Post September 1, 2016

Post September 1, 2016

A graphic with black text "Blair Mountain: After years of a inhumane living and working conditions, in 1921 the coalminers of Appalachia answered the call to organize. The largest armed uprising in US labor history. 12,000 workers from West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Ohio flooded Kanawha County, WV to set up a union by force. Vehemently anti-union, a local sheriff and the coal companies attacked the miners. Thousands of armed and angry miners rushed into the lush hills and winding paths of Blair Mountain to fight for the union. Federal troops were called in and the miners dispersed in order to avoid further bloodshed. At the time the struggle was seen as a failure but in retrospect the Battle of Blair Mountain led directly to a much larger and stronger union movement."

Today is the anniversary of #blairmountain #LaborDay. The Battle of Blair Mountain, one of the largest civil uprisings in U.S. history, faced a turning point on August 31, 1921. 10,000 armed coal miners fought for the right to unionize in the southwestern West Virginia coalfields. The battle lasted 5 days, the U.S. gov't. responded by sending the Army to bomb the coal miners. Now Blair Mountain is threatened with mountain top removal. Artwork from @justseeds by Chris Stain #justseeds #westvirginia #kentucky #bluecollar #bluecollarredneck #redneck #union #coal #coalmining #coalfields #motherjones #coalwars #friendsofcoalminers #friendofcoalminers #queerappalachia #appalachia #wv #ky #westbygod #howardzinn #civildisobedience #minewars #wvhistory #westvirginiahistory

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@queerappalachia

September 1, 2016

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