Indivisible Cocke County

04/03/2026

What happened to us? What eroded our compassion and logic?

03/30/2026

03/30/2026

This great magazine reached out to ask us to submit images and stories behind our sign. I’ve worked with this publication before and they are lovely!

The owner is particularly interested in this sign and its owner and their story!

If this is you, you’re kinda famous 😆 and people would love to know more about your thoughts!

Everyone who attended is welcome to submit!

Link in comments!

03/30/2026

I’ve talked to many people who’ve taken some hits from friends, family and the community at large for their participation in this weekend’s protest.

Almost all of the cruelty has been online.

And why?

I want to take this opportunity to remind you that most people leaving vile comments would never say these things in person. It’s a well known phenomenon called the Online Dishibitatian Effect (Suhler, 2004).

When having to look someone in the eye, witness their hurt and the effect of words, folks are far, far less brave.

Humans are also notoriously bad for lashing out when they feel powerless, unseen, and are vulnerable.

The profile pic-less commenter leaving laugh reacts on heart felt posts and dropping the standard fair of “lunatic” “crazy people” and “TDS” labels are all inside starved for dopamine and vacant in some very meaningful pockets of the soul.

And this is true for all of us. We’ve all kicked the hate can down the road because at least we get a morsel of control back from this one tiny cruel action.

Social media is a tool and not reality.

When we connect across divisions in real time with real people and anchor ourselves to their humanity first, we can start to erode some of this toothless hatred.

In Appalachia, doing this IS bravery. There’s nothing deranged about caring about human rights and rejecting tyranny.

Just because the people you care about don’t believe it doesn’t make it less true.

You’re not required to do that work for them.

Try this tonight. Start opening the reacts on social media to No Kings posts.

Count the reacts and note the way they skew overall. And that is just a SAMPLE of the population.

Facebook in particular has been shown to skew a certain *ahem* direction due to demographics and playing a role in disinformation (Jingnan & Bond, 2023).

Feel hopeless, feel defeated, feel your feelings because they’re true and fleeting.

And then keep fighting.

-Bee

03/29/2026

These beautiful images were sent to us from a local photographer! Thank you so much for documenting Appalachia rising!

03/28/2026

Some of our great signs and costumes from today!

03/15/2026

People get Appalachia wrong.

We are not a monolith. We don’t all think the same, vote the same, or see the world the same way. This region is one of the most culturally distinct places in the United States, and we take pride in that.

Don’t assume everyone here is following party lines. Around here, we follow community lines.

We are farmers, workers, parents, veterans, teachers, hunters, anglers, small business owners, and neighbors. We work hard, we respect the rule of law, and we believe in freedom and fairness.

We attend the same churches, work the same jobs, cheer for the same teams, and show up for the same school events. We are part of this community just like you are.

And like generations of Appalachians before us, we believe in standing up when something isn’t right.

Right now, many of us are deeply concerned about the direction of our country and the actions of the Trump administration. Speaking up about that does not make us outsiders. It makes us citizens who care about our democracy and our neighbors.

If you feel uneasy about what’s happening in our country right now, you are not alone here.

We do not care what political party you belong to, or who you may have voted for in the past. If you believe in human rights, justice, and peaceful civic engagement, you are welcome here.

This movement is about neighbors showing up for one another and using our voices peacefully and respectfully.

We are Appalachia.

And there are more of us here than people think.