“Chris Aluka Berry’s Affrilachia: Testimonies is a much-needed exploration of African American life in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Berry’s epic book combines oral history, poems, historical essays, and archival images to tell the story of community and faith. He interweaves these elements with a series of tenderly observed documentary and landscape photographs that offer a remarkable opportunity to better understand the relationship between history, identity, and place.”
~Stacy Kranitz, photographer and Guggenheim Fellow
“Affrilachia,” a term first coined by Kentucky poet Frank X Walker, refers to the cultural contributions of African Americans who live in Appalachia. Although Black Americans have greatly influenced the popular culture landscape in this region, their stories, trials, and triumphs are often undocumented because Appalachia is perceived as wholly white.
In this stunning visual history, storytelling photographer Chris Aluka Berry gives voice to the broad spectrum of African Americans who have lived in the Appalachian region over the centuries. Berry immersed himself in the communities and lives of Black Appalachians to present the diversity and commonalities of the proud people in the region.
His intimate and revealing photographs capture African Americans in various settings—churches, homes, revival services, family gatherings, and celebrations. Completing this collection are powerful narratives from the people who inhabit these places, and contributions from Appalachian writers Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam, whose poignant and powerful poems and essays offer historical perspective and broaden the book’s archival importance.
