Press release from historian Dr. Maia A. Surdam:
Marshall-based photographer Chris Aluka Berry announces a series of events to celebrate the recent publication of his first book, Affrilachia: Testimonies (published in Oct. 2024 by The University Press of Kentucky). In this stunning visual history, Berry documentsthe broad spectrum of African Americans who have lived in the Appalachian region over the centuries. He spent six years making photographs in western North Carolina, northeast Georgia, and eastern Tennessee by immersing himself in the communities and lives of Black Appalachians to present their diversity and commonalities. His intimate and revealing photographs capture African Americans in various settings—churches, homes, revival services, family gatherings, and home-going celebrations. Completing this comprehensive photography collection are powerful narratives from the people who inhabit these places, gleaned from oral history interviews. Contributions from writer, poet and oral historian—DC-based and Appalachian-rooted—Kelly Elaine Navies, and local historian Dr. Maia A. Surdam, offer personal and historical perspectives that broaden the work’s archival importance. The first book of its kind, Affrilachia: Testimonies is an inspired historical artifact that honors, represents, and celebrates the proud Black people whose history and existence has greatly contributed to the tapestry of Appalachia.Berry grew up among the pine trees and cotton fields of rural South Carolina, where his upbringing by his white mother and Black father made him sensitive to questions of racial representation. This experience influenced his early foray into photography and continues to inform the questions he asks and images he makes. His education as a photographer began at The State Newspaper in Columbia, SC, where he excelled in long-form storytelling. While there, he was named the SC News Photographer of the Year four times and received the Ambrose Hampton Award for Outstanding Journalism and the Judson Chapman Community Journalism Award. After leaving the newspaper to pursue a freelance career, he provided photography for clients such as Time, NPR, The Atlantic, LA Times, The New York Times, London Free Press and many other clients. His photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries, and are part of permanent and private collections throughout the U.S., including the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, DC.The collaboration among Berry, Navies, and Surdam began with their shared interest in history, specifically through the Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School in the Long Ridge Community of Madison County. Kelly Elaine Naviesis a poet, writer, and oral historian with family roots in western North Carolina. She wrote the introduction for the book as well as a number of powerful poems that accompany the photographs. Navies’ oral history projects and interviews are located at the Southern Oral History Program, the Reginald F. Lewis Maryland Museum of African American History and Culture, the Washington DC Public Library Peoples’ Archive, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, where she currently coordinates the oral history program. Dr. Maia A. Surdam is an historian, educator, and author who lives in Marshall, North Carolina. She holds a doctorate in US history and her work centers on rural communities. She is currently the Programs Director of the Partnership for Appalachian Girls’ Education (PAGE), where she empowers adolescent girls in rural Appalachia to preserve stories that matter to them. Surdam contributed essays to the book, each one telling a compelling story from one of the three states featured in the book.The following events are opportunities for the public to learn more about Affrilachian culture and history, as well as the photographer’s experiences documenting this project, with occasional visits from the collaborators as well.Affrilachia: Testimonies, Public Events:
Wednesday, Feb 5th, 6-7pm, Malaprop’s Bookstore, Asheville, NC (Author Talk/book signing – Chris Aluka Berry and historian, Dr. Maia A. Surdam)Thursday, Feb 6th, 6-7:30pm, Cleveland Historical Society, Cleveland, GA (Author Talk/book signing – Chris Aluka Berry)Tuesday, Feb 11th, 12-1:30pm, Ohio County Public Library, Wheeling, West Virginia. (Author Talk/book signing – Chris Aluka Berry)Thursday, Feb 13th, 6-7pm, City Lights Bookstore, Sylva, NC (Author Talk/book signing – Chris Aluka Berry and author/artist Ann Miller Woodford)Saturday, Feb 15th, 6:30-9pm, Weaverville Community Center, Weaverville, NC (Author Talk/book signing with Chris Aluka Berry, poet Kelly Elaine Navies and historian Dr. Maia A. Surdam)Sunday, Feb 16th, 1-2:30pm, Little Mount Zion Baptist Church, Weaverville, NC (Author Talk/book signing with Chris Aluka Berry, poet Kelly Elaine Navies and historian, Dr. Maia A. Surdam)Wednesday, Feb 26th, 3-4:30pm, Cashiers Community Library, Cashiers, NC (Author Talk/book signing – Chris Aluka Berry)Thursday, Feb 25th, 4-5:30pm, Madison County Public Library in Marshall, NC (Author Talk/book signing with Chris Aluka Berry and historian Dr. Maia A. Surdam)For other media inquiries related to Affrilachia: Testimonies, please contact Chris Aluka Berry directly at: chris@alukastories.com.
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