Understanding is the Foundation of Advocacy

"To gauge an area on the whole of its faults is reductive of its value and character."

“Ooh, this town’s for the record now,

The intersection got a Target now,

And they’re callin’ it “downtown”

Except instead of Target, we’ve got a Dollar General. These lyrics are from a song titled ‘New

Perspective’ by Vermont musician Noah Kahan. His album Stick Season, which millions have

connected with, has also connected me throughout this fellowship. I would be cooking in my

tiny kitchen with the world’s smallest and most indestructible stove, singing along to every word from that album. I think the reason I related so much to his work, despite different

backgrounds, was that I was shoehorned into the world of a small town over the span of a

month. The Stick Season album gave me a crash course in the norms, expectations, and overall ‘vibe’ of small-town life.

I remember when I first drove to church in Middlesboro, and I remember seeing a highway sign that read Home of Miss Kentucky 2018—which is an accomplishment, but it feels odd that one of the notable identifiers of this town was a winner in a statewide competition from five years ago. It’s similar to Noah Kahan’s insight “Some guy won Olympic gold, eight years ago, a distance runner.” It’s not knocking an achievement but highlighting the power of one individual to put a county or town ‘on the map;’ but as the accomplishment gets covered by the waves of time, it can feel reductionistic.

As an adoptee of Eastern Kentucky, it feels like the outside world stereotypes your community as something negative. Whether it is the drugs, the lack of education, or the overall redneck nature, people create an expectation of you based on where you are from without ever meeting you. Now, stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason, those select situations do exist, but that is not the whole of the entire state. I was up in Louisville (LULL-vill) coming back from helping my best friend move and stopped at a boutique to pick up a present for a co-worker’s baby shower. The boutique worker and I struck up a conversation and she asked about what I did, which I explained as “working to promote broadband access in rural eastern Kentucky.” She seemed surprised and remarked, “Broadband is still an issue down there? I had no idea.” And at that moment I understood why eastern Kentucky struggled with the rest of the state—it was an anxiety, a franticness to be heard and understood.

To explain eastern Kentucky’s broadband issues, you first need to understand the state's limitations, along with the nuances of generational poverty, drug addiction, and lack of

representation. Having a holistic approach to policy issues is something I have been vouching for my entire life, but now I see what that truly requires. Holistic approaches require time, money, and dedication—things many government organizations do not have the capacity or interest to pursue. Advocacy has been the most successful method in my work; but to advocate, you need to understand.

A ’transplant’ will never truly understand the cultural mythos, the historic roots, and why the

Smiths don’t get along with the Jacksons: it’s something you had to be there to experience. But, one can gain a foundational understanding of a community's drives and needs. At the

heart, humans act the same—all humans have a drive to survive and thrive. Now, people may

argue: why do people stay in such sparsely populated places with what is perceived as a litany of problems? The cracks in the societal infrastructure are apparent with the brain drain, economic downturn, food deserts, and overall complacency with the current state of the community.

Why stay? Why persevere in a place that seems to be hindered in so many ways? First of all, it is ultimately the choice of those who decide to stay. But second, “home is home” as one focus group participant stated. The community is unlike anything I have experienced—the people I have met will give you the shirt off their back if you need it and have adopted the outsider, me, into this colorful community.

Last month my friends and coworkers threw me a surprise going away party and I was given two pocketknives – which to those who know me, that’s very on brand. Pocket knives carry

significance to people here. A gifted pocketknife is a sign of trust and friendship – values I have been able to give and receive. The community that I have been adopted into means so much to me, and I am thankful for every lesson, friend, and meal they shared with me.

My primary focus was to quantify the struggles of access, gauge feeling toward government

programs, and rate the efficacy of previously executed ‘solutions’. I was immensely focused on the quantitative because that was the most effective in advocating for the needs of my

community to governments, companies, and representatives.

At the end of the day, though, what really made people care and want to invest in organizations like the Red Bird Region Broadband Action Team, were the stories. Stories transcend county lines and legislative districts. Sharing the stories and experiences of those needing to be heard truly was the best call to action I could give.

Over the course of the past year, I have seen some wilding things from forest fires, cars flipping off the road, to the occasional screaming drug addict, but I can honestly say I would do it all over again. To gauge an area on the whole of its faults is reductive of the entirety of its value and character.

For me, it was not just about broadband or policy, but helping people on an individual level. My goal when I first started was to help one person, but looking back I have assisted hundreds of people with signing up for federal relief programs like American Connectivity Program, raised thousands of dollars in grant assistance and broadband/STARLINK expansion, and developed a Broadband Action Team to continue to serve the unserved region of Bell, Clay, and Leslie counties. My American Connection Corps fellowship was a journey of growth, and I will be forever thankful for this experience and my new home, away from home.