From the desk of the Burning Book

On Monday, April 20th at 8pm, there will be an Opening Party and Reception at the Swoop House Gallery, with live music, food and drinks. (The Swoop House Gallery is at 512 Progress Street, the intersection of Progress and Turner St.)

Come out for a good time, and to support the Appalachia Portrait Story Project--a mobile, networked and volunteer art-media-social phenomenon. Its primary purpose is to bring and co-generate an aesthetic practice of media solidarity to the self-determination of communities and individuals connected to the land they live on. Hundreds of individuals who live in Appalachia have been sketched and their voices are told through their narrative, which the individuals themselves hand-write on their portrait. Hundreds of the portrait-stories will be on display, mostly dealing with Appalachian culture and the resistance against strip-mining.

Come to the opening party to view the artwork, be sketched, and meet the artist! Or come view the art from April 20^th to 25^th. The gallery will be open from 10am to 1pm Mon. thru Fri. (except Wed.) and from 6pm to 8pm Mon. thru Fri, or by appointment. To make an appointment, contact Joe Kelley at (540) 449-3309

This event is brought to you by Mountain Justice Blacksburg, and the Burning Book.

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'A modern-day underground railroad'

"In Minnesota, a group called the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign recently moved families into 13 empty homes; in Philadelphia, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union maintains seven “human rights houses” shared by 13 families. Cheri Honkala, who is the national organizer for the Minnesota group and was homeless herself once, likened the group’s work to “a modern-day underground railroad,” and said squatters could last up to a year in a house before eviction."

View full article

Author: John Leland
Source: New York Times

"The shame goes to the exploiters."

Sissy Spacek shared this outlook on poverty and the Appalachian experience with Roanoke Times readers recently as she talked about her work as the narrator in a newly released documentary on Appalachia.

This link provides further details.

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A look at Senate bill 714

link