Hands Across Our Land: A Collective Citizens Protest
– The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on August 20, 2015. Television news reporters from WSLS10 and WDBJ7 came out to film footage of Hands Across Our Land (HAOL), a nationwide citizen action that took place Tuesday at the Roanoke and Floyd County line on 221 and the Blue Ridge Parkway. The local action was a multi-county protest against the 
proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline and fossil fuel extraction practices. It was attended by citizens from Roanoke, Floyd, Montgomery and Franklin Counties. Other reporters were covering a HAOL event in Franklin County, one reporter said.
Mara Robbins, a founding member of Preserve Floyd and the Virginia Coordinator for the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, said that citizens from nine different states were taking part in the HAOL action. She held a sign that read “We stand with NC, WV, PA, NY, OH, OR, TX and MD.” Robbins thanked the Nelson County group, “Free Nelson,” for coming up with the idea for the solidarity action and for their early support of Preserve Floyd.
“Unified voices help us feel stronger because our individual voices feel unheard,” said environmental activist and songwriter Elizabeth McCommon. McCommon, who raised her children in Floyd County and currently lives in Blacksburg, led some of the chants and sang her song, Letter from Home (2). “We want jobs that are clean 
and green, not dirty pipelines poisoning streams,” and “We don’t want the pipeline. We’ll take the sunshine,” protesters chanted.
“It’s not about “not in my backyard.” We’re standing together. We know there are better alternatives than fossil fuels that increase climate change,” said Roanoke Countian Freeda Cathcart. Some passer-bys honked their horns and gave a thumbs-up as they drove by. One man pulled over, picked up a sign and joined the protest.
