Up-and-Comers

“They Say in Harlan County, There Are No Neutrals There”

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Abstract

bell hooks (1952–2021), a celebrated author, professor, and activist from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, uses the terrain of Appalachia and the long history of Appalachian labor as a means of connecting with the past, of remembering her ancestors, and of staking claim to a diverse, complex Appalachia that exists today and has existed for centuries. Her portraits of Appalachia—bursting with sweeping, unmoving mountains and grieving ghosts in dirt roads—showcase the intimate, nuanced bond hooks has with her Kentucky roots. In her poems, hooks also dives into the weight of history: the legacy of white colonization, the enslavement of Africans, the genocide of Indigenous peoples, and the labor exploitation of coal miners. Appalachia is a place where history lies on top of more history; layers and layers of ghosts pile on top of each other like rings on a tree or the height of a mountain.

How to Cite:

Johansen, E., (2022) ““They Say in Harlan County, There Are No Neutrals There””, MAC Newsletter 49(3), 23-28.