Where Jesus Lives

by The Awl February 16, 2016

by Chris Arnade

The Black Belt is a string of counties weaving through the South, in particular the centers of Alabama and Mississippi. It was originally named by Booker T. Washington for its dark soil, which was used for growing cotton on plantations where enslaved blacks had toiled. In more recent decades, the name has become associated with the high percentage of African-Americans living there. Today, the surrounding area is one of the poorest in the U.S., physically dominated by a poverty exposed and isolated: Trailers abutting county roads, shotgun shacks in small towns, and low-income ranch-style houses in the bigger towns. It is also one of the most religious regions in the country; scattered amongst the homes are churches, which, other than Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings, are quiet and still, devoid of any presence but the divine.