African American Women in Appalachia: Personal Expressions

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African American Women in Appalachia: Personal Expressions AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN IN APPALACHIA: PERSONAL EXPRESSIONS OF RACE, PLACE AND GENDER A Thesis by YUNINA CAROL BARBOUR-PAYNE Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Chair of Committee, David Donkor Committee Members, Judith Hamera Violet Johnson Head of Department, Donnalee Dox August 2014 Major Subject: Performance Studies Copyright 2014 Yunina Barbour-Payne ABSTRACT African American women in Appalachia have lived, survived and long been overlooked by dominant narratives that support stereotypical depictions of the Appalachian region and its inhabitants. A little over twenty years ago, poet and scholar Frank X Walker coined the term “Affrilachia” to describe people of African American decent in the Appalachian region. Though Walker’s term announces the presence of blacks in Appalachia, in a multidimensional sense of cultural identity place is a central theme, along with race, gender, and class, in the identity experiences of Appalachia’s African American women inhabitants. As a marginalized group in the region of Appalachia, Black Appalachian women discussed in this work provide a compelling case for understanding identity experiences within the region. This thesis works to acknowledge and analyze the “intersectionality” in the personal expressions, poetry and creative works of Black Appalachian women. This thesis investigates the personal expressions of four modes of survival by African American women in/of Appalachia to understand the multiple dimensions of Affrilachian identity and memory. This research project brings together scholarship of performances studies and Kimberle Crenshaw’s notion of intersectionality to explore the unquestionable intersection of place and other dimensions (race, class, gender) of the African American women’s experience in Appalachia. This thesis explores how themes of survival and place manifest in the oral history, personal narratives and creative works of Black women in Appalachia. The investigation and analysis of Affrilachian women’s identity ii from the point of view of Affrilachian women, offers an opportunity to exponentially increase our understanding of the intersections of class, gender, race and place in performances of the everyday life. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my mother, Remona Barbour, who has shown me firsthand what Black women’s survival in Appalachia “sounds like,” “looks like,” and “lives like,” my entire life. I love you to the moon and the stars and back. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. David Donkor for providing the metaphoric twigs, time and patience to help me to build my nest. Thank you to my committee members. Dr. Judith Hamera thank you for your deep listening, brilliance and insight throughout the course of this research. Dr. Violet Johnson thank you for your energy, support and reminders about the power in knowing and celebrating Black women’s knowledge in and of ourselves. Thanks to my mother, aunts, sisters-friends and family for their encouragement, prayers, patience and love. Your prayers have been felt and accepted throughout my life and this journey has been no different. Thank you to my mentor Dr. Daryl Harris for your prayers, counsel and support of my creative/spiritual self always. Thank you to my Appalachian mothers, Dr. Anita Pucket, Dr. Betty Fine and Dr. Rebecca Bailey, for formally introducing me to Appalachia and helping me understand the value of the region as an undergraduate. I also want to extend my gratitude to the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute, which provided the support for my research in Appalachia. Also, I want to extend thanks to Africana Studies, the Virginia Polytechnic State Institution Special Collections, the family of Ms. Beatrice Walker and to all the Affrilachian Poets, especially those who were willing to participate in the study. Finally, thanks also go to my friends, colleagues and the department faculty and staff for making my time at Texas A&M University a great learning experience. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Research Question and Methodology ............................................................................ 2 Chapter Overviews ..................................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER II ‘BOOM BOOM!’ CREATIVE SURVIVAL IN AFFRILACHIAN POETRY ............................................................................................................................ 7 Brief Background to Affrilachian Poets ......................................................................... 9 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................ 10 Introducing the Poets .................................................................................................... 12 Kelly Norman Ellis ................................................................................................... 12 Crystal Wilkinson ..................................................................................................... 12 Bianca Spriggs .......................................................................................................... 13 Crystal Good ............................................................................................................. 14 Introducing the Poems .................................................................................................. 14 “Raised by Women” ................................................................................................. 14 “Terrain” ................................................................................................................... 15 “My Kinda Woman” ................................................................................................ 16 “BOOM BOOM” ..................................................................................................... 17 Themes: Identity, Homeplace, and Connection to the Region ..................................... 18 Identity ...................................................................................................................... 18 Homeplace ................................................................................................................ 24 Connection to the Region ......................................................................................... 26 Connection to the Land: Environmental Degradation .............................................. 29 Community: Literary Arts Community and Creative Family of Colorful Voices ....... 35 Affrilachian Literary Arts Community ..................................................................... 35 Creative Family ........................................................................................................ 37 vi Teaching: Redefining Appalachia and Imagining Affrilachia ................................. 39 CHAPTER III ‘NO PLACE LIKE NEWTOWN’: THE PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF ONE BLACK APPALACHIAN WOMAN ............................................................... 41 The Personal Narrative of Ms. Faith Christian ............................................................ 42 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................ 44 Themes: Home, Kinship and Terrain ........................................................................... 47 Home ........................................................................................................................ 48 Kinship ..................................................................................................................... 52 Terrain ...................................................................................................................... 54 Communities: Loving Neighborhood, Family, and Secret Society ............................. 56 Loving Neighborhood .............................................................................................. 57 Family ....................................................................................................................... 59 Secret Society ........................................................................................................... 63 Teachings: American Utopic Community, Race Relations, the Work of Nostalgia .... 66 Race: Lesson 1 .......................................................................................................... 71 Race: Lesson 2 .......................................................................................................... 75 Race: Lesson 3 .......................................................................................................... 78 CHAPTER IV
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