New Articles about Appalachia
Check out these two new articles about Appalachia: “ A President Breaks Hearts in Appalachia” by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (Washington Post) explores the impact of mountaintop removal on Appalachia and challenges the Obama administration to take action to stop it. In Kennedy’s words, Mountaintop removal coal mining is the worst environmental tragedy in American history. When will the Obama administration finally stop this Appalachian apocalypse? “What Happens When You Don’t Own the Land” by Chuck Shuford (Daily Yonder) focuses on the connection between coal mining and poverty in Appalachia. As Shuford demonstrates, The region’s immense wealth found in timber and […]
Guy and Candie Carawan Honored as Civil Rights Pioneers
Guy and Candie Carawan — musicians, activists, and long-time Highlander staff members — have received extensive coverage in the Knoxville press recently as a result of being among those honored for their work in the Civil Rights Movement by the Knoxville Presidential Inauguration Celebration Committee. On February 2nd, Knoxville television station WVLT-TV aired “We Shall Overcome,” a segment of their “Tennessee Traveler” series that highlights the Carawan’s role in helping to spread “We Shall Overcome” throughout the Civil Rights movement and beyond. Click below to play this clip. On February 18th, the Knoxville New-Sentinel ran a front-page article about Guy […]
Candlelight Vigil in Knoxville Honors California Shooting Victim
On January 14th, Highlander and other local organizations held a candlelight vigil to protest the police killing of Oscar Grant III in Oakland, CA on New Years’ Eve. Over 40 people attended the vigil, which was part of a National Day of Solidarity and Healing sponsored by The Gathering for Justice, The Coalition against Police Executions, and others across the country. A report about the vigil, “Protesters in Krutch Park Honor Calif. Shooting Victim,” aired on WATE-TV that night. A transcript is available here. For background information on the vigil, click here. Information about the National Day of Solidarity and […]
Highlander Director Guest Blogs on USA Service
Highlander Director Pam McMichael was a guest blogger on USA Service, the official website of the national organizing call to ongoing service issued by President Barack Obama on Martin Luther King Day on the eve of his inauguration. Pam’s post, “Community Organizing: Balm for Tired Souls,” says in part: Being a community organizer means being able to hold conflicting sentiments at the same time: grief for the many lives our society has thrown away in the gap between the promise of America and the reality of America; hope for the vision of what our society could be if based on […]
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – 2009
Highlander staff will be participating in a variety of Martin Luther King Day events in Knoxville, Maryville, and Dandridge, TN. These events inlcude a community forum on economic violence at the Beck Cultural Center in Knoxville and a forum at Maryville College entitled “What Would King Say” that will explore Dr. King’s perspective on four areas of social concern — jobs and dignity at work, immigration, war/militarism and religious diversity. Stories about these events include the followiing: “Maryville College Hosts Forums in Observance of MLK,” The Maryville Daily Times, 1/11/09. “MLK’s Legacy Alive in Maryville’s Call-to-Action Days,” Knoxville New Sentinel, 1/14/09. […]
Guy and Candie Carawan among Civil Rights Activists to be Honored in Knoxville
[Updated below] Long-time Highlander staff members and noted musicians Guy and Candie Carawan are among 30 East Tennessee activists to be honored at a Civil Rights Movement Celebration brunch to be held in Knoxville on Tuesday, January 20th. For information about the upcoming celebration, click here. Guy & Candie Carawan (photo by Jack Parker) As members of the Highlander staff, Guy and Candie emphasized the importance of music and culture in social justice organizing. They played a vital role helping to make the Civil Rights Movement the greatest singing movement in history by spreading freedom songs like “We Shall Overcome” […]
Highlander in the Chronicle of Philanthropy
In the September 4th issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Pablo Eisenberg praises Highlander for its long history of cutting-edge work for social justice, and issues a ringing call for donors and foundations to support Highlander’s work. Eisenberg, long-time director of the Center for Community Change, is now a senior fellow at the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute. How One Charity Has Reshaped America Born in the crucible of poverty, racial discrimination, and worker injustice in the mountains of Tennessee, the Highlander Research and Education Center has stood as a beacon for democratic change for more than 75 years. Neither […]
Art & Activism: An Interview with Highlander's Cultural Organizer
The Community Arts Network Reading Room recently published an interview with Highlander’s cultural organizer, Tufara Waller Muhammad, about how artists can participate most effectively in social justice activism. Drawing on her experience as an artist, musician, and grassroots organizer, Tufara emphasizes that “Every organizer should be using art and culture as a strategy to help people build bridges.” But she emphasizes that this involves more than artists presenting their work in community settings or participating in three-week community residencies. Instead, she argues, artists must engage in “long-term collaboration” with community people, and they must set aside their desire for personal […]
Art & Activism: An Interview with Highlander’s Cultural Organizer
The Community Arts Network Reading Room recently published an interview with Highlander’s cultural organizer, Tufara Waller Muhammad, about how artists can participate most effectively in social justice activism. Drawing on her experience as an artist, musician, and grassroots organizer, Tufara emphasizes that “Every organizer should be using art and culture as a strategy to help people build bridges.” But she emphasizes that this involves more than artists presenting their work in community settings or participating in three-week community residencies. Instead, she argues, artists must engage in “long-term collaboration” with community people, and they must set aside their desire for personal […]
Highlander in Dissent Magazine and The Huffington Post
Highlander is mentioned in “Will Obama Inspire a New Generation of Oganizers?,” a recent article by Peter Dreier that has been published in Dissent Magazine and The Huffington Post. Dreier discusses Obama’s organizing experience and the history of community organizing in the United States. He cites Highlander as one of “a growing number of training centers” and organizing networks that have “helped recruit and train thousands of people into the organizing world and strengthened the community organizing movement’s political power.” You can read Dreier’s article here.