poor – Snake & Tree

May 21, 2018

Be Ugly, Get Ugly

In the South, ugly is a behavior. “Quit being ugly and give me a hug,” or, my favorite, “be ugly to me and I’ll get you some ugly.”

April 28, 2018April 28, 2018

Review: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

Poverty is a state of emergency.

January 15, 2018June 23, 2018

Swallowing Us Whole: New Regulations on Predatory Lending Felt in Appalachia

Predatory lenders continue to invade rural landscapes. The CFPB tried to regulate them. Congress said no. Here’s why that’s awful.

December 2, 2017December 4, 2017

Poor People’s Investing: Quick Cash and Payday Loans

Quick Cash and Payday Loan merchants are fixtures in most rural towns. This is why I hate them.

October 24, 2017October 24, 2017

Boot Scootin’ Boogie

Boots are the greatest thing Southern culture ever made as long as you do them right.

October 12, 2017December 15, 2017

Stagnate, Fester & Putrefy

Trying to reconcile hateful ass perceptions of the South with people that actually live here.

October 1, 2017May 17, 2018

Review: Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison

Shame, poverty, and gospel music. Dorothy Allison’s seminal work has it all.

I’m Rachel, a jaded twenty-something English grad student looking to tell some stories. Currently based in Nashville, born and bred in rural Alabama. Here you’ll find liberal political tirades, stories, book reviews, and folklore focused in on these lower Southeastern thirteen states.

The title, Snake and Tree, comes from the Alabama proverb that if you hang a dead snake in a tree it’ll bring rain. These stories are the snake. The rain is making peace with this broke South.