KPFT Notes

Although you may not recall Lynne Stewart’s name, you have no doubt heard of some of the celebrated/infamous cases she has been a part of, including defending David Gilbert (Nyack robbery reportedly committed in solidarity with the Black Liberation Army); Ray Luc Levasseur (recently released; United Freedom Front bombings); Sekou Odinga (BLA) and WTC 1 defendants. This comes from her defense committee, fighting her conviction on supporting terrorism:

Attorney Lynne Stewart now faces another battle for her life: the battle against breast cancer. Ms. Stewart’s sentencing is pending following her conviction last year on charges of aiding terrorism in a case where the government stretched her conversations with a reporter regarding her client into serious, felony charges. Ms. Stewart, 67 years old, faces 30 years in prison and has already lost her ability to practice law – her beloved profession. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in November, 2005. On January 9, 2006, doctors removed a 2.4 centimeter tumor from her left breast that was discovered to be an invasive ductal carcinoma. Over the past two months, Ms. Stewart has consulted with a number of medical specialists about her cancer, the treatment options, and the risks of recurrence.

At the end of March, Ms. Stewart will begin radiation therapy and other treatment. Accordingly, Lynne Stewart’s attorneys are requesting that the Court give Ms. Stewart until July 31, 2006, to file her sentencing memoranda.

Riseup.net provides a variety of free email and list services to the progressive community. If you have the means, the collective is certainly worth supporting. Here’s its latest appeal:

The people behind riseup.net consist of about ten active collective members and volunteers at any given time. Unfortunately, we work on riseup.net in the small bits of free time we have available: after school or work, on the weekends, late at night. This is not enough! Currently, our workload is enough for at least ten full time workers. We do have two people who work full time on riseup.net, and receive a small stipend of $300 per month, which is not enough to survive.

We have a dream that some day the community support for riseup.net will match the time and resources it takes to keep riseup.net running. If you have put in a help ticket recently, we apologize for the delay: we receive about five hundred questions a month, and are currently working hard to catch up.

Most people are familiar with our email and mailing list services, but we have many other exciting projects going on behind the scenes, including: a tech collective incubation project, a community colocation project, free software development, and a suite of security and privacy patches.

If you believe, as we do, that liberatory social movements must have control over their own means of communication, then we invite you to run to our donation page at http://riseup.net/donate. If you live in the Global South, we ask that you do not donate to riseup.net but keep local whatever resources you have.

in solidarity,
the riseup collective

“I am looking for knowledgeable individuals to help me create audiofiles on the Mexican Revolution. Yes the audio podcasts would benefitthe members of this group, but more importantly they would be madeavailable to the whole Mexican/Chicano/Indigenous community. Pleasehelp me get the message out to the people in audio format.

“I’m the moderator of the “not for profit” podcast* project. The emphasis of the podcast project is to collect and archive Audio related to our Indigenous (Latina/Latino, Hispanic, Chicana/Chicano,Mexicana/Mexicano) History and Genealogy.(*Podcasting is putting audio files on the internet–from there they are available either by direct download or by free subscription)

“Have a look at the website – http://NuestraFamiliaUnida.com and have a listen to audio.

“We need your help in finding audio related to our history and genealogy. If there is a Seminar, Lecture, Discussion, Info Session,or Organization Meeting that presents information related to ourHistory or Genealogy please encourage having this information archived at the Nuestra Familia Unida podcast. If you know of a Historian, Genealogist, Professor, Story Teller, or Knowledgeable Individual thathas a message that needs to be heard please contact us through the planning committee or through the contact information provided. Your help is much needed please consider lending us your support in this project.”

Joseph Puentes
http://NuestraFamiliaUnida.com

Last year, the KPFT LSB Program Policy Committee approved the following resolution:

Whereas the word “Pacifica” stands for “peace,” and

Whereas “peace” is one of two principles of the Pacifica Foundation as stipulated by the Foundation’s statement of purpose

Therefore be it resolved that the Program Policy Committee of the KPFT recommends the following policy:

Any and all on-air statements that are clearly pro-war or pro-aggressive military/paramilitary/mercenary by all KPFT programmers and staff are strictly prohibited, and violations will be regarded as an extreme offense. We further propose that a similar policy be, in turn, proposed to the PNB, and become the uniform guideline of the Pacific network in order to assure that the principle of peace is consistently honored on Pacifica’s airwaves.

Although such a policy was rejected by the local board, it opens up a wide variety of philosophical and tactical questions when it comes to volunteers and programming. Does saying one supports the troops qualify as a pro-aggressive military statement? In some committee meetings I attended, the sense I got was some committee members felt it was, though I am sure many listeners might disagree. At what point does free speech and dialogue end and policing begin? This article points out the touchy position community radio faces with enforcement.

Mich. appeals court reinstates DJ’s suit against public radio station

By The Associated Press
03.03.06

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A former public radio DJ who says he was fired for voicing support for the war in Iraq should have his day in court, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Feb. 28.

Theron E. Hughes, known on the air as “Thayrone,” was fired from WEMU-FM in April 2003 after he voiced support for President Bush’s handling of the war and refused to air National Public Radio news updates during his music show.

Hughes sued WEMU, which is owned by Eastern Michigan University, for unspecified monetary damages, saying his right to free speech had been violated. A Washtenaw County circuit judge later dismissed the case.

“I am thrilled we have been vindicated,” Hughes told The Ann Arbor News on March 1.

The 2-1 decision by the appeals court means that the case will return to the circuit court for a trial unless the university decides to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

University counsel Ken McKanders said the university had not yet decided whether to appeal.

“We are disappointed with the decision,” he said yesterday. “We thought we had made a strong case before the Court of Appeals.”

Station officials said Hughes’ on-air comments violated a policy of not allowing announcers to express opinions on controversial matters. In addition, they said Hughes was fired for refusing to air NPR news and denigrating the organization’s reporting.

Hughes plays R&B and soul music on “The Bone Conduction Show,” which used to air on WEMU and is currently heard on WAAM-AM.

–

According to RadioInk, “the Michigan Court of Appeals determined that WEMU violated Hughes’ rights because existing laws clearly establish ‘that a public employer could not terminate an employee based on the employee’s exercise of his First Amendment right to speak regarding matters of public concern.’” and that free speech trumps WEMU’s “interest in the efficient running of the radio station.”

RadioInk reports something that many of us in Los Angeles realized very quickly: commercial radio DJs heavily influenced people’s attendance to the weekend’s immigrants’ rights rally. More than a few people were heard asking for Piolin, one of Spanish-language radio’s major stars. Djs like El Piolin, Cucuy and others spent literally hours on the air talking about why the Los Angeles rally was important, and how listeners needed to hit the streets.

RadioInk: Radio Personalities Help Bring Half a Million to LA Rally

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, last weekend’s pro-immigrant rally in downtown Los Angeles was expected to draw fewer than 20,000, but that number was dwarfed as police estimated the number of participants at 500,000, making it one of the largest demonstrations in Los Angeles’ history. Why the huge increase in attendance? Deejays made the difference.

Los Angeles radio personality Eddie “El Piolin” Sotelo called for a summit with fellow Spanish language broadcasters including KHJ’s Humberto Luna, KBUE’s Ricardo “El Mandril” Sanchez and Renan “El Cucuy” Almendarez Coello. Together, they got the word out.

Mike Garcia, president of Local 1877 of the Service Employees International Union, said, “If you listened to Spanish-language media, they were just pumping, pumping, pumping this up.”

Soleto got interested after rally organizers told him about the ramifications of the legislation passed by Congress last year. The bill would make undocumented immigrants and those who assist them felons and erect a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border.

“I told God that if he gave me an opportunity as a radio announcer, I was going to help my people,” said Sotelo, who himself illegally crossed the border in 1986. Soleto added, “I think we have to make sure the message went through to Washington, to let them know we’re not criminals.”

"We are pleased to send you a Request for Proposals from the Asian Women Giving Circle. Our focus this year is Asian American women-led projects that use the arts to achieve a social justice goal. We anticipate that we will award 4-6 grants this year, with a maximum grant size of $15,000.
"We would appreciate your help in disseminating this RFP to your networks. The RFP will also be available on the internet at www.aapip.org/givingcircles.

"Completed applications are due on April 21, 2006.

"Our donors have been invited to assist in the selection of our grantees by casting their votes via email ballots. We anticipate we will announce awardees during the week of May 15, 2006.

"Thank you very much for your help in getting this RFP out to as many people in our community as possible."

On Sunday, March 26, during its quarterly national board meeting in Los Angeles, the Pacifica national board and staffers dedicated time to discuss the potential of Creative Commons and alternate intellectual property licensing for the radio network and its properties, including its massive back catalog of speeches by the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks.

The basis of this discussion was a programming conference call last week with Dr. Lawrence Lessig, a onetime conservative who is the leading advocate of Creative Commons, a unique and flexible licensing plan.

The dialogue is enlightening as a frank debate about finances, interests and power. Led by PNB Chair Dave Adelson, the discussion includes Pete Korakis (national information technology), Ursula Rudeneberg (coordinator of stations affiliated with Pacifica), Brian DeShazor (Pacifica Radio Archives) and Lonnie Hicks (CFO). Many national board members also weigh in.

The discussion [MP3; 44 minutes]

I cannot adequately express how truly important it was for Pacifica to have had this discussion. In an era when so many radio networks are aggressively sheltering their own intellectual property, Pacifica is engaging in open and serious discussion about Creative Commons and the complex IP puzzle with an eye to accessibility.

Pacifica for Dummies: The Pacifica Foundation pioneered the concept of listener sponsorship, which defines public radio, 55 years ago. Its radio stations are based in Berkeley and Los Angeles, Calif.; Houston, Tex.; New York City and Washington, D.C.; the stations are distinct in the fact many are content creators not only do the stations spin music, but volunteers create programs with guests, music, et al. Pacifica has been a hub of progressive politics, the arts and culture, but the network is struggling with the graying of its audience and staying relevant in the modern age. Its best-known program, Democracy Now!, spun off from Pacifica some years ago and is now an independent production. Its governance model is radical for nonprofits — listeners and volunteers elect its national board of directors and Pacifica — and it comes from a strong free-speech history (occasionally fighting such cases all the way up to the Supreme Court). You can get more info about Pacifica at www.pacifica.org. If you would like to sign up for a $35 basic membership to Pacifica, consider becoming a member of KPFT by clicking here.

Sunday’s closing session of the Pacifica National Board gathering was marred by apparent food poisoning the night before that sent many members out early. Despite this, the PNB met and had many substantive dialogues. Here are my notes on this event.CFO Report: Comment that Pacifica seems solid this year, but could face issues next year. Question and answer: questions about budget feedback deadline, Pacifica trust, ADA compliance, Spanish-language news funding.

New business: PNB’s next meetings are New York City, starting June 2; Berkeley in starting September 15. Houston meeting, though not voted on, will be in January.

Motion to amend bylaws to add at-large members and that at-large be nominated by PNB is approved. Motion by Shafto to make positions non-voting. Public comment: speaker says move is appalling. Exchange between Freeland and Adelson. Public seemed critical of the motion, which is apparently aimed at fulfilling CPB minority representation requirements. A KPFA delegate noted that it might be more appropriate for a member of KPFT’s all-Anglo delegation to step down, and publicly suggested Freeland.

New motions: Hefley brings forth motion that delegate suspensions may not be made by LSBs; that no apologies are to be demanded; that PNB affirms free speech in the context of decorum; that board members have a disciplinary process; and that Paul’s suspension be rescinded. Heffley, White, Freeland speak in support; Davis, Berg, Lederer (who mentions governance committee upheld suspension and such was approved by PNB) speaks against. Lederer motions to divide motion, but fails. Motion to close debate fails. LaForrest motions to refer to governance. Debate on motion, and it is approved for referral. Weinmann motion to refer to governance a standard for manager reports, which passes. Freeland brings a motion to admonish chair and secretary for not giving him minutes. Lederer moves to strike admonishment, which passes. Freeland motion fails.

Discussion on intellectual property: See second post.

Public comment: Wide variety of dialogue, including addition of at-large members; suggestion to add to bylaws a fundraising piece to board members’ responsibilities; gag rule; possible lawsuits; sale of programming; people of color representation on the boards; station health.

KPFK Report: Discussion about rebuilding station, from outreach to programming. Many positive remarks.

New Business: Motion to re-add language that was reconsidering language passed yesterday on program policy, and pass section 12 with original language. It should be noted that the PNB was missing several members at the time. Freeland motion, “Passage of the sections of the draft this weekend constitutes satisfaction with the need for policy and for the ED to proceed with hiring of coordinator. And the PNB shall approve program coordinator job description before it is posted” passes.

Freeland offers KPFT code of conduct delinquency resolution: that PNB directs ED to investigate Duane about code of conduct delinquency. Robinson seconds. Lederer motions to send to governance, and it passes. Heffley puts motion to rescind anti-racism committee. Robinson gives notice of volunteer discipline for findings of abuse. Freeland motion to admonish KPFT LSB for not finishing business and instructs it to clear meeting agenda at next meeting; fails for lack of second. Freeland motion to admonish LSB for not doing GM/PD reviews is referred to governance. Motion to adjourn.

Saturday, the Pacifica National Board took an extended break to participate in the massive immigrants’-rights march in Los Angeles. I and other Pacificans participated in what was unquestionably a historic and powerful event. I wanted to share some of my photos of that event with you, although they certainly don’t capture the true feeling of being among over half a million people demanding justice.

Saturday PNB Notes

Afternoon session focused on a programming. Affiliates, power and other items was of debate. Public comment came after. First speaker, Maxine from KPFA, on covering of hotel workers’ organizing. Janet Goodman speaks next about programming coordinator. Mike speaks on taxi workers’ organizing. Next speaker discusses directors’ inspection rights, and how one cannot be investigating racism and other issues without respecting such. Next speaker talks about management should not be allowed to choose who are unpaid staff. Following speaker addresses use of term ‘Latino’ and says he may be forced to sue because of classifying Chicano Mexicanos as such. Next speaker, Israel, notes we need dialogue. Myla says that the programming document is far-reaching, and that something more general, and to criticize internal investigation. The next speaker, Chandra, speaks in support of FSRN, and for FSRN to be brought into Pacifica. Paul from WBAI alleged he had been choked and kicked at the station. Jose from WBAI seconds concerns that Paul has. Yvone (WBAI business manager) comes up and says WBAI has made improvements, including cutting costs, community events and accountability for events. Cerene speaks next and speaks about WBAI internal issues.

Next is a motion on national programming policy. Only sections 8 and 12 are voted on.

CPB/Board composition; Hicks reports on requirements.

Elections for three people to serve on FSRN negotiating team: Zarina Shakur, Mary Berg, Ray LaForrest and Dave Adelson, with a vote for three of those people at the next board meeting.

ED Report: Greg says no way to satisfy all the expectations, and perhaps wouldn’t want him to. Current mode of operations, winner take all, doesn’t provide best standpoint. Elections are proportional, governance is winner take all. A siege mentality is at hold, and Greg has no choice but to move slowly. At WBAI, factions, morale and communications are worst examples; Gary Null and recent Hicks visit are among the biggest gossip at WBAI. At KPFT, concerns about serving community. At KPFA, three qualified candidates turned down GM job. At KPFK, ongoing conflicts. Programming should be mission-inspired programming. Closes with a question: are we trying to address programming that utilizes mission or are we creating a government? If we are here for radio, we need to reexamine our efforts. Question and answer session is somewhat contentious.

WBAI presentation: interim GM Indra Hardat acknowledges abusive behavior going on at WBAI. PD Bernard White calls WBAI problems “post traumatic coup syndrome”; contrary to belief, he says, many are dedicated to good work. He says a well-funded faction is destabilizing WBAI, and that he has tried to draw attention to it at the DC PNB meeting, but was ignored. White calls some of the concerns raised Friday unfounded. He responds that the Null and Robert Knight issues raised Friday are personnel issues. White says the gag rule claim the night before is incorrect. Latino programming, White says, has grown, with additions of programming and producers. White says the issue is one of Latino programmers and power struggles. Question and answer session goes over issues of violence, etc. PNB resolves that ED look into violence allegations and report back at an unspecified dates.

KPFK Report: Largely a positive report. Much applause for KPFK’s many victories.

Affiliates and station reports were largely good too. You’ll be happy to know KPFT was of most interest to PNB members, with questions ranging from representation to fund drive. Fun stuff.

The event concluded with a roundtable of managers and the board talking about programming and strategies for such. One day to go!

Access This! will feature a four part series on Health and Wellness for Women with Disabilities beginning Sunday evening March 26th. This series will feature Kym King as host and Scotty MacClymonds as producer.

Kym currently serves as the Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities for the City of Houston. Prior to this appointment, King was Director of Education and Training for the Center for Research on Women with Disabilities and Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. King also served as National Communications Director of “Improving Service Systems for People with Disabilities,” an $8.4 million grant project funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. King began her work in the disability field in 1983, when she was invited to be a member of the board of Directors for the Houston Center for Independent Living. She has provided expert advice and consultation to numerous disability organizations including: the World Institute on Disability (WID), the Southwest Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (SWDBTAC), the Dole Foundation, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) and the Texas Governor’s Committee on Persons with Disabilities. She has won received numerous honors including a President’s Award from American Women in Radio & Television, the Public Relations Society of America’s Excalibur Award, the Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities Barbara Jordan Media Award and a Phoebe Award from the Texas PTA. She was also nominated for an Emmy Award in the category of children’s programming for the television special, “A Different Point of View,” a program that empowered elementary school children to share their views on world issues.

Our guest for parts one and two is Michele Colvard, who currently serves as Chair of the Houston Commission on Disabilities, works as a researcher with the Baylor College of Medicine and participates in wheelchair athletics. Dr. Peg Nosek will be with us in parts three and four. Dr. Nosek, Ph.D. received her doctorate in Rehabilitation and a Master of Arts in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Texas in Austin, and she holds a Masters of Arts in Music from Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Nosek is currently a professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She has done considerable research and writing on developments of public policy that affect the ability of people with disabilities to live independently in the community. Dr. Nosek is the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Research on Women with Disabilities (CROWD), Department of Physical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She has served as the principal investigator on research projects on self-esteem, wellness, abuse and violence, reproductive health, sexuality, access to health care, aging with disability, secondary health conditions, and independent living for women with disabilities. Dr. Nosek’s accomplishments are reflected in approximately 75 articles or book chapters, and more than 100 presentations at national and international conferences. Dr. Peg Nosek is a recipient of numerous awards for her research and advocacy. As a person with a severe physical disability, she has been both a pioneer and an activist in the disability right movement, including vigorously supporting passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities has honored her as a “Disability Patriot.”