This Music Monday we pay tribute to American coal miners who are in danger of losing their black lung benefits. West Virginia singer Hazel Dickens penned this song after losing her brother to black lung in the 1970s. Last month Congress failed to extend the tax that supports the federal black lung disability trust fund, leaving many former miners uncertain about how to pay future medical bills.
For more information on the black lung disability trust fund, check out this story from National Public Radio .
Hazel Dickens, Black Lung
– From the Appalshop documentary Hazel Dickens: It’s Hard To Tell The Singer From the Song directed by Mimi Pickering.