An intervention during the depoliticized, sanitized commemoration of
the 45th Anniversary of Mario Savio’s famous speech. "We will not
permit the museumification of Berkeley’s radical past, especially now,
as we enter into a new cycle of struggle. The Free Speech Movement is
not a way to sell coffee, nor is it a rhetorical sop the administration
can use to pacify the existing movement."
Download I'm not expressing my personal feelings about this action publicly. Here are the demands made of Governor Manchin today. I'm happy with the demands..
Download The Senior Citizens March to End Mountaintop Removal ended in a protest and press conference at Massey subsidiary Mammoth Coal Company on US-60, east of Cedar Grove, at 4:00 p.m. on Oct, 12th. Mammoth Coal Company is 25 miles from the march’s starting point at the state capitol in Charleston. At least 28 seniors between the ages of 50 and 88 put their feet to the pavement during the 25 mile walk, including Larry Gibson of Kayford Mountain and Jesse Johnson of the Mountain Party. The march ended peacefully with no arrests or conflicts. Baffled by this the army of corporate media teams were then forced to interview the elders about why the had marched and coverage was seen on every local TV station in Charleston.
Download Thirteen marchers, ages 53 to 88, walked the fourth five-mile stretch of their journey to the gates of Massey-owned Mammoth Coal Company Sunday. The route took them past American Electric Power’s Kanawha Valley coal plant in Glasgow, W.Va.. In the wake of Saturday’s banner drop at the Walker CAT facility in Belle, W.Va. security and one police vehicle met the marchers as they passed AEP’s entrance.
Download Two young people unfurled a banner which read, “Yes, Coal is Killing West Virginia’s Communities” off of the Walker CAT building in Belle, W.Va. Saturday afternoon. The youth are affiliated with Climate Ground Zero and say they acted in autonomous solidarity with the Senior Citizens March to End Mountaintop Removal, are affiliated with Climate Ground Zero. The marchers passed the Walker CAT building on today’s route.
The March received its first physical harassment today. At 2:00 p.m. a driver threw a cup of water on Micklem, who says he “took it in stride.” The march has attracted both support and derision from passerbys. Marchers who so choose still plan to commit an act of non-violent civil disobedience to protest mountaintop removal at the conclusion of the march at Mammoth Coal Company on Monday afternoon.
Download After marching for 5 miles today the seniors settled into the Universal Unitarian Church in Charleston for a fine Bus Cooked meal from Everybody's Kitchen & Seeds of Peace. After the meal Larry Gibson kept the fire of determination lit for over an hour. I've tried to boil it down to the core of the essential.
Download Day 1 of a 5 day march covering 25 miles from Charleston, WV to
it's end in civil disobedience actions at the front gates of Massey
Energy owned, Mammoth Coal in Cedar Grove, WV.
There will be an update video each day of the March.
This being the only permitted action in dissent of the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh; it is, of course, full of great speeches and fun signs.
I realized after the fact that the organizers of the March had agreed to lead the 10 thousand plus participants by the nose away from the convention center after the protest by claiming to have another locations for speeches however the only speaker of note at the 2nd location was Cindy Sheehan. I'm truly sorry Cindy but I did not film your wonderful speech because my mouth had food in it for the first time that day and I had not slept the night before. Cindy's speech was , of course, brilliant; but not worth leaving the downtown area to hear.
This protest should have just sat down in the street where we were until ..say.. Tuesday. Haven't we learned anything from the Ukraine?