- i wanted to have something that i could use to teach not only my children, but maybe other children. - i leapt at the chance to crucify myself, but really what i'm hanging on that cross is the last 33 years to my diminishment. - the reason why i make things is so that i can see somebody else smile. - times like that, people come together. and that's when we started getting real. [ambient music] - [male announcer]: support for reel south is provided by:

additional funding for this program is provided by: - if we don't know ouristory, no one else is gna teach it to us. it's our responsibility to teach our children, and it's our responsibily to pass it along. [gentle soul music] ♪ [sewing chine sod] wh you are quilter 's sometng that happenin y, evywhere y go yosee a ilt. yocan go ia store and lor evywhere y go and th patte- mas you thk of quilt design.

♪ evywhere y go there's particul perso or tre's a pticular event , when i w in coege ♪ i nna capte it in quilt. and i wachangingy mar to advtising abt the imnding i wanversati with my mom, and shgave me thing but her ll suprt. i though i can'tbject beuse i kn nothing about v. so the fst thing did was startg d to seehat contbution rican amicans ha made in the fld of adrtisin and i umbled un a la byhe name nancy green. [light ueat muc] she s a form shwas acslave o becarson. one of the first black paid corporate model.

[light upbeat music] i end up makg a nt jemimquilt beuse i di't know about , [light upbeat music] i knew aut aunt mima, and know a l of pele know nt jema, i wanteto tell r story for . - began seng in the seventh grade. back then, we took a class called fha, future homemakers of america, whicwas a ho economs clas d i had en as my mother liked to sew, but in home economics that's where i really learned the mechics of sing, thworld ju opened for m it wasust my thing. the mechics of sing, i de my owclothes, short t, thworldight jazmusic]r m

made sombridesma dressefor some friends and i even made my own prom dress. afr i got rried an we h our chiren, with my son i started making short sets for him. let me see your t-shirt, let me see your t-shirt. wow, whoade th nice t-shirt? - bui reallyanted-sto makdrn let me s- you.r t-shirt. when wead our daughteri startemaking back then it was called daisy kingdom. itas theseancy lite dress with pticoat and puff sleeves, and lace, and i just dressed her to the nines. finally, she asked me not to make the puffy sleeves anymore beuse it ihed hearm, then sheidn't li the colr becae it wasoo puf, thenhe didn' likehe petticoat, then sheidn't li the colr and en she ler just ked be she cou wear ans.

oke my hrt, but realiz that iwas streing heout so stoppedaking the fancdresse bui knew iad to fi anotheavenue f my creativity and - ayla] the drses weretchy. [lauin] so stoppedaking theleme to quting. [upbeat ght muc] - when i first started i liked creating something from start to finish, taking fabric, putting it together in different colors, creating something that someone could actually use, and then a new idea presented itself. we alws had blk hiory at he, it was jt part olearni. en my dahter s in fouh grade, she ca, she waa littlepset "mteacher'not gonn teacblack history, asked hiand he sd he dn't haveny boo,

mommy c i give m and i sa, "sur"?" a couplef days i didn'tearg moanthen sheamem and ho and she said that he id thati he didt ha. sof course was ups, itubbed mehe wrongay, tt i decid i wasnhe didt ha. gonnmake acene so i juskindayone b took a dp breachool and deded i wagonna handle idiffertly and th was to d upaking a quilt. and deded i wagonna [lig piano mic conties] i wantedo have somethinthat i cld useng] to teachot only childn, but mae other ildren out blachistor

it took er a yeato make. i had, itas eightategors. we havgreat we he accompshments in ther accompliments inports, we he civil ghts, science, we havgreat politicsperformients in ther accompartsliterare,ts, and ere was , otr catego, beuse we h so ma. [lig piano mic] i kn that thpresentaon hato be inrestin i gave e teachea list of all t people the qlt and suggted that she ma ass oret the cldren select a name and do aeport as well. and suggted that she ma ass en i didhe preseation we had fshcardame d i'd asthe chdren who d their reportn soo and asd them ttell what th learn, so it de it a t of f.

soon aft the first year so it de it a t of f. the quilt sort of had its own calendar, people started finding out about it and i was asked to come to different schools, libraries, churches, and other festivals to share the quilt with students. we don't showcase enough of wt africa amerans have done we don't showcase enough think abt the ga toomask,rrett morgan.t,. thk about the affic ght, dael hale lliams, e firsopen hea surge. i thinks not jus becafrin americ educars,ht but educato in whe, we nd to expe them t ave done r the s.ngs that as

- thproject that i'm working on nowvelmus] is sourced from t-shirts. it's a t-shirt quilt at i'm cating for boggacadem boggacademy the hig schoolhat i attended at i'm cating fineysvillegeorgi it'she firstlack arding school. e schoolince clod finhe early80srgi sohis quilislack to rai money f scholarships. [livelmusic] when pple lookt i wa them toearn somhing. quiltings a way sneain the tching. ife don't ow our htory, no oneill tellur story quiltings a way sneain the tching. i cepted tt responbility fofor e ones iave birth to, and e ones w just became mchildr

by [kayla] r years u sa you wer't create. st lovinthem. yoconstant stopped yourse g yowere creive. i waa tell y that yo mommy, you are creative. - [laughing] thank you. - [kay] and th's cut. [bir chirpin [gate dragging shut] [jared humming] [scooter engine purring] [jared humming]

[scooter engine purring] ♪ bum-bum-ba-da-do ♪ ♪ bum-bum-da-da-do ♪ ♪ do-do-do, woo ♪ ♪ da-do-do-do-do ♪ ♪ da-do-do-do-do ♪ ♪ da-do-do-do-do ♪ [scooter motor humming] [birds chirping] [birds chirping continues] - on my personal altar i have four silver cups, for the four elemental directions,

the four arc angels, the four whatevers, that i do offerings in. and then you got like a little rose quartz spell that you're wearing around- [velcro scrunching] with you, a look for the club. this is my personal wand, the first wand that i made. it's a crepe myrtle branch with the end blackened so i can write with it, with a witch finger on the end of it to boost it just a little bit. this house alter is just to create the general energetic space of the entire house to fuel the wards that we have on the house. i used to have a lot of invisibility magic on the house. people used to not really be able to find it on mapsearch, it would always take them to this other location, which of course i wanna think it was all the invisibility magic that we put on the house. but yeah, a house alter just sort of fuels and supports,

creating the general feel for the house and keeping the house safe and the workings that all of us here are accomplishing together. growing up i always wanted to be a witch. i was wildly and sensually attracted to this idea of ritual, this trappings of mystery, the occult, the esoteric, everything's hidden, everything's veiled, everything's obfuscated, but i couldn't because i was baptist and being a witch was outta the question. and so if being a witch was outta the question, then the next best thing was catholic. [vehicle engines purring by] [vehicle engines purring by continues]

i always used to get super stressed out doing my makeup and there was always a point doing my makeup where i was like, well, they're not coming here for my makeup skill. i ended up writing sort of love letters to my family, we haven't had an honest and earnest conversation since i was 19, it's always been this weird, this weird space where i'm gay and we don't talk about it, we just, we just get along. powers of the east guardians of air, i have woken early each morning to catch your first stirrings. i have perched atop- lavonia elberton is born

of a road trip game, and we're driving along and passing an exit sign for the towns of lavonia and elberton in georgia on 85 north. and i said, "lavonia elberton, for example, her family owned all the land, it was a fruit orchard, and then the highway came through and bought all the land, and cut down all the trees, and now she lives in an airstream trailer surrounded by all these gourd birdhouses so that the birds still have a place to live. she works at the truck stop as a waitress, but reads everyone's tarot cards. she's this long line of witches, but also this intersection of poor rural south. and i had this moment where i described who she is and i was like, "holy [censored], i wanna be lavonia elberton." [crickets chirping]

p.s., i have the answer, you will miss the last breath, there will be a point when you realize it must have happened, but you did not catch it. the body will be heavy, it will surprise you how limp, all this motion, all this articulation becomes. in the name of our blessed and anointed savior, lavonia elberton, go in peace and unto the grace of yourself, amen, and then i'll turn and walk and it can black out. [footsteps clunking on floor] [book clunking on table] i leapt at the chance to crucify myself, not nails through myself, but as the next articulation of the church of lavonia elberton. but really what i'm hanging on that cross is the last 33 years, is my history of spiritual trauma

founded in fear that leads to my diminishment, or shame, or doubt. [singing] ♪ the lamb ♪ ♪ the lamb ♪ ♪ of god ♪ [instrument tinkling] ♪ i come ♪ ♪ i come ♪ [instrument tinkling] [crickets chirping] there came a point where it was either you can kill yourself, or you can be gay and surrender everything you've known and accept it to be true, so i'm still here, so obviously i chose this latter space. i never came out. i was forced out, like everyone knew i was gay, there was no secret that i was a homosexual.

i was just so sheltered that i had no idea there were other people like me in the world. i came home one night and my room was thrashed, all my stuff had been like gone through and i heard my dad coming down the stairs and we had a short polite conversation and so sat down, "we love you and are proud of you," and told me i could stay there that night, but then i had to be gone in the morning. and i told him not to worry that i would be gone that night and i would take care of it. and my dad and i talked a couple of times while he searched the scripture to determine whether he was permitted to remain in communion with me since i was now living in sin and ultimately decided that he wasn't permitted.

i came to those conversations demanding full recognition as a person, "you'll love me and whoever i love and we'll be welcome in the home, or not welcome at all." so these two extremes did not meet and we didn't talk for the next six years. there's a clear shift between being nervous before a performance and being just ready and anxious for it to start, and so i'm just ready to do the damn thing. [door shutting] [birds chirping] [birds chirping continues] [crickets chirping] [thundering sounds]

i am sorry that my existence became a betrayal of your work, that i, i broke that contract signed with a cesarean scholar. what does it feel like to decide that one of your children is gonna burn in hell forever? [crickets chirping] are you still proud?

did your faith shake? [thundering noise] [jared humming] [winch clicking] [jared humming] [winch clunking on floor] [jared humming] you are a little soul, and you are just carrying around a corpse. [jared humming] [winch clicking] [jared humming continues]

and i love you. father, forgive them for they know not what they do. it is finished! [thundering noise] [audience clapping] [background rustling] [birds chirping]

♪ just as i am without one plea ♪ oh, [jared laughing]. ♪ but that thy blood was shed for me ♪ ♪ and that thou bid'st me come to thee ♪ ♪ oh lamb of god, i come ♪ ♪ i come ♪ ♪ just as i am and waiting on ♪ ♪ to rid my soul ♪ ♪ of one dark blood ♪ ♪ to thee whose blood ♪ ♪ can cleanse each spot ♪

♪ oh lamb of god, i come ♪ ♪ i come ♪ [jared sniffing] [ambient music] - [shelly] throughout my whole life i was taught that, that i could do what i wanted, but you know it was like i knew i had to get fromoint a tpoint but i di't knowhow to g there li i know shouldn'let my disabili limit m but how my a is just way to t me totep out my mfort zo in a y, at's whei discoved at that'what i wted i want to be aartist - [wendyi love build rots. i'veeen builng robotever nce i waa fifth ader, th's when first started ogrammg.

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[shells motherpeaking foren langua continu] [slly laughing] [shell[both eaking ig foren foreiglangua]u] no, thank you. [shell[both eaking ig foren foreiglangua]u] [bacround talking] [upbeat gitized music] [shell[both eaking ig foren foreiglangua]u] bye. [bacround talking] [shelly'mother saking] foreignanguag [bus sysm beepg] i had to grow up really quickly. my dad was very, [speaking in foreignanguag. there waa lot of times where myad was psically abusi, there waa lot of times bumy sisteand myom. we team up and to , decideto send m away. [dver speang in foreign nguage] - femaleispanic one of e lowestinority group in the field of engineering and science.

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heas telli me that my arts, a portfoo day. when i w ge, but 's also ve happy and r and i member hwas like "dw your hds, dr your hands." and i member hwas like i was li, "okay, [shey laugng]. i'm tryi to makehe, and i member hwas like i was li, "okay, e colorsf the chr and then'm gonna try toakf i'm tlessaturatede, anmy body re viant withhe cols beuse i ju want tohow at it is part ofe, ant it doe't mean that i, viant withhe cols u know, , yeah [no audio] rain carclunkingn track] [vehicleotor humming]

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lot mores a pers, as i[hair drr blowg]ist. - i dot think want stay inl paso t as sooas i finh colle i wanncome bk d maybe ll be seing up my ownthis is ue top.. [enges roang] - [wendy] hey. - hey man, what up? - what up? - [wdy] how s physs? - [shell death. - dude, nestly, same. [shelly]ey, yo, n i ca you in ke an ho? - yeah, re, you sy? or lik.. - yeah.- tomorr maybe - [wendyit's allood du. - helly] cl beans, bye. - [wendyit's - bye. du. we don'talk as mh anyme, but that just beuse e has stf to d ani have sff to doand just haens, you know,

butbui'm stilgonnae continuend buid and e's stilgonna continuend dra so the mor moves this ae,, anthis axlis conneed tohis chaiand sprocket, whh will tn move this ae,, other pie of t arm that haven'trintedet d then ts one wi havenother thing. this onwill movlike ts and that mov like th, one like ts. [phave thease doble] and thmakerspa is pnting t the othepieces tt i ne. i'll put t cover over theottom, rht, and th there'lbe the ota zy susan on it. so it'llwivel isohe can pl itr oouwheneverhe want, and she wan to get t ofer chairfor exple, e can ju push itack in [tse forebing muc] i shou be preped foscience fair. [tense feboding sic] [tse forebing muc]

ackgrountalking] ense foroding sic] - [modator] moing, first you are the best of the best of each one of your divisions. toy we're nna figure out - [modator] moing, first youwho's thbest off tthe be ou. of each one of your divisions. [ten forebodg musi - [slly] i'meally it's vercompetive. thers a lot real good artists that he been i - [slly] i'meally it'art r many years. u're gon be judg by twjudges aone ti,,ts yowill onlgive ur preseation on. once youe been judged, the two jues will en scoretheiry ey will t talk teach oer out how ey're gonna dohe scong. ce you'vbeen judd twic do not leave. out how ey're the on way thayou can leave

bo the juds sheets from yr. isl right,ow we'reeady.e ense foroding sic] ackgrountalkin [tense feboding sic] [bacround taing] [door sqaking op] - [pern] come on in. [bacround taing] [d[bkground lking] - she' have toigure out whe[indistit] anthen shelso ha[indistinct]. - amazg. - she' have toigure out w[iistinctit] - [saker] fit place we [in, - amazg. the catory of rotics- [audiencclappi]inctit] d intellent maines, wey sandal. [audiencclapping] [audiee]

[shelly'mother saking foreignanguage] [shey's moth speakinin foign langge conties] [shells mother saking in fors udience apping] - it's. so we ve 45 stents vancing state - [indtinct] lez, [audiencclappi]. [audiencclappi]] [moderat] i apeciate yr patien and we wl see yo all,indistct]. all righ thank y, thank u. [audiee clapng] and we wl see yo all,indistct]. fit three rgerie] - [shey]y

i was ry lite so i d't reall remeer any of 'em, but myourth suery wasdefini. i was ry lite i ju got to e the to thatt took omy mom she wajust verstrong a she shed thrgh everything. ii try to imite that and be . thatt took omy mom [birds chirping] [footsteps crunching on ground] - [interviewer] tell us about your hat. - my hat? make america great again, in russian [chuckles]. [jim laughing] [light guitar music] black mountain, kentucky's highest mountain, being strip-mined as we speak.

how on earth a state can let something like that happen is beyond me. however, black mountain has coal and as long as there's coal we're gonna pay for that. - [reporter] this is strip-mining 24-hours a day some of the biggest machines ever built tear the mountain sides apart, half of america's coal is mined like this. - [reporter 2] surface mining carries a huge cost, nothing less than the mountains themselves, the icons of this beautiful state. - [laughing] they do piss me off. well, thank you and thank you very much. as always we thank the mountain eagle for letting us share, speak your peaces with you, each week here on "riding around listening to the radio" with yours truly, unruly wiley quixote, of a wednesday on wmmt, the very best radio station

in the whole wide w-h-i-r-l-e-d, i would remind you i do not make this stuff up. - he was a wonderful man and i think it was his hope that everybody would enjoy this mountain, that's what he always said, "it's for everybody, and no mining, no fracking, [marlene laughing], and no mountaintop removal." - he knew everybody, everybody knew him. - he was interested in everybody and sometimes not only the straight and narrow people. - his love for the culture, and the people, and these mountains, was just stronger, stronger than- [accordion music] any appalachian i that i can think of in history. i mean there are a lot of great writers that have come out here, a lot of great musicians, and there are a lot of people

who've been put on higher pedestals than jim webb, but i don't think anybody, when it comes to appalachian culture, and being the cheerleader, and the proponent of what it means to be appalachian, i don't think anybody needs to be put on a higher pedestal than jim webb, i think he needs to be at the top of the top of the top. [light upbeat music] [light upbeat music continues] [vehicle engine humming] [vehicle door squeaking open] - all right, hello dogs. this is my toolbox. that rock looks like kentucky. [footsteps thumping on ground] [dog panting] i keep a trash can, but, i mean a recycling thing,

i recycle everything i possibly can. i had an uncle killed in the mines, i've had friends killed in the mines, killed in the mines. it's the most dangerous job in the world and people talk about how much they get paid, that's ridiculous, they don't get paid enough. it was one thing to deep mine and, you know, it has its problems too, it ruins people's water and undermines houses and things like that, but strip-mining was just the greatest sin that ever happened to the earth. [light guitar music] in 1965, i worked for [indistinct] sturgill coal company, the first big strippers here in eastern kentucky and i helped literally blow some tops off of some mountains. [dynamite booming] we're out there cutting some trees and got our tools

and this young guy comes up, about my age, maybe a little younger, and he says, "my grandmother doesn't want you cutting her trees." i start to say something back, "well, you know the company sent, i mean, they've sent us up here to do this, what do you mean?" and that was the widow combs' property. [light music] that year at thanksgiving, she was arrested by the kentucky state police for stopping them from strip-mining her land and as i've always heard it was land that she was leaving to her grandson. it's just mind boggling, but i was one of the first three people run off of the widow combs' land [chuckling]. - [reporter] for 20 years mining has destroyed this country on the borders of tennessee and kentucky, but in the mountains the people have begun to fight.

- every time i'd complain about the blasting, the superintendent said to me one day, he said, "do you realize that you're bitin' the hand that feeds ya?" and i said, "yeah, but i also realize it's the hand that's killing me." - there were a lot of people protesting, their farmland was being ruined their, everything, and that is when i feel like i found my voice, my writer's voice, my literary voice, i started writing about strip-mining. [reel snapping] - in '77 there was this huge flood that just about wiped out williamson. i think this sense of large forces at work, mainly in surface mining, that were denuding the hillsides of their vegetation

that was holding back the rain from all just rushing down into the streams. so in other words, the strip-mining was behind, at least a part of the problems of that flood. - you know, thousands of people, homeless, people staying in their cars, no food, no nothing- [pickup motor humming] and so a group of us got together and tried to figure it out. at times like that people come together, and i mean all of us pitching in, and that's when we started getting real political. - and he and bob baber, and some other poets and writers and activists in the area, got together and made some noise about the reason behind the flood, the strip-mining and all the runoff in the mines, and things like that.

- we finally started getting some response. in amongst things we started a petition drive to abolish strip-mining. [paper machine whirring] [light music] [water gushing] [machine motor humming] [water gushing] [machine motor humming] [newspaper stack clunking on ledge] [background talking] - my best parking job ever! [door clunking shut] [customers laughing] - jim began to write editorials in the newspaper and of course he was a professor at the local community college and he didn't want to risk his job as making these kind of challenges to the existing powers that be, right,

it was mainly the coal industry. he's writing these angry editorials and instead of putting his own name there, he uses a pen name, which he decided would be wiley quixote. - and i started writing a column, a satirical political column, called "riding around listening to the radio with wiley quixote." - he was also very interested in wordplay at that time as well. the governor was named, arch moore, and he would change his name to some kind of bazaar, i can't remember exactly. - and i called him arch enema. - all of the people who read it knew exactly who he was talking about and you know like in all parody, it's all kind of in the know. if you're in the know you get it, if you're not then you're like, what in the world is this guy writin' about? we were at a bar somewhere and he had had two or three and he said, "herbie, i wanna tell you something."

i said, "yeah?" he said, "i'm wiley quixote," [laughing]. i said, "i know, jim." he said, "you did," [laughing]? he thought he was being so clever. [light guitar music] [vehicle engine humming] - well, if you wanna move your seat back, nick, you can. it's easy to do and it'll just cramp the people in the back seat, but who cares about them anyway? - [nick] when did you buy this place, jim? - 1996. over here is the walled in pond, and this is the wegivea dam. [laughing] welcome to the 17th annual pine mountain tacky lawn ornament, pink flamingo soiree at, wiley's last resort, welding chapel and health spa. - i think jim was about making a few statements while he was on the planet.

that if he said, "last resort," he meant, all right, let's go for it [laughing]. wait, this is we got one last era to do some stuff up here that nobody's attempted before and let's try her out [laughing]. - the resort is like no place on earth [chuckling]. it is clever, and humorous, and artistic. [water splashing] but it's also held together with coat hangers and duct tape, it's just this walt disney world kind of place for hillbilly artists. [upbeat blue grass music] [upbeat blue grass music continues] - we're here to honor you as the bestest friend ever, and the bestest- - yeah. - resort known to man. this is the only place that we know

us common people can come and act [indistinct]. - i'm a proud american, proud appalachian, stop mountaintop removal kinda guy. yes, bye-bye, black mountain, bye-bye. bye-bye, black mountain, bye-bye. you sorry, greed heads. [crowd cheering] you sorry greed heads! you sorry, sorry, greed heads, decapitate the space. i have dear friends who work in the industry and i understand that, and that's why are we are friends of miners and mountains. [crowd cheering] friends of miners and mountains. [crowd cheering] friends of miners- [crowd cheering] and mountains! [crowd cheering]

[bagpipe music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ religious leaders and friends of creation speak out. consider how many people deny global climate change and refuse to see our hand in harming earth. almighty god give us strength to use our voices

and actively recruit others to save the earth. [bagpipe music] [crickets] [tv news jingle] - [reporter] breaking news, an agreement was reached between the commonwealth of kentucky and several coal operators with interest in black mountain. the state agreed to pay 4.2 million to exclude mining above 3,200 feet on black mountain, kentucky's highest point. - there's black mountain, highest mountain in the state. it is not going to be decapitated apparently, but it sure is having the hell stripped out of it 'cause apparently the taxpayers are paying, we, are paying millions of dollars so that they don't get the top. it's really crazy a state that would let its highest mountain be strip-mined.

that just tells you how the government's in the pocket of the coal industry and what a terrible thing. [light guitar music] ♪ [water splashing] ♪ ♪ *** **** it! mountaintop removal, mountaintop bombing, mountaintop devastation, mountaintop destruction, mountaintop dynamite, mountaintop decapitation, mountaintop desecration, mountaintop wretch et cetera,

mountaintops, as close to heaven as you can get on this east kentucky earth, this west, by god, virginia earth, this wise virginia earth, we're abomination, so why don't god complain when he/she/its trying to sleep? why don't god send down a lightning bolt, call the cops, tell 'em to hold it down, down there, cut that crap out! let an old man, old woman, the kids sleep. ♪ [jim chuckling] [jim snorting] all right. [light guitar music] ♪

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