Jessica Carter: Building a Legacy of Empowerment Through HER Sports
by Sarad Davenport | Photos by Kristin Finn You know that feeling of being so in tune with something, it feels like therapy? For Jessica Carter, that’s sports. It’s her sanctuary, her outlet, her passion. And it’s the driving force behind HER Sports, an organization celebrating its five-year anniversary of empowering women and girls through…
Inside This Issue
Summer is back, and as Vinegar Hill takes a pause for the season, we hope this issue feels just like that for you all—a pause. A moment to sit with the fruits of your labor. To reflect on the work, the weight, and the beauty that’s happening all around us.
In this issue, we hear from Darnell Lamont Walker and a perspective on what it means to be uncompromising in morals—even if it means losing access and position. Through the lens of fictional character Kim Reese of hit TV show Different World, Darnell invites us to consider the cost of integrity, and what it looks like to hold onto your values when the world asks you to let them go.
We’re also excited to share the work of Jessica Carter and her platform, HER Sports—created out of the need to amplify women athletes who are too often overlooked. Jessica didn’t wait for someone else to make space. She built it herself, and in doing so, created a space for others to be seen too.
This issue is rooted in acknowledging the kind of work people don’t always clap for. The kind that happens when nobody’s watching. Our hope is that you read these pieces and That take pause for yourself. We hope something in them stays with you.
As we gear up for the Fall season, If you are interested in writing for Vinegar Hill Magazine in the future, please know that we value the work you do and only want to make space for it here. Please send your queries to info@vinegarhillmagazine.com.
Sonia Montalvo
A dissertation, a song, and a quilt: Pulaski’s long civil rights heritage
by Aran Shetterly “Cast down your bucket where you are.”—Booker T. Washington As I pull into my hotel in Pulaski, a train rumbles through the center of town, heading west with a long, colorful load of double stacked shipping containers. Its thunder and whistle, held in by a beautiful brim of mountains, briefly fills this Southwest Virginia town. And then it’s gone and everything seems strangely quiet, as in the aftermath of a fire that’s consumed a building, when the roar and hiss have abated and all that remains is memory, ashes, and an uncertain future. One’s ears recalibrate and…
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Before I Pass the Mic: What the Work Taught Me
By Sonia Montalvo In our last issue, writer Nadirah Muhammad published a beautiful piece about the hardships Black women writers face and her love for the art form. Her words have stayed with me, stirring up a mix of emotions for me that I thought I had reckoned with. There’s a portion of her article that specifically makes me ponder my journey with writing and editing. In it, she states: “I’ve always loved the feeling of discovering the perfect word to describe a moment in time. The art of finding that word perfectly suited to capturing all the emotions and…
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The Unforgivable Sin: A review of Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners”
by Leslie M. Scott-Jones Sinners is a supernatural horror film produced, written, and directed by Ryan Coogler, best known for the Black Panther film series. The film is…
Unity at What Cost? A Christian’s Reckoning With the Church
By Kishara Griffin There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians…
Kim Reese Would Never
By Darnell Lamont Walker (Dedicated to the ones who turned down the money, took the hard road, and never stopped looking in the mirror) There’s an episode of…