In the 1920s, Black coal miners in West Virginia organized for fair pay and safer work—and were met with bullets, beatings, and fire. State militias enforced violence. Law enforcement looked the other way. Homes burned, families terrorized, wealth stolen before it could grow. Newspapers called it “civil unrest,” hiding the truth: fighting for dignity could get you killed. Generations were scarred, and history nearly erased their courage. This wasn’t accident—it was a warning. “History they don’t