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Featured in “Ain’t No Grave” series of longform articles on Appalachia in collaboration with photographer Stacey Kranitz.
photo by Jacob S. Knabb
”Handley's Funeral Home buried most of my family. The stone structure sits on a corner lot near the terminus of Phipps Avenue, a couple miles downriver from my parents' house in Madison, West Virginia, and right across the street from the old Bank of Danville building. The funeral business is one of the few that remain viable here in Danville—these days home to a smattering of churches and fast-food joints, a shocking number of for-sale signs, and not much else. But there are always going to be bodies to bury, grieving families to comfort, and so Handley's remains, its logo emblazoned on the menus a few blocks up Phipps at the Park Avenue Restaurant, on the fence at the Little League Ballpark in Madison, and on the press box perched above the football field where the Scott Skyhawks play.”
”For those protesting the coal industry, success is measured in time and its relationship to money. Time lost to work stoppages is a victory. Forcing the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to document and levy even the bare-minimum fines, which most companies simply refuse to pay, is a victory. A 2014 investigation by NPR and Mine Safety and Health News found that “thousands of mine operators fail to pay safety penalties, even as they continue to manage dangerous—and sometimes deadly—mining operations." So is forcing companies to go to court to defend running coal trucks overweight, even though the state ended up simply changing the rules for maximum capacity in the company's favor. Attempts to show massive environmental damage to the water table from acid runoff have nearly all been stymied, despite multiple attempts to force coal operations to pay for the costly cleanup required following the closing of a surface mine. Coal companies leverage every financial and governmental advantage against those who seek to shut them down and clean up the messes they leave behind. It is a brutalizing and lopsided battle. Activists are in a war they can't win, at least not soon—but perhaps remarkably, they don't seem to be bitter about it.”
— “Inside the Fight Against Pollution and Big Business in Appalachia”
photo by Jacob S. Knabb
EVERYDAY GENIUS
I remember being in the dirt on the side of I-65 and watching him crouch to get a closer look at the new dents in our overturned Studebaker, the rear wheel spinning slowly to a stop above us. He ran his fingers over the crumpled quarter-panel and said he was leaving us soon. He wiped blood from his nose with the back of his hand and told me an accident is something that can't happen.
photo by Jacob S. Knabb
NEWCITY
“As I scanned my computer screen, I wondered how many of the faces Brady-Bunching back at me would be welcomed if they headed out to Orland Park for barbecue. I’m betting a few of them would get pulled over for no good reason. Imagine what would happen if they tried to move onto the block? After all, an awful lot of Chicago suburbs were built by white flight.”
photo by Jacob S. Knabb
REALTOR(R) Magazine
“‘This might come as a bit of a surprise for some folks,’ says Sarah Kirsch, Executive Director of Urban Land Institute (ULI) Atlanta, ‘but people refer to the BeltLine as Atlanta’s beachfront property.’ The ‘rails to trails’ linear park is being built from a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta into a sprawling multi-use trail. By any measure, the BeltLine’s impact on commercial real estate, particularly office, has exceeded expectations. According to Kirsch, Atlanta is now listed as the most ‘trailed’ region in America.
photo by Jacob S. Knabb
CHICAGO AGENT
“The good news is there are a host of options designed to avoid disruptions and displacement, and agents can play a vital role in the process. The key is to adopt methods proven to lead to revitalization by building community partnerships, becoming active members in local chambers of commerce, taking the time to interact with community members, leveraging grants and tax incentives to deliver a better product, and being mindful of the fabric of a neighborhood with demolitions and rehabs.”
— “Rethinking Gentrification: How to Become an Agent of Positive Change in Your Community”