environmental justice

Here's something the history books left out: In 1921, more than 10,000 West Virginia coal miners rose up in resistance to coal companies who refused to allow miners to unionize. It was the largest armed insurrection in the United States since the Civil War. This uprising, which took place in Logan County, West Virginia, is known as the Battle of Blair Mountain. The miners were met with a private army of police funded by coal companies, who employed, among other things, World War One planes to drop bombs and gas.

(More info and photos from RAN - four activists hanging from the banners on each side of the skyway, plus a support person were arrested and charged with misdemeanors.)

Understory.RAN.org--Five RAN activists hung a billboard sized banners off of a 3rd street skybridge during morning rush hour today, calling attention to Cargill’s continuing role in the destruction of some of the world’s last remaining rainforests. Reading: “Cargill: #1 Supplier of Rainforest Destruction,” the banners were clearly visible from Cargill’s downtown office in the Grain Exchange.