Dr. Ritta Abell Blackberries, Blackberries Stage Adaptation

Annotation

Crystal Wilkinson's book, Blackberries, Blackberries, and meeting hr when she attended MSU faculty orientation in 2006, inspired me to share her book through the visual arts. When I read the book, it demonstrated the lives of Black men, women and children in Appalachia, Ky. These short stories enlighten the community through vignettes, showing diversity among Black families and relationships in eastern Kentucky, the region and the state. This artistic freedom exposes the richness that abounds in Applachia and in Black family life, allowing individuals to realize thre is more to life in Kentucky than horses, tobacco, bourbon and UK basketball. Differences in political views, urban Appalachian experiences and spirituality are also evident throughout this artistic expression of Black family life in rural Kentucky.