Here are two versions of Crystal Good reading/performing her iconic poem "BOOM BOOM," which reflects on strip-mining mountains and women who strip off their clothes for money.
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POETICS: “Appalachian Marie Kondo” by Crystal Good
I live in the disorder of a missing mother. / I sit in the middle of my mess. / I hear my mother’s voice: / You don’t need this. / This doesn't fit. / When was the last time you used this? ...
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EDITORS/NOTE: Look this way
Here is looking at you, Thomas, West Virginia. Plus, how a COVID test saved Jeff Seager's heart and maybe his life; a Crystal Good essay on Black miners and Blair Mountain; new poetry and prose by James Cochran from "I Am Appalachian," and how to get kids talking climate change before it's too late.
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FIRST/PERSON: Finding Yo-Yo Ma playing cello in the West Virginia hills
Who was that man bowing a cello against a tree in the New River Gorge? Why, it's none other than one of the world's best known and loved instrumental maestros. And he has something to say as well as to play.
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EDITORS/NOTE: What’s up with an all-poetry edition, man? Isn’t that weird?
When I conceived of devoting an entire issue of this monthly WestVirginiaVille web magazine to poets or poems with some connection to West Virginia I didn't realize that when all was writ and done it would end up being quite so ambitious. And ... um, large ...
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INDEX: Guide to stories in September 2022 Poetry Edition
Here's a clickable guide to all the poetry and features in the special September 2022 edition of WestVirginiaVille.com
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CARTOONERY: Black By God acidly sketches Joe Manchin’s life & times
'BLACK BY GOD: The West Virginian' revives in the state a formally potent tradition — the zinger, draw-truth-to-power editorial cartoon and Joe Manchin has been a favorite zingee of this “storytelling organization centering Black voices from the Mountain State.”
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LISTEN/UP: Artists & Podcasters worth noting via BLACK BY GOD
From hip-hop innovator Shelem, based in Charleston WV, to a lineup of podcasts worth checking out, a heads up from Black By God on performers and podcasts to watch and hear.
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First Streets in West Virginia
The streets of downtown Huntington have changed considerably since I began strolling them in 1980. So, too, have I.
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EDITORS/NOTE: December2021
Here's what's up in the December 2021 issue, last one for awhile as we go on hiatus with this edition until March 1, 2022.
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What we are reading — or what is reading us
A survey of paragraphs, images, articles and links that pinged our radar and got us thinking.
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CARTOON: A funny thing happened to Joe Manchin on his way to Heaven …
Here's what happened when West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin showed up at the Pearly Gates of Heaven, briefcase in hand ...
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EDITORS/NOTE: It’s a Character Thing
Charly Jupiter Hamilton speaks for himself in a three-part farewell to the beloved West Virginia artist that involves hippos and painted coffins. Plus, Michael and Carrie Nobel Kline on the tricky art of listening. And two famous character studies, imprisoned separately by booze and prison bars.
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RE/PRINT: ‘Almost Heaven ’Til We Get There’: Black Miners and Blair Mountain
"I’m a sixth-generation West Virginian. My children are seventh-generation. My generational claim to Appalachia is subversive. It talks back to cavalier anti-Black stories of poor white redneck hillbillies and to the white people who claim an entire region as their own."
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EDITORS/NOTE: Elephant Ankles, a Dad’s love, Natural Sonatas, CROWN Act-ing & More
Welcome to the June 2021 issue of WestVirginiaVille. This edition covers lots of ground. It helps to have good people as guides, leading the way.
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PICTURE/SHOW: Kyle Vass on taking his best shot
A little over a year into his work doing audio journalism, Kyle Vass realized every story, regardless of what medium it's being told through, needs pictures. Here's what happened next.
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RE/PRINT: Only 7 states have passed the CROWN Act. Could West Virginia be next?
While advocates of the CROWN Act promise they'll be back for the 2022 Legislative session, they're also looking beyond the WV Capitol to make change to confront white beauty standards in West Virginia.
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EDITORS/NOTE: The Art of Speaking Up
The May 2021 issue of WestVirginiaVille.com features a lot of folks speaking up, singing out, and asking, if not demanding to be heard. Here's an overview of the issue's content.
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RE/PRINT: Consuming Blackness in ‘progressive’ West Virginia
"White women were laughing and grabbing for bites of sushi off a human body. That imagery doesn't fade. Instead, it continues to enrage me. It stands as both a metaphor and real evidence of oppression and silence."
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PHOTO/EDITORIAL: Springtime for a Supermajority in W.Va.
The desire to bust out of a politically benighted, often colonially run, and depressed-in-every-which-way state has a long and storied past. Where I am right now on the 'fight/flight/freeze' syndrome that comes with living in West Virginia.