Mode of Program Participation
Community Organizing and Educational Programming
Participation Type
Panel
Session Title
You can't whup those who won't give up!
Session Abstract or Summary
Soon after I moved to Over the Rhine, Cincinnati’s primary port of entry for Appalachian migrants, I met Nancy T. who ran a neighborhood diner on 13th Street. One of her many amazing attributes was her ability to hold her own, stand her ground, and triumph in the face of opposition that was louder, meaner and more boisterous… this despite the fact that she herself was a petite woman with a caring nature. When asked how she did it, she replied that she knew she couldn’t be beat. She might be knocked down, she said, but she wouldn’t back down. She wouldn’t give up so she couldn’t lose.
I sometimes think Nancy might be a symbolic patron saint of the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition. By 2014, significant changes in target neighborhoods, the economy, changes in leadership and funding structures led the Urban Appalachian Council board to move toward dissolution. However, almost immediately, a sizeable core of supporters came together: realizing the work was not completed, realizing that power and purpose were not ‘given’ from the outside but resided in and flowed from us and our community, we also refused to give up. Our group, even before dissolution was finalized, acted to create a new organization to carry on the essential work.
At Extreme Appalachia, UACC, the successor organization, is proposing to present a panel highlighting our organizational development – what we’ve been able to do in three years, strategies we’ve used, and lessons we’ve learned.
Presentation #1 Title
Session Introduction and Discussion Leader
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
see above
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Maureen R. Sullivan served as Executive Director of the Urban Appalachian Council in Cincinnati from 1982 to 2010. While CEO, she represented the Appalachian community on various boards and city commissions and provided leadership to Appalachian organizations locally and in the Appalachian region.
Presentation #2 Title
Youth Leadership Development - Opportunities for today/Sustainability for tomorrow
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
Nate will address the UACC initiative and actions to engage youth in leadership activities including self and community exploration, cultural awareness, and service.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Nate May, currently working with UACC’s Urban Appalachian Project, is a Cincinnati-based composer and Humanities scholar whose work draws on research and imagination, often treating contemporary issues of place, migration, environment, and identity with textural intricacy, rhythmic drive, and a taste for repurposed sounds. Raised in Huntington, WV, he holds degrees from the University of Michigan (B.F.A., Jazz and Contemplative Studies) and Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music (M.M., Composition).
Presentation #3 Title
Research and Advocacy- Making the case for Urban Appalachians in Cincinnati
Presentation #3 Abstract or Summary
Mike will address the critical link between research data and advocacy efforts with specific reference to most recent actions.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Michael Maloney, a community organizer, social researcher, consultant and activist who holds advanced degrees Education and Planning, was founding director of the Urban Appalachian Council in Cincinnati and later headed the Appalachian Area Office of Catholic Social Services of Southwestern Ohio which served several rural counties. His Social Areas of Cincinnati (five editions) provide documentation of how Cincinnati and the metropolis have changed demographically from 1970-2005-2009: these studies have been a template used by other researchers for community planning, needs assessments, and documenting patterns of poverty, crime, and neighborhood integration as well as epidemiological studies.
Presentation #4 Title
End runs around a power structure intent on calling the shots - Engaging with and responsive to Community Partners and People
Presentation #4 Abstract or Summary
Omope will draw on her long history of working with community to engage and draw into partnership various groups and organizations. She is currently putting her talent in this area to good use as the 2018 ASA Conference program and local events are organized.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Omope Carter Daboiku, a multi-discipline artist and traditional storyteller who was born in the Ohio hills of Appalachia, has traveled and performed internationally, sharing and collecting folktales that demonstrate the common struggles of humankind. A cultural geographer and oral historian, Omope is involved with the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition – a non-profit group that promotes Appalachian culture; is a member of SAWC: Southern Appalachian Writers Collective and a regular contributor to its journal, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel; and, has been a fellow of the Ohio Arts Council since 1990.
Presentation #5 Title
Communications - dual strategies blending traditional values and new technologies
Presentation #5 Abstract or Summary
John will address the challenges and successes of developing and utilizing strategies for reaching the increasingly dispersed population of urban Appalachians in the greater Cincinnati area -- blending personal connections with new communication vehicles.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #5
John Bealle works with the Communications Team of UACC and has organized and performed at music and dance events since the 1980s. He has trained and worked as a folklorist, and has written on religious music, the history of folklore, and folk music revival: currently he works as a book indexer for university presses and still is a regular old-time music performer.
Session Introduction and Discussion Leader
see above
