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On June 20, 1920, Mother Jones spoke on the steps of the Williamson County Courthouse in West Virginia as a grand jury deliberated on the shooting between mine of Matewan, West Virginia and the Baldwin-Felts detectives who were terrorizing the people in the service of the Stone Mountain Coal Company to increase the profits of plutocrats like Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan, and Mellon, and against the United Mine Workers of America driving unionization throughout the land.

The Associated Press wrote the next day “Mother Jones” in West Virginia Coal Fields Making Speeches to Excite Miners.

EMLab filmed a reenactment of Mother Jones famous speech in Matewan, West Virginia during U.S. Labor Day weekend 2021, which marked the 100 year anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain, which was part of the West Virginia Mine Wars. The battle was the largest armed insurrection in the U.S. since the Civil War. The sacrifices of those miners and their families provides an important history of courageously standing up and facing tyrannical men of murderous intent.

ABOUT EMLab

Empathy Media Lab is produced by Evan Matthew Papp and we are a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Support media, authors, activists, artists, historians, and journalists, who are fighting to improve the prosperity of the working class everywhere. Solidarity forever. 

Website: https://www.empathymedialab.com/ 

All Links: https://wlo.link/@empathymedialab  

“So why did we want to recreate this March? Because we are bound and determined that the history of our forefathers will not be taken away from us by any rich person or any government.”

Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA)

One hundred years ago, in a rural mountainous stretch in middle America, a violent labor uprising took place, a battle of good versus evil, rebellion against wage slavery, a fight for freedom against tyranny -- yet this historical memory lies dormant in most minds today.

U.S. Labor Day weekend 2021 marked the 100 year anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain, which was part of the West Virginia Mine Wars. The battle was the largest armed insurrection in the U.S. since the Civil War. The sacrifices of those miners and their families provides an important history of courageously standing up and facing tyrannical men of murderous intent.

When I learned about the centennial gathering in remembrance of the great battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia over Labor Day 2021, I knew I had to go; not just to document the event and raise awareness through the Labor Radio Podcast Network, but I needed to go for myself, as a labor pilgrimage to march alongside the United Mine Workers of America, upon the hallowed ground where miners fought for their rights and a better future for every worker.

During the United Mine Workers of America’s reenactment of the famous march that ended in Sharples, West Virginia near Blair Mountain, I was able to interview fellow marchers and capture a rousing speech by Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers of America.

Solidarity forever.

ABOUT EMLab

Empathy Media Lab is produced by Evan Matthew Papp and we are a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Support media, authors, activists, artists, historians, and journalists, who are fighting to improve the prosperity of the working class everywhere. Solidarity forever. 

Website - https://www.empathymedialab.com/ 

All Links: https://wlo.link/@empathymedialab   

#LaborRadioPod

#1U

#UnionStrong

#Blair100

“There is another America.  Remember it.  Those miners died for you.  You should at least know who they were.  And then let's all follow in their footsteps.  Long live the multiracial uprising in the hills of Appalachia in 1921.  Long live the Battle of Blair Mountain.” David Rovics

U.S. Labor Day weekend 2021 marks the 100 year anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain, which was part of the West Virginia Mine Wars. 

The battle was the largest armed insurrection in the U.S. since the Civil War. The sacrifices of those miners and their families who fought on Blair Mountain laid down a foundation to fight for every worker’s labor rights and protection and courageously stand up and face tyrannical men of murderous intent.

Empathy Media Lab will be in West Virginia documenting the Battle of Blair Mountain Centennial Commemoration, including the United Mine Workers of America’s reenactment of the famous march that ended in the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain.

This short film is based on an audio essay by David Rovics and the song Sixteen Tons by Merle Travis.

The following links providing more information about this labor struggle through:

• Dr. Charles B. Keeney’s book The Road to Blair Mountain Saving a Mine Wars Battlefield from King Coal

ABOUT EMLab

Empathy Media Lab is produced by Evan Matthew Papp and we are a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Support media, authors, activists, artists, historians, and journalists, who are fighting to improve the prosperity of the working class everywhere. Solidarity forever. 

Website - https://www.empathymedialab.com/ 

All Links: https://wlo.link/@empathymedialab   

#LaborRadioPod

#1U

#UnionStrong

#Blair100

Dr. Charles Keeney is the  author of The Road to Blair Mountain Saving a Mine Wars Battlefield from King Coal, which was published in January 2021 of West Virginia University Press and he is founding member of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum.

We center the conversation around Dr. Keeney’s book and the Battle of Blair Mountain Centennial Commemoration over Labor Day Weekend 2021.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Dr. Keeney’s family history steeped in labor struggles going back to his great grandfather Frank Keeney;

Follow the relevant links to Dr. Keeney’s work and labor struggles in West Virginia:

• Keeney’s book - The Road to Blair Mountain Saving a Mine Wars Battlefield from King Coal

Follow the events around the Battle of Blair Mountain Centennial Commemoration over Labor Day Weekend 2021 https://www.blair100.com/. Empathy Media Lab will be in Charleston, West Virginia over the weekend filming and interviewing labor activists. If you have content ideas or want to meet up, please reach out!

ABOUT EMLab

Empathy Media Lab is produced by Evan Matthew Papp and we are a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Support media, authors, activists, artists, historians, and journalists, who are fighting to improve the prosperity of the working class everywhere. Solidarity forever. 

Website - https://www.empathymedialab.com/ 

All Links: https://wlo.link/@empathymedialab   

#LaborRadioPod

#1U

#UnionStrong

#Blair100

“...of the leaders of the AFL-CIO since the second world war, Trumka has been one of the very best and that doesn't translate automatically into success or organizing or even winning huge strikes partly because the Carter spirit has been powerful in the democratic party and there's a lack of understanding why you need organized labor.”

Richard Louis Trumka was President of the AFL–CIO from 2009 until his death on August 5, 2021. He served as president of the United Mine Workers from 1982 to 1995, and then was secretary-general of the AFL-CIO from 1995 to 2009. 

The American System network gave a tribute to Trumka on their August 5th program while highlighting the failure of the Democratic Party to sufficiently support organized labor. This segment was produced by Empathy Media Lab.

Empathy Media Lab is produced by Evan Matthew Papp and we are a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Support media, authors, artists, historians, and journalists, who are fighting to improve the prosperity of the working class. 

Empathy Media Lab’s website is https://www.empathymedialab.com.

All EMLab links can be found at: https://wlo.link/@empathymedialab. 

In Episode 4, we discuss Laborem Exercens, which means Through Work and is an encyclical written by Pope John Paul II in 1981, on human work. It is part of the larger body of Catholic social teaching, which traces its origin to Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum.

Faith and Labor is a podcast video series exploring the history of Catholic Social Teachings and how it can be used to bridge divisions and guide humanity to solve the great challenges facing the working class.

Hosted by John Andrechak of Laborlines and Evan Matthew Papp of Empathy Media Lab, they discuss history, scripture, encyclicals, current events, and how faith and love is needed to strengthen solidarity and heal a world in disarray. 

We would love to hear your feedback, ideas, and suggested guests for future shows, as we seek to promote what Pope Francis described in Fratelli Tutti as a more just and fraternal world where “Love shatters the chains that keep us isolated and separate; in their place, it builds bridges.”

Labor Radio Podcast Network’s Member Spotlight Series pays homage to radio and podcast producers who are focusing on working class issues. 

Maximillian Alvarez is host of Working People, in partnership with In These Times magazine, which is a podcast about working-class lives in 21st-century America. In every episode you’ll hear interviews with workers from around the country, from all walks of life. We’ll talk about their life stories, their jobs, politics, and families, their joys and hopes and frustrations.

Mr. Alvarez is also the Editor in Chief of The Real News network and received his PhD from the University of Michigan.

Full interview here: https://www.empathymedialab.com/post/member-spotlight-maximilian-alvarez-host-of-working-people

About Roosevelt, Michigan - A Musical Novel

Buddy Henshaw is a folk musician and teenage orphan who lit out on a cross-country filmmaking project.  After nearly killing his first love and collaborator Lily by falling asleep at the wheel, he flees her angry family for New York City, leaving her convinced he is dead. When he returns home to Michigan a decade later and founds an artists’ colony in a desolate downtown, he hopes to recapture Lily but ends up partying his way into a series of murders instead. Ultimately, casualties mount from battles between his artistic and romantic ambitions, and Buddy’s friends are left to deal with the wreckage that remains. 

Echoing the language of F. Scott Fitzgerald,  Roosevelt, Michigan is a love letter to house parties and the extraordinary relationships that support folk and roots music. From a touching affair to a mentorship that goes violently wrong, Brock takes readers to the kind of unforgettable party where no one is sure what's in the punch, but everyone is enjoying the journey - until people start to die.

You can get your copy of Roosevelt, Michigan at: https://www.rooseveltmichigan.com/fiction  

About the Author

Dylan James Brock is an author and musician and his second novel titled Roosevelt, Michigan - A Musical Novel, will be released on June 18th, 2021. His first novel, Dry World, was released in 2016 and is accompanied by a 25-song album.

At age sixteen, Dylan enrolled at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and in 2006 he received  a Master of Fine Arts in fiction writing at Hunter College in New York City. This year, he founded Verisimi Lit, an independent publisher of newsletters and novels that can be found on Substack.

In this interview, we discuss:

• How Dylan first got interested in creative writing and who are his biggest artistic influences;

Follow Dylan James Brock’s work and buy Roosevelt, Michigan:

• https://www.rooseveltmichigan.com/fiction 

About EMLab 

Empathy Media Lab is produced by Evan Matthew Papp and we are a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Support media, authors, artists, historians, and journalists, who are fighting to improve the prosperity for all. 

Website - https://www.empathymedialab.com/ 

All Links: https://wlo.link/@empathymedialab   

#Artists

#Writers

#Authors

#HarmonyOfInterests

#LaborRadioPod

#1U

#UnionStrong