In the late Summer of 1921, ten to fifteen thousand pro-union miners in the coal fields of West Virginia marched toward Mingo County to free prisoners taken by the forces controlled by the mine owners. There was a declaration of martial law in the state by President Harding. Between the Rednecks, so called for the red bandanas around their necks, and the imprisoned, lay the imposing and newly fortified Blair Mountain.
Holding the high ground were the private detectives of the mine owners, the State Police, the deputies and Sheriff of Logan County, the newly formed National Guard, some State Militia, and a private air force. Armed with machine guns and aerial bombs, and well dug in, the army of the owners was eager for a fight. And so it began, almost a week of armed insurrection and bloodletting.
Before the withdrawal by the Rednecks, unwilling to fire upon the newly arrived US Army, a million rounds and more than a hundred lives were expended. Today, that hallowed ground is under threat of the new breed of mine owners, at least one of which kills miners through wanton disregard for safety or law instead of with private detectives. Today, that mountain is to be turned into a molehill.
Unless the call to action by Appalachia Rising: March on Blair Mountain has the hoped for outcome of raising awareness of the issues being fought here. Those would be the destruction of the environment through Mountain Top Removal, attacks on the people through the weakening Labor rights and a lack of sustainable economy, and eradication of a historic and hallowed battleground.
I grew up in Washington County in southwestern PA. When in my twenties, I moved to Grafton, WV. I was working for a road band that lost all our equipment in the Flood of 1985 when The Meadowbrook, a bar we were playing outside of Fairmont, was submerged to the eaves. I came out of the flood in a rowboat. My son was born in the Clarksburg WV Hospital. I have proudly called myself a ridge-runner and hillbilly.
In 1987, after the region's economy collapsed because of mine closings (coal from South America was being used instead), my wife, son and I moved to Erie, PA. Two years later I was accepted for the General Electric Machinist Apprentice Program. After graduating from the Apprentice program, I chose to stay in the hourly ranks and join the United Electrical Workers Union, Local 506.
My National has worked hard to organize in the area, and represent the state workers in WV, as well as VA and NC, all states without bargaining rights. The West Virginia Public Workers Union UE 170 has voted to endorse this event, and I am proud of the efforts they have made in that state already on behalf of workers there.
The Call to Action has given me an opportunity to make a difference in my home region. There are two options for those that also make a difference by attending. The March itself, from June 5 to the 10 (to Blair from Marmet) and the Rally/March up Blair Mountain on the 11th. For those just attending the Rally, camping in Chief Logan State Park and shuttles is the plan.
I am heading down after my Local has the 2011 CBC Contract Rally on June 4th in Erie, PA. Our contract with GE expires in June and the 15,000 union employees this covers are fighting a tough battle with a corporate giant this contract. A strike may be the result. Here is a daily report from my Union as to how those talks are going.
My plan is to leave Saturday, sometime after the CBC Rally and all the accompanying aftermath. Having the Unions representing the employees working at General Electric that still have those jobs Jeff Immelt so desperately wants to bring back home meeting here in Erie with as many members as they could bring will be an opportunity to meet new activists. I do not want to cut that short.
I am going with my digital documentation equipment in tow. I am taking my DSLR camera and lenses, laptop, 2 camcorders and a digital voice recorder. I am installing a 400w inverter for recharging along the route. I have tied in with the Documentary and Storytelling corps, volunteered my Jeep Liberty for some towing duty from camp to camp with those in chrge of transportation, and am bringing extra gear to share. I have downloaded the USGS 7.5x7.5 topos for the area, also. "Be Prepared." Yes, I was a Boy Scout.
Some big names are also in support of this.
Speakers and Musicians at the Rally Include: Bobby Kennedy Jr., Denise Giardina, Larry Gibson, Dennis Banks, Gordon Simmons, Teri Blanton, Jane Branham, Josh Fox, Mari-Lynn Evans, Jimmy Weekely, Chuck Nelson, Kathy Mattea, EmmyLou Harris.
With luck, I will find a way to do a daily diary of the March here on DKOS, if I can find some internet connectivity. I hope to see other Kossacks there, including eeff, who wrote this on Saturday about the event.