Groundswell

Beth Isaacson 5-01-2001
'The hardest question for us is what to do when people get better.'
Bette McDevitt 3-01-2001
'When the children are well enough to go home, it is a gift to me.'
Larry Bellinger 1-01-2001

"Art has the power to heal spiritual, emotional, and physical brokenness."

Fred Bahnson 11-01-2000
Radical ecumenism in a land of strife.
Michigan city turns dialogue into action.
David Beckmann 7-01-2000
Can one person make a difference?
Elizabeth Newberry 5-01-2000

If Tennessee Ernie Ford were to sing his blue-collar anthem "Sixteen Tons and What Do You Get?" to the residents of the coal fields of Kentucky and West Virginia, they would answer: property damage, dried up wells, respiratory illness, and explosions 100 times more powerful than the Oklahoma City bombing.

The latest technique in strip mining—mountaintop removal—involves detonating explosives to blow apart the top 1,000 acres of a mountain and using a dragline (a mammoth bulldozer) to dig away the soil and reveal seams of coal. The excess dirt is then deposited in valley fills, mountain streams that support the regional ecosystems as well as providing area residents with a source of water.

This is the latest of the ongoing battles for economic survival in the mountain communities of central Appalachia. In the last 40 years, the number of coal-industry jobs in coal-rich states such as West Virginia has dropped from 138,000 to 16,000, while the amount of coal mined annually is the highest ever. With the steady decline in jobs and the increase in the threat to the visual legacy of the mountains, citizens are fighting to take back their mountains—and their futures.

In Harlan County, Kentucky, citizens organized a local chapter of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC) to stop mountaintop removal. Robert Gipe, an organizer with KFTC, said the group asked themselves what the pivotal issue was. "We found a strategy that gives citizens something to do," Gipe said. They drafted a "Lands Unsuitable for Mining" petition to declare Black Mountain a public land trust. By focusing their efforts around protecting the state’s highest peak, the group was able to draw greater public attention to the extent of mountaintop removal in eastern Kentucky.

Bronwyn Shiffer 3-01-2000
Women's project leads to transformation.
Jim Rice 1-01-2000

Food---and much more---for the poor.

Michael McClanen 11-01-1999
Bosnian women weave ethnic harmony
Rachel Thomas 9-01-1999

Urban gardens bring hope to the city.

Chris Montesano 7-01-1999
Gathering for disarmament in the Nevada desert.
Tonita Cheatham 5-01-1999
Coalition stands for rights of public housing residents.
New beginnings, on the Web and in the world.
Lucy Fuchs 11-01-1998
Letters and loans help survivors of genocide rebuild their lives.
Kent Paterson 9-01-1998
Sewer Pipes and Hope
Kaethe Schwehn 7-01-1998
When generations stand together, a movement is strengthened.
Carol Fennelly 5-01-1998
An effort to protect churches' public ministries.
Carol Fennelly 3-01-1998
Some Michigan churches provide hands-on support to families in transition.
Murray MacAdam 1-01-1998
A chance for a new beginning.