UACC Blog
A Review of King Coal: An Appalachian film that untangles the pain from the beauty, illuminating the innately human capacity for change
By Erinn Sweet As an organization that celebrates, studies, documents and advocates for Appalachian people and their ways of life, the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition (UACC) recognizes the many ...
The Harlan Renaissance: A Visit from Dr. Bill Turner by Pauletta Hansel
It’s not too often that the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition says we are welcoming Appalachian royalty to Cincinnati, but with Dr. William Turner’s visit on September 21, that phrase seems to...
Swept into the Appalachian Flow – A Reflection from UACC Place Keepers Apprentice Rose Gibson
By Rose Gibson I grew up knowing my family had strong Appalachian ties. My grandpa turned a leathery tan in the summer thanks to his Melungeon roots. My Aunt Jo Jo taught me about snake handling servi...
Stephen H. Laird Found—and Shared—Silver Linings December 9, 1943 to June 20, 2023
By Nancy Laird This summer, the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition lost a longtime member, supporter and friend in Stephen H. Laird of Price Hill. Steve’s wife Nancy is a UACC Core member as well...
Folkways & Fandoms: Tyler Childers’ Music Video Sparks Discourse on Appalachian Identity, Country Music, Storytelling & Representation
By Erinn Sweet The Urban Appalachian Community Coalition (UACC) has a decades-long history of supporting Appalachian culture, art and advocacy in the Greater Cincinnati area, and beyond. Whether it is...
Try Love in a Small Town
By Elissa Yancey In a hot, hot summer when the stereotypically brutal movie “Deliverance” turns 50 and a Jason Aldean hymn to small town violence tops the charts, we at the Urban Appalachian Commu...
Re-run: Core Member Pauletta Hansel takes on her New Role as Writer-in-Residence at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
By Mike Templeton Originally published January 16, 2022 **** UACC Core Member and urban Appalachian poet Pauletta Hansel was selected by the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (CHPL) as ...
Demon Copperhead: A Moving and Inspiring Story of Our Time
By Jeff Dey This week, I finished Demon Copperhead, the celebrated latest novel by Barbara Kingsolver. It has won both the Pulitzer Prize and (in my opinion, even better) the Weatherford Award g...
Appalachian Foodways: Poisonous Plant or Appalachian Delicacy?
By Erinn Sweet You may recognize pokeweed as that pesky plant that sprouts along chain link fences, under powerlines, in dense forest floors and open pastures. Pokeweed is recognized by its spear-shap...
Re-run: Worse than folks can imagine: how to help flood-ravaged southeastern Kentucky
By Pauletta HanselOriginally posted August 1, 2022 **** The mainstream media may have forgotten, but we certainly have not. Between July 26 and July 30, 2022, eastern Kentucky and central Appalachia e...
The Appalachian Breastfeeding Network
By Mike Templeton The Urban Appalachian Community Coalition has a deep investment in public health. This goes back to the earliest days of the Urban Appalachian Council and its mission of advocacy and...
“Perceptions of Home: The Urban Appalachian Spirit”: Urban Appalachian Images and Interviews
By Mike Templeton The 52nd Annual Appalachian Festival featured numerous exhibits that demonstrate the rich culture of Appalachia. Some of these exhibits allowed people to see some of the ways Appalac...
The Historic Mill Creek and the Mill Creek Alliance
By Mike Templeton One of the most important issues for the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition, and Urban Appalachian Council before us, has been environmental justice, as so many urban Appalachians...
Appalachian Foodways: Foraging the Common Dandelion
By Mike Templeton An essential feature of any culture is food, and this is why a regular focus of the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition blog is Appalachian foodways. Our foodways and traditions ar...
Adam Payne and the online magazine YNST: New Voices and Ideas from the Appalachian Region
By Mike Templeton There are many media sources one can follow to keep up with what is going on in and around Appalachia. The Urban Appalachian Community Coalition works to bring you many of these thro...
Saving the Boldface Park Shelter in Sedamsville
By Mike Templeton Cincinnati’s west side riverfront neighborhoods have historically been urban Appalachian neighborhoods. These areas have long been the focus of Urban Appalachian Community Coalitio...
Our Harvest Cooperative: Building Community through a Worker-Owned Business Model
By Mike Templeton When we think about building and empowering communities, we often think in terms of two separate spheres of work. We look to businesses to offer employment, and we look to groups lik...
Urban Appalachian Artist and Advocate Michael London wins 2023 Ohio Governor’s Award for the Arts
By Mike Templeton For the Urban Appalachian Community, art and advocacy are deeply linked. How we speak on behalf of our communities has everything to do with how we represent urban Appalachians both ...