Wednesday, March 25, 2015 // The Statement
8B

Brad Paisley warbles that you’ll never leave Harlan alive. 

At the beginning of this March, my Alternative Spring 
Break service trip traveled to the area depicted on FX’s 
popular series, “Justified,” where jaw-dropping mountains, 
hard-nosed Southern charm, and rusted remains of a 
formerly dominant coal-mining industry meet in the heart 
of the Appalachian Mountains.

We spent the school year learning about rural poverty in 

Appalachia, but it wasn’t until we got there that we realized 
the realities behind the rust. 

In our short stay, we had the privilege to be welcomed 

by families living in the area. The Lankfords were one such 
family.

Danny Lankford and his wife, Rita, have been fighting 

cancer and bankruptcy in Harlan County, Kentucky. Ever 
since Danny was laid off from the coal mines, they have 
had a continuing string of troubles. Nine years ago a mining 
company bought out the couple’s previous home and they 
were forced to relocate their residence. A diagnosis of 
prostate cancer forced Danny into retirement from city 

work. Just two years later Rita was diagnosed with colon 
cancer, adding to their financial strain.

Danny lists these calamities nonchalantly, as if they 

are just a part of life in Harlan. Danny and Rita’s story is 
complex. Many members in the community share their 
struggles, where the remnants of a once-booming industry 
remain destructive to the environment and the lives of 
residents living in the valleys.

“The industrial revolution in America of manufacturing 

is over with,” Lankford said. “It’s been over with here for a 
long time. We’ve basically been left out, left behind. We 
don’t really count no more.

“We can survive. That’s what the people in Appalachia 

been doing before coal came, they survived.”

Despite the circumstances, Danny is perfectly content 

doing just that; surviving. As he looked off his deck into 
his own mountain ‘paradise,’ he explained that he has no 
desire to ever leave Harlan, alive or dead.

“At this age, you can’t make no dreams come true, just 

live out the ones you made,” he said.

VISUAL STATEMENT: SURVIVING APPALACHIA

The last day we visited, all of the puppies that had shared a room with Danny and Rita were adopted 
except for the runt, Minnie.

The Lankfords were caring for their daughter’s dogs, Bobo and Duchess, 
after her move out of her ex-husband’s houswe. The couple was taking 
care of seven dogs in addition to a new litter of a dozen puppies.

Luna Anna Archey

The Lankfords daughter recently underwent a divorce from her abusive husband. He was a nurse, and 
Danny claims the desensitization to violence might have been a factor in his actions.

Danny said “being out here is all I need” of his mountain home. Companies are currently fighting for the ability to conduct mountaintop 
removal on some peaks in Danny’s backyard. This practice would pose multiple environmental problems like stopping regional rainfall.

Danny and Rita traded home cookied meals and conversation for 
our work repainting and sprucing up the interior of their home.

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