INSIDE AMERICA'S MOST MISUNDERSTOOD REGION | Apparent Death EP.1

[00:00:03][music] [music] [music] [music] >> I cannot wait to show you more work in progress about my time here. I've been here for 2 weeks and a half and we're doing like some errands or we're doing just a couple of trips to West Virginia, Virginia just to see some sightseeing for my project. And this time I'll be alone.

[00:01:05]I'm staying with my girlfriend Angelica >> [music] >> and she's taking care of the videos. So, thanks Angelica for keeping up the support for my project. It means a lot.

[00:01:15]And let's get started. Today we're going to Jenkins here in Eastern Kentucky to see how I feel with some friends and then we [music] start to work on pictures and people I've scheduled appointments with.

[00:01:34]>> [music] >> Um, I can only really talk about like me um as far as my experiences living here in Appalachia. I've been here my wife reminded me 16 years now. Well, um but I'm I'm from Kentucky uh in general.

[00:03:13]But being black here in Appalachia has been different.

[00:03:17]Um you got to find your people, you know, um your community. But we're here. You know, that's the myth that uh a lot of people uh have is a myth and a stigma that black people don't exist here in Appalachia.

[00:03:32]And we do. We've always been here. We'll always be here. We're not going nowhere.

[00:03:37]Um so, my experience has been unique and different in a way because when I first moved here, I come from an urban setting >> Okay.

[00:03:44]>> to a rural area. So, my lenses were already different. So, I got to see best best of both worlds.

[00:03:51]And it has only made my experience even more enriching.

[00:03:55]Um because a lot of the food that we have right here in our backyard in Appalachia, we get it in Lexington, Louisville, and other places. They just call it different names.

[00:04:04]>> Okay.

[00:04:04]>> But it's the same food, uh same flavor.

[00:04:08]But it's just something about the way we do our stuff here in Appalachia. We just put a little extra little flair into our food. And it just gives it that just great taste. And just our people that we have here. Um you know, a bigger place you don't see that community coming together as much.

[00:04:26]Here in Appalachia, uh when something happens, regardless of how somebody feels about you, we all come together and help each other out.

[00:04:34]And you don't see that nowhere else.

[00:04:35]It's very unique to our area.

[00:04:39]Not saying just our area here in Eastern Kentucky, but our area here in Appalachia in general.

[00:04:43]>> Yeah.

[00:04:43]>> Uh cuz when the floodings and stuff happened over in North Carolina, you know, we went to go help also because they came to help us when we got flooded out and stuff. And that's community helping community. That's building community.

[00:04:56]And um you know, that's just part of the experience of not just black, not just white, not just Asian, not just uh >> No racism.

[00:05:04]>> Spanish, no no racism at all.

[00:05:08]Everybody coming together helping everybody. Now, once everything's done, then people have their own opinions on stuff.

[00:05:13]>> Yeah, sure. As well.

[00:05:14]>> But in times of need, we put we put all that BS to the side, and we come together as one.

[00:05:30]>> And then you said everything's all I do first focus, and then we we Once we have the focus, he stays still.

[00:05:39]And we go up behind the curtains.

[00:05:42]Yeah.

[00:05:45]>> Do this all the time.

[00:05:46]>> Yeah.

[00:05:47]>> Now, back to finding more and more black folks in Appalachia.

[00:05:52]But like I said earlier, we're here, but we're just spread out, you know, from doing research and stuff, I've found out years and years ago there was a thriving black community over in Lynch, Kentucky and Harlan, here in parts of Letcher County and of course parts of Perry County and Knott County as well.

[00:06:12]I was like, "Well, what happened?" And then of course that was when the coal boom was going. So there was a lot of coal miners and everything and then once that went away, people started looking for work. They started migrating other places, but they still have these Appalachian roots.

[00:06:27]>> Do you have anyone that works in the coal mining section of the society?

[00:06:32]>> Not anymore, um that I know personally. My father-in-law, he used to be a state mine inspector. He retired recently.

[00:06:40]>> Okay.

[00:06:41]>> Um but you know, we talked about that before and under the under the hill, everybody's the same color. You know that whole myth about redneck, right?

[00:06:50]>> Yeah.

[00:06:51]>> You know how they got started? Was in the coal mines. It wasn't black or white, it was everybody wore these handkerchiefs. You cannot see it. Yes, everybody wore handkerchiefs and they were red and they put them around their face. So of course people see folks back then with a handkerchief, they called them a redneck and now that has transformed into something else. You know, um >> Big camera. Thank you.

[00:07:36]3 2 1 Perfect.

[00:07:45]>> But in these coal camps and stuff, it was black black and white folks living together. Coming together as community, coming together as one. It wasn't all segregated and everything. Uh now does racism still exist? Yes, it does in some parts.

[00:07:58]>> Um I mean, it's not stronger like in other American cities.

[00:08:02]>> It's not as strong as a lot of people think it is. And then there's other counties not our counties, but there's other counties that is still very much alive.

[00:08:12]And um I avoid those counties just because of that.

[00:08:17]You know, I'm like you got some people who are just stuck in their old ways.

[00:08:22]The counties that I'm referring to are smaller counties.

[00:08:25]They're not growing. Their population is declining, but they still hold on to these racist tendencies.

[00:08:30]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:08:31]>> But we don't care about that. We going to keep moving forward.

[00:08:34]>> Yeah, you have building. Yeah, keep on building making communities and giving them a helping hand.

[00:08:38]>> And that's what it's about is helping each other out.

[00:08:42]And that's another thing that I love about here at the shop, here at Apple Shop.

[00:08:45]>> It's very >> We are extremely diverse. You know, we have people from all backgrounds, all walks of life. And we all come together, we hang out, we cut up. You know, we may get mad at each other from time to time, but we know that we are family here. And that's the most like >> unique value in Apple Shop.

[00:09:25]>> [music] >> People like D are part of what makes Appalachia feel different.

[00:09:43]There's a generosity here that's difficult to explain until you experience it yourself.

[00:09:49]An honesty and kindness that go beyond expectations.

[00:09:53]Many of the people who live in these mountains are deeply proud of their land.

[00:09:57]Even if life here often means being far from everything, they choose to stay because this is home. And for that home, they're willing [music] to give a lot.

[00:10:07]When a stranger arrives, hospitality is almost never missing. Even in situations that might seem a little intimidating at first.

[00:10:15]As you'll see later in my series, you're often welcomed with a surprising [music] warmth.

[00:10:21]Sometimes those encounters happen completely by chance, like Austin. We started talking after the finishing work, and before long, he agreed to let me make his portrait.

[00:10:31]In Appalachia, every encounter has the potential to become [music] a friendship.

[00:10:38]>> One, two, three.

[00:10:40]>> And every friendship leaves something behind.