U2: The Elephant in the Room

For two months, I have been attempting to write a review of U2's Songs of Innocence. Then I realised that reviewing an album that was given free to every iTunes user for a month is pointless, as least in the conventional sense. Everybody who wants to hear it already has. Thus, the traditional approach of "this is what the album sounds like/is about/why you should or should not listen to or buy it" becomes an irrelevant way to approach it. Yes, it is a deeply personal album, but there are enough books to fill a library that already discuss the early stories of U2's career and the mythology of the band. I could write about the obvious major role that poetry has played in influencing this album - how the very title is an overt reference to William Blake, how Nelson Mandela and Seamus Heaney are quoted in the liner notes, how the album is a not-so-subtle tribute to Heaney who based his entire poetics on his own memories and the humble details that made him who he was. I could tell you how the album seems on the surface to be classic U2, but in actuality represents a seismic shift in the U2 catalogue from which there can be no return. The album gave me nightmares, made me question myself as a fan of the band, as a person, made me question everything that makes me who I am, and yet still manages to have the same inherent joy that permeates everything U2 does. I could spend pages on that. I could tell you that it is a strong album that has some kinship with 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, but fails ultimately to be a great one. I could go on for some time about the joy of discovering that U2 is as fine an acoustic band as they are at epic stadium rock. I could regurgitate (yet again!) the disruptive nature of the iTunes release and the pure genius of that in a marketing sense (two months later, it is still a hot and controversial internet topic. In this digital age of 5-second attention spans, when was the last time anyone discussed a musical topic for that length of time? That kind of PR in the current zeitgeist is nothing short of a miracle). However, others already have or will. In addition, chances are, you already had an opportunity to formulate all those thoughts yourself during the first month of its availability.

I realised that the best way to discuss this new album is to address finally the elephant that has been in the room with regard to U2 since the end of the 1980s. Because this album is about the band going back and asking what made them who they are fundamentally, why did they make the choices they did to be in the band in the first place? So maybe it is time U2 fans asked ourselves why are we fans, what made us stick to the band loyally all these years? The fact of the matter is that U2 expired in terms of "cool" when the 80s expired. Every time a new album comes out, the media demands to know why the world is being tortured with it. Critics have long ago attempted to relegate U2 to the nostalgia circuit or label them dinosaurs in the sense that the Rolling Stones are. Corporate rock, some people call it, in a tone that is more like spitting than speaking. Most of the vitriol is aimed at Bono. He is called an "over-privileged, out-of-touch, megalomaniac" whose very diplomatic nature (generally - there are exceptions) leaves him open to easy pot shots. (The band - and especially Bono - are acutely aware of these unfair, overly personal assertions and have made a career out of openly laughing at them.) The band's loyal fan base faces daily ridicule for being fans. U2 fans are almost as hated and targeted in the current environment as practicers of certain religious groups are. So why endure so much for music?

The short answer is: it isn't just about music. U2 are not interested in being that shallow and they do not want their fans to be, either. They never were your granny's boy band and never will be. Bono is no Elvis. These are human beings and they make sure the world knows it. Highly complicated humans. To be a U2 fan isn't just to know all the lyrics, all the drum lines and bass lines, and as many of the Edge's guitar effects as he wants to reveal the secret of. It isn't just getting tickets to that show that sold out within 30 seconds. Or having a t-shirt for every album in your closet. In fact, most fans aren't like that. It isn't obsession; it's a real, concrete relationship.

It's true that U2 have power, a lot of it. Right out of the gate, their stated mission was to change the world. They have - about as regularly as people change socks. I think that intimidates some people. They have influenced the world musically, culturally, technologically, socially, and politically for nearly 40 years. Some of it is very public ((RED) and the ONE Campaign, their long-standing partnership with Apple, securing the freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi and other work with Amnesty International and Greenpeace, working for decades with Nelson Mandela, etc.), and some of it less public. But U2 do not want their fans to follow them blindly and just do what they are told. It isn't like that. Involvement in that aspect of U2 Culture is optional (I opt out). No, they present issues, but simply as subjects for consideration. U2 is all about awareness of the world around you, thinking for yourself, forming your own conclusions, and having the responsibility to own those conclusions and act on them. They lead you to water, but they will not force you to drink. There is a reason why U2 fans tend to be intellectuals, artists, scientists, think tanks, activists, and otherwise meditative, pensive and compassionate souls who get turned on as much by statistics and analysis and research of any and all kinds as they do by sex. U2 are teachers, but they teach principles and life lessons, a worldview. They lead by example, not by mob mentality. They invite their fan base to disagree, to challenge them, to push them. Moreover, they in turn disagree with, challenge, and push their fan base. Lest you think that I am over exaggerating their influence: did you know that there are professional scholars who dedicate their careers to the field of U2 Studies? That is a real field of academic and cultural study; I couldn't make this up.

However, they are not saints; they don't want to be. The typical U2/fan relationship is a messy one. U2 would not have it any other way. They are flawed individuals in the same way that anyone is flawed and those flaws are on public display. They get it wrong as often as they get it right. Sometimes the relationship hurts, badly. There are times I want to hug Bono and say "I love you, man" and there are times I want to punch him in the face until he cries and then give him the middle finger. (Yes, I wrote that. Get over it.) Nevertheless, I always come back again. I've never really left. Why? Because that is what love is: ugly, messy, brutal, painful, and beautiful. That hardly describes the typical band/fan dynamic, now does it? That complicated, deep level is what U2 strive to encourage. They don't want anything easy, black and white, sentimental, and flowery. They want something hard-bitten and real. Because they are deep, hard-bitten, complicated, and real. When you as a fan have a relationship with a band where you fight each other because you love each other, it couldn't matter less what those outside that relationship think about it.

 

The U2/fan base relationship is also highly symbiotic. They teach the fans, lead the fans, and work harder than any other band on the planet for the fans. Truly, the fans tell them what to do rather than the reverse. It isn't simply "we delivered a product, your job is to buy it". Sure, they run the band like a business, because it is. But the fan base are not customers; we are partners. Go to a U2 concert if you haven't and you will see this. The shows where the band is having an "off night" are typically the best shows of any given tour, because the audience steps up and carries the band through it for a unique communal experience.

This illustration may not work for everyone, may actually turn some people off, but: U2 are like parents, the fan base is their family, and it is ever-so-slightly (but benignly) dysfunctional. Daddy doesn't always set the example that daddy should, but daddy wants to. Family doesn't always listen to daddy's advice. Sometimes family outright rebels. Sometimes arguments arise, become heated, voices get raised. Sometimes doors get slammed and daddy stays up all night worrying because family didn't come home. Sometimes there are misunderstandings. Yet the beautiful moments outweigh the thorns. Daddy is protective of family. Family is protective of daddy. Daddy turns inside out for family. Family holds daddy's hand. At the end of the day, love holds the whole thing together. Like Bono wrote in two different, but equally well-known songs: "Love is hard and love is tough" but "we've got to carry each other" (Please from the Pop Album and One from Achtung Baby). That is why U2 fans are U2 fans. That is why we have been loyal all these years through good and bad. The music is only part of it. Love is all of it.

 

Ultimately, that is the point of Songs of Innocence: these are songs about (mainly Bono's) troubled youth. This album is full-frontal emotional nakedness and vulnerability. It is U2's gift to the world and especially the fans for putting up with them and carrying them for a lifetime. It is love in a black album sleeve. Even the idea of doing an acoustic session for Disc 2/Side 2 suggests this. No more big production tricks. No more bombast. Just this once, daddy and family are having a painfully honest, all-nighter conversation. It may not be the most innovative, earth-shaking, influential thing U2 have done (that distinction still belongs to Achtung Baby at this point), but it is far and away the most touching and beautiful.

All I can say to the haters out there is: it's your loss.

How to Cope with Nervousness when Speaking Publicly

(Originally published on Yahoo! Voices on December 8, 2011)

It has been said that more people are afraid of public speaking than flying. A sizable percentage would rather die than face an audience. So what can you do to cope with the nervousness that accompanies public speaking?

One of the things to keep in mind when dealing with this subject is that there is no way to completely eliminate nervousness. No matter how much or how often you might be called upon to speak publicly, you will experience a level of nervousness every time. This is a good thing. Think of nervousness as your friend. It is your body's natural response to stress and releases hormones that will help you to think fast and keep you on your toes. It will actually help you to perform better.

But that may seem hard to believe in the moments leading up to the time you walk on stage. So how can you control your reactions to the nervousness so that it works in your favor? How can you make it your friend?

The most important thing you can do is *prepare*. Confidence in your material translates into confidence in yourself. If you believe that what you have to say is important, and even vital, to your audience, you will be more relaxed about presenting it. When determining what you will say, consider your audience: are they businessmen, families, friends? Are they gathered for a specific purpose? Do they share interests? What do they already know about your subject? What do they need to know about it? This will help you to present your material in a way that will hold their attention and from an angle that may be new to them. It is better to work from an outline rather than a text of precisely worded sentences. Your speech will then be more conversational and you will be free to practice audience contact, which we will discuss more of later. You will also be more flexible in your delivery, allowing for mistakes, audience reactions, and the clock. Small notes, such as on index cards, are often easier to consult without distracting your audience. Feel free to use color highlighters on these notes so that a mere glance will suffice to tell you what you need to know.

There is some truth to the old adage that *practice* makes perfect. No, you don't have to grab a hairbrush to mimic a microphone or stand in front of a mirror. Just give your speech from the notes you will have on stage. It might be a good idea to time at least some of these practice sessions, since almost all programs operate on a time schedule. In this way, you will be more confident that you will be able to successfully communicate your material in the time involved. There is no such thing as practicing too much. The more familiar you are with your material the better you will present it. Even if you should discover afterwards that you have no memory of giving the speech due to nervousness, the constant practice will probably mean that you will get through the speech regardless, as if on autopilot.

Once the nervousness begins and grows, it is important to *breathe*. When one is nervous, the breathing shortens and the face and neck muscles tighten. This causes distortion in the voice and can have worse consequences, such as hyperventilation or fainting. Counter all these effects by taking even, slow, deep breaths to regulate oxygen flow and relax the muscles in the face and jaw. You will find that breathing will help to lessen that butterflies-in-the-stomach sensation. It can be beneficial to do this right up until the moment you begin to speak.

Endeavor to have *audience contact*. That means to look at individuals in your audience and establish eye contact with them, if possible. This will turn a mass of humankind into a more personable and comfortable entity. Pick out a few individuals before you begin speaking that are scattered throughout the audience. This will allow you to gauge the reaction of the audience and adjust accordingly. It will also help you relax since the whole process will thus feel more like a conversation than a performance. And your audience may be more interested and receptive due to what comes across to them as a measure of comfortableness, personal interest, and confidence. Audience contact is also important for conveying conviction and excitement about your subject.

*Gestures* serve similar purposes. Without them, it is possible to clutch the podium or table which will only make you tenser and make the audience uncomfortable. But gestures put you both at ease, loosen you up, help you to convey the thoughts and feelings inherent to your material, and drive home your point. If you find it difficult to gesture during a speech, mark out some appropriate places on your notes to remind you to gesture at those points.

*Focus on your material rather than yourself*. The fact is, when you give a speech you are not under examination, your subject is. People will only remember who gave the speech if the material in the speech was relevant and memorable. Knowing this is freeing, in a sense. Remind yourself of this repeatedly if necessary throughout the process from preparation through to your exit.

If you apply these few tips, your nervousness will be a help to you rather than a hinderance and your audience will likely sense nothing but confidence in your delivery. Public speaking can be done, and need not be overwhelming.

In Defense of Free Verse

(Originally published on Yahoo! Voices on March 6, 2010.)

Free verse was first used by French symbolist poets in the late 1800s. T. S. Eliot was among the first poets writing in English to adopt it and introduced it to the English- speaking world by its French term, vers libre. He and other Modern poets adopted it in reaction to the disorientation that resulted with the advent of World War I. Since then, it has become the most used form (yes, form) of Western poetry. Many poets employ it as their default mode of expression. Because so much of free verse has been poorly written in recent years, and because confessional poetry (which free verse is closely associated with) has long since fallen out of fashion, there is a movement in the poetry world at the moment that declares it dead, used up, even inferior. Many are almost fanatically advocating the return of form as the mode of choice for 21st century poets.

But the very existence of such an ideal reveals an ignorance concerning how poetry is being practiced today and what exactly free verse (vers libre) really is. This ignorance is rather surprising when one takes into account the over-emphasis on academic degrees, professorships, and lecture posts among contemporary poets- so much so that the casual observer and beginning poet may come to think these are required for one to be a true poet.

The argument in favor of a return to form ignores two facts. One, that a large portion of contemporary poets utilise both traditional forms and free verse throughout their various oeuvres. Two, that free verse (vers libre) is itself a poetic form and, after more than a century's use, might well be considered as a traditional form in Western literature.

As for that first point, one could easily pick up the Collected volumes of any number of well known poets publishing today and see the truth of it. Many of our most beloved poets do not limit themselves either to free verse or tradional forms alone, but freely and skillfully employ anything available to them.

As for the second point, it is true that many use free verse incorrectly and lazily. Many mistakenly believe that free verse means that the poem can have no structure at all. Many poems passed off as "free verse" amount to little more than prose poems with line breaks and even stanza breaks. Some of it cannot even be loosely considered as prose poems. It would be beneficial to remind some that sentences seperated by blank spaces on the page do not make those sentences poetry. In fact, free verse is very structured and requires some skill to write in a satisfactory manner. It is a form.

Perhaps the best example of what I'm trying to clarify is the work of T. S. Eliot himself: "The Waste Land". Anyone who has taken poetry classes in any college in the U. S. has had to dissect this poem. Look closely at it again. It is written in free verse (or as Eliot himself would have called it: vers libre). But what is it that makes it liberal or liberated as a form? You will quickly see that it is not a total lack of form. In fact, it is a potpourri of forms. And that is what free verse is: it uses what is commonly refered to as the traditional forms and slips in and out of them freely. Sometimes these parts rhyme and sometimes they don't. But never is there a moment in that poem where form does not exist. One piece may be blank verse, another a variation on a sonnet. It changes. It is fluid. It is living. But it is undeniably structured.

When one realises that free verse is actually a sort of tiny collection of forms, and thereby a form in its own right, the argument that one needs to turn one's back on it as poetry in order to return to form negates itself. The sentiment that it is used up also becomes unreasonable because the problem that has brought up that sentiment is misuse (or no use at all) of free verse brought on by a collective misunderstanding of what it is. In theory and in practice, there is no limit to the variation and possible manipulations of the free verse form, just as there is no limit to the variations and possible manipulations of the sonnet (and most of the other traditional) forms. How then could it be out-of-date, undesirable to use, and time to dicard it?

The Evolution of Appalachian Culture

(Originally published on Yahoo! Voices on June 18, 2013. All references extracted in 2013.)

There are people from all around the globe who have been requesting that I write about life in Appalachia. I have avoided delving too deeply into the subject thus far because, like everything else in life lately (including personal choices in groceries), it is becoming an increasingly politicised one. I am completely neutral in political and social issues and this article is not meant to be political or activist in any way. I do not endorse any particular view or issue over another. This article is meant rather to present an accurate report on the development of Appalachia to date and its current state, as written by an Appalachian.
* * *

Appalachia is a very complex and rich region. To the Native Americans, it was a most beloved home and much of it was considered as sacred ground. It was one of the first regions in North America to be settled. Recent research suggests that settlement occurred in this order:

First, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern peoples came as abandoned slaves and various other unfortunate ways. Second, peoples of European descent arrived, as has been well documented. Third, African peoples were brought in largely as slaves on plantations. Lastly, over the course of the last decade in particular, a scattering of peoples from all over the globe have come into the region as migrant workers and legal and illegal immigrants, mainly seeking employment in the medical field.

All these varied peoples blended blood, cultures, and languages into a people and language unlike anywhere else in the U.S. and the world. For several hundred years, this unique culture developed independently due to the natural isolation caused by the inaccessible terrain.

About the 1850s, however, the region's rich resources attracted the attention of the outside world which was eager to exploit those resources. The people of Appalachia were subjected to slave-like wages and lifestyle as they were employed to cut its vast rainforest for timber and mine its equally vast coalfields. Appalachian coal - from Pennsylvania to Alabama (with its largest and most important coalfields in West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky) - fueled the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. and Britain.

It was about this time that Appalachians began to migrate out to other regions in search of better and safer employment. The Great Appalachian Out-Migration, as it has become known, continues down to this day. Its peak was from the 1920s through the 1960s. During this peak period, scholars estimate that 3 to 5 million people left the mountains. Record keeping has always been neglected and spotty at best in the region, so that the actual numbers may be significantly higher.

Because of this phenomenon, aspects of Appalachian culture came to be disseminated to and influence the national culture. For instance, the music genres of Bluegrass, Old Tyme Mountain Music, and Country all have their roots in Appalachia. U.S. Route 23 - which carves a winding path through Eastern Kentucky - is named "The Country Music Highway" because of all the music stars and legends who hail from communities accessible from that road. In time, Country music contributed to the development of Rock n Roll.

Another dominant feature of Appalachian culture is the people's intense zeal for a plethora of Christian denominations. Even within denominations, doctrines can vary widely - often being completely opposite - so that it is not uncommon to have more than one church of the same denomination on the same street or hollow. Much of the region is part of what is known nationally as "The Bible Belt". Certain denominations originated in Appalachia, including those who handle snakes and Pentecostals. A unique style of preaching developed there during the 1700s that is variously called "hacking" or "hiccupping". It continues to be popular in the region to this day. Gospel music and singing is deeply engrained in cultural rituals and day to day life. The Great Appalachian Out-Migration spread some of these practices throughout the English-speaking world. Which ones and to what degree vary according to country and region.

Conditions for those who remained in the mountains began to change with the advent of labor unions. Bloody conflicts - known today as the Mining Wars or the Union Wars - broke out all over the region. This began in the very early 1900s and, in the most isolated areas, continued until the 1980s. These were revolutions to ensure fair wages, an improved and more independent lifestyle, and safer working conditions.

These wars became even more critical and frenzied in the 1930s. This was, of course, the period of the Great Depression. If you are appalled by the economic sufferings of the world in general at that time, I assure you Appalachia was not exempt. The majority of its people had no other recourse but to eat weeds and grass just to put something in their stomachs. This decade saw the invention of such cultural dishes as Dandelion greens, Mustard greens, and Poke Salad. It may also account for the popular stereotype of "hillbillies" dressed in tatters and with bare feet. During those bleak years, it was common for people to hunt game with Civil War era guns and homemade knives just to survive the winters. That may be a reason that the culture continues to be gun-oriented and survivalist to this day.

Some relief came from government work programs like the CCC and the WPA which offered a few jobs. The programs resulted in projects that built the very first government sponsored infrastructure in Appalachia besides the vital-to-coal-production railroad system. Road building, bridge building, and the installation of the first community parks were among these. But the people were aware that the work programs were temporary. Coal was, in comparison, more permanent and reliable, hence the wars to improve the situation of miners continued. The psychological toll of all this was immeasurable. The scars remain indelible on the hearts and minds of the Appalachian people.

In the 1970s, Appalachia experienced what is called "The Coal Boom". The increased prosperity of that decade brought a kind of modernisation to the region. Indoor plumbing became common. Gone was the reliance on horses, public transit, and mainly your own feet because many families were now able to own a car. New road systems were built and many were paved. People could afford to buy groceries at the market so that the family garden generally became a hobby rather than a necessity. Telephones and televisions were introduced into individual homes. Farm animals were no longer kept as a vital means of sustenance. Hunting became entertainment. New school systems were organized with bigger buildings and larger faculties. People began to travel more.

But the Coal Boom was also negative. The Great Appalachian Out-Migration continued. As the region slowly began to open up to the outside world, its people became increasingly aware that they were different and they encountered fierce prejudice. Shame for their way of life, their language, and even themselves as individuals became deeply engrained in the fabric of its society, affecting especially the educational systems of the region.

As time progressed into the next decade, the devastating and defining factor was a single fact: the coal was running out.

I attended school throughout the 1980s and 1990s. I can tell you from first-hand experience what the dominate attitude was in the school systems of the most isolated areas at that time. The emphasis was on leaving. Teachers were exasperated that they were grooming young men primarily for the mines (women would marry, have children, and keep house). Even as young students we didn't need teachers to tell us that to go into the mines meant putting your life at risk every day. Those who survived the often catastrophic work accidents were physically broken men by the age of 40 at the latest. The brightest minds would migrate out to other regions where their talents - whether in the various arts or rocket science or any field - could be cultivated and put to use. It was assumed that this was the only option available to anyone who couldn't or didn't want to work for the coal companies.

Practically every day, we were presented with the mounting evidence that the coal reserves were finite. In a region where coal has the monopoly on the economy, this was the absolute most horrifying reality to contemplate, let alone accept. A common refrain was: "In 20 years, there will be no coal left. Appalachia will be nothing but ghost towns like the ones in the Old West." The solution: go to college and get out. If you couldn't win a scholarship, you were encouraged to join the army. Or, if you loved the mountains too much to abandon them, the disappointed, half-hearted advice was to prepare for a job in tourism or the medical field. The overall outlook was consistently pessimistic.

While the 1990s were prosperous for the world in general, terms like "economically depressed" and "backward" were applied to Appalachia. The reason was that the rest of humanity was moving on from coal in attempts to find renewable, clean, green sources of energy.

The coal companies, such as Massey Energy (also called A.T. Massey), responded by mounting publicity campaigns to convince the people that coal was the only resource available and the only possibility for the people's survival. The unions began to slowly collapse under the pressure. This process accelerated throughout the 2000s.

Today, the situation is at the breaking point. This makes it a very interesting period in Appalachian history and culture. How so?

The coal seams that remain to be mined are thin, yet whole mountaintops are literally blown away to reach them. Every week the equivalent of one atomic bomb (comparable to Hiroshima) is released on Appalachia in a process known locally as strip-mining and worldwide as Mountaintop Removal (MTR). The unique eco-system of this deciduous rainforest is almost completely devastated. Whole species of animal, plant, and insect life have become extinct. The once abundant wild beds of valuable herbs like ginseng, goldenseal, St. Johns Wort, and the like are seriously endangered. Nearly all of the water is polluted with lethal poisons like arsenic. Clean drinking water is nonexistent, even in municipal systems. The highest cancer rates in the nation are found in this region, as well as the rarest forms of cancer. Entire small communities have disappeared because of the combined forces of cancer deaths, poor development planning, and mine operation related disasters. Birth defects are spiraling. Still, the coal that is mined is increasingly of low quality. Some companies have resorted to spraying the waste with chemicals so that it will burn and thus can be sold. Today, most Appalachian coal is exported to countries like India. The coal is indeed running out, and so are buyers.

The coal companies' response to this growing crisis has been to step up the publicity campaign to mania. Slogans like "Coal Keeps the Lights On", "Friends of Coal", and "Don't like Coal? Stop Using Electricity" convinces people that the majority of electricity in America depends on Appalachian coal to fuel it. Everywhere you look billboards and news media spread talk of a so-called "War On Coal" in which the Environmental Protection Agency and the government is supposedly conspiring to ruin the coal industry, destroy Appalachia, and starve its children. There is a Coal Awareness campaign with an Awareness ribbon and Coal Rallies are organised regularly.

All of this whips up people's emotions to fanaticism and almost to violence. The unions are now almost completely nonfunctional entities. In many places, they no longer exist at all. Following the presidential campaign of 2012, there were some who called for secession from the union and another Civil War. The reason? To save coal. People are near panic because they believe their very lives are at stake.

At the same time, there is a growing number who are working for solutions and envisioning Appalachia after coal. New ideas are being brought to the table and gradually put into action. Many of these efforts center on diversifying the economy. Already companies are tapping into the biggest natural gas reservoirs in the country, which lie largely in Appalachia. Politicians are actively seeking to build prisons as a source of employment and community revenue. Appalachia is the premiere region for the development of green energy such as wind, solar, and water power. Initiatives to explore these and use them are well underway. It is also an area that is used for government sponsored agricultural research. There are seed banks nestled on some of its mountaintops for the preservation of seed for future generations. As coal severance tax revenue declines with the coal industry, a variety of other taxes are being implemented to balance the coffers. The revenues from these new taxes are mostly put back into encouraging the growing tourism industry.

In fact, it seems the majority of initiatives to diversify the economy involve tourism. With this in mind, new, expanded infrastructure is being built. This includes new and more efficient highway systems, parks, and attractions. The arts (which have always been prominent and highly valued in Appalachia, but not generally encouraged as viable careers) are receiving increased funding and opportunities.

The most encouraging side-effect of all this new activity is that it is creating an environment in which a renewed pride in Appalachia - its beauty, its resources (plural), its culture, and its people - is slowly awakening.

Interestingly, these combined and opposed forces are acting like the forces that pressure a lump of coal into a diamond. They are, actually, changing the culture. Just as the 1970s brought modern appliances and conveniences to the region, the current period is bringing about a gradual modernisation of mind and heart, with both the positives and negatives inherent to that outcome. It is causing Appalachians to increasingly look outward in the sense of seeing themselves as part of a larger whole. They are beginning to understand just how their region and what happens there is connected to, effects, and is effected by, the rest of the nation and the world. As a people, their horizons are widening beyond the mountains that afford them views of only narrow strips of sky. The final death of isolation is underway.

What will Appalachia be in another 20 years? It is difficult to say; I am no prophet. However, at least two things are certain. First, it will not be a region of ghost towns. Second, it will be very different to anything we have known until now.

Resources:

RANvideo, "Mountaintop Removal: An American Tragedy", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyzwCKoLhDo&feature=player_embedded, April 4, 2011, Youtube.com

Appalachian Voices, "Ecological Impacts of Mountaintop Removal", http://appvoices.org/end-mountaintop-removal/ecology/, 2012, Appvoices.org

Goerge Ellison, "Do You Know Where You Live?", http://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/807-do-you-know-where-you-live, May 19, 2010, Smokey Mountain News

Everett Sizemore, "Appalachian Americans: The Invisible Minority", http://voices.yahoo.com/appalachian-americans-invisible-minority-6422.html?cat=37, August 16, 2005, Yahoo Voices

The Moonlit Road, "Coal Mining in Appalachia", http://themoonlitroad.com/coal-mining-appalachia/, The Moonlit Road.Com

Kentucky Coal Education, Entire Site, http://www.coaleducation.org/coalhistory/default_H.htm, Kentucky Foundation

West Virginia State Archives, "West Virginia's Mine Wars", http://www.wvculture.org/history/minewars.html, West Virginia Division of Culture and History

Socialist Worker.org, "The Miners At War in Kentucky", http://socialistworker.org/2011/06/24/miners-at-war-in-kentucky, June 24, 2011 reprint (original April 1977), International Socialist Organization

Appalshop, "Mine War on Blackberry Creek (1986) - Web Stream", http://appalshop.org/film/minewar/stream.html, Appalshop.org

Jeff Goodell, "The Dark Lord of Coal Country", http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-dark-lord-of-coal-country-20101129, November 29, 2010, Rolling Stone Magazine

Bill Estep, "100 Years of Coal Mining in Harlan County", http://www.kentucky.com/2011/08/21/1852406/100-years-of-coal-in-harlan-county.html, August 21, 2011, Kentucky.com

Stephen Lacey, "Five Things You Need to Know About 'War On Coal' Messaging This Election Season", http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/10/25/1080841/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-war-on-coal-this-election-season/?mobile=nc, October 25, 2012, ThinkProgress.org

Ken Ward, Jr., "Coal's Decline Forewarned", http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201210130087, October 13, 2012, The Charleston Gazette

Vicki Smith and The Associated Press, "'War On Coal' Rhetoric Masks Fundamental Issues", http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201210200030, October 20, 2012, The Charleston Gazette

Martin Kelly, "Top 10 New Deal Programs", http://americanhistory.about.com/od/greatdepression/tp/new_deal_programs.htm, About.com

Phillip J. Obermiller, "Historical Sources on Appalachian Migration and Urban Appalachians, 1870 - 1999: A Selectively Annotated Bibliography", http://uacvoice.org/pdf/Historical%20Sources%20on%20Appalachian%20Migration.pdf, Urban Appalachian Council

J. Trent Alexander, "Defining the Diaspora: Appalachians in the Great Migration", Volume 37, Number 2, Autumn 2006, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

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Farron Cousins, "Mountaintop Removal Mining Directly Linked To 60,000 Cancer Cases In Appalachia", http://www.desmogblog.com/mountaintop-removal-mining-directly-linked-60-000-cancer-cases-appalachia, July 27, 2011, Desmogblog.com

Sean Evans, "Online Petitions Call for Secession", http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/Online-petitions-call-for-sece-179130701.html, November 13, 2012, WKYT News

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Gallaway, Suzanne, Ph.D., "The Geography of Industry Specialization: Tourism Development Strategies within the Appalachian Regional Commission Area. (2010)", http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/Gallaway_uncg_0154D_10524.pdf, Uncg.edu

News Sentinel Editorial Board, "Editorial: Study Offers Strong Ideas for Growth in Rural Appalachia", http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jun/08/editorial-study-offers-strong-ideas-for-growth/, Knoxnews.com

Press Release: Sierraclub.org, "Sierra Club and AEP Reach Deal On Future of Kentucky's Big Sandy Coal Plant", http://www.enewspf.com/latest-news/science/science-a-environmental/43812-sierra-club-aep-reach-deal-on-future-of-kentucky-s-big-sandy-coal-plant.html, June 6, 2013, Enews Park Forest

Andrew Cole, "The Origin of Rock and Roll", http://www.tysto.com/articles09/q2/20090530rockandroll.shtml, May 30, 2009, Tysto

Piero Scaruffi, "A Brief History of Country Music", excerpt from the book "A History of Popular Music", http://www.scaruffi.com/history/country.html, Scaruffi.com