All Ourselves and One

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

• All Ourselves and One
• Lynette Ford (bio)

Africa's memory speaks from Appalachian hillold earth the Grandmother of Mother Africacoal here was born therewhere traces of now began as dreamsthe promise of diamonds hidden in land massed asthe core of continentsrifts and breaks and slow collisions celebratedthe World's GrandmotherWhen we walk the Appalachian Trailwe touch earth that was Africamemory set in stoneeons of heritagethat timeoncewhen the continents were onerifts and breaks and slow collisionstransformations and separationsGrandmother's heart quivering shudderingshaping mountainsGrandmother's tears flowing formingrendering criks runs rivers oceansin time before timeancestral elevations of sacred homelandare soft blue-shadowed mountainslow green hillssome misformed and misinformedby human minds and handsyet still they whisperthe labor of their birththe history bleached nearly white except for the coalOnce these mountains werethe edge of AfricaStand here now and know these hillsare stillOur Blessed Grandmother [End Page 38] She who waits here to uplift usSpirit of that place of birthing beyond generationsWe who are Affrilachia must speak testamentsstories formed in the Soul of the Grandmother ofMother AfricaWe may be ignored by othersbut we are not forgotten by the earthWe must stand here nowall ourselves and oneAfrica's memory speaks from Appalachian hill

The birth of the Appalachian mountain ranges marks the first of several tectonic-plate collisions that culminated in the construction of a supercontinent given the Greek name Pangea ("all earth"). Pangea's development was completed when Africa (designated "Gondwana" by Austrian scientist Eduard Suess and first used in a geological context by Irish geologist H.B. Medlicott in 1872) drifted into the continental clustering. The "Appalachian-Oachita" mountains and neighboring Little Atlas Mountains (now in Morocco) rested near the heart of the supercontinent 480 million years ago. Known as the Central Pangean Mountains, their present-day family of mountain ranges include the Appalachians, the Scottish Highlands, and the Anti-Atlas or Little Atlas Mountains of Morocco. (Clark 4; Conde Nast Traveler).

Although plant life in these regions has adapted with time and been influenced by human encroachment, each region supports the growth of types of heather, lavender, oak, and pine. These areas also included coal among their assets. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

I was born and raised in the Appalachian hill country of western Pennsylvania and southeastern Ohio. Learning more about the origins and geological history of Appalachia was and is an ongoing goal for me. Why? The education system in our country has omitted and still attempts to delete much of my ancestral history.

American history is simply a story agreed upon by those in power. But the greater power of our older story written in earth and stone offers me the dignity of a foundation in who I am and where we began. We are Black Appalachians, born to the soil of Africa in America. We are Affrilachian.

This original poem was first published in the Women Speak: Appalachian Women's Poetry 2022. An early variation of the poem was published in the National Association of Black Storytellers newsletter, Spread the Word, in 2016.

Lynette Ford

LYNETTE FORD is a fourth-generation Affrilachian storyteller, writer, and workshop presenter. Her folktale adaptations and original stories are rooted in her family's Black Appalachian heritage. Ford's work has taken her to major storytelling festivals and literacy and storytelling conferences across the country, as well as in Australia and Ireland, and, via the Zoomiverse, in Germany and for the Federation of Asian Storytellers story swaps. An Ohio teaching artist with the Ohio Arts Council Teaching Artists rosters and a Thurber House mentor for young authors, Ford has more than thirty years of experience and is the author of several award-winning publications. She is a two-time recipient of the National Storytelling Network's ORACLE Circle of Excellence award, and a 2023 recipient of the National Association of Black Storytellers' Black Appalachian Storytelling Fellowship and NABS' Zora Neale Hurston Award for the preservation and perpetuation of African American folktales and folklore. Ford...