Story-telling connects personal to community

By Earth Democracy Issue Committee  

Earth Democracy’s Hattie Nestel posts her interview videos of people telling how a gas pipeline would devastate their property and community, and Mary HH joins St. Louis Branch members to rally at Monsanto’s annual shareholder meeting to tell her family’s story of serious health impacts from toxic chemicals.

The power of story-telling is that it connects the personal with community from the local to the global. And, it is the power of story-telling that can move our elected representatives, at all levels of government, to represent real people and not corporations. 

Hattie Nestel has produced some amazing videos. Here’s her inspiring interview with 12-year-old Alice and more new videos are here.

Here Hattie tells her own story of becoming a videographer.  “In late 2013, after the Kinder-Morgan gas pipeline across Massachusetts, www.nofrackgasinmass.org  was announced, almost immediately across Massachusetts, local groups formed to oppose it and organizers sponsored a walk across along the pipeline route to the Statehouse in Boston in July 2014. Now diverse groups from New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire have formed a multi-state alliance to oppose this 350 miles pipeline.  

During that walk, I heard stories from homeowners about the devastating impact the pipeline would have on their properties. Most of them felt they would have to relocate, since they feared the danger of fracked gas coming through a 36-inch pipe that could affect their wells, soil and health.

I decided these landowners’ stories must be heard throughout the state as the needed easements would cross over 1500 private properties and so I took the Local Community Access Television’s course to learn how to use a video camera. I wanted to film these interviews and post them to Community Access Stations across the state and to YouTube.

I produced the interviews to show not only the impact on property owners, but the effects the pipeline would have the beautiful pristine and rural areas of the state as many state forests would be cut down and many waterways rerouted.

I have completed 28 interviews including with our Congressional Representative Jim McGovern and two state representatives, and I have interviews coming up with several state senators. I have also interviewed the executive directors of the Mount Grace Conservation Land Trust and the Nashoba Land Trust talking about the important restriction on that conservation land that must not be violated.  

Presently, more than 40 towns have passed referendums prohibiting the pipeline from coming through their towns. And, importantly, most state officials with people in their districts who oppose the pipeline have spoken out in opposition, as have US Senators Warren and Markey, and US representatives. To learn more about taking a course at your community TV station and how to get started on interviews, contact Hattie at Hattieshalom [at] Verizon.net

Photo: Hattie Nestel by Marcia Gagliardi.