It’s difficult for outsiders to overcome Deliverance syndrome when discussing Appalachia.  It is nourishing, then, to hear the reflections of two poets as they traipse over their native sod, coaxing stories from their fellow mountain dwellers as if checking up on far-flung kin.

“Something’s Rising” is the story of twelve people resisting mountaintop removal as it plunders of their lives and lands.  Each of them knows well the role of coal mining in central Appalachia, and they despise the wholesale destruction that surface mining does – to the land, and do their jobs.  They are moving to stop it.   

The book rings with words of revolution-in-the-making, the kind that fill public houses, back alleys, and small fire-brand publishers.  These agitators are peaceful and progressive; and like their union-organizing ancestors, they are up against extraordinary powers.

(Authors Jason Howard (left) and Silas House.  Photo: Cheyenne House)

The authors of the book, Silas House and Jason Howard, are two Appalachians who are inseparable from their people.  Writers, musicians, and activists, the two have stamped themselves indelibly on contemporary Appalachia and the issues that threaten it.

Through skillful observation, ingrained values, and a natural chemistry with their interview subjects, House and Howard have produced an accomplished series of vignettes.  Like the face of a miner, rugged and dirty with plenty of eyeshadow, the book portrays a handsome balance of suffering and beauty.

We hear from underground coal miners who heartily disapprove of their surface-scraping colleagues, like former union miner Carl Shoupe. He berates mountaintop-removal (MTR) miners.  “I won’t give them the respect of calling them coal miners,” he says.  “They’re earth movers.” 

Larry Bush, who worked for twenty-five years as a miner and safety inspector, is now the Chairman of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards.  “I’ve stood up to [the coal companies] since the eighties.”

Nathan Hall is a twenty-five year old former underground miner, who reads Daniel Quinn.  He describes his disenchantment with MTR:  “When I was growing up, I’d go hunting pretty often, and it was just like another part of the landscape…when I was a teenager I started noticing [MTR] quite a bit, and I knew it was wrong.”

We hear from clerics who are invoking church doctrine to promote environmental stewardship, on the idea that “the Earth belongs to God and we’re only caretakers.” 

Pat Hudson and Dawn Coppock, in Tennessee, founded a Christian fellowship that uses its faith as a starting point for environmental action. 

Denise Giardina is an introverted Episcopal deacon, acclaimed author, 2000 candidate for Governor of West Virginia, and activist of three decades.  She cites mine operators and worker saying “This is our coal and God give us this coal and when Jesus comes back he’ll fix it.”  Giardina replies, “Jesus is going to come back and kick your butt for the mess you’re making, that’s what I think.”

Amidst all the heartache, which is rendered with almost filial affection, there tugs a strong current of hope.

Kathy Mattea, a Grammy-winning country-folk musician, embraces a “sacred use” of her art, to “provide a voice for a whole group of people, a place, a way of life.”  Her album Coal pumps new blood into classic old coal mining songs such as “The L&N Don’t Stop Here Any More” and “Black Lung.”  With a wide and adoring fan base to appeal to, she is a powerful though humble voice opposing mountaintop removal.

Nathan Hall left the coal mines to go to college and become a pioneer in algae biofuels.  By developing profitable local energy solutions, perhaps Hall can one day deliver to his people the prosperity instead of dependency. 

To anyone who mistakes Appalachia for a cultural vacuum, “Something’s Rising” ought to be a refreshing jolt of Americana.  It’s an account of the very beginnings of a movement.  Released in the spring of 2009, it introduced a year filled with groundbreaking action:  protests, arrests, media, permit suspensions, and mounting tensions.

The trouble for coal companies is, these are mountain folk.  And mountain folk are expert holdouts.  From Scotland, to Cambodia, Peru, and the Hindu Kush, disenfranchised people have held on to their tradition as a means of survival.  In Appalachia, people have long demonstrated their willingness to fight; they are now at a crossroads where they can capture the attention of the world.

With “Something’s Rising,” the authors have made something far more substantive than a stereotypically shrill battle cry.  House and Howard have actually taken the reader on a kind of tour through lives and experiences.  As they say, “We want our readers to feel as though they have met these courageous people.”

Indeed the book calls us to action; but it do it through persuasion.  Feeling the beauty and hurt imparted through each page is a cherished experience, like walking a windswept ridge top in winter.  To bear the harsh air on the skin and soaking boots on the feet, the soul will relish all the more the fine little details in the scant sun, and the mural on the distant sky. 

“Something’s Rising” is a siren song for those who have never been to the mountains, and especially to those who have.

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