Music played an important long term role in labor relations for Appalachians because it made their struggle accessible. By popularizing certain songs it brought their issues to the forefront of Americans minds all across the country. Music really allowed people to hear the issues of the miners and textile workers; Ella May had one of the most popular songs in, “The Mill Mother’s Lament.” It tells the story of just how absolutely poor the workers in the industry were and that they could barely even cover the basic necessities to provide for their children. Public perception is crucial to the success of any cause, if it is against the specific cause politicians will not see any reason to support it because if they do it could cause them to lose their next election, and a politicians number one priority is typically self-preservation. A lot of the same overtones are present now with causes like Black Lives Matter, there are artists like Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar are making their stance on the issue abundantly clear. By doing this they bring people to their cause because they are role models to quite a lot of people who then flock to the causes they advocate for because it is now the “right” thing to do.