Appalachia Rising
“We are Rising!” The third weekend of September, 2010, this is how I felt. For me, being apart of a movement/ cause has always made be feel good. Not in the sense that I am doing good for someone/something else, but in the sense that I am apart of something. Over all the weekend of Appalachia Rising was well organized, all logistics where covered. I now have a much better sense of what it takes to organize something as large scale as this. Also, I am appreciative to have met great individuals from the Warren Wilson campus.
Something that struck me was that the participants where the organizers. There was a core group of organizers, yet it was our responsibility, as participants, to help with the organization. There were many options given for how we could help; we could work at the registration table or choose to participate in roles of the day of action. I appreciated the options to make the weekend and day of action flow smoothly. I, unfortunately, did not volunteer for any of the possible ways to help. I made the conscious decision to go to the workshops and fully immerse myself in the day of.
I was very excited to participate in the workshops; however, I did not stay for all the workshops. The first workshop I attended was “Coal Fired Power Plants,” I imagined this to be a very informative session; however, it was not. This workshop was mainly the two session leaders (two young women from Virginia), explaining their experiences. What they are doing is every interesting; yet it wasn’t what I was looking for. I wanted to learn more general information, not what these two young women were doing.
I ended up leaving this workshop early and found my way over to the art. Saturday was a beautiful day, a perfect day to work outside. I found myself cutting out mountain after mountain. For me, this was one of the most fulfilling parts of my day. Outside, making the signs for Monday, I really started to feel the energy of this movement.
The second workshop I attended was “Community Organizing;” reflecting back, I wish that I had stayed for this whole session. Community organizing is something that I am very interested in and I feel like I have the potential to be a good community organizer. Yet, I choose not to stay for the whole session and I wandered back out to the art station to make more mountains.
A long day of workshops, lots of walking, and a good after-party, makes sleeping for two hours very peaceful. Although we were sleeping on the floor of a church I felt like I slept well, my body said otherwise when I woke up Sunday morning. Waking up to a very sore body I was ready for the events of Sunday to begin.
Sunday I choose to attend the big group workshop about Civil Disobedience. For me, this was the most powerful workshop of the weekend. I know that I was mainly targeted for those who chose to get arrested; yet I feel that I was preparing myself for future possibilities. The afternoon session about “Know Your Rights” was also very helpful for me. I wasn’t planning on getting arrested, but I tried to absorb all the information that was being poured onto us.
Now the day that we’d all been waiting for: The Day of Action. I am grateful that we were able to participate in the action held at the Army Corp Of Engineers. Although I felt like it was a little disorganized at the beginning, once we got outside the building it was a very exciting hour and a half. At first I thought that since we were so small in numbers that we were not doing anything. Then, after a while, I saw people on the streets stopping to see what was happening, then people from their office windows stopped to see what the commotion was. What made the morning action most exciting is that all of our commotion did something. It created the opportunity for a member of the Army Corp of Engineers to come outside and speak to two of the representatives of Mountain Justice.
The action outside of the Army Corp of Engineers ended as people wanted to save their voices for the main action of the day. I was ready to head over to the rally; I was ready to see all the people who had gathered for such an event. At first we tried to walk as a group from the Army Corp of Engineers, but that didn’t work out as people wasn’t to stop for food, water, and a bathroom break.
We arrived at Freedom Plaza, ready to show Washington that we would not stand for more Mountain Top Removal. The program for the rally was full of speakers and musicians; it would have been much more enjoyable if the projection system was better. My spirits were high but I did get a little anxious to start marching. Once the signal of the drums sounded I was more than ready.
And we began. The mass of people started walking. I had never walk in solidarity with that many people. The whole time I was wondering, how many people could possibly be there? And the chants rang from all sides of me, I chimed in too, feeling the energy of all those around me. We shouted, “1. We are the people! 2. You can’t ignore us! 3. We will not let you blow our mountains!” I felt what I said with all my heart and body. I am a part of something.
We neared the EPA and the chants changed to, “EPA do your job!” My grandmother and many close adult friends of mine work at the EPA, they do good work, but their specific jobs don’t cover mountain top removal or landfills. I felt a little odd screaming at the EPA since I have such close connections to it, yet I realize that we were making a point to the cooperation and not the individuals who work there.
The march continued on, finally we arrived outside the White House. It was a momentous moment when 115 people choose to commit civil disobedience, the rest of us choose to support them behind the yellow line. One of the best parts of the day for me was when the music got louder and the people started dancing.
“We are Appalachia!” Blue Grass music rang out and we danced all around. The sense of community and solidarity was overwhelming. I was in a foreign place with foreign people, yet we were one. It came time when we had to leave, but I wasn’t ready to leave yet. I wanted to stay until the last person was arrested. Was that selfish of me? But it was time so the Warren Wilson train pulled out of Washington D.C.
I will always remember the weekend of Appalachia Rising. I learned so much over the course of one weekend. Yet, I must realize that it was only the beginning for me. I now have a responsibility to educate others on mountain top removal and to make it an issue that our government cares about.
