Editor,
First of all, I thank you for allowing me to use freedom of the press. I am not funded by a job in coal mining, my family was raised healthy and educated by coal mining, and my husband and myself were too.
This life we have goes back to 1921 when real heroes of freedom fought against Federal Government thugs and others to start a union that is the United Mine Workers of America. They fought for safety, better wages, health care and security for their families’ future.
As a granddaughter of one of these heroes, I am ashamed of the environmentalists and their political thugs who are holding a march to show their fake concern for a historical site of Blair Mountain where part of the battle for a union was fought. This march and rally along with singing starts from “Countrywood” are just a ploy to stop surface mining, mountaintop removal and also deep mining.
It is ironic to me this “group of extremists against coal” allows Walmart and other malls to be built by removing mountaintops. What’s going to happen when coal miners are without jobs to fund other countries businesses?
Don’t get me wrong in that I believe everyone has a right to protest and have opinions but we are a minority fighting for our existence to live in West Virginia and our choice to mine coal. With all my heart, I believe a memorial should be extracted for the miners and friends who sacrificed their lives and many hardships to be free and to work for a living. As a descendant, my family, friends and coal miners of today are planning a rally and dedication for a memorial to be placed in the vicinity of the Battle of Blair Mountain. A date will be announced later.
The opposition to mining coal does not fool real coal miners. We have dealt with them many times at many rallies. We will not stop fighting peaceably for our choice, our way of life and our state.
Environmentalists and the far left are using this as part of a plan to degrade our country into a third world power with everything green, forgetting red won all the battles. Arch Coal willingly donated land on Blair Mountain to the UMWA in 1999 for a place to have a memorial for our miners and it has never been used.
Also in 1921 these brave people “coal miners” started a heritage of going after the “America Dream” they wanted. It took sacrificed lives to get it. I don’t want this type of battle; I want our coalfields to be left alone to keep our state burning bright for our families, friends, and our country. The constitution, please everyone read this, says that we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This is our “American Dream”, and our ancestors and our families and friends of coal.
Our choice is to work where and when. The reenactment march of 1921 will be held by environmentalists who are completely again coal mining, foreigners from other states who have nothing else to do except show their love for dirt, trees, bugs etc.
I refuse to recognize “Mother Earth”. I will always know God Almighty created it all and made coal for light and fuel.
Diann Kish
Sharples
Read more: Logan Banner - My “American Dream”
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