Fayette County: A Community For All

October 26, 2002
Photos by Vivian Stockman

Page 1 (Photos/Text)
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When supporters of “Rev.” Matt Hale of the World Church of the Creator asked for it, the Town of Fayetteville had to grant them a permit to hold a rally in downtown Fayetteville—there’s this little thing called Free Speech. But no one in Fayette County had to support their message of hatred and intolerance.

The WV Rainbow Coalition, a member group of the Southern Appalachian Labor School (SALS), John David of SALS, Paul Sheridan with the WV Attorney General’s office and Fayette County activists Dr. Dan Doyle, Linda Stein and Doug and Sally Hurst came up with a plan, based on ideas from Not in Our Town and the Southern Poverty Law Center. They enlisted the help of many other folks, talking with store keepers, ministers, and school and government officials to request support.

The idea was to hold A Community for All event in a Fayetteville park, at the same time as the gathering of hate-mongers took place on the other side of town.

The group came up with a resolution, a poster and a press release about the event. Fayette county shopkeepers were asked to display the poster, and the Fayette County Commission signed the resolution. Also signing the resolution were the Plateau Action Network, the West Virginia Education Association, schools, churches and others.

The event was a great success. Attendees at A Community for All outnumbered the hate group’s showing by 3 to 1—with many of the people over at the hate-show being curious onlookers or hecklers, many of whom who found Hale’s message repulsive. Hatred is such a bad feeling!

Hale and Co.'s jaunt into Fayette County backfired. Fayette Countians rose up to let all of West Virginia know Fayette County is A Community For All!

The Brown Family of Montgomery. W.Va., opens the event with lilting gospel songs.

Marcus Wilkes from the WV Rainbow Coalition leads the crowd in singing.

Dr. Dan Doyle speaks with a reporter from WOAY-TV.

A member of  the Brown Family speaks as a photographer from the Beckley paper records the event. 

The crowd listens to author Denise Giardina as she reads from a passage about union organizing from her novel Storming Heaven.

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