As a queer and gender-nonconforming person navigating life in a region deeply entrenched in Christianity, I find myself straddling two worlds. While I don’t hold any religious beliefs, I cannot deny the profound impact that Appalachian and Deep Southern Christianity have on the queer experience. Not only is religion pitted […]
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As we prepare to close the book on 2023, the staff here at 100 Days is thinking back on some of the writing that resonated with them this past year. With topics ranging from religion to community, check out some of their favorites below. ‘Harm Reduction Saves Lives’: Meet the […]
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We primeval forests felling,We the rivers stemming, vexing we, and piercing deep the mines within;We the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving, Pioneers! O pioneers! – Stanza 7 from Pioneers! O Pioneers by Walt Whitman When we hear the word “pioneer” – especially in the Appalachian context – […]
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This summer, our Pittsburgh family took a long-awaited bucket list road trip through Appalachia. We had recently spent 18 months driving the Pan American highway, and while it was an epic journey, the need to deeply explore our roots kept calling to us. We wanted our three children to experience […]
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1993: Our pastor swayed slowly under the cover of a park pavilion — the kind rented out for graduation parties and wedding showers — and the rest of us stood on muddy grass to look at him. It was our church’s annual sunrise Easter service, held in a small park […]
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I can remember going to a convention for changemakers in West Virginia about four years ago. There was a booth for one organization with the slogan, “Here for the Long Haul.” The idea was that they were here to support the generation of young people that didn’t move away. They […]
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