Issues

    What does poverty really mean in the mountains?

    Listen to AMI producer Machlyn Blair’s commentary on
    NPR’s All Things Considered LISTEN

    Machlyn Blair speaking about poverty with John Edwards during the “One Road to America Tour” in July 2007

    “All my life, when I thought about poverty I thought of those people you see on television, who live in a third world country, in a shack that might blow over in a strong wind. We get told by outsiders all the time what it’s like to live in poverty.  By the numbers, by the sad photos, but my story is a lot more complicated than that.”

    Machlyn’s commentary was produced with
    Youth Radio as part of their Curating Youth Voices series.

    Watch Struggling to Survive
    Struggling to Survive
    15 minutes. Dana R. Hall and Ashley Potter
    Struggling to Survive documents how many workers in eastern Kentucky struggle to make a living on minimum to low wage incomes. The piece highlights the efforts of a Letcher County, Kentucky judge executive to institute a base living wage of $7.50 an hour for all workers.

    click image for full size article

    Watch Poverty Tour
    footage from a youth-led forum, hosted by the AMI interns at Appalshop, during the“Road to One America” tour. Youth spoke with fellow community members, former presidential candidate John Edwards, and the national press about how despite the decades-old problems created by poverty, the coalfields can continue to be the place they call home.

    Prescription Drug Abuse

    Through AMI's Rx Drug Project youth are working with community members to create media that examines the prescription drug addiction epidemic that is threatening mountain communities and propose community-based solutions for the problem.

    Listen to AMI Alumni Natasha Watt’s commentary
    on the addiction epidemic on NPR's Morning Edition

    "I know families who are spending every dime to get their loved ones sober.  
    Nothing seems to work. It’s easy to blame the victims and write it off as a
    “hillbilly problem”. But I definitely see some shared responsibility with
    drug companies who are finally facing penalties."

    Natasha's commentary is part of Youth Radio's Curating Youth Voices series

     

    Because of OxycontinWatch Because of Oxycontin
    Produced in response to national media coverage of so-called “hillbilly heroin,” Because of Oxycontin focuses on the stories of people from the mountains of southwest Virginia and eastern Kentucky whose lives have been devastated by the misuse of the prescription painkiller Oxycontin. Former addicts speak candidly in a raw testament to the pain of drug abuse and recovery.

     

    For more information or to learn how to support the Appalachian Media Institute
    contact Rebecca O'Doherty
    91 Madison Avenue Whitesburg, KY 41858
    606.633.0108
    or email rebecca at appalshop.org

    LIVING WITH COAL

    In Letcher County, KY coal mining is the best job there is for many people. It’s a part of our history, good and bad. The industry affects so much more than just the job market, it shapes who we are. With all the risks associated with coal mining you might wonder why anyone would go into the mines. We talked with our friends and family members to find out why they became miners and how mining has changed their lives.
    -AMI Youth Producers

    AMI youth have documented the experience of living with the coal industry in their communities since its inception in 1988. Without a Cause: Sickness in the Community of Eolia and Blood Stained Coal document how unsafe mining practices impact coal communities.

    Watch Blood Stained Coal: The Scotia Mine Disaster

    12 minutes James Pigman, Jeremy Roberts, Natasha Watts (2000)
    Blood Stained Coal tells the story of the 1976 Scotia Mine Disaster-the result of an explosion directly related to unsafe working conditions. Through poignant interviews with rescue workers and with friends and family members of the 15 miners killed in the explosion, this documentary explores the personal and political impacts of the disaster.

    Watch Without a Cause: Sickness in the Community of Eolia, KY

    16 minutes. Kraven Cook, Noel Davis, Manual Vanderpool (2001)
    Without a Cause investigates the unexplained and unusually high incidence of serious illness within the small and seemingly peaceful mountain community of Eolia, Kentucky. Residents speak about what its like to have a sickness no one can name as well as the quietly agreed upon but not officially acknowledged notion that these diseases are rooted in environmental pollution.

    AMI's "Rock Lung" is featured on the national radio show, Living On Earth. Listen to youth producer Autumn Campbell explore the impact strip mining has had on her eastern Kentucky family.

    On NPR's Morning Edition AMI youth producer Natasha Watts reflects on the recent mine disaster in Sago, West Virginia and what it's like to grow up in a coal community. Listen to her commentary on the NPR site.

    "Growing Up in a Coal Community" was produced in collaboration with Youth Radio. Visit their website to read Natasha's commentary and download it as a podcast.