Fighting Back Appalachia

379 Pages·1993·37.23 MB·English

by  Stephen Fisher

FIGHT G
BACK
IN APPALACHIA
Traditions of Resistance and Change
FIGHTING BACK
IN APPALACHIA
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FIGHTING BACK
IN APPALACHIA
Traditions of Resistance and Change
Edited by
Stephen L. Fisher
Temple University Press
Philadelphia
CopyrightedMaterial
TempleUniversity Press, Philadelphia19122
Copyright© 1993byTemple University. Allrightsreserved
Published1993
Printedin the UnitedStatesofAmerica
Chapter7copyright© 1993by Hal Hamiltonand Ellen Ryan
Chapter12copyright © 1993byGuyandCandieCarawan
@Thepaperused in thispublicationmeetsthe minimum requirementsof
American NationalStandard for InformationSciences-PermanenceofPaperfor
PrintedLibrary Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984
LibYaryofCongn~ssCataloging-in-Publication Data
Fightingbackin Appalachia: traditionsofresistanceandchange/
edited byStephen L Fisher
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN0-87722-976-7(cloth: alk. paper). -ISBN0-87722-977-5
(paper: alk. paper)
1.Communityorganization-Appalachian Region. 2. Dissenters
Appalachian Region. 3.Appalachian Region-Ruralconditions.
\. Fisher,Stephen L,1944-
HN79.AI27F54 1993
307.72'0974-dc20 92-17683
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Contents
Acknowledgments Lx
Introduction 1
Stephen L. Fisher
BUILDING GRASSROOTS
PART I CITIZENORGANIZATIONS
1 Stopping the Bulldozers: What Difference
Did It Make? 17
Mary Beth Bingman
2 Like a Flower Slowly Blooming: Highlander and
the Nurturing ofan Appalachian Movement 31
John M. Glen
3 Racism and Organizing in Appalachia 57
Don Manning-Miller
4 From Fussin' to Organizing: Individual and
Collective Resistance at Yellow Creek 69
Sherry Cable
5 Save Our Cumberland Mountains: Growth and
Change Within a Grassroots Organization 85
BillAllen
6 Practical Lessons in Community Organizing in
Appalachia: What We've Learned at Kentuckians
For The Commonwealth 101
Joe Szakos
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Contents
vi
7 The Community Farm Alliance in Kentucky:
The Gmwth, Mistakes, and Lessons ofthe Farm
Movement ofthe 1980s 123
Hal Hamilton and Ellen Ryan
NEWSTRATEGIES
PART II INLABOR STRUGGLES
8 Appalachian Women Fight Back: Organizational
Approaches to NontraditionalJob Advocacy 151
Chris Weiss
9 The Memory ofMiners and the Conscience
ofCapital: Coal Miners' Strikes as Free Spaces 165
RichardA. Couto
10 Singing Acmss Dark Spaces: The Union/
Community Takeover ofPittston's Moss 3 Plant 195
Jim Sessions and FranAnsley
11 The People's Respirator: Coalition Building
and the Black Lung Association 225
BennettM.Judkins
CULTURE, CLASS, ANDGENDER
PARTIII INAPPALACHIAN RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS
12 Sowing on the Mountain: Nurturing Cultural
Roots and Creativityfor Community Change 245
Guy and Candie Carawan
13 Engendering the Struggle: Women's Labor
and Traditions ofResistance in Rural Southern
Appalachia 263
Mary K Anglin
14 Appalachian Studies, Resistance, and Postmodernism 283
Alan Banks, Dwight Billings, and Karen rice
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Contents
vii
15 Politics, Expressive Form, and Historical Knowledge
in a Blue Ridge Resistance Movement 303
Stephen William Foster
16 Conclusion: New Populist Theory and the
Study ofDissent in Appalachia 317
Stephen L. Fisher
Dissent in Appalachia: A Bibliography 339
Stephen L. Fisher
Directory ofOrganizations 361
List ofContributors 363
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Acknowledgments
This book has its origins in myexperienceasactivist, teacher, researcher,
and witness in the Appalachian region. It is a direct response to my frus
tration overtheportrayalofAppalachiansas passivevictims, the dearth of
materialdocumenting the extentand nature ofdissent in theAppalachian
mountains, and the lack ofAppalachian voices and examples in national
discussions ofcommunity organizingstrategies.
Manypeople helped make this bookareality. First, and foremost, I
want to thank the contributors for their cooperation, responsiveness, and
belief in the importance of this project. In many ways this was a collec
tive endeavor. Mary Anglin suggested the title. Some of the contributors
attended a meeting, organized byJim Sessions, where they discussed each
other's essays and made suggestions for the overall project. A number
of the contributors crItIqued the Introduction and Conclusion. Candie
Carawan helped select and locate photographs for several of the essays.
Throughout the process Mary Anglin, Beth Bingman, Dick Couto, and
Joe Szakos offered advice and encouragement that kept me grounded and
focused.
Mike Yarrow read the entire manuscript, and this is a much better
book because ofhis insightful suggestions. Harry Boyte, Nina Gregg, Bill
Horton, and Herb Reid offered valuable comments on particular essays
or the manuscript as a whole. Michael Ames of Temple University Press
understood and supported the political and intellectual motives behind
the project and gave gentle but firm direction throughout the editingpro
cess. Emory &: Henry College providedgenerous financial support for my
work on this book through the Mellon Challenge Fund for Faculty De
velopment and the Reverend E.L McConnell Scholarship. Finally, Imost
gratefullyacknowledge the love,support, andgoodcompanyoffamily and
friends. I am indebted, in this venture as in so many others, to my wife,
Nancy Garretson, for her companionship, her unyielding support of my
work, and herempowering optimism.
This book owes itsexistenceand is dedicated to the countless indi
viduals who have fought over the years for social and economicjustice in
Appalachia.
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