Joyanne

“Proximity (which breeds empathy) + Honesty (vulnerable dialogue) + Value (seeing each other as having inherent worth) + A Common Goal (seeing that we’re all in this”
― Tyler Merritt, I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America

“This holler feels like home, and this house feels like family. There are women’s stories here, stories of resilience, love, and strength. This community knows them well, but their echo hasn’t reached far enough into the outside world. Instead, these tales have ricocheted within the mountains, growing more faint with time. I want to tell these stories because they matter, because I’m afraid that they will be forgotten, because they have the power to make this community visible. As I stop my vehicle and walk toward the house, the memories wash over me like the sunlight on the mountain hills.”
― Cassie Chambers, Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains

“I had the fire and the strength of the mountains in my bones.”
― Cassie Chambers, Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains

“Before we go any further, can we all just admit that junior high sucks eggs? I have never met a person who said, “Man. Seventh grade was the best.” And if I did, I would not want them in my life. Like a person who wears Crocs on purpose, or prefers Pepsi over Coke, I don’t need that kind of delusional idiocy in my life.”
― Tyler Merritt, I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America