Great Conversations at the Black Gold Festival

"We passed out a lot of information and had a lot of great conversations with people," Truman Hurt from Montgomery Creek reflected. 

During the festival, Perry County KFTC members had an information table and circulated petitions about protecting our mountains and streams, creating a state-level earned-income tax credit, and restoring voting rights for former felons.

A number of people were excited about KFTC's new bumper sticker "Friends of Mountains and Miners."  This included KFTC members who have been supportive of mine safety and new folks who have miners in their families are also concerned about mountaintop removal mining.  It was a great way to engage people in a conversation about what KFTC considers responsible mining and the possibilities for future economic transition.

The festival was also a great opportunity to illustrate the range of different issues KFTC works on.  State Senator Brandon Smith stopped by the booth at one point to chat with local members.  Members asked him to continue his support for KFTC's voting rights campaign and were interested to learn about his work as the new chair for the Commission on Poverty.

"We made a lot of contacts who we can follow-up with, and we got 5 new Perry County members.  Overall, this was a great festival!" Truman concluded.