The True Cost of Coal Presentation at Hollins

The True Cost of Coal a presentation by Willie Dodson (Appalachian Voices) and Erin McKelvy (Blue Ridge Rapid Response)

Erin McKelvy and Willie Dodson will present The True Cost of Coal, a work of graphic art printed on a large canvas banner, depicting the local and global impacts of our dependence on coal, and mountaintop removal mining in Central Appalachia. The True Cost of Coal banner was created by the Beehive Design Collective, an innovative activist-art collective dedicated to “cross-pollinating the grassroots” by creating collaborative, anti-copyright images for use as educational and organizing tools.

Erin McKelvy, a native of Blacksburg, is a grassroots organizer for environmental and social justice, indigenous rights, and anti-racism, having worked with such groups as The Beehive Design Collective, Mountain Justice, Black Mesa Indigenous Support, and many others. Currently, McKelvy is supporting community-members in the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline who wish to resist the entry of surveyors onto their land.

Willie Dodson grew up in Altavista and Blacksburg, and currently lives in Wise County in the far southwest Virginia coalfields. Dodson is the Central Appalachian Field Coordinator for Appalachian Voices. His work focuses on challenging mountaintop removal mining (MTR) permits, monitoring the impacts of existing MTR mines, and grassroots movement-building across the Appalachian region in areas impacted by resource extraction.