SOCM (Save Our Cumberland Mountains) began in 1971 under the leadership of J.W. Bradley and environmental activists from 5 counties in East Tennessee (Morgan, Claiborne, Campbell, Hancock, and Anderson) who sought fair taxation of absentee land corporations. Together with local leaders and the work of Coalition students, they appealed to the Tennessee government, winning their first battle in 1972. Bolstered by their success, the organization then hoped to help local communities with other issues they encountered. This included fighting against strip mining in the area, primarily against Amax Coal Company who had secured a grant to mine the area. SOCM also fought for the rights of landowners, who at the time had little protection against mineral extraction on their properties. Achieving much these first few years, SOCM then voted to support many other issues besides coal mining. Since that time, much of their work has involved working with Black organizations to dismantle racism, continuing to work for fair taxation, and persisting with its fight against coal. In the last decade, efforts were directed against Mountaintop Removal (MTR) strip mining. And in 2008, the organization changed its name to Statewide Organization for Community Empowerment to better reflect the broader issues and areas served by the organization. It has been “a powerful, multi-racial, statewide organization to work for economic, environmental and social justice issues in our local communities, our state, and our nation.” For more information about current work, go to https://www.socm.org/.
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