If it’s true we are mother, father, sister, brother, related all to all, maybe that's one way to comprehend and befriend the ten thousand things. The hundreds of voices, cries, and songs rising from this manifold marsh.
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VIDEO: When the Confederate Flag Cuts and Runs
We direct your amusement to this Tiffany Thouartdope Finkton insta-rap. She made it after capturing a special moment outside the Kaoard of Education meeting to consider renaming Stonewall Jackson Middle School in Charleston WV. The fellow who arrived with a Confederate flag was definitely not reading the room.
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VIDEO READINGS| “Terracotta Tile,” a prompted tale by Connie Kinsey
"He was rage and she was ennui. She picked up her glass and took a sip. The wine tasted bitter. She couldn’t remember when he had last been happy. He stood in front of her. Silent, but radiating a need to speak. “What?” she said softly.
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VIEW FROM THE PLAYGROUND: On Changing Stonewall Jackson Middle School’s Name
As adults decide the future of Stonewall Jackson Middle School's name at meeting Monday, July 6, 2020, we visited a playground in Charleston WV to find out what a group of students thought about the idea.
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POINTS of VIEW | ‘If You’re Silent About Your Pain’
A LETTER TO NEUTRAL COLLEAGUES: "I realize you may be actually confused about whether blacks are offended or feel pain from reminders of that dark period. Zora Neale Neale Hurston once said: "If you're silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it." So, I will clarify that we are offended. We are in pain."
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‘ALEXANDRIA SPEAKS’: Why Stonewall Jackson Middle School Needs a New Name
Why rename a school long named for a Confederate general? Watch a 13-year-old student in Charleston WV tell why in an impassioned plea to the adults considering whether to rename her Stonewall Jackson Middle School.
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CHARACTERS | The One-Armed Bandit of No. 1 Holler, West Virginia
The life story of the "The One-Armed Bandit" is the stuff of heroes and legends. You may not know Gary Mays' tale, though, as the major league career the West Virginia native might have had may have been blocked by racism. But nothing ever kept Gary Mays down for long.
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NATUREGRAM 1 | Sheltering-in-Nature during a Pandemic
Could you use some Canadian geese, chuckling water and scenes of nature not trying to sell you something? Here is a WestVirginiaVille Public Service Mental Health Pandemic Video.
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READINGS | Ruminations of a Coal Miner’s Ex-wife
"Living here in Southern WV is very much like not being able to see the forest for the trees. So much of what went wrong in my marriage went wrong because my then-husband was being exploited and made to think that he had the good life. No—he was made to think he had the best life. He couldn’t say no."
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DITCHING MITCH: A Crowdsourced Look at the Roots of a WV Senate President’s Ouster
We hereby enter these videos into the Multimedia Historical Records of the Great State of WestVirginiaVille. How Mitch got Ditched: a crowdsourced look at the beginnings of a purge.
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POINTS of VIEW: ‘What Is Their Cause, Has to be My Cause’
Suddenly, what is of importance only to people of color is now of utmost of importance to this person of white privilege. ~ Rabbi Victor Urecki
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SONGS of WEST VIRGINIA | “I Know I’m Home”
The tune "I Know I'm Home" kicks off a new WestVirginiaVille series showcasing original "Songs of West Virginia." The tune was co-written by Al Smith and Ron Sowell, the leader of the "Mountain Stage" band. Sowell was a wandering minstrel who landed here and found some harmony. And stayed for good.
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Prehistoric W.Va. was not an uninhabited hunting ground
You don't have to live long in West Virginia before you hear that the land used to be a "hunting ground" for Native Americans. The actual history is more vibrant and complex, as the region was more likely "an Interaction Zone" or melting pot of native ethnicities, languages, and technology.
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UNMASKED! |A Pandemic Photo Project
Yes, of course you should still be wearing a mask in public. A second wave of infections? We're not even through the first. Here are some masked inspirations—followed by their unmasked selves.
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PODCAST | A Coal River Homeless Camp Tale of Survival
Homelessness is something most people see on a regular basis here in West Virginia. But what about the homelessness we don't see? Kyle Vass takes us into a St. Albans homeless camp at the heart of community fight over their riverside existence.
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PRESS RELEASE: Our ‘Office of Soundwaves’ Ministers Up
Kyle Vass of Huntington, is joining the WestVirginiaVille Council as a Minister in the Office of Soundwaves. He'll offer advice and consultation on the best soundwaves to feature across the site and in collaboration with other media outlets and producers who deal in great soundwaves.
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POETICS| An Almost Heaven & James Brown Upbringing
I was raised on Almost Heaven and Hee Haw/Taught to love God and the UMWA/I was an odd little Black girl/Growing up in the coalfields of West Virginia ...
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A Public Service Announcement from the Juggling Community
We hereby present to you "A Juggler's Guide to Covid-19," as we believe this will be the first—and the last —of those you will see during the current pandemic.
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EDITOR’S NOTEPAD: Mitch Gets Moved & WV Can’t Wait Begins a Movement
By Jove, West Virginia voters did indeed "Move Mitch, Get Out the Way." Meanwhile, the WV Can't Wait campaign of Stephen Smith came up short, but the start of its "movement" did not.
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DRIVE-BY LOVE: Portrait of a Pop-Up Pride and Black Lives Matter Parade
There were balloons and streamers. There were rainbow flags. And lots of honks. A video/photographic portrait of a literally moving Pride and Black Lives Matter parade in Huntington WV on june6.2020
