Eco-Chaplain Sarah Vekasi: First Hand Report on Mountain Mobilization

Photo  from Facebook of Sarah Vekasi taken at the Mountain Justice 2012 Summer Activist Training Camp May 19-26 at the Appalachian South Folklife Center in Pipestem, WV. This guest post by Vekasi, first published on August 1, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. is adapted with her permission from the letter she wrote following her attendance at the Mountain Mobilization.

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Editor's Note

Sarah Vekasi (email, website) has a Masters of Divinity degree from Naropa University in Boulder, CO and lives in Swannanoa, NC, where she throws pottery and operates the Eco-chaplaincy Initiative. 

Vekasi coined the term"eco-chaplaincy" in 2005 for inter-religious and secular spiritual chaplaincy designed for people engaged in environmental and social justice work.  In a letter to her followers on August 1 before the RAMPS (Radical Action for Mountain People's Survival) Campaign announced that Dustin Steele had been released from jail, Vekasi explained that she returned home the previous night from attending the Mountain Mobilization. Before writing, she

had to sleep for about 30 hours first, which helps me know that the organizers need rest too. It is hard to rest though, because we know that at least one of our activists, [Dustin Steele] was hurt pretty bad by the law, and that is ...[he] is spending ...[his] 21st birthday today in jail...I know Dustin well, and love this person so much that it hurts to think about [it.]

She wrote that as the evening of July 31, 2012,

...[W]e were still not able to visit ...[him] or anyone else in the jail. There are twenty people incarcerated, all in the same jail, held on charges of misdemeanor trespass and obstruction, we think, yet held with a $25,000 surety bond each, which means we need $500,000 cash or WV property to get them out. They have not had a formal hearing yet, and we are affectionately calling them the Hobet 20. This is outrageous and we are working on reducing the bail, while also collecting money. There are names and addresses online if you are willing to write or need to know if your child or friend is one of the Hobet 20.

Vekasi describes the Mountain Mobilization

As of last night  I have just returned home from providing support at the Mountain Mobilization organized by the RAMPS Campaign at the request and guidance of locals in West Virginia.... It is a story our whole country needs to know about, and one that deserves our attention immediately since there are a lot of people currently in jail who need support, organizers who need sleep, activists in need of trauma relief, communities in need of reconciliation and safety, and a powerful story about continual resistance and courageous people to be lifted up.

This past Saturday, over a hundred activists were able to walk on to an active mine site at the Hobet Mine, the largest mountaintop removal site in West Virginia, and shut down mining at its source, while simultaneously holding a rally and trainings at a nearby park. Some activists physically locked down to the mining equipment until arrested and brought to jail, while everyone brought forward a message that it is time to end mountaintop removal coal mining and work for a just and sustainable Appalachia now. The demonstration was the first in a “Summer of Solidarity Against Extraction,” so along with RAMPS, Mountain Justice and Appalachian activists, we had people fighting to protect their homes from Fracking, from the Keystone XL Pipeline, from the Coal Export trains in the northwest, and from Occupy Wall Street and Occupy D.C. The reality of blowing up mountaintops to get to the coal underneath, filling in valleys with the overburden, hence polluting the water supply of all nearby communities and permanently destroying the mountains is so outrageous, so horrifying, that this invitation went out to the world to come to West Virginia at the invitation of local communities to directly witness the atrocity of surface mining, and shut down a mine site with our bodies.

The Mountain Mobilization was advertised as “the largest direct action yet” in the movement to end mountaintop removal by doing a “mass walk-on to an active surface mine” and by all accounts – it was. As our movement’s eco-chaplain, I live to tell the tale, and the story continues as we all pass it on. The primary version of the story for public consumption is that there is still an ongoing atrocity called mountaintop removal coal mining, and even as mining companies are going bankrupt there needs to be serious commitment by the companies and the states involved to restore the land and re-employ the people.

The inner story

The inner story is that we are using direct action techniques of public walk-ons and lock-downs to draw attention to the issue and that we were met with organized mobs of people using violence, intimidation, harassment, and hate speech to try to stop us, in collusion or at least without attempts to stop it by the state and local police.

As of Saturday night, all of our activists are accounted for, but the need for ongoing support is acute, particularly in terms of getting our friends out of jail, supporting one another through trauma recovery, and the ongoing efforts of ending mountaintop removal coal mining for a just and sustainable Appalachia. I personally would appreciate your support as I just went to the edge of my ability to hold the safety of our group with an awareness of the whole, and am now home recovering before offering support for our activists and their families in this intense time....


The idea of doing a massive direct action was, and is, to show the coal industry that we will not back down in light of harassment and attempts to silence local leaders, rather, we will invite more and more people from around the country to come and witness the situation first hand, and by doing direct action, continually grab the attention of the public to force the lawmakers who have been sitting on the fence not passing any of the legislation our movement has put forward, and shine a light into the shadowed halls of the decision makers throughout Appalachia who rubber-stamp permits for more valley fills and surface mines.

The back story

Here is the back-story: We gathered for three very full days of extensive trainings in nonviolence and non-violent direct action tactics, de-escalation trainings and mine safety, while having daily talks by local organizers about what life is like day to day in the mountain communities impacted by the coal industry. The trainings are significant because we will not allow anyone to join in these actions without committing to a full code of nonviolence and learning de-escalation techniques to follow through with them. This means carrying ourselves with the dignity one can possess with walking as a mountain, for mountains, with the knowing that the whole nation is impacted by mountaintop removal coal mining, and everyone, especially including the folks who are employed by the coal industry, have a stake in our collective survival, and that survival is put in immediate threat when we blow up mountains and fill in valleys.

We all commit to bringing no weapons of any kind, and not even engaging in debates or escalating dialogue during actions, since that doesn’t lead towards actual dialogue. Instead, we go into actions with our awareness wide open to the fact that we are marching and demonstrating for the good of the whole and out boundaries up to protect ourselves the best we can from violence. I lead people through trainings specifically oriented towards holding compassion particularly towards the folks whose jobs put the health of their whole hollows in jeopardy, since that is where a lot of the tension generally arises, and this time did in a large degree.


Our messaging to encompass the whole community

Even the messaging on the banners is written to encompass the whole rather than feed a “environmentalist” vs. “miner” divide the coal industry front groups like the Friends of Coal and the media like to perpetuate. Want to know what some of our banners said?

“Coal Leaves, Cancer Stays.”

“Re-employ our Miners, Restore our Mountains.”

“Stop Mountaintop Removal for all Appalachians”

“Repair, Reinvest, Retrain, Re-Employ”



This is all preface to say that on Saturday, nearly on hundred courageous people followed the call and did pull off the largest direct action protest in the movement to end mountaintop removal coal mining to date by simultaneously holding trainings and a rally in a state park while fifty people walked on to the Hobet mine in Lincoln County, WV, the largest mountaintop removal mine in West Virginia.

The counter-protest  with its threats and acts of violence

Both in the park and on the mine site, we were met with hoards of counter-protesters, most likely organized through the Friends of Coal, certainly organized somehow, whose intention seemed singularly to make us go home or never speak out again against mountaintop removal through threats and acts of violence – both physical and verbal. Did they succeed? I really hope not. It began in the morning leaving our campsite with an organized attempt to block us by felling trees over the road, and continued throughout the past few days. On Saturday, the day of action, the counter-protest was intense, to say the least.

I witnessed an incredibly well organized group of people I would call a mob, mainly dressed in mining stripes, some sadly dressed up with coal on their faces, lining up and doing everything in their power to seem menacing, cruel and mean by singling people out from the group and picking apart their identity – be it that they were an active marine, or a trans-gendered person, a recognizable local resident, a person of color, a hippy, a punk, a woman, a child, etc. The words that were hurled by these counter-protestors were so racist, so homophobic, so mean in general, that it was easy to recognize the fear underlying all of it. The fear in the mob was so thick that any hateful thought was hurled out toward our activists. Most of it was non-sequitor, just any old comment meant to be threatening, which helped show the hopelessness these folks feel about the situation – the mines going bankrupt, the water polluted, jobs scarce, etc., but hate speech all the same.

Our intention to take this stand for the sake of everyone is so strong, that the organized strategy of harassment, intimidation, violence and fear did not and does not work to take down our commitment to ending mountaintop removal, and through using nonviolent direct action to keep the conversation going.

The toll violence takes

That said, the hate hurled toward us these past few days, and for months and years for our local residents does take a real toll. Above all else, it make us feel sad. And traumatized too, because the things that were said, and way in which the mob behaved, was scary, and something we would all like to think ended a few generations ago. The intensity of the racism and homophobia was so thick it rings in our ears. Meanwhile, we all have a need for safety, and our very survival was at risk, so of course that leaves trauma. It was sad, and embarrassing, because I know from experience that this mob does not represent West Virginian’s very well.

I know that sometimes with direct action strategies, it is easy to say, “well – y'all shouldn’t have put your lives on the line like that.”

Direct action pushes forward the conversation, just as in the Civil Rights movement

I guess. But then again, we know that mountaintop removal coal mining is literally killing this region through economic poverty and toxic waste which creates cancer, etc., and are simultaneously doing every other strategy for change without satisfactory result. As an eco-chaplain supporting this movement, I work with people in all spectrums of strategies, and will advocate for the inclusion of direct action and support of the folks going through it with all my heart. We have multiple national bills in the house and senate, extensive state and regional organizing, and way too many scientific studies proving how deadly this form of mining is to the land and people. So there is a real reason why we use direct action as one of the strategies to push the conversation forward and not let it get forgotten in bureaucracy and corruption.

If you are noticing yourself wondering why RAMPS and Mountain Justice would use direct action knowing the situation is volatile, I encourage you to take a moment to think back on what we remember now from the Civil Rights movement, and how far our nation has come, and how far we have to go. When we remember now about all the violence from police dogs and water hoses, guns, and mobs of scared white people perpetuating white supremacy hurling toward the activists fighting for civil rights, we honor those activists for their courage rather than explain why the mob had a right to assault the nonviolent Freedom Riders, etc. Please find space to do the same here, or at the very least, hold back judgment while we work to get all our friends out of jail and participants back into balance.

A call for solidarity and cohesion

This is one of those times that we need solidarity and cohesion. This whole summer has been such a big deal – climate chaos is no longer theoretical but right here, and all of us are feeling the tension from that, and right now is the time to really love up all of the courageous people who are in trauma from putting their lives on the line for the sake of Appalachia at the moment.

There were times throughout the past four days when I have witnessed the state police and local police step forward to protect us from hostility, and for those times, I commend them, but there were too many other times when they looked the other way, and overtly worked with the mob to put our lives at risk.

Witnessed police contribution to putting activists lives at risk 

Here is a small example... On Sunday morning, while we were waiting to hear from our friends in jail with the thought we could get them out soon, the neighbors of the Tawney Farm, where we were camping, drove up to the driveway to continue the harassment that had been going on all night. The previous evening there were gunshots and more trees down in the road, we found nail-spikes tire strips in the road meant to destroy our vehicles, and all the while the police had not arrived. James Tawney, the farmer and owner of the campground was nearly ran over by one of the trucks, so we made the decision to call 911 again. This is how the phone call went:

911 Dispatch: “What is the emergency?”

James Tawney: “I was just nearly ran over by a truck and there are more threats of violence over here at my campground.”

911 Dispatch: “Are those tree-huggers bothering you?”

James Tawney: “Excuse me?”

911 Dispatch: “Are those tree-huggers bothering you?”

James Tawney: “That is rude beyond belief, they are great people, and the folks you mean as tree-huggers are camping out on my campground legally, and the law isn’t protecting them. I was just nearly ran over by a truck, last night they were shooting at us, now I need protection over here now.”

And so on, and so on…. Eventually the local sheriff and state patrol arrived, but hours later when we had an armed mob sneaking through the field on our whole group that evening, they were nowhere to be seen. We did not panic and used all our skills to stay peaceful and alert and keeping one another safe. Now that I am home and in a safe place, I am able to think about all of this. You know what comes to mind – that it is horrifying what can happen when we de-humanize one another. The use of “tree-hugger” in this instance was jargon like many known to take away our humanity, our fullness. The fact that even 911 dispatch could use the term nonchalantly and assume we ‘tree-huggers’ were harassing our neighbors after hours of getting calls to the contrary shows how thick the fear and mis-information is.

How readers can help

If you or anyone you know have political ties that can be pulled to help reduce the bail and get these folks out of jail, we would appreciate it. Furthermore, if you are willing to donate to the legal fund, you can do so online at http://rampscampaign.org/ and if you are available to write letters to the folks in jail there is information on that site as well. There is also a big need for media and political pressure, so if you can write a letter to the editor of your local paper, and connect us with friendly reporters, and write letters to politicians asking for an end of mountaintop removal and differential treatment for activists than the mob, that will help too.

Rachel Anne Parsons: A Native West Virginian's Diary on the Mountain Mobilization

Photo of Rachel Parsons from Facebook. I first published this post on August 1, 2012 at 4:48 p.m. and last updated it that date at 5:34 p.m.

I interviewed Rachel Anne Parsons about the Mountain Mobilization here.  I've  republished with permission with slight reformatting her diary of her thoughts on the Mountain Mobilization from her blog post, "West Virginia: The Third World: If they hurt you, should you back down?"

Parsons, 22, graduated in May 2012  from East Tennessee State University with a B.A. in English and a minor in Japanese. She explains that her passion is writing "both fiction and nonfiction about her home" in Mercer County, West Virginia. Her goal is to "raise awareness about Appalachia and the issues faced by the region, and also to write about the unique culture" she grew up in.  She has been published in Now and Then: The Appalachian Magazine and has a novel she wrote in November 2011 during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

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“The earth is not dying, it is being killed. And the people who are killing it have names and addresses.” – Utah Phillips

July 28, 2012

It’s Saturday, July 28, and there’s something big happening. I’ve known about it for months. People are going to get arrested today, lots of people, to make a statement. Everything has been planned meticulously, most people in the movement – the movement to end mountaintop removal and strip mining in Appalachia – don’t even know where it’s all going to go down, but we know it’s going to happen. A lot of people sign up to go. The action is called “Mountain Mobilization,” and it is organized by RAMPS, or Radical Action for Mountain Peoples’ Survival, one of many groups protesting coal in the mountains of Appalachia.

Some people, myself included, don’t go. For me, it’s because I don’t want to get arrested right now, although I believe strongly in the importance of it. There are many personal things I’m dealing with that make me stay home. My mother and I go to an antique auction to take our minds off the action, worried about our friends who are going with the intent of getting arrested. We are miserable and cranky the whole time. When we get home, we make a beeline for our computers, hoping for good news.

Instead we get bad news. 20 people were arrested on Hobet Mine in southern West Virginia. That’s not the bad part. We had planned on getting lots of people arrested to make a statement and draw attention to West Virginia’s plight, all the poisoned water and polluted air and mountains reduced to rubble. The bad news is that the other 30 people who were on the mine were sent on a 15 mile walk by police officers who refused to let the shuttle cars meant to pick them up drive down the small road to the mine. However, the police did let pro-coal supporters down the road and the anti-coal protesters were forced to walk almost four hours through a gauntlet of hate until they reached the rest of their party and were picked up. The cars carrying our protesters were then harassed on the way home, with coal supporters in big trucks trying to run them off the road.

July 29, 2012

It’s Sunday, July 29, and we get news that at least one of the arrested protesters, Dustin Steele, has been severely beaten while in police custody and has been denied medical treatment. A cry of outrage goes out across the web. Dustin will be 21 on August 1, a year younger than myself. I know this guy. Someone I know has been beaten by the police and refused treatment. Any lingering delusions I might have had of living in the land of the free? Well, those are gone, if they were ever there. Home of the brave, on the other hand, well, maybe we can still claim that title. The next few days will show.

The bond for each of the 20 arrested protesters is set at $25,000 in West Virginia property. That adds up to $500,000 dollars with of property in exchange for the release of 20 people who were arrested on misdemeanor trespassing charges. Naturally, we all think this is outrageous.

A pro-coal group online has found several of our Facebook pages, including Ramps Campaign. The page where we have all been watching for news of our comrades is bombarded with comments from the other side. Our opposition tells us “dirty, tree-hugging hippies” to “go back where we came from.” A large number of protesters, including myself and Dustin Steele, the arrested protester who was beaten, are West Virginia natives. We say so. We regret engaging any of our assailants in conversation as we are swept away in a sea of hate. Someone says the arrested protesters should be hung from trees. Someone else tells the arrested protesters “not to drop the soap.” They think these comments are funny. Well, they’re not.

July 30, 2012

Monday, July 30, I drive to my grandparents’ house to spend a couple of days with them. My plan is to relax and distract myself by helping on their farm. Instead, the three of us compulsively check Facebook for news. We’re worried and outraged for Dustin. We have no idea how the movement could possibly post bond for Dustin and the others, and Dustin still has not seen a doctor. Fingers crossed, we share articles on Facebook, trying to spread the word if we can do nothing else. Donations for the legal defense fund for the arrested protesters are still asked for, in hopes that cash will eventually be accepted by police.

That night, I am stressed and have trouble going to sleep. My anxiety issues hit me full force. On Tuesday, July 31, I wake up tired. The news is dreary at best and so is the weather. It rains and all I can think about is Dustin and how I don’t even really know how hurt he is. It’s not like I’ve ever been close to Dustin, but I know this kid. He could have been me if I’d been a little bit braver. And he had a right to protest and to stand up for what he believes in. I’m so angry that the police, who are supposed to keep citizens safe, would do this to 21 year-old kid who had no way of defending himself.

Ramps Campaign reports that the other arrested protesters witnessed the brutality against Dustin. More bad news, the Environmental Protection Agency loses a court case about water pollution restrictions in regards to coal mining. It’s not looking like a good day for the movement.

All the hate people are spewing everywhere is too much. It hurts to hear Governor Tomblin on the news say that the decision against the EPA is a “victory for West Virginia.” It’s not a victory. Coal is going to kill this state and I’m miserable and think that maybe I made a mistake by coming back here instead of staying in Tennessee after I graduated. More and more bad news. I have a negative confrontation with a supposed “friend” and it just blows everything sky high for me. I call my mom in tears and tell her I’m moving to Canada. She tells me I’m going to stay here and fight.

I call my Dad and explain everything that has happened over the last few days. I cry some more. He says, “Write about this. You are a great writer. Don’t be upset because the opposition has finally recognized that you are a force to be contended with. You should feel empowered by it. Congratulations.”

August 1, 2012

Wednesday, August 1, I wake up feeling better. It’s Dustin’s birthday, and it’s the birthday of Mother Jones, a historic figure in our movement. It’s also the anniversary of the death of Sid Hatfield. Such a day can’t be anything but powerful. News from Ramps says that they’ve finally convinced authorities to allow them to pay bond with cash, and I have high hopes that Dustin will soon be released.

There are two petitions circulating, one demanding justice for Dustin and the other demanding that the bail be reduced for the “Hobet 20″ as the arrested protesters are called. I sign them both and watch with high hopes as more and more signatures are added.

Word from Ramps that Dustin’s bail has been paid and he is finally safe with friends. The fight’s not over. There are still 19 more of the Hobet 20 to get released. Dustin’s abuse cannot be allowed to go unpunished. But I am feeling more empowered now. So I write about it, because writing is what I do and I will never be afraid to write about what’s important, no matter who threatens to hang me from a tree or put me through a wood chipper.

I am home and I am here to stay.

Dustin Steele: Arrested at Mountain Mobilization being Held on $25K Bail

Above is a video of Dustin Steele, being filmed during the training leading up to the Mountain Mobilization July 28,  To his left is Junior Walk, another native West Virginian who took part in the protest. According to the RAMPS media team he wanted his arrest made public.

 
Catherine V. Moore (email), reporter for the Register-Herald in Beckley, WV filed a report July 29, 2012, "Activists walk onto Lincoln County mine."

Here's how she described what happened in the Kanawha State Forest July 28:

 A midday gathering in Kanawha State Forest, before the action, was swarmed with State Police and protesting miners. At the back entrance of the state park near Marmet, about 75 miners parked their cars and walked miles into the bottom where they hoped to encounter the activists.

Many more units were on site at the activists’ camp in the state forest, where miners gathered to counter-protest. At least once, a lengthy, civil dialogue over the region’s economic future unfolded between the two sides.

Meanwhile, a caravan of about 15 vehicles had been deployed to the Lincoln County mine.

There was no police presence when the convoy arrived at the remote location on Mud River Road, but a guard at the mine entrance quickly called security.

The group activists proceeded past the guard house and into the working mine. Some unfurled banners reading “Restore Our Mountains, Reemploy our Miners,” “Coal Leaves, Cancer Stays,” and “STOP.”

Two others chained themselves to a rock truck, and one climbed a tree on the mine site.

Ryan Halas of Greensboro, N.C., was one of the protesters at Hobet who says he is committed to direct action as a tactic to fight strip mining.

“I think it’s worth me risking my body, arrest, and freedom because I feel these communities have been abused from the time of the broad form deed until now and it’s the duty of conscious people to come highlight injustice nationally,” he said.

“In conversations with people who don’t think I’m doing the right thing, even those folks acknowledge the risks, health costs, and dangers to the community. But they accept those risks bravely.”

Within half an hour, State Police arrived on the site, informed participants that they were trespassing and asked them to leave. Some did, and others stayed.

By 1:40 p.m., 10 State Police cars were on scene, with more following behind.

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RAMPS called off plans to deploy any additional protesters at 3:30 p.m.

She also interviewed RAMPS activist Junior Walk, who told her he participates in the direct action because he tired of Big Coal's power in his community.

Seeing all these people willing to put their freedom on the line to help people like me try and free ourselves from that kind of oppression is very inspiring. How could you not get involved in something like that?...


The people here in this state need to figure out who the real enemy is and realize their workers are getting poisoned and killed, just like members of their communities.


When the coal industry decides to pull up roots and take off, what are they going to be left with? Broken bones, black lung, and probably not even a pension. I’ve never seen a tree hugger lay anybody off.

Mountain Mobilzation Coverage Continued

Despite an extensive number of photographs available both on Facebook and Flickr and another short film of both the rally yesterday and the occupation, coverage of RAMPS mountain mobilization July 28 of the Hobet mountaintop removal mine remains sparse, with the exception of an Associated Press story with no byline dateline Charleston, WV.  It appears that the San Francisco Chronicle ran the whole story,  Other media outlets truncated it severely.

As you may recall, RAMPS indicated the first arrest had been made at 9:02 a.m.  I wrote the State Police spokesman Sergeant Michael M. T. Baylous (email) with a copy to Colonel Jay Smithers (email)  yesterday at 11:15 a.m. asking if there was  someplace where I could look online for the

police report (including complaining witness, arresting officers,  time of arrest, arrestee age, charge, place of incarceration, release time if any, bond set, conditions )   If not, could you  supply it or tell me who could.  Also could I have a statement from the Superintendent on the arrests.

I got back the surprising reply at 11:59 a.m. from Baylous that

We have no comment to make as I'm not aware of the event you mentioned. Anyone in the regional jail may be found at www.wvrja.com

Unfortunately, that's not exactly accurate, as the records are only up for the day and require that you know which jail.  After the day is over you need the name of the arrestee.  That's why I wrote Baylous back this afternoon:

Have you still no comment to make.  Unfortunately the link you gave me does not provide the full information and also provides no way to search by date; hence the arrests for July 28 were unavailable when I checked on July 29.

I'll let you know if he answers.

Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson of TN on Fighting MTR

Photo of Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson by Jared Story

Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson has been part of Appalachia Rising--serving on the steering committee-- as well as Mountain Justice. She lives in Chatanooga, TN and works for United Campus Workers, a union which organizes for social and economic justice for all Tennessee higher education employees.  I interviewed her via gchat. I first published this post on July 22,2012 at 6:58 p.m.
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I first learned about the struggle to end mtr at the Highlander Education and Research Center. Two folks, Sarah Webb-Haltom and Matt Noerpel, were there with me and shared stories of working in directly impacted communities. I learned about the issues and the next year was involved in Mountain Justice (MJ) in Harriman, TN after the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) ash disaster.

The MJ camp was hosted by UMD (United Mountain Defense). We stayed at a Boy Scout camp not far from the communities impacted by the ash disaster. We participated in workshops that taught us about what mtr is, how it impacts communities, how it destroys the environment, and what we could do about it (legislatively, through direct action and through community organizing)

I participated in the TVA March in March and was one of several folks who were detained by the police for staging a die-in in front of the TVA headquarters [on March 14, 2009].

I went to MJSpringBreak with my alternative spring break program at East Tennessee State University [in Johnson City where her husband is from.] Our leadership was targeted after that trip by TVA for taking pictures of the ash disaster after the die-in.

We fought back, met with Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow and started working with other leaders of the anti-mtr movement , and I've been working on the issue ever since.

I am from Chattanooga. Grew up in Summit and Ooltewah, TN as well...I grew up in an organizing family. My activism and organizing to end mtr has mostly been in TN and WV, but through MJ and Appalachia Rising I've met folks and worked with directly impacted community members in all the Central Appalachian states.

My mother is a member of the original black panther party, and my dad was a radio show host that focused on the issues affecting the black community in Hamilton County. My mother's parents always instilled in me the importance of community and that is was my responsibility to give back to the folks that developed me and gave me the resources to become who I am today. I grew up going to mass meetings and demonstrations, etc. I grew up around activism. They organized around many issues including racial justice and against environmental racism.

I believe in collective liberation, solidarity and intersectionality. By collective liberation I mean that I can't be fully human, the best Ash-Lee I can be, until all of my sisters and brothers everywhere can be fully human. So if my friends and family who are negatively impacted by the coal industry that also, indirectly, impacts me. I believe in solidarity, not charity, that it is my responsibility to work with directly impacted communities to end the oppression directly impacting their lives so that they can be fully human, and in turn, so can I. With intersectionality, I believe that all forms of oppression link together and benefit from one another. Racism, classism, homophobia, and environmental injustice are all connected.

The Mountain Mobilization is informed by the work of folks from mountain communities in Central Appalachia, activists and organizers from all over the country, grassroots community organizations, Mountain Justice and Appalachia Rising and so many others. Those of us involved in the movement to end mtr recognize that to win we have to build our people power and fight back to compete with a billion dollar coal industry.

To do that, folks are mobilizing and being mobilized to southern West Virginia on July 25th. My loved ones in RAMPS will be preparing folks to participate in nonviolent direct action to cut off the destruction at its source--a strip mine.

Native West Virginian Rachel Parsons on MTR

Photo montage (l to r) of Rachel Parsons, her mother Wendy Johnston and her grandfather Sid Moye.

This is the beginning of a post first published on July 21, 2012 at 6:59 p.m. It was last updated on August 1, 2012 at 4:49 p.m. to add the remainder of the interview and a link to my post about  Rachel's own diary on the Mountain Mobilization.

Native West Virginian Rachel Parsons part of three generations fighting mtr

One of many West Virginia natives who supports the mobilization is writer Rachel Parsons (blog).

Parsons lives in Mercer County outside of Athens.  There is no mining right where she lives, but there is a permit in her county for McComas, within 5 miles of where her grandparents, Sid and Dana Moye live.  Her  mother, Wendy Johnston, discovered the advertisement for the permit in 2009, while working at the Princeton Library.  Johnston wrote Mountain Justice for help and she and Sid Moye went door-to-door to tell people in that area who had heard nothing about the permit. Parsons wrote me last night about the Mobilization to say that they are

going to try to help out if we can.

Parson's grandfather has an eloquent essay about his opposition to Mountaintop removal up at Earth Justice's Mountain Heroes Project, as does Junior Walk, whom I wrote about yesterday. Parsons  is one of the speakers tomorrow, along with her mother, at the Stop the Kaboom fundraiser for RAMPS in Hedgesville, WV. Her brothers Matthew and Billy Parsons--who play together as the Missing Parsons Report--will be performing.

How Parsons got involved in fighting MTR

I asked Parsons if she could remember what started her off on her current path as an activist.  She answered,

Absolutely. Mom took me to Mountain Justice Camp for an evening because it was being held at the Appalachian South Folklife Center, which is right up the road from out house. I heard Judy Bonds speak on the issue, which I knew nothing about before hand, and met Larry Gibson for the first time as well. It was a very powerful experience and I knew after that evening that I needed to be involved.

Judy was a really powerful figure to me. There's a lot of talk about activists being out of state hippies, but that wasn't Judy. She lived with the effects of strip mining every day, and that she died of cancer before she could see this fight all the way through felt like a tragedy to me.

Judy Bonds continues to inspire Parsons

I never got to know her very well but I always admired her. She was and is one of my heroes...

I think Judy believed that everyone who could and would fight had their own gifts to bring to the table. She wanted everyone to speak up, even when we're afraid. So even though Judy was a speaker and I'm a writer, I feel I'm doing what she would have wanted me to do by writing about the issues she felt so strongly about. I do speak on occasion, when I'm asked, because I want to help the movement in any way I can. It's just that primarily I want to spread the word through my writing.

Mountain Mobe: Ending another war

Poster art from second annual Stop the Kaboom Music and Art Festival  in Hedgesville, WV which starts today to bring awareness and raise funds to fight fracking and mountaintop removal. I first published this post on July 20, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.  I last updated it July 26 at 10:00 a.m.


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The Mobe then

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the Port Huron Statement written primarily by Tom Hayden, then the Field Secretary of SDS, and later a California legislator and founding director of the Peace and Justice Resource Center. Back in 1967, the  National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam or The Mobe, was formed to evaluate the antiwar demonstrations and to chart a future course for the antiwar movement. 

And now

In Appalachia, another war is going on, a war by Big Coal on our mountains and our culture.   As  Junior Walk, 22, who lives in Whiteville, has said, 

Now is when we decide if we let the coal industry strip it all before deserting Appalachia or if we send them packing while we still have mountains.

Mountain Mobilization starts July 25

Starting July 25, folks will converge in southern West Virginia for a mobilization RAMPS (Radical Action for Mountain People's Survival) is hosting to prepare for the nonviolent direct action July 28 to shut down a strip mine.

While public outcries against the abuses of the fossil fuel industry rise and scientific evidence mounts, environmental protections are under attack by politicians backed by corporate cash. The Occupy movement highlighted what communities fighting Big Coal, Big Oil and Big Gas have long known -- when corporate interests dominate the political system, citizens must be the ones to restore democracy. In sharp contrast to Washington inaction, ordinary citizens around the country are turning to American traditions of direct intervention and civil disobedience.  Here's a video by Jordan Freeman.

Escalating protests on fossil fuels

From the historic March on Blair Mountain to the longest tree sit in the eastern US to recent sit-ins in Washington and coal barge and trucks blockades right here in WV, protests have escalated.  Last summer, hundreds were arrested in DC protesting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, andTexas activists are planning a blockade to directly halt construction of the pipeline July 27-9. Madeline Fitch locked herself to barrels to block the use of a fracking well in Ohio, June 26. “Don’t Frack Ohio” brought together thousands to protest hydrofracking in Ohio Jun 14-17, and “Stop the Frack Attack” will mobilize thousands in DC July 28.   In August, thousands will converge on the statehouse in Montana to protest the continued expansion of western strip mines for exporting coal to China and elsewhere in Asia.

Mathew Louis-Rosenberg of RAMPS talks about Mountain Mobilization

Today I was "talking" via gchat with Mathew Louis-Rosenberg over in Sandstone, West Virginia, about the upcoming mountain mobilization. Since Peter Slavin wrote about him in 2010, Louis-Rosenbergin has moved on from Climate Ground Zero to volunteering at RAMPS.  He is still working with the Sludge Safety Project through Coal River Mountain Watch (CRMW).   His mission remains the same: to lend his skills to the fight to end mountaintop removal coal mining. He explains,

The fight against strip mining in Appalachia is connected to so many critical issues for our time. This struggle is about public health, human rights, environmental justice, national energy policy and the future of the planet. It's about corporate control of government, wealth inequality and Appalachia's right to a viable future. From every angle, strip mining and other extreme extraction is wrong.

The Mountain Mobilization is drawing attendees from withing Central Appalachia

Although Louis-Rosenberg is a native of West Saugerties, New York, he's been in WV since 2008.  Appalachian natives and those who have chosen to live in our region have joined together to supporting the mobilization.  I've already mentioned Junior Walk. 

• There are folks coming from 13 towns and cities in WV (Blair, Charleston,  Danville, Fayetteville, Greenville, Huntington, Hurricane, Lookout, Marlington, Morgantown,  Rock Creek, Sandstone, Summerville) two in KY (Lexington and Berea), four in OH (Cleveland, Columbus, London, Springfield), five in TN (Kingsport, Knoxville, Lebanon, Memphis, Sevierville), two in VA (Blacksburg, Floyd), and four in NC (Asheville, New Bern, Raleigh, Weaversville).

The Mobilization is attracting antendees from a wide geographic area as well

• DC will be well represented, as will MD (College Park, Frederick, Oxford, Upper Marlboro) and Northern and Central Virginia (Fredericksburg, Charlottesville.)
• New York is sending a large contingent (Brooktondale, Fayettesville, Ithaca, New York City, Redwood, Scarsdale, Warwick, Woodside), as is PA (Benton, Bryn Athyn, Daisytown, Erie, Fairview, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsvburgh, Revere, Swathmore).  RAMPS and MJ members recently took part in a fracking protest. NJ will also be represented (Oldwick).
• New England participants are coming from MA (Alston, Andover, Belmont, Boston, Somersville, Waltham), VT (Brattleboro, Burlington, East Calais) and CT (New Haven).                             
• There are folks traveling from  AZ (Tempe), CA (Berkeley and San Francisco), CO (Boulder)  IN (Bloomington) ,MO(St. Louis), MS (Starkville), MT (Missoula), , NJ , NM (Santa Fe),,  OR (Bandon), TX (Austin), UT (Castle Valley, Salt Lake City) and WA (Port Townsend).          
• There is even a registrant from China.

   
Native West Virginian Junior Walk on MTR

 I've already mentioned Junior Walk at the top of this post.  He wrote about mtr and the coal industry for  Aurora Lights's Journey Up Coal River map project when he was twenty.  Reading Walk's account of how he left his job working for Massey and then a security job at a mtr site  made me recall two TMK security guards who quit their jobs after being assigned to harass protesters engaged in a tree-sit in the Coal River Valley:

I had no idea how to go about applying for college, or scholarships, grants, or any of that stuff seeing as how I was the first person in my family that was even remotely interested in going to school, so I didn’t get to go. I did what a lot of folks do around here when they get out of high school and find themselves jobless. I went to work for Massey Energy, I worked at the Elk Run preparation plant in Sylvester for almost 6 months. I knew I couldn’t do that for long, and I had to quit.

After a year or so of going from minimum wage job to minimum wage job a family friend offered me a job as a security guard at a mountaintop removal site. While working there I felt like a horrible person for being even the smallest part in the machine that was tearing down that mountain and poisoning the community at the bottom. So I contacted Coal River Mountain Watch and started volunteering with them, I would write articles for their newsletter anonymously while I was on the job as a security guard. I’d take my desktop computer, load it into the passenger seat of my car and run an extension cord to the power box. They then offered me a job as the office manager at Coal River Mountain Watch, so that’s where I am today.

Walk grew up right in the Coal River Valley and went to Marsh Fork Elementary School:

...[Y]es the same Marsh Fork that’s situated beside of a coal preparation plant and in the looming shadow of a 2.8 billion gallon coal sludge impoundment. I went to Marsh Fork High School the last year that it was open, they closed it down and it promptly burned to the ground like a lot of abandoned buildings in this area do.  I then had to ride a bus for an hour to and from school every day, but that’s all too common in poor communities where school consolidation is business as usual.

He explains why he works for Coal River Mountain Watch and opposes the coal industry:

I think the Coal River Valley is one of the most amazing places on this earth, and I’d never want to move away from here. Sadly though it’s also poverty stricken and highly exploited by outside extractive industries.  I think if the Coal River Valley were prosperous it wouldn’t look all that different, but it would certainly have a better feel to it, a better climate if you will. Folks would be self sufficient and not have to rely on outside corporations to use them just so they could feed their families. I’m working with Coal River Mountain Watch now to do my part in ending the tyranny of the coal industry by speaking out and trying to educate the general public about what’s going on here.  The coal industry is the main barrier to accomplishing what I would like to accomplish in making this community sustainable, and making sure folks around here educate themselves so they don’t get exploited again.