On a frigid day in Kentucky, Taysha DeVaughan and a small group celebrated the Appalachian Rekindling Project's acquisition of 63 acres of reclaimed land earmarked for a federal prison. Many see this site, remnants of mountaintop removal mining, as a symbol of local injustices. DeVaughan aims to rewild the area with native species, host intertribal gatherings, and combat prison development. Support from local nonprofits helped raise funds, emphasizing the community's shift toward environmental justice and recognition of ancestral land.
"What we're here to do is to protect her and to give her a voice. She's been through mountaintop removal. She's been blown up, she's been scraped up, she's been hurt."
"There's nothing positive we'll get out of this prison," he said.
"It's a return of an ancestor. It's a return of a relative."
The environmental justice organization worked with a coalition of local nonprofits, including Build Community Not Prisons and the Institute to End Mass Incarceration, to raise $160,000 to buy the plot from retired truck driver Wayne Whitaker.
#environmental-justice #community-activism #appalachian-rekindling-project #prison-development #land-reclamation
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