Thursday, December 22, 2011

Artwork Connects Us to History

Post written by WVU Student Kofi Opoku

Kofi's piece with Marin Luther King Jr's historic words

After visiting the "Keeper of the Mountains" and listening to Larry Gibson’s story, I was amazed at his unrelenting fight against Mountaintop Removal mining. I was intrigued by how one man could speak up against an empire of coal companies and expect his voice to be heard. After Larry had finished showing us the devastated mountains, I dared to ask, “Do you ever feel like giving up?” He paused and answered me with his own question, “Do you know why Martin Luther King said he had been to the mountaintop?” It was then that it dawned on me; the reason why his passion seemed so familiar. Larry had the same fight in him as the activists and leaders who were willing to give up their lives for this country. Although MTR mining is seen as an environmental issue, there is undoubtedly a political underlining. It is this correlation between politics and the environment that I sought to emphasize in this poster series.


Kofi's piece with John Muir's historic words
 
 

Kofi's piece with Franklin Delano Roosevelt's historic words