Welcome to Pacifica Radio's LIVE broadcast of Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir's We Got to Move concert from the historic 15th Street Friends Meeting House in Lower Manhattan, via WBAI Master Control in Brooklyn, New York.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Jenna Flanagan, and it's my pleasure to be your host this evening.
Tonight, we're broadcasting from a special location that occupies a remarkable place in American history. The 15th Street Friends Meeting House. It was the spiritual home of Bayard Rustin, the Quaker organizer whose leadership helped make the 1963 March on Washington one of the defining moments of the Civil Rights Movement.
There could hardly be a more fitting setting for tonight's performance.
This meeting house has long been a gathering place for people who believe that faith isn't simply something we profess, it's something we practice. Bayard Rustin understood that. His quiet determination helped organize one of the most consequential demonstrations in American history, the 1963 March on Washington, proving that ordinary people, acting together with courage and conviction, really can change the course of a nation.
That same spirit echoes in the title of tonight's program: You Got to Move.
For generations, those words have been sung as both a gospel promise and a call to action. They remind us that there are moments when standing still is no longer an option. Moments when we're called to move, not only with our feet, but with our hearts, our imaginations, and our commitment to one another.
It feels especially meaningful today.
We're living through a time of extraordinary challenges. Anyone who’s tried to breath through the wildfire smoke that blanketed much of the country knows that climate change is no longer a distant warning, it's our lived reality. Communities across the country are facing economic uncertainty, political division, and the growing sense that the pace of modern life leaves little room for reflection or connection.
Yet evenings like this remind us of something essential.
Change doesn't begin with institutions.
It begins with people.
People who gather in rooms like this.
People who sing together.
People who refuse to believe that hope is naïve.
For more than twenty-five years, Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir have created performances unlike anything else in American culture. Their work blends music, theater, activism, satire, celebration, and what they lovingly call the Church of Stop Shopping. They challenge us to think differently about consumer culture, about our relationship with the Earth, and about what it means to build communities rooted in compassion rather than consumption.
They do it with laughter.
They do it with music.
And they do it with joy.
Because joy, yes joy, is also an act of resistance.
So if, at some point this evening, you find yourself shouting "Earthalujah!"... you're in exactly the right place.
Whether you're here inside the Friends Meeting House or listening across the WBAI and Pacifica Radio Network, thank you for joining us. Radio has always had a remarkable ability to bring people together across neighborhoods, generations, and great distances. Tonight, all of us become part of the same gathering.
So you know, the Church of Stop Shopping will likely continue until about 8:30 Eastern Time. After this live performance concludes, WBAI will continue our special broadcast with highlights from Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir's September performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, where the Earthalujah Church had the extraordinary honor of opening for Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts before thousands of concertgoers.
So settle in, listen closely, and let yourself be moved.
Once again, welcome to We Got to Move, live from the historic 15th Street Friends Meeting House in Lower Manhattan.
I'm Jenna Flanagan.
Now... let's move.
Earthalujah!
You're listening to a special national broadcast from the Pacifica Radio Network, one of America's oldest and largest independent, listener-supported public radio networks.
Founded on the belief that communities deserve a place where diverse voices can be heard, Pacifica has spent more than seven decades bringing audiences thoughtful journalism, arts and culture, music, and conversations that often can't be found anywhere else on the radio dial.
The Pacifica Radio Network is composed of WBAI in New York, WPFW in Washington, D.C., KPFT in Houston, KPFK in Los Angeles, and KPFA in Berkeley, California, along with more than 210 affiliate community radio stations serving listeners in over 40 states.
Tonight's special live broadcast reflects that mission, connecting communities across the country through music, ideas, and the shared belief that public media should inform, inspire, and bring people together.
Wherever you're listening, whether on one of our Pacifica stations, through one of our many affiliates, or online, we're grateful you've chosen to spend part of your evening with us.
I'm Jenna Flanagan, for the Pacifica Radio Network.
Earthalujah!
