A representative of the group Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment, or SOCM, will speak Nov. 18 at Pellissippi State Community College about two critical issues in East Tennessee: mountaintop removal mining and green-collar jobs. The free presentation takes place at 10:45 a.m. on the Magnolia Avenue Campus.
The speaker, Ann League, has been an active supporter of SOCM for many years. Her talk is part of Pellissippi State’s Common Academic Experience, which centers on the issue of coal mining in the Southeast. The college’s 2009-2010 Common Book is Denise Giardina’s “Storming Heaven,” the story of the negative impact a coal company has on a small West Virginia community.
SOCM, originally known as Save Our Cumberland Mountains, started as a grassroots community group based primarily in poor, isolated coalfield communities in the Cumberland Mountains and on the Cumberland Plateau. The group’s membership and campaigns have expanded to Middle and West Tennessee, so the name was recently changed to correspond to the growth.
SOCM is a member-run organization that encourages civic involvement and collective action so that citizens have a greater voice in determining their future. The organization now has more than 2,000 members, says League.
“Mountaintop removal is impacting the more poverty-ridden counties in Tennessee,” she said. “It is affecting the water quality in well water in those counties. Green-collar jobs can bring environmental justice and a sustainable economy to these rural communities.”
For more information, contact the Pellissippi State’s Magnolia Avenue Campus at (865) 329-3100.