Open Letter From KPFA Staff Of Color To The General Public
[As is well known, opposition to Pacifica's current actions is overwhelming among the staff and subscribers at Berkeley radio station KFPA and progressive groups and individuals across the country. In the last two weeks these actions have escalated. Pacifica, KPFA's parent organization, has beefed up security at the station with armed guards, a move that has further poisoned the atmosphere and has jeopardized the process of mediation of the conflict between Pacifica and KPFA staff. In addition, on June 26, a group of people of color calling itself the "Diversity Coalition In Public Broadcasting," almost all without work experience at KPFA, issued a statement supporting Pacifica's current management policies. These developments suggest that Pacifica may be contemplating a lock out of KPFA staff and a take over of the station's operations, using the rationale that KPFA staff and listeners are racist and opposed to change. The following appeal for support is circulating among staff of color at KPFA. Given the urgency of the situation there, this letter is being released to the broader public now, although not all have yet had the opportunity to sign it. For more information, go to http://savepacifica.net/ and http://www.radio4all.org/freepacifica/.]
Since the firing of KPFA general manager Nicole Sawaya, Pacifica, the station's parent organization, has reiterated its alleged commitment to diversity. In a recent letter to the Nation magazine, Pacifica Board Chair and US Civil Rights Commission Chair Dr. Mary Frances Berry even claimed that Pacifica's mission is to address "the need for our stations to reflect the demographic realities of their signal areas," and to make sure that the network's programmers, local advisory board members and listeners "reflect the rich cultural and age diversity of our country." These are aims that we, the programmers of color at KPFA, embrace. But Pacifica's actions belie Berry's words.
Over the last several years the 5 Pacifica stations have lost much programming aimed at communities of color and the poor, and programs about and produced by homeless people, immigrants, gays and women. In particular, the Third World and Women's Departments at KPFA have been eliminated altogether.
We would like to emphasize that under Nicole Sawaya's management, we had a fresh voice that was committed to creating such programs for the KPFA community. Ironically, Sawaya is a woman of color who was actively achieving Berry's stated goals, including reaching out to young people of color. Our Local Advisory Board is now truly diverse, in terms of race, age and class. She was opening up new space for programmers of color inside our station. And she was carrying out plans to extend KPFA's reach, by reviving the station's use of live, remote broadcasts into the Bay Area's multicultural neighborhoods. Sadly, on the day Pacifica dismissed her, she was finalizing plans for a live hook-up and special programming around the National African Summit in San Francisco.
Just two weeks before KPFA's 50th anniversary, Pacifica Executive Director Lynn Chadwick dismissed Sawaya for not being a "team player." Then Chadwick tried to manage the news, threatening punitive action if Sawaya's firing was covered as a news story. Other personnel were subsequently disciplined and veteran programmers Larry Bensky and Robbie Osman were fired for discussing Sawaya's dismissal and Pacifica's power grabs on the air.
As you may know, Pacifica Radio has been one of the few places that has aired programs which have helped communities of color organize, develop leadership, broaden their bases of contacts and build alliances with other communities. On April 15, KPFA and the Pacifica network of 5 radio stations planned to celebrate 50 years of service as the cutting edge voice of progressive cultural and political diversity in the Bay Area and around the nation.
Instead of that celebration, the network became mired in potentially the most harmful conflict ever---instigated by Sawaya's termination and a series of damaging decisions that came from above without clear explanation or elaboration. These actions reflect a style of governance that is at odds with Pacifica's stated mission and with the progressive values and principles that it has embodied from its inception. These principles include strong support for individual creativity, open dialogue and the rights of employees and unions.
Sawaya's firing is only the most recent case of Pacifica's increasingly questionable management practices in recent years, and reflects the growing alienation between Pacifica and KPFA's mission, staff and listener sponsors. She was fired because she dared to openly criticize the growing gulf between KPFA and Pacifica. She had the courage to express to Pacifica concerns that staff and listeners have had for several years about the Pacifica Foundation's accountability, practices and priorities. These concerns culminated in governance changes for Pacifica's National Board that make the board a wholly self-selecting body, lacking any representation from the stations it serves.
If nothing else, Pacifica's actions have united the progressive community in Northern California behind the staff and its demands for (1) the immediate rehiring of Nicole Sawaya, (2) independent mediation of the dispute, including full public disclosure of the underlying issues, and (3) the immediate reversal of all disciplinary or adverse action against any KPFA or Pacifica staff for alleged violation of the so-called gag rule, including the firing of Larry Bensky and Robbie Osman.
Community response has been overwhelming. When Pacifica threatened massive layoffs if we did not reach KPFA's summer fund raising goals, listeners sent in their pledges in record numbers so we could keep this vibrant community voice alive; almost all paid Pacifica's share under protest. And we too have been active participants in the continuing staff and community protest against Pacifica's unfortunate management decisions. In particular, as African American programmers at KPFA have stated in an open letter to Mary Frances Berry, we will not be "complicit in any Pacifica-driven purge of KPFA staffers under the guise of 'diversity.'"
A growing number of concerned groups and individuals of color have written to express their support for our 3 demands and to urge the Pacifica Board to enter into open independent mediation. (See the list below).
Because of your commitment to racial and social justice, we are asking you now to add your voice to theirs. Your support is crucial to us at this time. Please write to Dr. Mary Frances Berry, Chair of the Pacifica National Board and send copies to the other Board members. (We have included their addresses at the end of this message.)
Signed,
Chupoo Alafonte (Former Director of Computer
Services, independent producer)
Nick Alexander (News)
Greg Bridges (Music)
Pratap Chatterjee (Co-host of Terra Verde)
Carrie Core (Operations, Producer of "Seven
Generations")
Camille Fink (Operations, independent
producer)
Beatriz Flores (Operations, independent
producer)
Sidney Glass (News, independent producer)
Wendell Harper (News, Host of "What's
the Verdict?")
Bill Heath (News)
Leona M. Jacobs-White (Music, independent
producer)
Adam David Miller (Drama and Literature)
Kiilu Nyasha (Community Activist and Former
KPFA Programmer,
Co-host of "Freedom is a Constant Struggle")
Rosi Reyes (Music, Operations, independent
producer)
C.S. Soong (Co-host of "Flashpoints")
Lewis O. Sawyer, Jr. (Operations, independent
producer)
Art Sato (Music, Host of "In Your Ear"
)
Weyland Southon (Producer of "Seven Generations")
Kirsten Thomas (Morning Show, independent
producer)
Walter Turner (Host of "Africa Today")
Michael Yoshida (Engineering and Operations)
GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS OF COLOR IN SUPPORT
OF KPFA STAFF
Mumia Abu Jamal (Writer and Activist)
Booma Cheena (*Director, Building Opportunities
for Self-Sufficiency)
Angela Davis (Professor, University of
California, Santa Cruz)
Emiliano Echeverria (Community Activist
and Former KPFA
Programmer, Music and Public Affairs)
David Henderson (Poet)
Gina Hotta (*Program Director, Oakland
Asian Cultural Center)
Delores Huerta (*Secretary and Treasurer
of the United Farm Workers of America)
Van Jones (*Executive Director of the
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights)
June Jordan (Writer and Poet)
La Pena Cultural Center
Manning Marable (Professor of History,
Columbia University)
Betita Martinez (*Co-director, Institute
for Multiracial Justice)
Eric Mar (*Acting Executive Director,
Northern California Coalition for Immigrant Rights)
Gus Newport (Community Activist and Former
Mayor of Berkeley)
Maudelle Shirek (Berkeley City Councilmember)
James Vann (*National Committee for Independent
Political Action)
Alice Walker (Writer)
* Organizations for identification purposes only
PACIFICA NATIONAL BOARD
Dr. Mary Frances Berry - Chair
Pacifica Foundation National Board
624 Ninth Street NW #700
Washington D.C. 20425
(202) 337-0382
mfberry@sas.upenn.edu
(at University of Penn, Philadelphia)
June Makela - Treasurer and at large member
Executive Committee
(School Board Member, Borough of Manhattan,
New York, NY)
267 E. 7th St.
New York, NY 10009
junemakela@aol.com
212-673-9225
William Lucy - at large member
1625 "L" Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 429-1122
wlucy@igc.apc.org
Frank Millspaugh - WBAI
Executive Committee
32 King St.
New York, NY 10014
212-924-7409 (fax)
fmillspa@aol.com
Andrea Cisco - WBAI
275 Clinton Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11205
718-230-1415 (fax)
acdarius@aol.com
Ken Ford - WPFW
Executive Committee
11303 Sherrington Ct.
Largo, MD 20774
202-822-0228
202-822-0369 Fax
kford@nahb.com
Rob Robinson - WPFW
c/o M. Williams & Associates
2600 Virginia Avenue, N.W., Suite 701
Washington, D.C. 20037
(202) 338-3015 phone
(202) 228-3017 fax
robrobin@erols.com
Jewelle Taylor-Gibbs, MSW, Ph.D - KPFA
857 Sonoma Terrace
Stanford, CA 94305
510-647-6662
jgibbs@uclink4.berkeley.edu
Pete Bramson - KPFA
Day: 925-671-4000 ext. 2228
Night: 510-654-3001
prbram@aol.comprbram@aol.com
David Acosta - KPFT
Executive Committee
(Certified Public Accountant, Houston,
TX)
102- S. Lockwwood
Houston, TX 77011
713-926-4604
713-921-2780 Fax
Cpadga@aol.com
Micheal Palmer - KPFT
(Real Estate Broker, Houston, TX)
1001 Bayland
Houston TX 77009
713-840-6646
713-960-8583 Fax
mpalmer@cbrichardellis.com
Robert Farrell - KPFK
Executive Committee
3800 Crenshaw Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90008
ph: 323-299-3800 x 255
fax: 323-299-3896
rfarrell@kamber.com
Aaron Kriegel - KPFK
Temple Ner Maarav
17730 Magnolia Blvd.
Encino, CA 91316
818-345-7833
Fax 818-345-2483
harav1@aol.com
|