PHOTO/GREGORY WENDT
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS —“What you do to the land, you do to the people,” echoes a statement spoken by Jeff Biggers, acclaimed writer and speaker, originally from Eagle Creek, a family homestead just outside Harrisburg Illinois that was strip mined by Peabody Coal. Biggers came to southern Illinois in October to give three presentations and to share the legacy of resistance and restore hope through ideas of regeneration for the future.
Each presentation was slightly different and focused on extraction-based economies versus sustainable economic models. He reminded us about the importance of honoring historical events that happened in Southern Illinois on October 12, 1898. Coal Miners Day was where labor union conflict claimed the lives of eleven people. It was a reminder to all that corporations will stop at nothing to make a profit, while erasing the history from textbooks.
Southern Illinois was known for resistance and standing up against the oligarchy, home of the Illinois Coal Wars to protect the rights of workers.
The presentation in Carbondale was especially moving. Biggers told a story of two realities, one where the earth is fractured by a huge seismic event induced by hydraulic fracturing and how that world would look, or we could end the fossil fuel extractions and move forward to a community that is self sufficient and regenerative, making their own food and living sustainably.
Then he would flip back to the fossil fuel reality, and all the pain our children would suffer if we made the wrong choices today. Weaving poetic story telling with facts about renewable energy and the horrors of continued addiction on fossil fuel, his performance was a picture of two worlds and hope for a brighter future.
In Harrisburg, Biggers recalled stories from Pappy, his grandfather, who helped to bring about that 8-hour day so many have come to take for granted, and the fight for workers rights in the coal mines and the fact that America loses three coal miners a day to black lung disease. Biggers visited local schools, only to find text books were missing local historic events and people who have been pivotal in social and political changes. He took the opportunity to share local history with students and encouraged them to learn more about local historic events.
“What you do to the land you do to the people” . . . Let us not forget the power in telling the story of our heritage, where we come from, and what we have done.
Southern Illinois is as rich in history as it is in beautiful scenic landscapes and people. Biggers encouraged his audience to seek regeneration and a brighter future though sustainability.
Listeners from southern Illinois experienced poetic activism and the power of personal storytelling from his presentations. Always inspiring to hear, Biggers’, visit to Carbondale was part of his tour for his newly released soft back edition of his book, “Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland.”
For more information about Jeff Biggers, visit www.jeffrbiggers.com
