Brunch Fruit Tart---I just made this and it tastes great!

I heated the oven to 350 degrees.

I put the following ingredients in a large bowl and mixed them up:

* 4 cups of granola mix. I used two cups of granola with blueberries and two cups of granola with honey and oats.
* One-half-of-a-cup of butter that I let get soft on top of the stove
* A little less than 5 tablespoons of honey

then I greased a baking dish with some butter, put a piece of parchment paper over that, put the mix from the bowl on top of the paper, and put that in the oven. I probably should have put a baking pan under that but I forgot.

I let that set in the oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, I mixed about two-and-one-half-cups of Chobani Greek vanilla yogurt with an 8-ounce container of softened cream cheese, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and a package of gelatin in the same bowl that I used for the granola mix. I like Chobani because it tastes great and the company has a pretty good operating philosophy.

I took the mix out of the oven and let it cool down completely. When it was cool I mixed the toasted granola mix into the yogurt, stirred it around, and topped it off with some blueberries and cherries. It didn't look all that attractive but it tasted great.

Depression, substance abuse disorders and more---please don't keep scrolling by if you need the help.

An old and dear friend of mine posted the following the other day:

Sadly, we don’t always know the depths of someone’s depression until it is too late. May I please have even 1 friend to copy and re-post? I am trying to demonstrate that someone is listening. Just one. Anyone.

I'm not one of those people who forwards these kinds of messages on on Facebook, but this blog has carried messages on depression, suicide, substance abuse disorders, addiction, and the need to listen to and respect and help everyone who needs it since we started this project. I have lost a lot of people to depression, suicide, and substance abuse disorders over the years.

We should not have to plead for people or for attention and help.

If you're that person who needs the hand up or the shoulder, or if you know someone who does, here are some numbers. If you're that person wondering or doubting if this does any good, here are some memes to help you think it through.

(This blog supports the creation of a national healthcare service and Medicaid for all, and we believe that healthcare is a human right.)

Some beauty and some words that touch my heart...

 

"He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes." Psalm 146:16 (ESV) - Woodrow Church of the Nazarene • Woodrow, WV---Photo from Christopher Morris posted on the West Virginia Heritage, History, and Memories Facebook page

Psalm 146/147

I.

1 Hallelujah!

How good to sing praise to our God;
how pleasant to give fitting praise.

2 The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the dispersed of Israel,

3 Healing the brokenhearted,
and binding up their wounds.

4 He numbers the stars,
and gives to all of them their names.

5 Great is our Lord, vast in power,
with wisdom beyond measure.

6 The LORD gives aid to the poor,
but casts the wicked to the ground.

II

7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
with the lyre make music to our God,

8 Who covers the heavens with clouds,
provides rain for the earth,
makes grass sprout on the mountains,

9 Who gives animals their food
and young ravens what they cry for.

10 He takes no delight in the strength of horses,
no pleasure in the runner’s stride.

11 Rather the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
those who put their hope in his mercy.

III

12 Glorify the LORD, Jerusalem;
Zion, offer praise to your God,

13 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates,
blessed your children within you.

14 He brings peace to your borders,
and satisfies you with finest wheat.

15 He sends his command to earth;
his word runs swiftly!

16 Thus he makes the snow like wool,
and spreads the frost like ash;

17 He disperses hail like crumbs.
Who can withstand his cold?

18 Yet when again he issues his command, it melts them;
he raises his winds and the waters flow.

19 He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and laws to Israel.

20 He has not done this for any other nation;
of such laws they know nothing.

Hallelujah!

Psalm 146

I

1 Hallelujah!

2 Praise the LORD, my soul;

I will praise the LORD all my life,

sing praise to my God while I live.

3 Put no trust in princes,

in children of Adam powerless to save.

4 Who breathing his last, returns to the earth;

that day all his planning comes to nothing.

II

5 Blessed the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD, his God,

6 The maker of heaven and earth,
the seas and all that is in them,
Who keeps faith forever,

7 secures justice for the oppressed,
who gives bread to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free;

8 the LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.

9 The LORD protects the resident alien,
comes to the aid of the orphan and the widow,
but thwarts the way of the wicked.

10 The LORD shall reign forever,
your God, Zion, through all generations!

Hallelujah!

"Humble"---A new testimony song from Steve Cline

We have had the good fortune to have posted music and some quotes from Steve Cline on this blog previously. Steve is a pretty deep thinker. He lives in West Virginia and has a powerful story to tell us, and I think that we should hear what he's saying and sit with that for awhile and take what works for us with us. If you read this blog regularly you know that some of our constant themes are recovery, religion and spirituality, and the creativity and beauty that is around us and within us. We hit all of these themes in Steve's music and in much of what he has to say. Do I always agree with Steve? No. But his testimony and his music get and hold my attention, and I know that there are many people out there who will benefit greatly from hearing Steve and knowing that there is someone out there who knows their road and can put it into music and share much-needed hope.

The words are as follows:

I was raised to be a prideful sinner

always to stand up for myself

was how to be a winner

but then I found out that road is just full of glimmer

it'll take u to hell a whole lot quicker 

we all need to forgive and be humble

give the shirt off of our back and love our brother

we need to deny our flesh and stay sober

we need to walk as Jesus walked and be humble

there's a way to man that may seem right

but theres only one way that leads to life

we have to trust that Gods way is right

if we put our faith in him he will bring us through the fire

Steve says:

I'm in the process of trying to start a group meeting around McDowell county. As of right now idk of any. A friend of mine is starting one in welch in Feb. I'm trying to get one going in n the Gary area. These bigger cities have at least one everyday. with all the addiction and deaths from addiction we need a place where people who are struggling can come to talk with others who have been there and not feel ashamed. A place where no one looks down on them. I reached out to the mayor of Gary yesterday an plan on talking to a couple pastors to see if I can find a place to have these meetings. I'm trying to see how many people would be in interested in attending these meetings. The only way we will get stronger is in unity. like, comment, and share if you or someone you know would be interested.---January 27

and

there are people who think they know what recovering addicts are going through but just because you've done a couple pills or snorted a line of coke doesn't make you an addict in the same way that working at a hospital doesn't make you a Dr. no matter how much clean time we have there are days we wake up wondering if this is gonna be the day we slip. it's a constant battle of the mind especially when you have the means to do so. you may think that your actions don't have an effect on an individual and you probably don't care but they do. and I know it's another tool of the enemy to try to get me back but I'm sure that others don't know that. in the past anytime we felt anger, joy, resentment, loneliness, our escape was drugs. Now days I use the bible and prayer. but 20+ years of running to the wrong things takes time to break those cycles. I also know that there are certain people who don't want to see us succeed, but all I'm saying is just watch how you treat people,, you might be the straw that breaks the camel's back.---January 26

Those are powerful statements that come straight from the heart. I think Steve is being a realist here, and I say that with my own struggles and the struggles of many friends in mind. The January 27 statement brought a reaction from someone in McDowell County, West Virginia that I believe is entirely justified. They wrote:

I’ve said that before! Here our county was having the highest od rate in the nation at one time, and not only was there no facilities available for recovery, but there’s not even any AA type meetings! It’s proof to me how our state government thinks we don’t matter in McDowell, and why it’s SOOO very harmful for residents and former residents to think it’s ok for them to leave here and talk like we’re nothing but addicts and low life’s with no redeemable qualities.

Why do I think that this statement is totally justified? Because I believe that the person who wrote this knows from first-hand experience what they're talking about and because it is certainly true that West Virginia and most of Appalachia do not receive the levels of social services and care that are needed. Most of the region lives in a semi-colonial state, producing wealth for export and exporting workers to other states and providing large numbers of people to the military but getting almost nothing back that reaches the grassroots. Most of the politicians act as if they're serving colonial masters. I cannot think of a nicer way to say it. People who want to get sober may have to go elsewhere, as the writer says. But why can't home be part of the care and medicine we need?

A Taste of Heaven -- By Bill Gallegos: A review of Esperame En El Cielo

We're honored to have this review of Gilbert Castellanos' Esperame En El Cielo and an overview of some of his other work by Bill Gallegos. Bill Gallegos is a writer, activist, teacher, and mentor to many youth. I have to say that this review touches every point that I look for when I read music reviews and when I'm looking for new music that will move me and speak to me.  


I first heard band leader and trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos last year at an outdoor concert at the Los Angeles Museum of Art (LACMA). My wife Betty and I try to attend every one of the Jazz at LACMA concerts, events that showcase artists from the Southern California area. Castellanos is the only featured Chicano artist I have seen at these concerts and words cannot sufficiently convey the orgullo (pride) I felt when he dedicated one his songs to La Raza.

Gilbert was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and is a terrific trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and arranger based in San Diego, California. He was once a member of the Black Note, an ensemble of young Los Angeles musicians of color who followed in the great jazz Be-Bop tradition, while refreshing that tradition with new feelings and approaches. I love the fact that along with his own music, Castellanos is the Artistic Director and Curtator of the Young Lions Jazz Conservatory that produces a weekly program featuring middle and high school musicians from So Cal, more than 250 young artists that he has taught and mentored. The man is keeping this incredible art form --- rooted in the African American experience -alive and vibrant.

While I am going to share my thoughts about Castellano’s newest release, I want to strongly encourage you all to also check out his earlier recordings – Underground (2006), and The Federal Arts Project (2013). I am a music lover, not a musician. I discovered jazz while growing up in North Denver (Colorado), introduced to this amazing music by an Italian-American friend who was himself a fine pianist and sax player. At that time, Denver music radio was pretty much a banal cultural desert and jazz felt like my ears and heart had found the most delicious oasis. And Gilbert’s new album Esperme En El Cielo is like drinking the coolest, sweetest water in the world.

What is special about this release is that Castellanos is at once a leader and a master collaborator with Christopher Holloway on alto sax, Joshua White on piano, John Murray on bass, and Tyler Kreutel on drums – each player a virtuoso who shine as individual artists, but know how to make the whole into a master work of art and feeling. Castellnos’ trumpet can be smooth as butter, following the rhythmic drums that open Bilad As Sudan, the cd’s first track. This is a “jump out of bed” song, with Holloday’s righteous alto getting the blood flowing. But Castellano’s horn is the centerpiece – insistent, unpredictable, lyrical, music that is not going to let you go as it works its way through the masterful genius of Jimmy Heath’s Big P and Lee Morgan’s Totem Pole. Home is Africa opens with the sublime bass line of John Murray, creating space for Joshua White’s piano magic. The horns follow with beautiful notes that give us permission to both relax and groove – can’t hold the head and shoulders still: the trumpet and sax saying “this is how we hear you Brother John”. 

The title track Esperame En El Cielo (featured twice on the cd) is by the fabulous Boricua composer Paquito López Vidal. This is a flowing/flying love song that takes us to the gates of heaven, it is an open-your-wings song, with that unmistakable Raza ritmo, to the sublime joy that Latinos can experience despite our oppression. It is a song that reveals in the most mellow flow that our spirit, our dreams, our love will never die. The end notes from Gilbert’s trumpet can be heartbreaking, but also hearthealing. The other tracks – Totem Pole, New Delhi, La Puerta, and Big P are all outstanding examples of this amazing art form – it is a collaborator of equals with monster chops and HEART.

Kreutel and Murray demonstrate on every track why the rhythm section is so often the soulful glue that holds a great work together, allowing White’s piano to show to what incredible ends those black and white keys can be put, to encourage the joy and heartbreak and power of Castellano’s trumpet, and the sonic energy and creative lines of Maestro Hollyday. Gracias Hermano Gilbert, for the wonderful regalo that you and your folk are sharing with our challenged world.

Espérame En El Cielo (Bonus)---Gilbert Castellanos

The United Mine Workers of America was founded on this date in 1890

The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) was founded in Columbus, Ohio on January 25, 1890. The union was founded by people who came from different coalfields and from different traditions of mine worker unionism. Many attempts had ben made to form local, regional, and national unions of mine workers, and there had been notable successes and failures in organizing the coal miners. The methods of mining coal and the structures of the anthracite and bituminous coal industries were changing as coal was helping to drive the expansion of modern capitalist industry. Competition between mining districts and between the coal operators and changes in the methods of extracting coal tended to drive wages down and makes mining ever more dangerous.

The UMWA sought to achieve industrial stability in coal mining from the union's earliest days. In the best light, this meant restricting competition between the operators and winning legislation that restricted or outlawed child labor, defined what a legal ton of coal was, required safe mining practices and workplace safety, insured mine workers' safety and health, and provided for mine workers after they were too old or infirmed to work. In the early days the union and the coal operators sought to reach agreement on coal prices together and to use their relative power to control coal markets together. But the operators were never good partners to the union, and competition from non-union and low-cost mining districts and industrial monopolization worked against union-operator cooperation. Industrial chaos was always just a half-step away. Under these conditions, then, the union and the operators came to represent different and opposing interests.

In the worst light, local and district unions competed with one another and the union's leadership played union locals and districts against one another. The leadership sometimes sought to partner with certain operators and politicians in ways that were at least unethical and that did not always serve the worker's long-term interests. Corrupt union officials have done much damage to the union's cause and reputation. The union was sometimes fighting for industrial stability on its own. Mine workers often looked first at their mine, then at their company or region, and then, perhaps, at the national picture when it came to union affairs and deciding union policies and voting on union contracts. Changes in mining technology worked against the mine workers maintaining employment and solidarity and keeping control of their work, and resentments have grown from this. The noble attempts by the union to win industry-wide contracts and to create a working pension system and to provide for healthcare have depended on extending union organizing, stable employment, payments made by union-represented coal operators, industrial stability, fair courts, and cooperation and support from state and federal officials. Only at rare moment in our history have most of these factors been in place at the same moment.

It is a miracle and a blessing that the UMWA still exists. The coal operators and their allies have sought to divide the mine workers and have used their economic and political power to isolate the workers and break the union. They have brought extraordinary pressure to bear against the union and have used violence when that suited their needs. They have influenced the public schools and other public institutions in many areas to be "pro-coal," which has come to mean pro-company, and the true history of mine workers' struggles has to be constantly rescued from their hands.

The union remains the only reasonable and available institution to represent mine workers' interests. There are about 67,000 coal mine workers in the United States and Canada, and the UMWA may represent something just over 20 percent of those workers. According to the union's website, the UMWA now represents "coal miners, manufacturing workers, clean coal technicians, health care workers, corrections officers and public employees throughout the United States and Canada." Not too many years ago the union had the slogan that "God, guns and guts built the UMWA" and I believe that that has been true. The UMWA has set a high bar for other unions and has used its power to support other unions. The idea that strikers have to "last one day longer" and our modern concepts of industrial unionism come from the UMWA to a great extent. Today the union depends more on God and guts and its ability to make its case to workers and its power to win good contracts.

We need a new era of union organizing to boost the union's numbers and influence and power so that mine workers do better and so that their communities survive. Good living wages and retirement benefits, guaranteed by a union contract, circulate through mining communities quickly and raise everyone's standards of living. A progressive wage floor, strong health and safety provisions with active enforcement, and protected pension plans in coal mining benefit all workers and our communities no matter what jobs we have or where we live. 

The pictures and music below come from a variety of sources and are posted here to show readers something of mine workers and mining communities. I am including some of my own narratives and commentary by others. Not all of the workers and mines here are union-represented. My point is to create a context for understanding where the UMWA comes from and why the union is needed now.

The best resource there is the United Mine Workers of America website. One of the best things that you can do right now is to support the striking Warrior Met mine workers in Alabama. They have been on strike for over 21 months. Go right here to do that. Another great resource for learning union history is the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum. The Mother Jones Museum is also a great resource.
      

New Salem Baptist Church

Built in 1921 for the African American community of Tams, West Virginia. The New Salem Baptist Church is one of the last remaining structures in Tams. At one time the church boasted a congregation of around 350, but those numbers have dwindled to about a dozen since the mine closed in 1955. The last residents of the town of Tams vacated in the 1980s and the remaining structures were destroyed or moved. Photograph and text by David Dunlap, courtesy of Broken Doors Photography and Art Collective

A snapshot of War, West Virginia.

Incorporated in 1920, War was previously known as Miner's City. At its height War had almost 4,000 residents, a far cry from the approximately 690 as of the 2020 census. Photo and text by David Dunlap, courtesy of Broken Doors Photography and Art Collective

Blue Diamond Mines--The Johnson Mountain Boys

1973

An anthracite miner and his wife

A coal mining community and family in Utah

Women gathering coal in the Pennsylvania anthracite region.

Photograph by Kristen Kennedy of Virginia Lee Photography. She is one

 of my favorite modern photographers and her work has appeared on this blog many times.

The Monongah Mine Disaster of December 6, 1907 took the lives of at least 362 mine 

workers, many of them immigrants. It was the worst disaster in coal mining history in

the United States.

"The coal you mine is not Slavic coal. It's not Irish coal. It's not Polish coal. It's not 

Italian coal. It's coal."---John Mitchell, President of the UMWA 1898-1908

Around the time that Arnold Miller was becoming nationally known I decided that I would

go to work in the mines as some of my great uncles and others in my extended family had done. I was close to dropping out of school, and working in the mines was all that I could see myself doing. My father, who knew the miner's life, and I had quite an argument about it. The argument ended with me saying arrogantly "I'm going to work in the mines!" and my father saying, "Just stay where you are. I'm going to go find a heavy object and kill you and save the company the trouble." I waited until after my father passed on to get my mining papers.

On April 20, 1914 Colorado National Guard troops opened fire on the Ludlow tent colony in Ludlow, Colorado. Striking mine workers and their families were living in the tent colony during one of the most dramatic and heart-wrenching strikes in U.S. history. At least 19 people, including 12 children and 2 women who were associated with the strikers and the union, died that day at Ludlow. This is a photograph of the Ludlow Massacre memorial.

Nimrod Workman - Forty-Two Years (1976)

Afterword

The "Blue Diamond Mines" song may seem like an odd choice to open this post with, but I believe that it captures a feeling of a place and time and allows me to say something about mine workers' cultures. There are plenty of complaints made by mine workers about the union, but in my experience these are complaints about policies or personalities more than anything else, and they're often made from a place of love and hope. Dissent was baked into the union when it was founded in 1890.

I believe that I owe the UMWA for almost everything that I have today, and I feel good about paying my associate dues every year. How and why I'm paying associate dues instead of retired dues is a long story, but life has its twists and turns. I feel especially good when I can support the Black Lung Movement. I'm thankful every day that I have known so many mine workers, had them as friends and family, joined those picket lines, shared time and food and memories with them and their families. They blessed me with their wisdom and humor, blessings that I have not deserved. Regardless of what you think about coal and energy sources and climate change, I'm sure that you believe that mine workers should receive decent pay and benefits and have secure healthcare and retirement systems. I'm sure that you believe in workplace safety and health. I'm certain that you believe that coal communities and former coal communities should not be abandoned and left to fend for themselves.

Please support those Warrior Met strikers. Please support the miner's rights to a fair standard of working and living, to dignity in retirement and to healthcare. Please support the coal mining and former coal mining communities.

Women, Music, And Possums With A Message

The photograph and the music don't quite go together except that I do like them both. I think that that's Patsy Montana in the photograph, but I may be wrong.

Possum Kingdom---The New Coon Creek Girls