Welcome to the ENGAGE/SEEC Human Rights Project!!!

Welcome to the ENGAGE/SEEC Human Rights Project blog! We have created this blog so that participants in the project and others doing this work (or interested in doing this work) can learn from our process and experiences in planning and implementing the early stages of an Economic, Social and Cultural Rights project in the United States. 

The ENGAGE/SEEC ESCR team has been together since January 2009. In mid-February, we were able to identify an organization--Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (www.kftc.org)--that has helped to facilitate our work with community members in areas impacted by Mountain-Top Removal, a violent coal-mining process practiced throughout Appalachia. Check out KFTC's website and www.ilovemountains.org for more information.

During the next few days, Allyn Steele and Lindy Bunch from SEEC will be meeting with community members in Floyd County, KY, and blogging about their experiences in order to create a shared effort and seamless pass-on between participants. Over the weekend of April 03-05, more ENGAGE members will spend time with KFTC members along Montgomery Creek (near the community of Vicco--close to the Knott County/Perry County line).  

The goals of these two visits are to (a) introduce KFTC members to the idea of framing their struggles within a Human Rights framework, (b) deepen ENGAGE/SEEC's understanding of the community members' stories and (c) to solidify a relationship with KFTC in the hopes of creating a more sustained ESCR project (which will be decided on April 18th by KFTC's Land Reform Committee). We hope that our pictures and entries will be helpful to the process of creating the ESCR reports.

Make sure to follow along over the next week to learn more about the stories the group learns from KFTC's affected community members. Also, feel free to contact either of us with questions or comments.

Allyn Steele (864.205.2047)

Lindy Bunch (803.331.8680)