The cultural roots of coal continue to permeate the rituals of daily life in Appalachia even as its economic power wanes | dG1fUHdmSGwxalEtbGM
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 (phone ringing)
00:02 - I was born one morning when it was drizzling rain.
00:09 - I was born one morning when it was drizzling rain.
00:12 - I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mines.
00:15 - I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mines.
00:18 - I loaded 16 ton of number nine coal.
00:21 - I loaded 16 ton of number nine coal.
00:24 (clapping)
00:28 - For those of us who grew up with it, coal is intrinsic.
00:33 - Is coal important to your family?
00:38 - I don't know.
00:40 Is it to your family?
00:42 - Yes.
00:43 - That creates a kind of bond that you don't just make
00:46 with any coal worker.
00:47 - No.
00:48 - But coal mining, you go underground,
00:50 sacrifice your life, you sweat and bleed and work.
00:53 (explosion)
00:55 ♪ I've seen a time of brotherhood ♪
01:02 - For nearly a century, we've been told
01:07 this place is nothing without a king.
01:10 - All this stuff used to be trees and green leaves and ferns.
01:16 ♪ Its spirit fades away ♪
01:21 ♪ They say my father's father ♪
01:24 - In the beginning, this place was wild.
01:29 Sometimes I wonder if our king's ghost is trapped here.
01:35 - I guess you can't take my memories from me.
01:39 - It is not dirty or clean, it is elemental.
01:46 I learned that you can be proud of your life
01:48 and want better for them that come after you.
01:51 (dramatic music)
01:53 There have always been those of us looking for stories
01:58 that keep us alive.
02:01 (dramatic music)
02:04 (music)
02:06 (whooshing)