Between The Lines - Larry Gibson: Keeper of the Mountains (Week Ending June 3, 2011)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

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West Virginia Protest March Will Link Campaign to Stop Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining and Labor Solidarity

RealAudio MP3

Posted May 25, 2011

Interview with Larry Gibson, "Keeper of the Mountains" in West Virginia , conducted by Melinda Tuhus

From June 4 through 11, hundreds of people will march from the town of Marmet, W. Va. to Blair Mountain, 50 miles away in Logan County to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain. The battle was the largest insurgency in U.S. history after the Civil War, and pitted some 10,000 West Virginia coal miners against the coal bosses, their private army -- and eventually, the U.S. military -- as they fought for the right to join a union.

During their march, activists will be demanding protection for Blair Mountain as a national historic monument, which would also safeguard the area from mountaintop removal coal mining that is already encroaching on the historic battlefield. Other demands include the abolition of all mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia, national labor solidarity in the face of some of the worst attacks on the rights of working people in 75 years -- and sustainable jobs in Appalachia.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Larry Gibson, known as the “Keeper of the Mountains” for his fierce opposition to mountaintop removal coal mining. Gibson opposes all coal mining, maintaining it destroys the lives and health of people in Appalachia and across the country. He talks about the union heritage of those living in coal country and the need for working people to come together.

LARRY GIBSON: I am wholeheartedly in support of this march, encouraging the working stiffs of America to come in and support this march simply because of the most well-known mountain in West Virginia, for the battle it held for the working man to have the right to organize for decent pay for a decent day's work, and health and safety. The term 'union' was the glue that held my family together, but that's not the only symbol we have. All our working stiffs in America didn't belong to a union, but they had to struggle the same way and work very hard for a day's pay. So I guess that's why I'm encouraging people across America -- no matter what creed they are, what the ethnic groups they are, it doesn't matter -- just the working stiffs of America to come together in one common cause -- to save a mountain that gave so much and supported so many people when they come together to fight the battle of life, and freedom and for choices that have now been taken away from them.

The working man's pay has been cut; they started giving concessions back in the '70s, and they've done gave too much. No more concessions should be given to the corporations, whether coal or anybody. The working man has already gave their life so the wealthy people can own more stock, and all the working man's getting is a paycheck, and that paycheck is not enough to allow a decent living for these people. Now, in order for the working stiff to provide a living for the family, they have to get the whole family a job, like at Walmart.

BETWEEN THE LINES: What do you think about the fact that the United Mine Workers Union is not supporting the march? President Cecil Roberts says the union supports protecting Blair Mountain as a national historic site, but is not supporting all the other demands of the march.

LARRY GIBSON: The people in place now, including Cecil Roberts, has his comfortable, cushy job because of what happened that day on Aug. 21, 1921. Because of all these men who paid the ultimate price, Cecil had a comfortable job, but yet the United Mineworkers, for so few jobs that they represent, will not come out and support a march in order to stop mountaintop removal. And as you know, the United Mineworkers have endorsed mountaintop removal, so they won't come out and try to protect and save the most well-known piece of land in West Virginia because of what they are enjoying today.

BETWEEN THE LINES: A spokesman for the mineworkers union actually told me that the union thinks the march is divisive, because of its demand to end mountaintop removal mining.

LARRY GIBSON: I have been fighting well over 25 years for the abolishment of mountaintop removal. Everybody knows my stand on coal -- it needs to be abolished, okay? But during this march, during this week, I will speak nothing about coal or the abolishment of it. What I'll be doing is concentrating on saving Blair Mountain and stopping mountaintop removal. Now, if I'm asked my opinion on the march, I'll give it, but at this point in time it's not about union or non-union. It's about the working man. I'm more on the march beside a union man on my right and beside another man on my left who don't have a union card, simply because we're marching for a common goal, to save the most well-known mountain in the state's history, and that's Blair Mountain. It's about trying to save the symbol, a symbol of the working class, of working men around this country and anywhere else where they got to sweat and not knowing what they're getting into, and not knowing if they're coming home -- the working people, who have to work and give everything they got just to feed their families, that's all. And this mountain has not asked for anything else. It gave us a reason to fight before, so now we should at least give it back life instead of death. In other words, this mountain should be saved from destruction.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Larry Gibson, one of the other demands of the march is sustainable jobs for the people of Appalachia. I thought that meant jobs on wind farms instead of digging coal, but you have a different definition.

LARRY GIBSON: The meaning of sustainable is that it's life giving. You can make a living without destroying your own back yard. The jobs they have today, when you have to destroy your own back yard, that's not life-giving; that's not sustainable. In other words, you still got to struggle to live in the mess that you're creating yourself in working for the man that's paying you. These people, if given a choice, they wouldn't be destroying their backyard. Sustainable jobs? Sure. Jobs that have quality and sustainability, where you can live with it and not end up dying because you're doing it.

Larry Gibson is an anti-mountaintop removal coal mining activist in West Virginia and a supporter of the March on Blair Mountain scheduled for June 4 through 11. For more information on the march, www.appalachiarising.org/.