Tag: appalachia rising

Worth repeating…civil disobedience STILL works

This man has spirit, and that’s required for real, positive change!  Reverend Billy Talen is the leader of the Church of Life After Shopping and has been, for months or years now, protesting in bank lobbies to get them to stop funding mountain top removal.  He posted this on facebook:

This peaceful bank seizure was that rare successful thing: nonviolent direct action in 2010 that worked. PNC’s financing of MTR was our whole point, and the Choir sang songs with the Earth Quakers and the folks from RAN. Four of us were taken to prison, and I learned a great deal about activism and life from George Lakey, my cellmate. A month later PNC pulled out of MTR, and we are jubilant! Appalachia-a-lujah!

Think about that before you take the easy route of decrying that “the system is beyond change!” and “I’m powerless!”