Tuesday, July 29, 2008

7.29.08

I found out last night that a friend of mine grew up in harlen county, kentucky. my jaw dropped. I learned of Harlen County through the canadian photo magazine "vice" where these canadian photographers went into the hills of kentucky to interview impoverished coal miners, their families, and people in the community. it's fucking crazy how low the standard of living is there, and how the coal companies totally screw these people. The coal miners of harlen county have been going on strike since the 30's. A union organizer, his wife, and his baby girl were assasinated by the coal company. many people were shot and killed by local police.

There was a documentary made in the 70's called "harlen county usa" and it won an academy award. you can rent it from netflix i think. this movie is extremely intense. i watched it last night and once again, i'm shocked to learn of yet another injustice that is within the U.S. here's a little youtube snipet.

2 comments:

Reese said...

I always find it interesting to watch things like this and learn about them. I added this to my netflix queue, there was also a movie about Harlan County made in 2000 (based in the '70s) staring Holly Hunter called "Harlan County War". I think it's a TV movie, but it's also on Netflix.

ian bowling said...

My grandparents on my dad's side are both from Harlan County Kentucky. I'll have to ask my grandfather what it was like growing up in Loyall.