This is a land of exploitation, where people are collateral damage, imprisoned by the politics of coal. Independence Day weekend, and West Virginia is NOT the land of the free. This is a monarchy, and King Coal rules with an iron fist. Just out of sight, the mines surround us, offering silent witness to the gathering here in opposition against them.Īccording to the National Mining Association, “Mountaintop mining accounts for approximately 45 percent of the entire state’s coal production in West Virginia.” Much of the political and regulatory power is held by large, out-of-state (or even out-of-country) corporations who give themselves monikers like Patriot Coal and Freedom Industries, trying to invoke a sense of pride and American entrepreneurship while subversively implying that being against them would be un-American.īut there is nothing patriotic about what the coal industry does to the land and the people. Arriving at the park, a scattering of Appalachians, friends, family, musicians, and lovers of mountains are meeting in a small field at the 10th annual Kayford Mountain Music Festival to raise awareness of mountaintop removal coal mining. We pass under a coal chute and the road turns to gravel. Empty coal cars line the roadside, waiting for the next delivery of toxic payload to be delivered into their iron bowels.
It’s the 4th of July, and photographer Lynn Willis and I are traveling the long road along Cabin Creek in West Virginia that leads to the Stanley Heirs Park.
Lynn Willis Photography See all of Lynn’s photos from Kayford Mountain.Appalachian Voices wishes to thank Lynn Willis and Southwings for their generosity and dedication in helping us bring these photos and stories to you.
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