Author Event with Beth Howard and Denali Nalamalapu

Beth Howard shares her story of growing up in Appalachian Kentucky—the economic struggles, trauma, and ever-present sexism along with the loving care of her close-knit rural community. These complex people shaped Howard’s sense of justice and solidarity, and taught her about the inextricable bonds working-class people share, despite our differences. But her childhood also left her with emotional wounds that threatened to destroy the life she built for herself. While healing her wounds is deeply personal, there’s no separating it from the people and place that made her.
Appalachia is often framed as a place to escape from, where people are hateful, lazy, and bring tragedy upon themselves. But in her quest to understand her home and her people, Howard uncovers the powerful history of white Appalachians fighting alongside Black and Brown people, pushing back against billionaires who gain power by using racism to divide them. Appalachia, she realizes, has not only been hit hard; it is the place to wage a freedom struggle.
Too many of us are denied the basic necessities of life: somewhere decent to live, good food to eat, health care that doesn’t break the bank, jobs that don’t K*ll us. As Howard reminds us, we haven’t got a chance—unless we organize.
In the midst of divisive rhetoric, violent repression, and grifters writing elegies, may this story be a song.
Denali Sai Nalamalapu, author of Holler, a graphic memoir of rural resistance against the Mountain Valley Pipeline, will join Beth in conversation about life in Appalachia