Hazard member reflects on Walk for a Sustainable Future

The Foot Prints for Peace march, which protests mountaintop removal mining and promotes a sustainable future,  is a 200-mile march from Prestonsburg to Frankfort and ends at I love Mountains Day each year.  We were treated very nice this year by residents along the march route.  The marchers were interviewed by Lexington Channels 57, 27 and channel 18 along the way.

 
About 10 to 12 people made the whole march, with another 3 to 5 people marching a large part of the march.......with people joining the marchers on various days throughout the journey.
 
The entire march was filmed this year, so eventually it will probably be seen all over the world, and local people that were interviewed spoke about mountaintop removal mining and other issues related to the march. So the march in getting the word out was very successful.
 
I and other marchers carrried the KFTC flag from Stanton, KY to Frankfort.
 
This is the 3rd year of the march from Prestonsburg to Frankfort; the first two marches were from Lexington to Frankfort.  So this was the fifth year of the march, which slowly grows more and more successfull.
 
Maybe someday a very large march can be arranged with many members of the Alliance for Appalachia and friends from West Virginia, Viriginia, and Tennessee and from all over the world, though that may have to be in the summer - and hopefully many kids and young people could be part of the march.

Russell Oliver is from Hazard and a long-time member of the Perry County Chapter. He has served on multiple statewide committees including the Steering Committee, Land Reform, and Economic Justice. Russell has participated in marches in multiple states, including this march for several years. Below are his reflections from this month's "Walk for a Sustainable Future" to I Love Mountains Day 2013. This year he was excited to carry the first KFTC marching flag into Frankfort!