Announcing AppalHealth!

African American staff at Appalshop are excited to announce a new project: AppalHealth! African Americans have been a vital part of Appalachian Kentucky’s history and culture for over 100 years. However, their role in the workforce and communities has not been adequately recognized, documented, or celebrated. African Americans also suffer from chronic health problems, often made worse by ill-informed health providers and systemic racism.

AppalHealth will increase knowledge of the heritage and lived experiences of Black people in Eastern Kentucky by documenting and lifting up the history and life stories of current residents in Letcher, Harlan, Perry, and Knott Counties. An important part of the AppalHealth Project is a focus on sharing health and health care experiences and providing opportunities for community residents to work with health and social service providers to improve health services and ultimately health outcomes.

For this project to succeed, we need your help! During spring 2024, the AppalHealth team will organize community health forums in each county, during which residents will have opportunities to interact with health and social service providers to share experiences and offer suggestions for improved services. 

Will you partner with us? We need you and your stories! If you are interested in sharing your story or family history or you know someone who might be, please contact Tiffany Turner at 662-352-4307 or [email protected]. For more information, visit bit.ly/AppalHealth.

Performing Our Future

We also wanted to express our appreciation for the Chorus Foundation, which allowed the Performing Our Future team to present our cookbook, featuring food and organizing recipes from each delegation, at the Imagining America National Gathering in Rhode Island and to highlight and plan our Artist and Culture Organizer Residency at the Wisconsin Delegation Rural Urban Flow’s Winter Exchange. If you don’t yet know, Performing Our Future is a multiracial coalition of rural and urban communities working through culture to build power and wealth. ​Our goal is ​a future where everyone belongs and everyone's contribution matters—where together, we own what we make.

These two events were a reminder of how food and conversation have contributed to organizing back to the first century. Food, culture, and art are the staples of the work of Performing Our Future, and we look forward to being a part of more gatherings like this and possibly hosting a few of our own. There is a way to organize a multicultural, intergenerational coalition effectively. We’ve got the blueprint to start, but will need your continued help to make it a reality.  

To support AppalHealth and Performing Our Future, choose “Community Media Initiative” in this dropdown. Thank you!

Peace and Love,

Tiffany Turner

Community Development Coordinator, Community Media Initiative

Save the Date

Seedtime on the Cumberland, our free mountain arts festival, is returning for the 38th year—for one day only!

Join us Saturday, June 1, in Whitesburg, Kentucky! For more information or to get involved, contact [email protected]. 

Bookmark appalshop.org/seedtime and RSVP on our Facebook event page to stay updated. Hope to see you there!