Project Summary

This project focuses on founders and participants of the Affrilachian Symposium. The Affrilachian Symposium, held to honor the historical contributions of African Americans to Appalachian regional heritage, took place March 9-10, 2011 at the University of Kentucky Student Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Frank X Walker, Kathy Y. Wilson, and Ashley Bourgeois discuss organizing the symposium, Affrilachian poetry, Walker's coining of Affrilachian as a term, the geographic limitations of Appalachian identity, historical continuities between slavery and present-day racism, and writing.