An Ode to Humans From The Mouth of Coal

Abstract

Appalachia and coal have a historically challenging relationship with each other. Coal has been the backbone of many Appalachian economies. Along with the economic benefits of coal have come many negative impacts. Political campaigns, from local to federal, have won and lost based on their positions and ties to coal. For a variety of reasons, the coal industry in Appalachia, especially in the Appalachian state of West Virginia, is declining, and will continue to decline, despite the rhetoric from those whose livelihoods—daily and politically—depend on coal. In this paper the author places himself in the black shoes of coal and offers a lyrical and musical response from coal itself to the rhetoric around the future of coal that rang loudly in his hometown of Logan, West Virginia during the 2016 presidential campaign.