This here is reverend Billy, who I mentioned in class yesterday. It's kind of hard to sum him up, but with a few words I'd say guerrilla gospel protesting. Reverend Billy is a character leading the church of stop shopping, devoted to "...supporting and advocating for sustainable consumption, encouraging and advocating for strong local economies, and defending the first amendment and public space." He takes a gospel choir to various establishments, including places like Walmart, Starbucks, or Disneyland, delivers a sermon on the evils of over consumption, sings a song and then is usually ushered away by the police. He challenges people to buy locally (as to support mom and pop stores), not to buy more than they need, to know where their products come from and to not replace gifts that could be heartfelt with ones that are expensive.
Now a lot of people believe he's crazy, and in a way he is. He's excessive because it draws attention and is better at getting the message across, if you don't immediately look away. I think anyone is more likely to watch a man making a fool of himself with a pretty good sounding choir behind him than a man on a box yelling on a street corner (another place where the beauty of art supplements a message of social justice... interesting). It's another person asking us to be aware of our habbits as Americans and how they influence other Americans and people around us,
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