February 2019: Appalachian Love Week!

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View this email in your browser Dear STAY Project Family,   Happy Appalachian Love Week y’all!   Appalachian Love Week is The STAY Project’s annual fundraiser and storytelling week — a celebration of the beautiful and complex lives we lead here and an opportunity for us to ask for the support we need from our community to be to keep building spaces lead by youth for youth in Appalachia   Every Appalachian Love Week we invite folks to tell their #AppalachianLoveStory, and we ask you to be a part of ours. This story we are asking you to be a part of is about the kind of love that is necessary for us to STAY in Appalachia because it requires us to resist and unlearn everything that has been telling us that we do not “belong” here. It is the kind of love that makes room for young people to transform, to shed the behaviors, beliefs, and narratives that hold us back so that we can feel light enough to share the load of work left to do.   For over a decade, the love from community that believes in our work has made it possible for the STAY Project to hold spaces like our STAY Summer Institute where young people from across Appalachia are able to connect with each other, share skills, and build relationships. It is love that we carry with us when we return to our communities from STAY Project gatherings with a collective vision for a sustainable future and a network of young people to support us in making that vision a reality.   Envisioning and building an inclusive and sustainable future for Appalachia is a labor of love — intentional, purposeful, transformative love. We love Appalachia by celebrating our histories, culture, and experiences, and we transform Appalachia by working to dismantle the parts of our culture that perpetuate white supremacy and the narratives about our region that erase indigenous, black, and brown histories and realities from Appalachia. We believe that centering and supporting black youth leadership is a crucial part in bringing that transformative vision for our region to fruition. And so we are asking for the loving support of a community who believes in the vitalness of autonomous black youth space for connection, collective visioning, and power-building to help make possible the first regional Black Appalachian Youth gathering this fall.   Show the STAY Project some love this Appalachian Love Week by making a donation to support our labor of love.  Make the STAY Project your valentine by becoming a sustaining giver so we can continue the work of strengthening this youth-led grassroots movement for a safe, sustainable, and equitable future in our Appalachian communities.   With deep love & solidarity,    The Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project P.S. Save the dates July 18th-21st 2019 for the STAY Summer Institute I want to make STAY my Valentine! Don't Miss the ValentineSTAY Youth Open Mic & Punk Show!!! Got a song or some poetry or even a comedy set you've been working on? No plans for Valentines Day weekend? Make the STAY Project your Valentine this year and come share your talent and/or listen to talented folks at the ValentineSTAY Open Mic & Punk Show! The Open Mic will start at 7:00pm and if you will be able to sign up for a 5 or 10 minute slot. After the Open Mic there will be a punk show with local bands like Lips, Slug Pit and Slut Pill! Bring your friends! Bring a sweetie! And join us to close out our annual Appalachian Love Week fundraiser and celebration. $5 Suggested Donation This venue is wheelchair accessible. Check out the Facebook Event STAY on Mountain News & World Report! Last year WMMT’s Rachel Garringer sat down in the studio with founding STAY member, Willa Johnson, current STAY coordinator Lou Murrey, and new STAY member Katelyn Damron- who joined by phone to talk about their annual #appalachianlovestory campaign. Listen to the whole story here. I wanna be a member of the STAY Project! Share Tweet Forward Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. *|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*