by Berry Craig
Editor's Note: This article is reprinted with permission from Forward Kentucky, link to original: Four Rivers Indivisible is definitely not invisible
The eight-county Jackson Purchase, as far west as Kentucky goes, is arguably the Bluegrass State’s reddest region.
President Donald Trump carried the state, including the Purchase, all three times he ran. None but Republicans represent the region in the state legislature, and the GOP rules the roost in courthouses.
Even so, Four Rivers Indivisible, a local branch of the national Indivisible progressive organization, has 175 members on its rolls. Since January, the group has sponsored 19 protests in Paducah, the main Purchase town. A June 14 “No Kings” protest attracted as many as 900 people, according to Four Rivers Co-Leader Leslie McColgin. “We have to do this,” she said. “No authoritarian regime has even been brought down without the people rising up in significant numbers.” (Rally number 20, set for Oct. 18, will be a “No Kings” reprise.)
Brian Lewis (chicken suit) and Karla Johnston outside Congressman Jamie Comer’s office (story here)
Regions like the Purchase — mostly rural, white, conservative and home to dozens of evangelical Christian churches — comprise a huge part of Trump’s base.
Last November, Trump again exceeded his statewide victory margin in the Purchase. He piled up more than 80 percent of the vote in Ballard, Carlisle, Graves, and Hickman counties, and nearly 78 percent in Marshall County..
Nonetheless, even the most MAGA counties across Kentucky and nationwide include progressives. “One of the reasons that we feel that it is necessary to go public is to let people who feel alone and isolated because they are in the minority know they are not alone,” said Karla Johnston, the other co-leader. “That was a big motivating factor in founding and continuing this organization.”
She and McColgin live in unincorporated rural communities: Johnston in Lynn Grove in Calloway County, McColgin near Lowes in Graves County.
On Labor Day, Indivisible members and groups across the country marched in Labor Day parades and joined “Workers over Billionaires” protests. McColgin, Johnston, and 18 other Four Rivers members were part of Paducah’s annual Labor Day parade. The co-leaders say it’s important for groups like Indivisible to make common cause with unions.
The Four Rivers faithful marched or rode on a truck-towed trailer behind a banner that said “WORKERS OVER BILLIONAIRES,” “IMMIGRANTS MAKE A STRONGER ECONOMY,” and “PROTECTIONS FOR OUR FAMILIES.” They sported “WORKERS OVER BILLIONAIRES” pins and carried or handed out “WORKERS OVER BILLIONAIRES” posters.
Karen Selstad made her own sign for the parade. It said “Labor Rights are Human Rights!” on one side and “Unity Makes Us Strong” on the other.
“We intentionally narrowed down our focus to supporting workers,” Johnston explained.
A CD player boomed out traditional union songs like “Solidarity Forever,” “Which Side are You On,” “There’s Power in a Union,” and “Roll the Union On.”
Leslie McColgin
McColgin, a retired speech therapist, admits she’s “not necessarily a person who likes protests and especially would prefer not being the one doing the organizing. But Karla and I are going to keep doing the work that needs to be done and do it with as much joy as we can.”
Johnston, a retired Murray State University research technician, said that while she enjoys “the camaraderie of the group, there are lots of things I’d rather be doing. But I feel it’s my obligation and duty to the country I love to do this work, here and now.”
McColgin says she understands the anger, frustration, and hopelessness many people feel as they see the country seemingly sliding further toward authoritarianism under Trump, a “fascist” to some of the president’s sharpest critics.
She reposted on her Facebook page a quote from historian Howard Zinn that begins: “To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives.”
McColgin said progressive groups like Indivisible “want our side to feel courage and hope. We need to feel that we will be able to make things better.
“People often want immediate results, and we’re not going to get them. Horrible things are still going to happen to people, and a lot of damage is going to be done. This administration is full of vandals bent on destruction and stealing from us corruptly — but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to come out of this.”
Click here for more information about Four Rivers Indivisible and to sign up for events.
Berry Craig