Crystal's Latest Articles
Who Is Ibrahim Traoré? Deepfakes, Disinformation, and What Appalachia Can Learn
A viral speech from President Ibrahim Traoré turned out to be fake—but the longing it stirred for real leadership was very real. In this essay, I travel from Appalachia to West Africa to explore what’s true, what’s manipulated, and what we can learn from farmers, journalists, and freedom fighters building systems rooted in land and legacy. From Blair Mountain to Burkina Faso, this is about who owns the land, who tells the story—and who feeds the people.