It’s an old story told over and over again in our mountains: young people leaving for an urban life of opportunity. Cities are where the jobs are, where diversity is the norm, where things are happening.
Photo Above: STAY has recently hired Mekyah Davis (far right in second row from back, in turquoise shirt) as a co-coordinator working to include Black people in the Appalachian narrative.
A group of young Central Appalachians (members range from 14 to 30 years old) is out to change that narrative. Stay Together Appalachian Youth seeks “to make our communities places where we can and want to be,” co-Coordinator Lou Murrey says.
STAY was the result of a 2008 breakout session at the Appalachian Studies Conference. “Young folks told us, ’You’re not meeting our needs,’ Murrey says. “Young Appalachians are living with the impacts of long-gone extractive industry and large manufacturing. The roots of the problem are not young people’s fault…but the results affect them greatly. STAY is about young people coming together to create change—now.”
Murrey herself is about to age out of STAY, and the group has hired Mekyah Davis as co-coordinator, committing to including Blacks in the Appalachian narrative.
“Building and maintaining relationship is our work,” Davis says. “Finding joy in our identities, and connecting with others.”
Under the nonprofit umbrella and assistance of the longstanding Highlander Research and Education Center, STAY is supported through donations and grants. For updates or to donate: thestayproject.org.
The story above appears in our November / December 2020 issue.
