Scott To Share Black Appalachian Story With International Audience
Wheeling Resident Wins Black Appalachian Storytelling Fellowship
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WHEELING -- Wheeling resident Ron Scott Jr. will get the opportunity to share the story of being Appalachian and Black with an international audience.
Scott has been selected as one of six people awarded a Black Appalachian Storytellers Fellowship through a partnership between Mid Atlantic Arts and the National Association of Black Storytellers.
NABS awards one fellowship per year in each of six eligible states -- Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Selected fellows receive $5,000 in unrestricted funding, and they will be honored at the "In the Tradition ..." National Black Storytelling Festival and Conference. This year's festival is set for Nov. 3-8, 2026, at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Warwick, Rhode Island.
The Black Appalachian Storytellers Fellowships are part of Mid Atlantic Arts' Central Appalachia Living Traditions program. The program honors and promotes the understanding of Black Appalachian storytelling traditions that embody the history, heritage and culture of African Americans in the region.
Scott explained that an even more exciting part of the fellowship is that a contingent from the National Association of Black Storytellers will be coming to Wheeling "to see how I do things."
Previously, he never realized there were fellowships available for telling Appalachian stories until he saw the program discussed online.
"With me trying to integrate art and artistic principles into what I do here, I thought this was something I should try," he said. "I applied, and they picked me.
"I will now travel to Rhode Island for their conference, and then they will come do a site visit here. They will come to the (YWCA Wheeling) and peek in on how I do things, incorporate things. There are so many pieces, phases and sides to what I do."
As each fellow is documented by NABS in their hometown, the resulting collection will be archived at Berea College in Kentucky.
Scott plans to just speak from his own experience.
He noted there are several definitions of being "Appalachian," of being a Black man and of "being a Black man in Appalachia."
"I want them to walk away with a different perception of what it means to be Appalachian, and a Black man from West Virginia," Scott said. "There are so many things they hear ... and a lot of times, West Virginia gets a bad rap. They believe we're a culture of poverty, but there are so many layers to us. Black folks have contributed to this. I want to make sure all of this is melded together.
"I want them to get a glimpse of how relatable our day-to-day life is. I would love to see how similar our stories are, and what our people look like covered with coal and dust. It all transcends color and race, and it is a piece of our culture the rest of our country should have to experience," he added.