Hear ye hear ye, ’tis one week ’til the Allegheny Independent Media 501(c)3 launch party at Studio 404 on July 8 at 7pm at 404 Messenger St in the Hornerstown section in Johnstown. Full details can be seen here. We will have a DJ, hors d’ourves, a presentation, and unveil our new website. Consequently, what better way could there be to celebrate America 250 than to celebrate an independent press?
On June 27 I took this brief video of the All of US rally in Johnstown. The turnout was smaller than the No Kings rallies at around 30. However, it was still impressive for a rainy day and little promotion from Indivisible. Congressional candidate Beth Farnham spoke at the rally.
With one week to go ’til the launch party, we hope to add a poetry section similar to that in The Nation magazine on the issues in the Alleghenies. Patrise Henkel has written the poem below as an example.
We All Live Here
Love the empty storefront, the sagging porch, the worn stone stairs. Love the long shadow of the steeple, the silent office, the empty mills. Love those who came before, who built these places.
Love the broken sidewalks and leaky fountain. Love the book-covered walls, the looming mill and the tower crowned-mountain. Love the old trees casting cool shade on the hottest day. Love the patterned bricks, art deco details, windows glass-blocked or boarded over blind.
Love the theater with its falling plaster, and the cafe filled with light and laughter.
Love the weeds, busting through concrete. They bloom despite drought and flood. Love that river in a ditch, with its bedrock bottom and gliding birds. Love the rusting pylons, the curving rail, the bridge buttress parting the current. Love the bridges, built with care, that connect us to our neighbors, over there.
Love the empty coal tunnels that run beneath your feet. Love the vivid orange that spills from the graves of miners lost, bleeding into the river its never ending acid wash, burning tears that tint rock and water, motion and stillness.
Love the new shop that opens bravely. Love the creators who re-envision. Love the rehabbers who reclaim and reconfigure. Love the musicians who get us dancing, the artists who bring color and light. Love the poets rant, loving us with words. Love the rising hope that rolls up its sleeves, and love the vision to see it through.
We All Live Here.