Interview: UofL Students & KSEC take on Fancy Farm
Don't miss this great interview with two inspiring UofL students and KSEC members who took on the powers that be at this year's Fancy Farm!
On this edition of Sustainability Now!, your host, Justin Mog, puts down his megaphone to chat with two local organizers with the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition (KSEC) who also took part in last Saturday’s "Rise for Climate, Jobs & Justice” event in Louisville, Grace Engelman & Nicole White. Grace is a freshman at UofL from Owen County, KY and the media coordinator for KSEC's Political Working Group. Nicole is a KSEC member and sophomore at UofL. Both of them were involved with a KSEC action to disrupt this year's Fancy Farm Picnic.
On August 4th, 2018, young Kentuckians delivered speeches calling for an end to corporate-controlled politics at the 137th Fancy Farm Picnic, Kentucky’s most raucous political event. KSEC erected a ‘people’s stage’ adjacent to the main stage to present their speeches and demand new leadership that puts public interest over corporate profit. With just weeks until the 2018 general elections, their efforts were part of a national youth movement to replace establishment politicians this November. However, within just thirty minutes of the stage being set up, the students were told to stop speaking by law enforcement.
In addition to speaking out, the youth are conducting get-out-the-vote work on campuses across the state in advance of the general election. According to the Pew Research Center, voting-eligible Gen-Xers, Millennials, and Post-Millennials make up the majority of voting-eligible adults. The group has increased by 18 million since 2014, with 15 million of those being Post-Millennials. The deadline to register to vote in the general election in Kentucky is October 9th.
The Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition is a youth-led grassroots organization that connects and empowers young Kentuckians to take action for a just, environmentally sustainable Kentucky through training, leadership development, and community engagement. Founded in 2007, we create inclusive, anti-oppressive, and accessible spaces where young people conduct peer-to-peer education, self-organize for a just economic transition, and advocate for policies that put people over profit. In a state that many youth feel compelled to leave, KSEC helps young people envision and shape a Kentucky where we want to and are able to stay.
More at: kystudentenvironmentalcoalition.org | www.facebook.com/KSECforOurFuture | twitter.com/_KSEC_
As always, our interview is followed by an up-to-date community calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action to make sustainability happen NOW!
Sustainability Now! airs on FORward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at forwardradio.org
