Rednecks Rising

In today's episode, I sit down with South Asian Appalachian filmmaker, Sujata Day and her debut feature-length film "Definition Please." You might also be familiar with Sujata from The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, or HBO's Insecure. Sujata shares her experiences growing up in Western Pennsylvania and why she loves it so much, and even chose to shoot her film in her hometown. She talks with me about her lifelong love for the arts and how that love was fostered by her community, and the risks she's taken along the way in bringing her film to life. Available only on Netflix, make sure to give "Definition Please" a watch!

Support the film & Sujata:
- https://www.sujataday.com/
- https://twitter.com/sujataday
- https://www.instagram.com/sujataday/
- Watch Definition Please on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81562958

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In episode 20, I sit down with Reverend Oliver Snow, "THE Reverend," of the Holy Dionysian Church of Mothman in West Virginia.

After growing up in rural Ohio and moving around, life led The Reverend back to Appalachia where he founded The Church of Mothman as a way of bringing community together, shaping mutual aid, and reclaiming Appalachia as the home that we all need and deserve. I feel big feelings in this episode when Oliver explains how Appalachians don't fit into white middle class culture, and then we touch on a little bit of everything: organizing as the art of building community through small acts; the Appalachian culture that's welcoming of underdogs; the history and context of Deep Canvassing; the connection between cryptids and Queer Culture. What else will we touch on? Listen to find out!

Please follow & support Reverend Oliver & the Church of Mothman at:
- https://www.holymothman.com/
- https://www.patreon.com/thecornbreadcommunist

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http://linktr.ee/rednecksrising

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In today's episode we explore four spooky stories and local legends from the Appalachian region in honor of the autumn season and the atmosphere of this time of year. TailyPo/TailyBone, Spearfinger, the Greenbriar Ghost & the Unsolved Murder of Mamie Thurman are the four tales that we dig into today. (TW: Some gruesome depictions in the last two stories).
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Articles referenced in this week's episode:
1) https://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/cher/motc/motc066.htm
2) https://www.scaryforkids.com/tailypo/
3) https://perma.cc/23BK-M59K
4) https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2018/06/unsolved-murder-of-mamie-thurman.html
5) https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2018/01/greenbrier-ghost.html
6) https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4679
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Support the podcast at http://link.tree/rednecksrising

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In today's episode, I met up with my buddy and neighbor Dean Gibson and we sat down at one of our local parks where Dean did me the honor of sharing a glimpse into his story. He touches on what it was like to grow up as a black man in Appalachia, and tell us about Operation Grassy Knoll -- the retaliatory police ambush of one of Haywood County's historically black communities that targeted and criminalized Dean along with about 20 other folks -- before he talks about the corruption of the so-called "justice" system that sentenced him to life in prison before he successfully had his sentence overturned.

Hopefully Dean will have some books coming out soon in more depth about his experiences, but in the meantime, you can check out some of these news articles:

1) A Community Cracks (2019): https://www.themountaineer.com/news/a-community-cracks/article_12706a24-497e-11e9-a387-4bcb39e9df5f.html?

2) Hold Until Deceased (2019): https://www.themountaineer.com/news/hold-until-deceased/article_27b0ac5c-4981-11e9-a0f4-c3410914a098.html?

3) An Appeal to Justice (2019): https://www.themountaineer.com/news/an-appeal-to-justice/article_3e38b744-4990-11e9-9cbf-93ea9109ff30.html?

4) Drug Trials Under Way in Bryson City (1998): http://haywoodlibrary.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?fn=the_enterprise_mountaineer_usa_north_carolina_waynesville_19980311_english_1&df=1&dt=10&cid=2850

5) A Community on the Brink (1998): http://haywoodlibrary.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?fn=the_enterprise_mountaineer_usa_north_carolina_waynesville_19980325_english_1&df=1&dt=10&cid=2850

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In today's episode, I give my synopsis of Elizabeth Catte's "What You're Getting Wrong About Appalachia" and reflections on what she covers in the book. For folks who are curious about where to get started in regards to learning about Appalachian history, heritage, politics, and culture -- this book is a great starting point, and includes many references to continue your learning journey!

(Pssst... we also announce our giveaway winner for the Appalachian & Antifascist hat prize!)

Mentioned in this episode:

1) Catte, E. (2018). What you are getting wrong about appalachia. Belt Publishing.

2) Smith, L., Shackel, P., & Campbell, G. (Eds.). (2011). Heritage, labour and the working classes. Taylor & Francis Group.

3) Bageant, J. (2007). Deer hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's class war. New York: Crown Publishers.

4) POWHR Coalition - https://powhr.org/

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In today's episode, we sit down with Joey: a Virginian who is returning to his culture & roots after betraying Appalachia in pursuit of the Rockies (but he came back, so we'll forgive him)! Joey and Chelsea jam on a vision for food systems that support our communities, reduce waste, and are rooted in shared community building and relationships: transformative, regenerative, sustainable models that contradict capitalism by nature. We surface the concept of radical self-reliance among our communities, and how fresh food offers so many options for ways to act in alignment with revolution. And, because of who we are here at Rednecks Rising, we talk about how critical trauma-informed approaches are to counter-organizing against the recruitment tactics of fascist groups.
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More information & further reading from today's conversation:

1) LEAP: Local Environmental Agriculture Project - https://www.leapforlocalfood.org/

2) Harvest Collective - https://www.thc.coop/)

3) Agrarian trust - https://www.agrariantrust.org/blog/cultivating-resiliency-in-roanoke-virginia/

4) Appalachian Sustainable Development, West Virginia HIVE - https://wvhive.com/

5) Anarcho-syndicalism: https://libcom.org/article/what-anarcho-syndicalism

6) Anarcho-syndicalism continued: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/rudolf-rocker-anarchosyndicalism
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“The great corporation which employed you lied to you, and lied to the whole country—from top to bottom it was nothing but one gigantic lie.”
― Upton Sinclair, The Jungle

In this bonus episode we hear from Matt, who was recently fired from an Amazon Warehouse in Campbellsville, KY for attempting to organize a union with his coworkers in response to brutal working conditions that involve walking more than 20 miles per shift, temperatures that can rise as high as 100* in workspaces, breaking bones, and more. The abuse of Amazon doesn’t stop in the Warehouse though… this company is attempting to turn the whole country into one big company town from the sounds of it: Amazon Care health services? “Affordable housing” for workers who get evicted as soon as they aren’t working for the company? Data ownership that links employee data with customer data and healthcare data? Clearance to GOVERN their own townships?
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✊Make sure to support Matt by contributing to or sharing his retaliation fund: [https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/1f94594f-a62a-4a3b-bf7f-88e92b69442a](https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/1f94594f-a62a-4a3b-bf7f-88e92b69442a)

🏭Warehouse Worker Protection Act: [https://teamster.org/2022/06/warehouse-worker-protection-act-clears-new-york-legislature/](https://teamster.org/2022/06/warehouse-worker-protection-act-clears-new-york-legislature/)

🆘Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee: [https://workerorganizing.org/](https://workerorganizing.org/)

🌐International Workers of the World (IWW) Union: [https://www.iww.org/](https://www.iww.org/)

💡Socialist Alternative: [https://www.socialistalternative.org/](https://www.socialistalternative.org/)

🏴Democratic Socialists of America (DSA): [https://www.dsausa.org/](https://www.dsausa.org/)

👩‍🏫Party for Socialism & Liberation: [https://pslweb.org/](https://pslweb.org/)

Matt's...
Twitter: @AmazonUnionofKY
Email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
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Support this podcast at: http://linktr.ee/rednecksrising

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“I would fight God Almighty Himself if He didn't play square with me”
-- Mother Jones

In this episode, I sit down with all three of the co-hosts of Dixieland of the Proletariat to do a Deep Dive into Mother Jones' life and legacy in the labor movement. Did you know Mother Jones was the ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM for the conversations when the IWW was being founded? The episode takes us from Ireland to Canada, Chicago to Memphis, Alabama to Arizona to West Virginia, Colorado to Pittsburgh, and everywhere in between.

Checkout Dixieland of the Proletariat Podcast: http://linktr.ee/dotprole
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Sources:
1. Fetherling, Dale. Mother Jones, the Miners' Angel, Southern Illinois University Press, 2010. https://archive.org/details/motherjonesminer0000feth.
2. Hawxhurst, J. C. (1994). Mother Jones: Labor crusader. Raintree Steck-Vaughn. https://archive.org/details/motherjoneslabor0000hawx
3. Jones, M. H. (1996). The Autobiography of Mother Jones. Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company. https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofm0000jone_w7x8
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Appalachians forgive me, for bringing a bougie planter class Italian Yankee onto the show, but I think you’ll enjoy it regardless. Things we touch on in this episode: How are politics & white supremacy at the root of the boundaries, economies, cultures, commonalities and differences between the Deep South, the Rim South, and Appalachia? What does the Civil War have to do with it? (Spoiler alert: EVERYTHING!) Have you ever noticed how Kevin Spacey perfectly embodies the condescension of the accent of the Deep South? What’s the problem with Northern/blue-state liberals and the phrase “Vote Blue No Matter Who?” What’s the difference between community organizing and activism? Can community organizing help us heal from anxiety and capitalist trauma? What does dual-power really mean?
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SURPRISE! I’ll be co-hosting a Mother Jones Deep Dive episode on DotProle next week!

Follow/listen to/support Dixieland of the Proletariat Podcast: http://linktr.ee/dotprole
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Other Resources:
1) Secession Map by County - https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/9yjwj6/american_civil_war_secession_votes_by_county/
(This map may not be fully accurate when it comes to Appalachian states like North Carolina, see this example article: https://www.ncpedia.org/secession-movement)

2) Hammer and hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great Depression - https://archive.org/details/hammerhoealabama0000kell
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If you liked this episode, don’t forget to hit “subscribe,” and leave a rating/review — you can also follow & support us on social media and Ko-Fi here: linktr.ee/rednecksrising

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TW: This week's episode discusses violent events. Listener caution/discretion is advised.

In today's episode, I thought I would explore the history of Labor Day, given that the holiday in the USA is approaching. Little did I know, I would end up in yet another rabbit hole of events related to May Day (AKA International Worker's Day) and the USA's intentional suppression of worker organizing all through the end of the 19th century. In this episode, we explore beyond the boundaries of Appalachia and find even more interconnections between the fate of the poor and working class. All in all, we look at the Great Railroad Strikes, the Haymarket Riot, and the government's official recognition of Labor Day in the late 1890s.

(Spoiler alert: LABOR DAY WAS ADOPTED AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO INTERNATIONAL WORKER’S DAY TO UNDERMINE TRULY REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZING EFFORTS !!!!!)

Sources for today's episode:

1) Reneau, K. (2016, September 5). The history of Labor Day: A holiday born from the working man. West Virginia News. https://www.wvnews.com/theet/news/free/the-history-of-labor-day-a-holiday-born-from-the-working-man/article_ed1bcc78-af07-5b7e-926b-305a51d1bf18.html

2) Zraick, K. (2021, September 4). What Is Labor Day? A History of the Workers’ Holiday. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-labor-day.html

3) Films Media Group. (2013). Labor day: Video culture class - American holidays. Access Video On Demand. Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=242630&xtid=111005

4) Weaver, A. (2011, June 11). Outline of US Labor History with a Focus on the Role of the Left. Libcom. Retrieved August 26, 2022, from https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/adam-weaver-outline-of-us-labor-history-with-a-focus-on-the-role-of-the-left

5) Collective, C. I. E.-W. (2017, May 1). The May Days: Stories of Courage and Resistance. CrimethInc. Retrieved August 26, 2022, from https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/crimethinc-the-may-days-stories-of-courage-and-resistance#toc1

6) Zinn, H. (2015). A people's history of the United States: 1492-present. HarperCollins. Accessed at https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/howard-zinn-a-people-s-history-of-the-united-states

Support and follow the pod:
linktr.ee/rednecksrising

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