A CULTURAL PHENOMENON

"To be Affrilachian is to represent the un-represented. Dismantle stereotypes. Remind the United States and Webster’s Dictionary that to be from the Appalachian Mountain Region is to be multi-cultural, to embody a multitude of traditions and stories. The word “Affrilachia” was in fact started as a response to the definition of Appalachia, which included only the white residents of that mountain region. Looking for a place within that narrow space, Walker coined the term “Affrilachia” to include writers of color, transplanted writers, writers who have gone away and come back, and ones who have never left. The Affrilachian Poets of today are an international collective that responds to the past with the muscle of diversity, representing Africa, Puerto Rico, India, China, the Middle-East, the Caribbean, Chicago, New York, Cincinnati, and Kentucky, and on and on. A co-mingling of artists who carry many cities and lives within them. It is with this unique crew of artists that many have found a home, a haven."

Excerpt from "Affrilachians at the Nuyorican" (originally printed in the Southeast Review) by Ellen Hagan (2008)

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