In this final episode of Season 1, Jen talks with Dr. Enkeshi El-Amin, a sociologist of race and place teaching at the University of Tennessee. Enkeshi is the founder of The Bottom, a community event space that includes a Black book shop, a community podcast studio, and Sew It Sell It, a program that teaches sewing and entrepreneurial skills to children between the ages of 12 and 16. Enkeshi is also the co-host and producer of the Black in Appalachia podcast. Originally from Guyana, Enkeshi talks about her journey from South America to Atlanta to New York and what brought her to Tennessee. She shares about how her experiences of feeling out of place in Knoxville combined with her doctoral research inspired her to create The Bottom. Most history classes in mainstream, public education teach a white-washed version of history, which leaves out the experiences and perspectives of marginalized people groups. Enkeshi talks about learning this white version of American history growing up in Atlanta and then learning another version, centered in Black experience, in college and grad school. She shares her hope that the Black in Appalachia podcast can provide some of this education to young Black folks in our region. Also a mom to an almost three-year-old, Enkeshi describes the ways her husband and her community have supported her in her endeavors and how that sense of community is essential to finding ways to thrive despite the systemic racism that plagues our country. Support The Bottom. Buy Books at The Bottom. Learn more and connect at insisterhoodpod.com. Become a Patron and join the conversation! Support Insisterhood at patreon.com/insisterhood.