Song for a Hard-Hit People: A Memoir of Antiracist Solidarity from a Coal Miner’s Daughter

This is a memoir of Appalachia, a region often stereotyped as “a place to escape from, where people are hateful, lazy, and bring tragedy upon themselves.” Beth Howard has a different story to tell, both in growing up there and in an unlooked for history of the place. Howard shares the emotional wounds her childhood left her with, but also realizes the sense of justice and solidarity it bred and the inextricable bonds working-class people share, despite their differences. In her survey of the past, she 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.”