RadioPoetics.org

Attached and below is the latest version of KPFA staff's statement of no confidence now containing 69 staff signatures.
Chandra

September 24, 2008

To: Pacifica National Board, Local Station Boards, All management and staff, Affiliate stations, collaborators, and stakeholders in Pacifica

Fr: Nicole Sawaya, executive director/CEO

On August 3rd I gave notice to the Pacifica National Board that I would be leaving. September 30th (end of our fiscal year) will be my last day. Concurrently, I had written myself out of the FY09 budget, as the Foundation is hard-pressed to support two well-paid executives. You lead from the top.

Hello all-

I'm planning to table for KPFA at the Progressive Festival, this Sunday in Petaluma. I see it as a great opportunity to talk about what is happening at KPFA, to sign people up to vote in the next KPFA election, and to have fun.

Wanna join me? I really need help. So far there are only 4 of us.

Chandra

The below is the first in a series of fundraisers being planned to help Nadra Foster pay for her attorney and her medical expenses.
Chandra

On Sunday, September 28th at 4pm, there will be a "Ujima" fundraiser for Nadra Foster. This will primarily be a cultural event where artists will perform and we will get donations to help Nadra pay off her legal and medical bills. Rappers East Bay Politix will perform, Traci Bartlow will be dancing, as well as Ray Ryda will be rapping. This event was organized to take advantage of the thousands of activists who will be converging on Oakland for CR10. This event will be hosted by the Block Report's Minister of Information JR, and members of the 1st Voice Apprenticeship Program.

Dear Berkeley Daily Planet Editor:

In response to the September 18, 2008 letter titled "Healing KPFA" signed by so-called "KPFA Staff." at
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-09-18/article/31145?headli...).

First of all, we must confess we were a bit puzzled that the authors self-identified as "KPFA Staff," when nearly half the six signatories are actually KPFA Local Station Board members affiliated with the "Concerned Listeners" block, rather than staff members. Furthermore, of the 6 actual staff signers 5 are paid department heads, and not rank and file or unpaid employees. To say the least, a rather skewed sampling of "KPFA staff."

Bay View publisher Willie Ratcliff has just submitted this commentary to the Berkeley Daily Planet, www.berkeleydailyplanet.com .

Nadra Foster and the mission of KPFA

"My passion for KPFA has led me in the past to donate more than I could afford, but not during this fund drive – not until current management is democratically replaced. The current practice of ignoring, vilifying and brutalizing young Black programmers is intolerable.

Until new management reverses that practice and opens the station to all who will contribute to its mission, I ask those currently in charge to spare us the hypocrisy of using such great revolutionary Black heroes as Paul Robeson and the Black Panthers to raise money. Remember, the purpose of the Black Panther Party was to defend the Black community against police terrorism. "

Nine years have passed since Pacifica radio station KPFA, the seminal community radio outlet founded by pacifist Lew Hill in 1949, last had the police inside its doors to arrest its workers, but on August 20, 2008, the Berkeley police were again summoned to 1929 Martin Luther King Jr Way, and asked to eject programmer Nadra Foster, who had been allegedly banned for a disagreement involving usage of a copier.

Fifty six of the station's workers, paid and unpaid alike, have joined together to condemn what they describe as a growing atmosphere of intimidation, including increased security measures, restrictions on airing discussion of internal issues, the return of banning individuals from the premises, and the use of police force to address non-violent policy issues. Several prominent members of the progressive community the station serves have decried the use of force, including authors Michael Parenti and Norman Solomon, devorah major, former SF poet laureate, Jack Heyman of the ILWU, Mills College professor Julia Sudbury and advocacy groups Critical Resistance, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children and Copwatch.
Project Censored Executive Director Peter Phillips commented "KPFA should only use outside police in the station when a serious life-threatening circumstance is evident or major crime is in progress. A progressive self-managed system of mutual respect and communication must take priority over outside force".

To: "KPFA Staff List"
Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 11:54 AM

KPFA's staff have a right to analyze, criticize, and discuss KPFA policy and politics in any forum they wish—from staff meetings to outside newspapers.

When it comes to the use of KPFA's airwaves to discuss internal issues, KPFA's producers and hosts are using a public resource and have a responsibility to ensure that their broadcasts advance principled discussions about station issues of significance to KPFA's greater audience. Remember, your first responsibility on air is to serve our audience. With that in mind, on air discussions must meet the following:

Dear KPFA staff,

As you know, the Gulf Coast has been seriously battered by Hurricane Ike. Our thoughts are with the people of the region, as well as the people of Haiti and Cuba, who are paying a terrible price for global warming and the devastating use of unsustainable fossil fuels.
We are very sad to report that our Houston-based sister station KPFT has been knocked off the air by Hurricane Ike. Houston is still flooded, people are trapped in their neighborhoods, and and there is a curfew in effect for the next 6 days. According to KPFT General Manager Duane Bradley and Pacifica Executive Director Nicole Sawaya, the station and transmitter have no power and KPFT may not go back on the air until the middle of next week. Hopefully KPFT's transmitter has not been damaged, but it's too soon to know.
We send our best wishes to the wonderful staff of KPFT, some of whom have had their homes destroyed by the hurricane. We will update you further as things become clearer and let you know if there are ways that we can help our friends in Houston. Thanks to all of you who have reported on this so far.

Lemlem

Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was unlawfully arrested in
downtown St. Paul, Minnesota at approximately 5 p.m. local time. Police
violently manhandled Goodman, yanking her arm, as they arrested her.
Video of her arrest can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now!
producers who were being unlawfully detained. They are Sharif Abdel
Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. Kouddous and Salazar were arrested while
they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street
demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Goodman's crime
appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the
press.