From left: Ty Murray, Carpetbag executive director Jonathan Clark, Joe Tolbert Jr., Quineka Moten and Appalachian Community Fund executive director Margo Miller at the Bottom bookstore, a Waymakers grantee.
Photographer: Joseph Ross for Bloomberg Businessweek
An Appalachian Group Is Forging a More Community-Led Approach to Giving
Joe Tolbert Jr. is a proud native of Knoxville, Tennessee. But growing up, he never really considered himself Appalachian. “You didn’t see Black folks reflected in the larger narrative of who Appalachia was and what the region was said to be,” he says. “I didn’t see myself. I didn’t see how I fit.”
As a teenager, Tolbert began participating in the Theater Renaissance for Youth Ensemble, hosted by Carpetbag Theatre, a local acting company that combines performance and storytelling with an eye toward social change. It challenged him to explore what home meant to him.