While studying sociology, I learned about Highlander: The Movement School in New Market, Tennessee. The center was founded in 1932 by “Myles Horton, Don West, Jim Dombrowski and others.” It began as an educational center to fight segregation and unfair labor practices in Appalachia. The Highlander Center played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement, so much so that its land and buildings were seized in 1961 by the State of Tennessee on “bogus charges.” However, the school “reopened the next day as the Highlander Research and Education Center,” and has been operational since.
The center has advocated for people in our region in various sectors such as health and safety in coal mines, and supporting grassroots groups that fight pollution and toxic dumping. Through Participatory Action Research (PAR), the Highlander Center ensures effectiveness in its field as an educational hub. PAR is a community-driven form of research where researchers and community members collaborate to bring about change.
Some other methodologies the research center implements are popular education, cultural organizing, language justice, intergenerational organizing and a framework that protects land, place and legacy. Popular education is learning from people’s experiences to “inform action for change.” This allows everyone to have a voice and the opportunity to practice empathy and understanding for others.
The Highlander Center regularly hosts workshops and training sessions, appealing especially to young people. Among them, Seeds of Fire is a program dedicated to teens that takes place at the center’s 200-acre farm in the Great Smoky Mountains. It builds leaders who help find solutions to some of our region’s most problematic issues. Other trainings include electoral justice, economics and governance, cultural organizing, and a children’s justice camp for ages 6 to 12. Highlander’s most recent impact report boasts hosting 40 organizations and training over 5,000 people.
The Highlander’s website provides free educational resources including a series of videos called “On The Hill.” Mushrooms are great for the environment and there is evidence that they are beneficial to our health. One of the videos available is a lesson on growing mushrooms in which expert Sarin Glenn demonstrates how to inoculate shiitake mushrooms using a wood log.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Highlander Center during the Civil Rights Movement and delivered a speech. Shortly after, Pete Seeger sang the song “We Shall Overcome” on his banjo, a song he had learned at Highlander Center. The song became the anthem for the Civil Rights Movement, and the Highlander Center uses the royalties from the funds to distribute it to the community. It is a song of hope, courage and unity. The center “continues to fight for justice and equality by supporting Latino immigrants and young people.” To get involved, learn more on its website https://beta.highlandercenter.org.
