Cross post from “It’s Getting Hot In Here”

This is worth a read folks.

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2011/06/08/the-second-battle-of-blair-mountain/

Marching to Blair – Update from Marmet Base

Two days, and a lot has been going down. Just so folks are aware the most timely updates will be coming from The Pittsburgh Seam’s twitter feed @pghseam.

Day One

Bottom line here is the the coal opperators don’t want to see us make it to Blair and because they OWN the powers that be at every level of government in this state, and have tons of power, and threats to throw at them.

Last night after we set up camp at a place where WE HAD PERMISSION TO in Racine, (Boone County) a county commisioner showed up and kicked us out under threat of arrest.

Because the point of the March On Blair is to actually march to Blair Mountain, we (all 200 or so of us) felt it best to break camp at 10:30PM and get shuttled back to our base in Marmet for the night and then get shuttled back to start the next day. This went off without a hitch and most everyone was bedded down by 1AM.

I have to tell you now that the core organizers woking on this are truely amazing and they are volunteering their time for this march. That fact and the fact that everyone here (yep 200 or so) are pulling together and WILL make it to Blair.

Day Two

We slept in a bit because of the late night, but had our first marchers back on the route by about 11:30. I helped to pack up some of the gear to be shuttled ahead to our next campsite based on private land. A campground, a real campground. There were even rumors of showers.

I joined the marchers at about 1PM to march to camp. The walking was better than the previous day because of wider shoulders on the roads, a lot  of yesterday was spent in the ditch because of narrow mountain roads.

We pulled off for our lunch break around 2:30 and got THE NEWS. Because of pressure (and I suspect theats) from King Coal, the campground said they didn’t feel safe having us stay there.

I really want to be clear about something here. The local folks are trying their best to help us out, but we realize that once we leave they could see reprecusions from actions they publicly take to support us and they’re mountains. And none of us want to see anything happen to them.

That being said, the majority of the folks we pass by during the day show us AMAZING support. These folks love their mountains too, imagine that.

Anyway, back to the day….

We had decided to shuttle everyone back to based once again, when a bunch of storms rolled in which ended our marching a bit early.

Folks are slowly getting back to base now, we’ll get plenty of rest tonight and be back on the March early tomorrow.

ON TO BLAIR!!!

One more point and a big thanks.

All the unexpected shuttling is coasting us more and more so we are depending on YOU to help us make it to Blair Mountain.

Please donate $5 or $10 at www.marchonblairmountain.org

And THANK YOU to those who have already been stepping up.

Blair March Social media

Hey folks,
Just a quick note for you tweeters out there. Follow these hash tags. #saveblair #blairmt #endmtr #union.

In Marmet

Well, the Seam is in Marmet, getting ready to go to bed. I’m amazed at how well organized this is so far and the diversity of the participants is great. I’ve already met a fellow who came from the stuggle in Madison, a young man from France, and a man from the Navajo nation in the southwest.

We’ve had a bit of training and learning about what we can expect over the next week. Tomorrow will be much more training and learning starting at 6:39 AM,so off to beddy bye for now folks.  Talk to you all manyana.

Live Blogging from the March on Blair Mountain

Well folks tomorrow the Seam will be heading to Marmet WV to begin the 50 mile trek to Blair with a few hundred of my closest friends. I’lll be attempting to post at least once per day during the trip using my droid provided I get a signal.

Bound for Blair: Then & Now

The Seam will be participating in the March on Blair Mountain Next week so leading up to that we will be posting some background for folks this week.

The following is cross posted from marchonblairmountain.org

The striking miners rode on boxcars, flat cars, on the roofs and in the cow catchers of commandeered trains. They wore red neckerchiefs around their collars and on their arms, and held guns in their laps. Some were laughing, spitting, smoking; others were silent, their eyes fixed on the mountains that unfolded before them. It was August of 1921, and the forests were lush and green.

Along the train tracks sat rows of coal miners’ cabins, and the occasional town street, with several stores and a saloon. Some folks on the sidewalks tipped their hats as the trains passed, while others stood cross-armed, scoffing. The hats that were tipped were mostly worn down and cheaply made, while the crossed arms were clothed in the tailored jackets of professionals and businessmen.

“Ya ready?” said a thick-necked older miner to the younger, slimmer man next to him. Let’s call the older one Buddy. Actually, let’s call them both Buddy, the name the miners used for one another during the duration of the mine war centered on Blair.

“Yup,” said the younger Buddy, “Got my gun polished up and everythin’. Time to get those Baldwin-Felts men.”

Citizens Against Coal Ash, Larry Gibson and many others Travel to Akron to Call Out First Energy

CACA Members in Akron (Photo by Curt Gould)

Citizens Against Coal Ash (CACA) joined a broad group of concerned citizens from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia gathered in downtown Akron on Tuesday, May 17th to express their concerns about First Energy’s continued reliance on coal-fired power plants and the negative impacts it is having in their respective communities.

While CACA and others gathered outside, the First Energy Corporation hosted their annual shareholders meeting at the  John S. Knight Center.  Shareholders had the opportunity to vote in favor of two resolutions that will force the company to examine future investment in coal and the effects of coal ash on impacted communities. Community members were asking shareholders to vote in favor of the measures.