William Isom II

A Hamblen County native, William is the founder & director of Black in Appalachia based in Whitesburg, Tennessee. There he produces documentary films, oral histories, research & data to raise the visibility of Black communities in the Appalachian Region. Founded in 2012, Black in Appalachia works across 13 states and 420 counties, but operates day-to-day in Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and East Tennessee.

Isom's work has been featured on CNN's United Shades of America & the New York Times. He's presented at the National Archives in DC, Berlin, Germany and Valencia, Spain. More importantly, he's the father of two men, Devin & Isa and papaw to Ms. Violet Blair.