Mountain Promise Vol. 19, No. 2 A Publication of the Brushy Fork Institute Winter-Spring 2009 2008 Brushy Fork Annual Institute Proceedings September 10-12, 2008 Mountain Promise is published quarterly for friends and associates of Brushy Fork Institute of Transforming Berea College by: Lives Brushy Fork Institute CPO 164, Berea College Berea, KY 40404 Transforming 859-985-3858 859-985-3903 (FAX) Communities www.brushyfork.org Opening address by Peter Hille Peter Hille at the 2008 Brushy Fork Annual Institute Director compiled by Rodney Wolfenbarger, Brushy Fork Institute AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer [email protected] Donna Morgan I’m going to share with you a story this morning that starts 45 years Associate Director ago at the dawn of the War on Poverty. I heard this story firsthand in Brushy Fork Institute 1994 when I had the good fortune to serve as facilitator for the Ken- Editor, Mountain Promise tucky Appalachian Task Force, a group of leaders charged by Governor [email protected] Brereton Jones to set priorities for development in East Kentucky. The group included former and future governors, college and uni- Jane Higgins Program Associate versity presidents, Appalachian experts and recognized community lead- Brushy Fork Institute ers. We heard from people like John Whisman, who was considered to [email protected] be the “Architect of the ARC”, and Al Smith, former Federal Co-Chair of the ARC. One of the task force members was former Governor Ned Beth Curlin Weber Breathitt, who passed away in 003. Administrative Assistant Brushy Fork Institute I sat with Governor Breathitt at lunch during one of the Task Force Editorial Assistant, Mountain Promise meetings, and I took the opportunity to ask if the issues of the 1990s [email protected] had the same intensity as those of the early sixties when he became gov- ernor. He thought for a moment, and then said, “No, no, I don’t think Mission of Brushy Fork they do.” Breathitt ran for governor in 1963 supporting civil rights. Let’s For more than one hundred recall some of the events of that year: years, Berea College has served In May, Bull Conner used police dogs and fire hoses on civil rights the people of Appalachia. protesters in Birmingham, Alabama, while television cameras rolled. The Brushy Fork Institute carries forward this commit- In June, NAACP representative Medgar Evers was murdered outside ment by working to develop his home in Jackson, Mississippi. strong leadership in the mountains. Working with both existing topic this issue and emerging leaders, we draw on local understanding and 008 Annual Institute Proceedings vision to help communities build for tomorrow. Transforming lives, transforming communities . page Paper Clips: education and community development . page 7 On the cover: Lessons from Hammin’ and Jammin’ . page 11 Top: participants at the 2008 Annual Institute learn a Brushy Fork and ARC Flex-E-Grants . page 16 Middle Eastern dance during Looking ahead: 009 Annual Institute . page 19 a reception. Other photos: Participants shared diverse perspectives and approaches to issues. Mountain Promise In August, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I have the privilege to carry such work forward do well Have a Dream” speech before 00,000 people in to remember that we stand on the shoulders of Washington, D.C. giants. In September, four young girls were killed by Governor Breathitt was able to see another part a bomb at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in of that bold vision brought to life as well. In 1966, Birmingham. under his leadership, Kentucky passed the first state And in that year, Ned Breathitt ran for Governor civil rights law in the South. of Kentucky on a platform of racial integration. This story would stand well enough on its own as Here’s how he told the story: it echoes such poignant moments from our nation’s “The night before the election my opponent history, but it also ties together two important themes went on TV with a Bible on the desk in front of him, that I’d like to reflect upon today. The first of those and the flag behind him. He looked straight into the is the ongoing struggle to address persistent poverty camera and said, “If I am elected Governor, there will in Appalachia. The second is the issue of diversity be no integration by executive fiat in Kentucky—I’ll and what it means to try to break down the walls (or give this issue to the legislature and they’ll know what at least find the doorways in the walls) that divide us, to do with it.” by race, by ethnicity, by language, by gender, or by Breathitt paused, chuckled, and continued: socio-economic status. “Well, everybody knew exactly what that meant. These two themes, diversity and poverty, are There was no way the legislature would have passed inevitably tied together. Both are critical issues that integration in 1963. So I was worried—I figured we need to address for our communities to move my chances were pretty slim after that. And it was forward. mighty close, but I won. Over the last few years here at the Institute we’ve “On election night, I got a phone call. It was been talking about community transformation and John F. Kennedy. He said, ‘Governor, I’d like to what it means for a community to be involved in the congratulate you on your victory.’ work of transforming itself—because obviously, no I told him, ‘Mr. President, I’m sorry I wasn’t able one else can transform your community for you. No to give you a better margin.’ amount of outside expertise and no amount of fund- “Kennedy laughed and said, ‘Well, I know how ing can transform your community. Communities that is!’ You see, Kennedy had just barely squeaked are transformed from within, by committed citi- in, too. zens—people like you. ‘Now listen, Governor,’ Kennedy went on, ‘I’ve Because we have had the privilege of working got some ideas about what we can do to help those with so many of you over the years, we have begun folks down there in East Kentucky. I’d like to come to observe some key elements of transformation. We down there and talk with you about it, just as soon as see how important it is to bring new people into the I get back from Dallas...’” work of leadership. Communities engaged in trans- Breathitt’s voice trailed off. formation pay attention to the job of increasing their It was November 1963. Kennedy never came pool of leaders. back from Dallas, but his dream of helping the We have also seen how important community people in the mountains survived. Under Lyndon spark plugs are—that one person who says, “I will Johnson, and with the guidance and tireless efforts of make this happen,” who gets up in the morning and countless local, state and national leaders, the Appa- goes to bed at night with that thought in mind. But lachian Regional Commission was born and the War we know that this spark plug can’t do it alone. on Poverty began. Transforming communities also means building Today, hundreds of miles of improved roads, new strong organizations to carry the work forward, to water systems, and other community development garner resources, and to take collective action. Nei- projects attest to the work that poured forth from ther the organization without a spark plug nor the that vision. While much remains to be done, we who continued on page 4 Winter-Spring 009 3 Transforming Lives continued from page 3 spark plug without an organization will whose circumstances may be very differ- accomplish a fraction of what can be done ent from our own. If we are going to un- when the two are combined. derstand poverty, we need to understand But even a community with active why people get stuck in poverty. We’re spark plugs and strong organizations may going to have to ask ourselves some tough find itself still struggling, held back as if questions about why our communities by some invisible force. Our region is have a higher concentration of poor than rich in thoughtful experienced leaders and many other places do. we have a wealth of remarkable organiza- We know that our region did not get tions doing excellent work, yet our region where it is overnight. And we know that still lags behind the nation as a whole. having an economy based on resource What is this unseen hand that keeps us extraction—coal, gas and timber—has from realizing our potential? not built sustainable local economies: the At another one of those Appalachian profits from these enterprises have largely Task Force meetings, I had the oppor- been hauled out of the region along with tunity to break bread with Paul Patton, the resources. But that’s not the whole who at the time was Lt. Governor, prior picture. We need to look deeper into to his two terms as Governor. Having what keeps people and families in poverty. previously been County Judge Executive Even experts have serious disagree- of Pike County, he knew the problems of ments about the underlying causes of East Kentucky from personal experience. poverty in America. The Heritage Foun- ...transforming Over lunch that day, he made an observa- dation, a Washington think-tank, offers a community tion that has stuck with me ever since. one perspective in a recent report. They means... He said, “We’ve got a lot of middle class say: transforming people in Eastern Kentucky and they are the lives of the doing just as well as middle class people The typical poor family people in the anywhere else in the United States.