Knowledge can be challenging. Striving toward change—even more so.
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Their Final Hours: Ten Years After the Sago Mine Disaster
On this day ten years ago, thirteen men were still trapped following the explosion that rocked their mine over 28 hour before. Rescue efforts were in a state…
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The Coal Industry in Our Public Schools
There are many problems plaguing Appalachia today: underfunded school systems, poverty, drug abuse, negative stereotyping of Appalachia in the media, and today a severe downturn in coal demand…
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Without the Union…
I had been raised union and knew the benefits that came with it, but in its absence, I ended up joining thousands of other young men naive enough…
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Searching for Justice in Appalachia
Since leaving the mining industry six years ago, I’ve gone in search of justice for Appalachia. It has been a hard journey coping with the deepening realities of…
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Coal is not what raised me…
A few years ago, I had a few family members tell me “Coal is what raised you!” It was a phrase I’d also heard from the angry wives…
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On “In the Black” by Gary Bentley
In January, I came across the first of a new series on the Daily Yonder titled “In the Black.” It is an accurate and gritty portrayal of coal…
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The Scotia Mine Disaster – 40 years later
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Scotia Mine Disaster that took the lives of 15 miners on March 9th, 1976, and a second explosion that took the…
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Broken Promises
There is an unspoken promise that has been made by politicians and coal companies in Appalachia. It states that if people fight against the “War on Coal” companies…
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Blood on the Mountain
If you haven’t heard about the new documentary Blood on the Mountain—you should. No other film has taken such a broad view of the political corruption and exploitative…
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Mining, Diesel Particulate Matter, & Cancer
We didn’t have rail at Alpha Natural Resources’ Paramont Deep Mine 26, even though it was Southwest Virginia’s second largest mine at the time. Entry in and out…