They'll Cut Off Your Project: A Mingo County Chronicle

Chapter 16

16 The Monday following Smith's announcement , I met with representatives from all oEi\'1ingo's COIllmunity action groups. Everyone was disheartened and fe lt that there was IiUle that could be clone to save the EO C. I suggested that there was one last hope-to make it a statewide issue and get the two gubernatorial candidates involved. Chester Brown reacted, "I don't see how we could get them im'oived. You take that J im Sprouse; why, he's been here in Mingo six limes during the cam pa ign, and he ain't said 'dog' LO the poor people. Every time he comes in, he gets with Noah Floyd. You just can't trust a man like that." "Yeah, I hear he even stays at Noah's hOllse when he comes to Mingo," chuckled James Wash ington. Gladoula ' Vh ite said, "' Veil, you can 't trust Moore either. H e's a Repub lican, and yOll know how they feel about the poverty program . They've tried to defeat the bill just about every time it comes lip in Congress." 1 interrupted, "I don 't think we should concern ourselves with ha ll' they feel about the poverty program or whether we can trust Sprouse. 1 th ink we must somehow get them to make public statements supporting the EOC over the County Court. ] personally bel ieve we can convince Moore to support us, since he has nothing to lose and could only gain by it_Sprouse will be more difficult, since he has courted Noah so closely." "You've got a good point there, Huey," William Mounts said, as he looked around for a l'eaction from the others. "Yeah, it's a good point," agreed Herb Meade, "but I don't see how we could pull it off. Do you think for one moment that Sprouse would go against Noah and take a chance on losing the county?" "You people know by now that the one thing a pOlitician understands is people power," I replied, "and, if you can exert enough pressure on a politician, to the point where he feels it isgoing to hurt him, he will bend." "1 agree with you, but just how do you propose we will put enough pressure on them to make them bend?" James Washington said. "Let me see if I can get a commitment from Moore, denouncing Smith's announcement, as soon as possible. This will put Sprouse on the defensive. Next, we could organize a mass protest on the steps of the State Capitol, denouncing Smith and the Democrats for casting the poor aside in favor of the Noah Floyd machine." Washington said, "Well , 1 don't think we've got a thing to-lose, and 1 am certainly game to try it. This governor's race is a seesaw battle according to everything I hear. It might just work." Others agreed that we should proceed as quickly as possible with the plan. However, there was considerable skepticism about its potential success. I suggested that we should be considering something ,,8 very dramatic for the demonstration in Charleston if the plan worked, such as a funeral cortege proclaiming the death of the poverty program. There was an enthusiastic response from William Mounts: "Hey, that's a good idea! Since Smith killed it, we could take it to the Capital to bury it and have the funeral procession all the way from Williamson to Charleston, and invite others from all over the state to join us." "We could have a hearse, with coffin and flowers, to lead the procession," chimed in Cletis Blackburn. "That would put the heat on them, and it's wild enough to get all sorts of publicity." During the next few minutes, all sorts of suggestions were made regarding the procession. I sensed a new breath of life for the agency. It was agreed to maintain silence about our plan until we were successful in getting a statement from Moore. The next morning, I came to the office early and drafted a statement from Moore to the OEO in Washington. At 10:00 A.M., I called his campaign headquarters in Charleston and spoke with Bill Loy, his administrative assistant. Loy, whom I had met previously in Williamson, was the only one in the Moore camp I knew. The receptionist told me that he was talking on another phone and that...