"Hidden America: Children of the Mountains" Diane Sawyer's ABC 20/20

Diane Sawyer and ABC News have now officially received it from every angle regarding their program aired, “Hidden America: Children of the Mountains.”
My parents moved to Kentucky from Michigan in 1971. They made a decision to leave their jobs there, traveling I-75 out of the big city, leaving metropolitan life, which included my father working two jobs, and my mother who also worked, so that we, their children, would have an opportunity to grow up in a different environment then we faced in Warren, Michigan. The 1960’s were a troublesome time. My parent believed moving to Kentucky was the right thing faced with the conditions of the day….remember: Bay of Pigs Invasion; The Berlin Wall was built; Cuban Missile Crises; Assassinations-President John F. Kennedy- Martin Luther King, Jr .-Sen. Robert F Kennedy; The Los Angeles Riots; the Great Blackout in New York City; the Six Day War in the Middle East; not to mention the arrest of Charles Mansion and the Family and of course the 1960’s witnessed the arrival of Woodstock, that great rock-n-roll concert. That was enough to help my parent think about loading up the Pontiac Bonneville and moving to Southeastern Kentucky.
Southeastern Kentucky sure was different from city life. No delivery of milk and eggs to your door steps by the milkman; no cable, it was antennas ran to the top of the mountain for a signal; water came from a well; and the lists of my memories go on. This could have been a good thing or a bad thing; your point of view would be the beginning of the discussion and probably your disposition.
The decision to return to the roots of my parents has today provided me with a great foundation of understanding about the land I love and this place I call home, the Mountains of Kentucky. My Great-Grandparents who were living that I go to know; Nasby Mills, Elizabeth Jackson Mills; Cordia Mills; Ellen Bingham; George Martin Carnes, Sr., most folks in city life don’t even know their grandparents, much less their great-grandparents, in today’s world this is known as priceless.
Our family roots are very humble, Stinking Creek, Knox County, KY., the war on poverty, remember it was declared in 1967, and John Fetterman wrote all about “hillbillies” as he called us. I say us, because my family is in his work, documenting poverty as it was, and tough living conditions, as compared to the rest of the world back then. Looking at the pages of that book it is not a problem to find similar pictures that represent the same conditions today, as then. If that is upsetting, then you should make a decision to do something about it. The Lend-a-Hand Center is a good example of faith and decision to be involved. What a difference they have made to thousands of individual. They have impacted thousands of additional families at large, because they did something.
The report, “Hidden America: Children of the Mountains,” was an accurate picture of the way many of our neighbors live. Drugs are the most serious issue facing the mountains, in this columnist opinion. It continues to destroy individuals, families, communities, organizations, businesses and corporations. In a community I served as pastor, we discovered a man in great need. He had no running water, no means to be able to use the restroom, except in a five gallon bucket, electricity was from an extension cord ran from another house, unacceptable conditions for someone to be living in today. It was that way until others attempted to make a difference. In the end, he was furnished a new home he wanted to live in, running water, legal sewer, electricity and even a porch to sit on. It made a difference in his life, and in the lives of those that helped to improve his life. No judgment rendered, just help to a neighbor, in Christian love.
The fuss that comes from many will be from those that have not attempted to sacrifice from their own resources and freely given to the total benefit of others. Sure there are many great things and individuals in the Mountains of Kentucky. I personally don’t judge the value or worth of anyone based upon where they live, how they live or what they do. I remember the roots of my family and I am thankful for their dedications to make a difference for their children by learning to say yes and no, control and discipline for themselves. This they handed down to their children, who have not always followed, but the example has been set before them. This is all God expects of any of us, “to whom much is given much is required”.