Sneak Peek: Dr. Tee Ford-Ahmed

Dr. Tee Ford-Ahmed: I wrote a piece called I, Too, Am a Coal Miner's Daughter because folks generally don't associate Blacks with Appalachia, but we have a deep history. My father was a coal miner, and there were lots of Black coal miners. And, as a matter of fact, that's why some of those escaping from the South, going toward Buxton, Canada, seeking freedom, ended up settling here, in this part of Appalachia, which is the southeastern part of Ohio, along the Ohio River Valley. There was one way in, one way out. They were under the shadow and shade of trees. There was a coal mine industry, as well as a brick developing industry here. That's probably why this town settled a certain amount of escaping slavery, and those who were freeborn, to settle here and start their life. That's how this particular community developed.