Mari-Lynn Evans exposes how the coal industry destroys lives and the environment

Mari-Lynn Evans tells her gripping story about a multi-generational battle to prevent wanton destruction of land and secure basic human rights for coal miners.

In the summer of 1921, the largest post-Civil War labor uprising in American history occurred when over 10,000 West Virginia coal miners squared off with mine operators in a mass protest that later became known as the Battle of Blair Mountain. After much violence and bloodshed, the coal miners eventually won a hard-fought battle for collective bargaining rights and vastly improved working conditions and terms. Ninety years later, in June 2011, over 300 people joined forces in a 5-day march on Blair Mountain to protest the planned mining of coal from that same area.

Written and directed by Phylis Geller and produced by Mari-Lynn Evans, the award-winning film documentary called “Coal Country” exposes the shocking devastation and pollution of forests, streams, and communites in Appalachia caused by mountaintop-removal coal mining.

References
The Battle to Save Blair Mountain
OpEd by Mari-Lynn Evans posted in Coal News on May 5, 2011
About Coal Country
Coal Country – The Movie
Coal Country: A Stunning Documentary All Communities Should See – The Sierra Club
Blair Mountain: Protesters March to Save Historic Battlefield
The Huffington Post, June 10, 2011