By Stacia L. Brown

Black Appalachians. Together, the words may sound like a setup for a sketch comedy segment, one of those absurd oxymorons, a concept so rare and novel as to be considered all but non-existent (and thus fair game for poking slapsticky fun). But if in your mind you’ve conjured an image of brown-skinned, banjo-plucking hillbillies on back porches, you’ve never read the work of Frank X. Walker.

Walker, an author, educator, activist, and Danville, Kentucky native, has been working for years to both raise America’s awareness of the extensive black Appalachian presence, as well as their artistic and cultural contribution to the region. In fact, he is the creator of the term, “Affrilachia,” coined well over a decade ago because, as his website’s Artist Statement asserts, “[he] believes it is [his] responsibility to say as loudly and often as possible that people and artists of color are part of the past and present of the multi-state Appalachian region extending from northern Mississippi to southern New York.”

The author of three books of poetry, Affrilachia, Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York, and Black Box, editor of this fall’s America! What’s My Name? The “Other” Poets Unfurl the Flag, Walker has made significant strides in his battl-e against Appalachian stereotyping and amplifying the voice of African Americans native to the region, particularly this year with the launch of PLUCK! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture. But as Mosaic spoke with Walker, it became increasingly clear that there’s still much more work to be done.

Stacia Brown: How have things changed for African Americans in the Appalachian region since you co- founded the Affrilachian Poets in 1991?

Frank Walker: If anything has changed, I think it’s around an identity issue. I meet people all the time from the region who don’t live here anymore and express gratitude that a word exists that allows them to connect with their experience and identity.

Affrilachian Poets has given people a way back into their own home. Another recognizable difference is that enough African Americans have published individually that [their work] has lent a collective star power to arts in general from the region. Those who never thought of Appalachia as a non-white entity can now conclude that it is.

SB: You have seven siblings, correct? Where do you fall in the birth order? Are any of your siblings writers?

FW: Actually, I’m one of ten–I’m the second oldest; I have an older sister. None of them are writers; they’re almost afraid of writing. They’re all very creative people, but my mother was a nurse and most of my siblings are sisters. They’ve all leaned toward health care and away from the arts.

SB: What kind of feedback have you received from them regarding your artistic endeavors?

FW: They’ve always been encouraging, but they never knew what it was I did. I was always the strange kid with the books. The things I was interested in were always boring by their standards. They enjoy seeing their names [in my writing] or seeing things they recognize, but I don’t think it’s a big deal to them. Most of them live in the same small town, and [my writing is] not something they talk about. But they’ve always been supportive and loving.

SB: Your 2006 NPR essay, “Creative Solutions to Life’s Challenges” states, “Many of life’s challenges need creative solutions.” Describe a particularly significant challenge you’ve conquered with creativity.

FW: I would have to say that coining the word Affrilachia was a creative endeavor, and the challenge was to help people of color to fit into a place they were born in.

SB: What aspect of being an Affrilachian native and resident inspires the most pride?

FW: I’m part of an extended family who can claim that August Wilson and Nina Simone grew up in their same region. And I think our values are similar. When we connect the dots between these artists of color, there’s a certain kind of uniqueness. You can’t put Nina Simone in any one category, and I think that has to do with the way she grew up and the values she brought with her. Those influences really shaped her art. [Affrilachians] tend to be trendsetters, a vanguard of intellects. Nikki Giovanni, Henry Louis Gates…these are people we claim and recognize as ours, and it feels great.

SB: What aspect has been the biggest challenge?

FW: Continuing to do battle against the pervasive and shallow caricatures of region people. When people think of Appalachia, they still think of Li’l Abner, The Dukes of Hazard, The Beverly Hillbillies, Hee Haw. The media takes its audience away from the art and products that I wish we were better known for. But I think it’s gonna take more people than [myself] and much longer than I have [to overcome those images] because they’re so pervasive on the American psyche, due to mass media.

SB: In what ways do you most relate to York, slave of William Clark (of the historic Lewis and Clark expedition) and the protagonist of your Buffalo Dance poetry collection?

FW: I think being allowed to tell my own story even though it might contradict what somebody else may have said about who I am or who my people are [is how I relate best]. I think of York as a poet just trying to tell his story.

SB: What, if anything, do you find most puzzling or intriguing about him?

FW: He had so many opportunities to escape during his life and adulthood and he didn’t. As some- one who loves freedom and has a hard time grasping the idea of being a slave, I definitely find that intriguing.

SB: Have your children expressed an interest in writing? What has their response been to your work?

FW: They’re very talented writers. My son (Dvan) is 16 now, but when he was in elementary school he finished three different books, and one of them won the school system’s highest book award. He wrote and illustrated each himself. My daughter (Nikki) earned her way into the state’s School for the Arts based on her writing talent. They both grew up in poetry readings. I think writing just felt natural.

SB: To what genre of music do you relate or connect most?

FW: It depends on the day. I would say jazz, mostly, because jazz itself is such a diverse medium, and there’s a kind for every mood I have.

SB: What books have left the most lasting impressions on you?

FW: Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying. In fact, it was that book that really became the seed for York’s character as a poet. In [A Lesson Before Dying], the protagonist writes in a journal. I tried to imagine a whole book like that, and it eventually led me to figure out the York sequence.

Actually, the life of Ernest Gaines has inspired me as well. To be able to teach one semester and write the rest of year, that’s the best kind of writer’s life.

Another influential book is William H. Turner and Edward J. Cabbell’s Blacks in Appalachia. It’s a collection of essays from a scholastic point of view, and for a while, it was really the only thing out there that was saying anything about blacks in the region.

SB: Have Affrilachian residents who aren’t directly involved in the arts thanked you for calling attention to their presence in the Appalachian region?

FW: Yes, frequently through email and by coming to readings. Now that our journal is in circulation, we get letters to the editor. Even non-African Americans write in to express their appreciation of this collection of information. The diversity of the region is be- ing detailed in print, including the African-American contribution, and that can shape how people view Appalachia. They think it’s white and poor, and it’s hard to see differently. I think if you can recognize what’s truly there…if you’re forced to include and consider how far the region reaches, including Birmingham and Pittsburgh, it changes the stereotypes immediately. That’s part of what the [Affrilachian Poets] do. We broaden and colorize the region [to debunk its stereotypes].

SB: Could you talk a little bit about PLUCK! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture?

FW: Well, it started after I won the Lannan. (Walker was the 2005 recipient of the distinguished Lannan Literary Fellowship in Poetry.) I wanted to express the generosity I felt [directed] toward me and to provide a vehicle for other writers to have their work out there. It was an idea I played with for a while but I didn’t have the capital. The Lannan provided that. I called on all my friends for the first couple issues. We’re slowly building a subscription base and getting libraries and universities on board. I’m really proud of it.

SB: What’s on your horizon for the upcoming year?

FW: Well, I’ve got a book tour and a half, I guess. A new book came out [in September], an anthology called America! What’s My Name?, which I edited. We kicked off several events for it recently.

But I’m most excited about the sequel to Buffalo Dance. It’s called The Ascension of York, and it’s due out in winter. It came about due to the response and talk-back that happened after the Buffalo Dance tour. I found out that York had a wife and a family. His wife was from the Nez Perce Indian tribe. On the reading tour, I visited an Idaho reservation with my son. While there, we developed friendships that yielded history, revealing more about York’s wife and his son. Their descendants were actually [on the reservation] and I got to meet and have dinner with them. That inspired the sequel.

This book rounds out York’s story, his wife’s, and various others. There are around twelve different voices, including a supernatural voice, that complete the story. The Ascension of York comes out in February, and I’m organizing book tours for it now.

Find out more about Frank X. Walker’s mission, accomplishments, and upcoming events and publications at his official website, http://www.frankxwalker.com.