Partially birthed from the 2018 Appalachian Studies Association (ASA) conference, Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy (2019) is a community project from Appalachian themselves exploring what ‘Appalachian’ means to them, offering a myriad of diverse voices that challenge stereotypes of Appalachia as a homogenous place. During the 2018 ASA conference, activists from STAY (Stay Together Appalachian Youth) and Y’ALL (Young Appalachian Leaders and Learners) protested J.D. Vance’s, author of Hillbilly Elegy (2016), presence as a headliner panelist, illustrating the tumultuous struggle over which Appalachian voices and representations of Appalachia are viewed as ‘authentic’  and which voices are eclipsed, Read more