Justin Hicks

1 week ago | wvxu.org | Andrea Galliano |Justin Hicks |Ryan Van Velzer |Derek Parham

Two hundred and fifty-one years after American colonists dumped tea into Boston harbor in defiance of the British monarchy, Kentuckians joined a nation in protest of a president holding a military parade on his birthday in Washington D.C. The message remains: "No kings." More than a dozen cities in Kentucky planned rallies in coordination with more than 2,000 cities around the country in the nation's largest protest against rising authoritarianism since Donald Trump took office in January,...

1 week ago | lpm.org | Andrea Galliano |Justin Hicks |Ryan Van Velzer

Two hundred and fifty-one years after American colonists dumped tea into Boston harbor in defiance of the British monarchy, Kentuckians joined a nation in protest of a president holding a military parade and birthday celebration in Washington D.C. The message remains: “No kings.” More than a dozen cities in Kentucky planned rallies in coordination with more than 2,000 cities around the country in the nation’s largest protest against rising authoritarianism since Donald Trump took office in...

2 weeks ago | lpm.org | Justin Hicks

In the small town of Benton, Kentucky a few dozen people are gathered in the local county courthouse to participate in the 142nd annual “Big Singing.” A plaque on the building claims it’s “the oldest indigenous musical tradition in the U.S.”This isn’t a concert. The singers haven’t rehearsed the music and they’re seated in a square, singing to each other, not an audience. It’s like a musical equivalent of pickup basketball – it doesn’t matter how good you are, just that you have fun.

4 weeks ago | lpm.org | Justin Hicks

On a warm May afternoon in Mount Washington, Kentucky, artist Diego Miró-Rivera and his pal Zane Giordano arrived from Austin, Texas. They drove around looking for what they call “juiced up” trees. “Juiced up is, that on one side of the tree, you can see more than 100 cicadas on it,” Miró-Rivera explained. Miró-Rivera makes art that’s huge and composed of thousands of cicada shells. The shells are hung on burlap canvas and arranged in dense patterns, so he needs lots of them.

4 weeks ago | lpm.org | Justin Hicks

Five years ago, Louisville was awash in protests. Louisville police officers had killed Breonna Taylor during a surprise nighttime raid in March. Just two months later, George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. Through it all, in downtown Louisville stood an oversized marble statue of the last French king: Louis XVI. On the first night of protests, a man hung off Louis’ outstretched hand, breaking it off. Over time, protesters added layers of anti-police graffiti.