What Has Been Will Be Again

This work led the author across more than 10,000 miles and 40 counties to survey Alabama’s cultural and physical landscape at this consequential moment.

Alabama has known a deep and complex history – from Native American genocide to slavery and secession, and from the fight for civil rights to the championing of Trumpist ideology, the state has often stood at the nexus of American identity.

In a time of pandemic and protest, economic uncertainty, and political polarization, "What Has Been Will Be Again" has led me across more than 10,000 miles and 40 counties to survey Alabama’s cultural and physical landscape at this consequential moment.

By tracing historic colonial routes including the Old Federal Road and Hernando de Soto's 1540 expedition, the project bears witness to generational racial, ecological, and economic injustice, reckoning a haunting yet tender look at my home state’s troublesome past and tenuous future.