Where I’m From

Where I’m From

BY WILLIAM J. BARBER III

I am from the Atlantic coast
From eastern North Carolina, nestled in the South Atlantic watershed
I am from the land of the Sisupal, Tuscarora, The Chicory 
I am from this land of red clay and cecil soils 
I am from the four forests that shelter us The Croatan, Nantahala, Pisca, and Uwharrie
I am from the rolling slopes and the verting green
I am from fusion resistance rooted in black, white, and indigenous people
I am from this land
I am from the birthplace of environmental justice
I am from the intersection of mountain populism and eastern civil rights activism
I am from a land called the goodliest land under the canopy of Heaven
A land where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great
A land where we are called to be rather than to seem