We're thrilled to welcome Natasha Johnson as the new executive director of Voice of Witness! Natasha is an educator, lawyer, and lifelong advocate for human rights and justice on a global scale. Get to know her here: buff.ly/3uo3q7q

It’s International Education Week! 🌎 In every corner of the world, #VirginiaTech students, faculty, staff, and Virginia Tech Alumni are embodying the university’s commitment to international education, research, and engagement. Here are some of their stories. ⬇️ brnw.ch/21wErnI

The #MAAV team is thrilled to finally formerly introduce Lauren Trice, our amazing project coordinator! After growing up in Blacksburg, Lauren went on to become a certified urban planner, working in several cities across the US before returning to her hometown to work for MAAV.

Beginning Again: Stories of Movement and Migration in Appalachia is the next book in the VOW series, coming out in June 2024. Want a sneak peek? Read a Q&A with the editor and two narrators from this project: buff.ly/4a9YxiJ

Tune into our virtual event on 4/17 with @country_queers, an oral history project documenting rural & small-town LGBTQIA+ experiences. Rae Garringer created this multimedia project out of frustration with the lack of accessible rural queer stories. eventbrite.com/e/oral-history…

A deep dive into the Virginia Tech program for Afghan refugees that helps teach English collegiatetimes.com/news/a-deep-di… via Collegiate Times

📚 Unlocking access to higher education for refugees gives them the chance to succeed. Meet Diing Manyang, a young South Sudanese refugee whose passion and advocacy for education is shaping the lives of others. bit.ly/49cq3uI

📢 Join us for a free webinar on May 21! The event will provide an intro to VOW's ethics-driven storytelling methodology and the use of oral history to document and amplify powerful first-person testimonies. Register here: bit.ly/VOW-webinar

Tune into the launch of Beginning Again: Stories of Movement and Migration in Appalachia, our new oral history book with Haymarket Books. Join us on June 20th for a conversation about displacement, resettlement, and belonging in Appalachia. RSVP here: buff.ly/3wU4yBL

Appalshop Voice of Witness Beginning Again Join Katrina Powell, Babikir, Mekyah Davis, and Dao X. Tran for an online discussion of stories of movement and migration in Appalachia, hosted with Voice of Witness. Thursday, June 20th at 5:00 pm ET RSVP to attend: tickettailor.com/events/haymark…

Tune into Voice of Witness virtual launch event for Beginning Again: Stories of Movement & Migration in Appalachia on June 20th. This oral history project expands our ideas of who belongs in Appalachia & counters damaging myths of the region. RSVP: bit.ly/3yVl7gV

Now out in issue 29(4): "Performing Border Externalisation: Media Deterrence Campaigns and Neoliberal Belonging" by Eleanor Paynter & Sara Riva Eleanor Paynter Sara Riva Read more here: buff.ly/3QDMAcy

Art is a powerful tool for storytelling, community building, and social change. Check out our interview with award-winning Appalachian artist Lacy Hale, who created beautiful narrator portraits for our latest project. voiceofwitness.org/the-role-of-ar…

Well, looks like THAT book is #1 on Amazon today. Instead of THAT one, we not so gently suggest picking up these titles from your indie bookshop. We want to reaffirm that the most inclusive, challenging literature in the South can be found from independent & university presses.

From Alaska to Appalachia: Beginning again, how the memoirs of people starting over can help us with our own attempts to rebuild. With books by Carly, author of Apocalypse Child 🆓🍉 (she/her) and KatrinaPowell thousandworlds.ca/beginning-agai…

"[The] book is, to some degree, a reaction to the harmful and self-serving stereotypes of JD Vance's Hillbilly Elegy. We survive together, or not at all.” Insightful reflections on our oral history book Beginning Again – thank you daanis

In this excerpt from “Beginning Again,” Nikki Giovanni offers an ode to the great people who call Appalachia home. yesmagazine.org/social-justice…

Have friends or colleagues in #BlacksburgVA? Invite them to this talk at @BlacksburgBooks about our latest oral history collection, Beginning Again: Stories of Movement and Migration in Appalachia! ➡ Thursday, September 12th at 7pm ET blacksburgbooks.com/events/beginni…

A photograph taken by Andres Octavo of Gesellie “Chela” Caraballo Ruiz, was selected for the cover of the Spring 2025 cover of the Oral History Journal. Ricia Anne Chansky has an essay titled, “Storytelling after Disaster” in the issue.