March On Blair Mountain: June 4-12, 2011
It’s not easy to leave on a Saturday afternoon at Wilson during the summer. Yet, as a bid my fellow rope swingers goodbye, I knew I was setting out on a journey.
The week of the march went by so quickly it’s hard to describe all the emotions and feelings.
I arrived on Saturday night, a little dazed, it was late and wake up was early so off to bed I went (after greeting some Wilson friends that I happened upon).
Orientation goodness, mingling. There were lots of opportunities to sign up for a volunteer role, I choose to be a PeaceKeeper for the week.
**A note on PeaceKeeping: Volunteers were asked to be calm, level-headed people. It sounded like me so I jumped on the position. About thirty-five others came forward for the job, too. Throughout the week it was my pleasure to get to know this people especially well. We were given four hours of training and many scenarios were gone over. All the possible “what ifs” were talked about. As PeaceKeepers we were to have a “buddy” at all times as we worked. I had the honor to spend most of the week with Joe Gorman, who is now partly in charge of Build it Up, WV. I learned so much from him as he told me story after story as we walked along the march route.
Photo Credit: Jon Berger
Sunday night was our first call to PeaceKeeping. We received notice that there was a group of counter-protesters headed towards the warehouse where we were staying. As PeaceKeepers it was our job to make sure everyone was calm, and felt safe. We made sure that no one was sleeping next to the windows. A small group of us went into the part of the warehouse where all the organizers were. It was mostly just a lot of anticipation and waiting around. Finely we got word that a large group of counter-protesters were not coming towards us (only a scare).
Wake up on Monday was 6:30, although we didn’t get on the move until around 10am. There was a small press-conference, which was quite exciting (with coverage from from local and national news: The Charleston Gessett, A . However, as a PeaceKeeper I was still a little unaware of what my duties were. As soon as the conference ended, marchers were instructed to line up and get ready to march, as a PeaceKeeper I inserted myself accordingly. Leaving Marmet, right outside of Charleston, we were allowed to take the road, however, as soon as we out of town we switched to single file. And I’ll tell you, what a sight! As a single file line we stretched out far!
We marched 11miles, with a break before lunch, shuttling up a narrow mountain road (to dangerous for marchers due to there being no shoulder), and lunch (made by our amazing Seeds for Peace and their volunteers!***).
*** A note on food! It was delicious! Out of all those who volunteered and/or had an organizing role, the cooks WIN. They made the most wholesome food for over 200 people and got the least amount of sleep. All the food was prepared by hand (minus the Friday night pizza dinner). Mad props to Grumbles and the rest of the kitchen!
Once we made it to our campsite it was time to rest our feet. But that didn’t stop a few of us from playing around with the Frisbee. I’m glad that I brought my Frisbee with me for the week, there were many times when it came in useful for a game of toss. We played an intense game of monkey in the middle, slowly adding people to the game as more people wanted to join in. It was an extremely silly game with “Humaniods” and “Monkeys.” As it became more and more complicated to differentiate between the “humans” and the “monkeys” we moved to a more organized game of ultimate Frisbee.
However, the game was cut short due to a crowd of counter-protesters. One angry man decided to violate some of our private property (a camera man’s bus), others marched around the campground holding signs and shouting “Go HOME hippies,” “Coal keeps the lights on!” and more. As PeaceKeepers, we were thrown into this situation and as a group we reacted calmly.
We were quite content to be camping, however, around 9pm we were informed that we were no longer welcome to camp in the public park. It was decided that we would take our camp back to Marmet and stay in the safety of the base-camp warehouse. Unfortunately all of our campsites were pulled from us due to pressure from community members. Those who wanted to host us no longer felt safe, some were afraid of losing their jobs.
Tuesday was just a little chaotic. The shuttle capacity was low, therefore getting people on the march route was quite difficult. I went out on the last shuttle out (that did not leave until around three), ready to eat some lunch and then get on the road. When we arrived at lunch it was hot and sticky, and most of us just arriving assumed that those already there had already eaten lunch. We hurried to get our food, not realizing that the others hadn’t gotten their food yet.
Suddenly the skies turned grey and winds picked up. Organizers received a full weather report and it was decided to cut the day short due to concerns of severe weather. I must admit that I was a little disappointed, but I knew the decision was made for our safety. Unfortunately, I did not get to walk Tuesday, but it was a great day of bonding and later in the evening the instruments came out and a square dance started up.
Wednesday we got on the road earlier and marched through Madison. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful park where the Mayor of Madison was incredibly kind any allowed our water vehicles to fill up. We had good shade and the Coal River to cool down in. And we ate another wonderfully delicious meal prepared by Grumbles and the kitchen crew.
Waiting to get on the road Wednesday morning.
Later, when we got back to base-camp many of us decided to make a trip to the Wendy’s to cool down with a frosty. Throughout the whole week we experienced record high temperatures. Staying hydrated was key during our march.
Thursday we stopped for lunch where, in 1921, the miners had also stopped.
Towards the end of the day we also experienced our only “large scale” counter-protest.
Friday, our last day of marching was a magnificent one. We spent a couple hours on the side of the road waiting for our whole group to be shuttled to the starting point. One could have chosen to get impatient while waiting, but instead we danced, played games, and sang. And boy did we sing.
Once the singing started it was near impossible to stop. And what was great is that singing is like a magnet. What started out as a small group of singers turned into all of the marchers on the side of the road singing. It was a beautiful sight. I would like to know what the police (who were watching us from across the street) thought of our singing. I think they liked it.
We didn’t get on the road until almost one, and many of us were hungry already. Yet, we walked about five miles until we stopped for lunch. Finally we stopped at a church****; the church was by a small creek, which was nice to get a little wet it. After we finished our lunch we had the honor to have Jimmy Weekly speak to us. Jimmy Weekly, a slender looking man, told us of his story, fight, and victory to save his mountain.
**** A note on the Church. That Church as now been donated to Friends of Blair Mountain. It will now be the hub for organizing and the spot of archives of the Battle on Blair Mountain, and new resources for the community of Blair. If you’d like to help go to www.friendsofblairmountain.org
We only had two more miles to our campground; there was much excitement in the air. As we arrived, PeaceKeepers were notified that we were needed in the front of the march. We lined the driveway to keep marchers off the neighbor’s grass. Although it was a simple gesture, it was quite powerful.
We made it! We completed the journey that had been made 90 years before us. This was a journey that changed many of us, many new friendships were created, and many were inspired.
Saturday was a hot day. By ten I’d say it was 90 degrees (and without much shade at the ball field). There were some wonderful speakers: Robert F Kennedy Jr., Larry Gibson, Jimmy Weekly, and others.
I tried to keep in the shade and process how amazing the sight before me was. A group that had constantly been two hundred had now expanded to almost 1000. It was a little overwhelming to see all the new faces that were just now joining the march. But, more than overwhelming, it was inspiring.
Yet again, Grumbles and the kitchen made a delicious meal that fed 1000 marches and prepared us to march up Blair Mountain. As marchers lined the pathway, ready to start marching, it was our job (the PeaceKeepers), to keep the marchers off the grass of the neighbors. In order to make our job fun and easy, we started a chant: “Keep off the grass, stay on the pavement!” It was catchy and marchers caught on.
Finally it was my turn to hop in line. It was exciting, our last final “hurrah”; here we were, at the base of Blair. As we got on the road, we took the lane of traffic for our first time that week. We were able to march in threes, holding signs and singing as we went. Soon, though, police made us march single file (even though both lanes of traffic were shut down for that morning). It was quite annoying, but we all complied with the police.
A group of about 150 marchers pealed off from the main march. Our goal was to go to the battle site and “reclaim” it as a historical site. The battleground was about an extra mile in from where we left the larger group. We made it to the grounds of the site, which was an extremely emotional and spiritual experience. However, we had close to no time because the police notified us that we would be arrested for trespassing. As a group, we cooperated and moved back down the mountain. Leaving the battlefield we left our signs and markers commemorating the ground as a historical site. We sung as we exited the battleground and we were met with cheers of encouragement when we came back out on the main road. Our action was a success in many ways, however, it’s just the start to much more planning, paper work, and rallying behind saving Blair Mountain and preserving the community in that area.
Larry Gibson with the group of marchers that went to the Battlefield site.
Leaving signs as a form of commemorating the Battlefield.
Resting back at the ball field, we got a little rain and the magic of a double rainbow. It was quite a hoot to listen to about fifty people, in unison, cheering, “double rainbow ALL THE WAY!” Dinner, music, resting, and decompressing for the next couple of hours. It was very hard for me to stay goodbye to some of the amazing people that I’d met. Thank you to everyone who made my week. I finally got a ride back to Marmet were we all chatted and hung out for the next couple of hours; all the while trying to not to think about parting paths in the morning.
We got an early start on the road in the morning (of course stopping at Tudor’s Biscuit World first!). A wonderful week. Decompression and processing took me a good week. I’ve been meaning to write about the march since it ended, I’ve been writing in bits and pieces; and that’s why ya’ll are just now seeing this reflection. It’s quite fragmented, but if anyone has any questions, I’d love to answer them.
I’ve found a place, a place where I am in love. That place is in these mountains, and I am going to fight for these mountains, and the people’s health.
Over the Fourth of July I made my way back to WV for Larry Gibson’s annual Mountain Keepers’ Festival (a report back on that later).
