Metro Council Votes on June 25th

Council members Anthony Piagentini, Kevin kramer, and David James all said they support this outrageous budget plan. Firing one bad cop 15 years too late isn’t enough. Council member Brandon Coan has offered an alternative budget plan here.  Please contact your Metro Councilperson now and demand Greg Fischer be removed from office.

Chop Off Their Heads

Recently I was listening to the BBC World Service covering the Yellow Vest revolutionary political movement protesting the disproportionate burden placed on low income citizens in France which, at times, became violent. The journalist asked someone in the protest why he thought the same movement hadn't caught on in the US given the economic similarities in both nations. The protester replied that when Americans think of a revolution they think of throwing tea into a harbor, and when the french think of a revolution they think about chopping off heads.

After watching what is going in in our fair city, with the mayor siphoning city funds earmarked for  'Affordable Housing' and giving it human rights violator Gil Holland in the form of forgivable loans to build upscale pricey apartments in economically depressed areas of town; and seeing the city bulldoze homeless people into the street in the middle of winter, I wonder how on earth hasn't a similar colored vest movement started here.

One movement that has gained significant ground is the removal offensive statues from public lands. After a long fought battle the Prentice statue has been removed from the York street library, and the Castleman statue could be next. But there is opposition. And aside from that, it seems to take forever for the city to agree to do anything about public art in this town; we witnessed this first hand when we offered to pay for and install the We Gon' Be Alright mural on Hill street. And after about a dozen meetings with the city we realized they were just waiting us out; never intending to rubber stamp our mural that was based on respect and equality.

It's expensive to remove statues, and even more expensive to replace them with someone else. It could take decades if at all the way our broken Mayor's office operates. We kept thinking of a solution on how to replace these offensive statues and still have the opportunity to correct history and honor someone worthy... And then Oldham County unveiled their statue of Colonel William Oldham; their county's namesake. There wasn't any images of Colonel William Oldham's face to use for the sculpture, so the sculptor, Louisvillian Matt Weir, used the face of a distant relative of William Oldham, folk musician Will Oldham. What a brilliant idea, and a pleasant Kentuckian to use as a surrogate.

This got us thinking.. Instead of using city funds to remove these offensive statues, and even more city founds to replace them, why not just chop off their heads and for a fraction of the cost replace the heads with someone more worthy to honor? It could be a celebrated ongoing project in town. Something just "Keep Louisville Weird" enough to embrace, but would save money in a time of huge budget deficits and something the outside world might want to adopt; spreading good social justice in a creative fashion.

People ask us whose faces would we rather see swapped out on our public sculptures; And we say that isn't for us to decide.. Allowing a privileged few decide what parts of history we celebrate and what parts we ignore got us into this mess in the 1st place. It should be up to the PEOPLE to decide, not a rich or powerful few who want to write history to their benefit, and not the city who would stonewall anything that doesn't uphold their power veneer.

So this time we are not going hat-in-hand to city hall begging them to please hear our idea to brighten the city's public spaces and to get rid of statues honoring classist and racist people just so they can ignore us; but instead we will deliver a petition demanding the project happen, and we greatly appreciate your signature as well as your choice on whose faces we would be proud to see celebrated everyday.
Please sign our petition on Moveon.org here.

Meeting: I Am Still Here

We will be standing in front of the Mayor's Office (527 W. Jefferson st) this Friday, December 7th, at Noon for one hour in the cold as a reminder that despite the mayor advocating the expulsion of, bulldozing, and forcefully removing homeless and low income residents from the city center that We Are Still Here. We hope you will join us. Further information can be found here.

Annual November 5th Meeting!

Please join us at 7pm on Monday Nov. 5th (Guy Fawkes Day) for a focused community discussion regarding class based issues in Louisville and across the U.S. including gentrification, red-lining, and sex & human trafficking as well as efforts to solve these issues. Speakers include Dr. alexandra lutnick, a senior research scientist for RTI International’s Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice Research Division. Her discussion will focus on domestic minor sex trafficking. Author and urban planner Joshua Poe will talk about his recent research regarding redlining and it's impact on race, class, and housing in Louisville, KY. John King, Administer with The Electric Church, will also speak about the group's efforts and projects in the upcoming year.
Meet & Greet from 6-7pm. This event is FREE and open to All. For more information visit our Nov. 5th page here.

Our Facebook Event Page is here.

6/5: Appalachian Prison Book Project DVD and Paperback Book Drive at Pride Nite

 In conjunction with 37FLOOD, we are accepting paperback books and DVDs for the Appalachian Prison Book Project  on June 5th at Galaxie Bar in Downtown Louisville during Pride Nite at Tuesday Vinyl Nite if you'd like to bring some lovingly used books and DVDs.

Bungalow Betty and killii killii will be guest DJs.

Veterans Support fund Drive

As part of a Veterans Day event at Louisville Free Public Library Southwest (9725 Dixie Highway), at 2pm Saturday November 11th, local musician Kelly Newton will be performing and releasing her debut album Lady Liberty.

We will also be on hand collecting donations for a project to support the Deported Veterans Support House in Tijuana Mexico. The Support House (affectionately known as The Bunker) is an organization to help U.S. Military Veterans deported to Mexico after their term of service has ended.
Due to Mexican regulations it is difficult to receive monetary donations from the U.S. but is much easier to receive physical goods.

There for we have put together these portable Winter First Aide Packs, available for just $7 and for every one ordered on our website, we will send one to The Bunker. Makes a good holiday gift for your friends and family, and directly helps a great cause.

LFPL Veterans Event  information  here.
More  information  on  the  Electric  Church fund  drive  here.

New Protest Album released!

Today, the 5th of November,  The Electric Church Of The Tambourine is proud to announce the release of longtime Louisville hip hop recording artist (as a part of the electronic music duo Team Totoro) MC Hijack's first solo effort, the Truth Church EP. Released on November 5th in support of those who fight daily against injustice and inequality.

 This album was created by Hijack using the nearly forgotten art of break beat turntablism; This technique of music making was the catalyst for the early Bronx incubator of American Hip Hop. Funk, Soul, and Disco were the primary records used in break beating; as what was primarily used on this album.

 Truth Church was released on Nov. 5th by  The Electric Church Of The Tambourine in partnership with the  Louisville is for Lovers record label in an ongoing series of protest and activist music. All releases in this series are FREE of charge.



 Other releases in this series include:
The Gallery Singers 'Power to the Poor' 
Team Totoro 'Democrasexxy: Demand an End To Economic Slavery'