trans son, and a Latinx storyteller shared the folktales of her own culture and told of the challenges that come with being an Spanish-speaking immigrant in Appalachia – and always being mistaken for a Mexican, even though that’s not her ethnic background.
It’s important to underscore that the dominant narrative of Appalachia as monocultural is somewhat backed up by data – its non-white population of only 20% is far below the national average). Nonetheless, Appalachia is more diverse than ever. How do we begin to show that and also change the narrative of who is said to be residing, and working creatively, in Appalachia?
There are rural artisans and musicians; absolutely. But there are also rappers and comedians and storytellers from immigrant backgrounds, and all of those people and groups have called our region home for a very long time. This cultural knowledge, and sharing it with others, is just as vital as financial resources and serves as its own capital.
It’s also about keeping place. Black communities in Asheville, which was adjacent to the location of this year’s Gathering, have been gentrified in the community; the Vanderbilt’s creation of their grand Biltmore Estate displaced an entire local black community. So there are still efforts to preserve that history – using the ephemera of demolition to create new art with physical and spiritual ties to the region.
Even more important is acquiring and reclaiming property exploited and stolen for profit by the coal industry and settler colonialism. It is vital for Appalachian lands to be returned to indigenous stewardship. One of these efforts, the Appalachian Rekindling Project (ARP), just announced that over 15 acres of Appalachian land in Virginia has been returned to Indigenous stewardship. The land acquired by ARP is on the ancestral lands of the Cherokee, Shawnee, and Yuchi, and will serve a need for intertribal space that is collectively managed by and accessible to multiple tribes. As an intertribal center, the project aims to rekindle relationships with homelands and one another. The center will provide space for many things such as the preservation of cultural practices, languages, and traditions as well as an avenue for responsible environmental stewardship.
It’s important to underscore that Central Appalachia is becoming more and more diverse every day. We should be inviting those people into our larger Appalachian community and building community with them. Like other traditionally conservative regions, in recent years Appalachia has seen attacks on diversity, representation and creative expression. It’s never been more important to show our joy, and that joy is our resistance to these times of repression.
- Waymakers: Celebrating and Protecting Diversity in Appalachia –by Joe Tolbert Jr. - September 12, 2024