Weekly Radio Program
What if artists and activists in central Appalachia ran a weekly hip-hop radio program in response to the burgeoning prison population? What if the show brought urban and rural communities together? We answer these questions together every Monday night with Holler to the Hood's weekly radio show. Listen Mondays from 8-11pm on WMMT 88.7. To send your shout-outs, poems, prayers and songs over the airwaves call 606-633-1208 or email h2h@appalshop.org
Radio Program History
In 1999 Appalshop artists began hosting a weekly hip-hop program called
"Lights Out" on WMMT. Within weeks they received hundreds
of letters from from prisoners transfered to the region's prisons from
as far away as Hawaii and New Mexico. The letters described abuse and
racism in the region's newly opened prisons. Human Rights Watch and
Amnesty International both issued reports documenting these claims and
"Holler to the Hood" was launched in response. The weekly
program has brought the voices of prisoners, family members, activists,
and sometimes corrections officers to the airwaves. It has also acted
as a place to bring urban and rural culture together, airing prisoner
raps over the
phone, merging traditional mountain music and hip-hop, and inviting Appalachian
youth to the station to air newly pressed hill-hop cds.
The anchor program is our annual "Calls from
Home" show produced every December which brings hundreds of
prisoner family voices to the airwaves.
In 2004 we took the program national.
Holler to the Hood
We started doing radio for prisoners in our area because as a rural
community we have been offered prisons as one of the only forms of economic
development. We want a better future for rural communities. The United
States criminal justice system is growing every year. Many citizens in the United States do not know or understand who is behind bars. As artists we believe that sharing the voices of families and the impact over-incarceration has on families and communities is a positive step towards a healthier society.
Holler to the Hood is a part of Appalshop, a non-profit media arts center
located in the coalfields of central Appalachia. Appalshop's community radio
station WMMT-FM 88.7 (Mountain Community Radio) broadcasts to eastern KY,
southwest VA, and parts of WV, TN, and NC. Holler the Hood's weekly show is
on every Monday night from 8-11pm and can be heard live on the internet.