Building a Radical and Strong KPFA

We are at a dangerous moment in our country's history. The brutal US occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan grind on with no end in sight, while the Bush administration prepares to wage war on Iran and ratchets up its onslaught against our civil liberties at home. With the mainstream media dominated by powerful rightwing conglomerates, now, more than ever, we need KPFA Radio. Our station is the voice of the people on immigration, workers' rights, the struggle for equality and against discrimination, the war, and for music, art and culture. Yet KPFA's Local Station Board is mired in sectarianism and petty infighting, diverting precious energy from KPFA's most important work.

On or after October 17th, KPFA subscribers will get a ballot for its Local Station Board election. The choices you make will decide the future of our radio station. The candidates of the Concerned Listeners for KPFA -- who have been endorsed by Angela Davis, Krissy Keefer, Kevin Danaher, Pratap Chatterjee, Michael Eisenscher, Aimee Allison, Sharon Cornu, and many other activists and leaders -- pledge to bring civility and consensus-building to the board, and will work hard to expand KPFA's signal in Northern and Central California, increase its audience, and strengthen its community ties. Think carefully about who you vote for, and please put these qualified candidates at the top of your list:

Tico Chacin

Andrea Turner

Tina Flores

Conn Hallinan

Mark Hernandez

Erik Oberg

Sarv Randhawa

Phoebe Anne Sorgen


You can find out more about the candidates and the platform of the Concerned Listeners for KPFA at http://www.kpfalisteners.org Thank you for taking the time to help shape the future of progressive media.

ENDORSERS

Alameda County Central Labor Council AFL-CIO

Aileen Alfandary, KPFA News, Co-Director

Aimee Allison, Green Party, Candidate for District 2 City Council, Oakland

David Bacon, Labor Journalist

Marty Bennett, Executive Director, New Economy, Working Solutions (NEWS) and Co-Chair Living wage Coalition of Sonoma County

Larry Bensky, Host, Sunday Salon; Pacifica National Affairs Correspondent

Harry Brill, Labor activist, Berkeley Honda Labor Coalition

Betty Brown, East Bay Peace Action

Susan Chacin, Democratic Socialists of America

Pratap Chatterjee, Managing Director of CorpWatch? and author of Iraq Inc.: A Profitable Occupation

Concilio Latino - Contra Costa County

Sharon Cornu, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Alameda County Central Labor Council AFL-CIO

Kevin Danaher, Co-founder Global Exchange

Angela Davis, Activist/professor, UC Santa Cruz

Jacques Depelchin, Executive Director of the Ota Benga International Alliance for Peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Margaret Dutton, WILPF activist

Sergio Garcia, co-chair, Board of Directors, Centro Legal De La Raza

Michael Eisenscher, Coordinator, Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice

Brian Edwards-Tiekert, KPFA Environmental Justice Reporter, and KPFA Local Station Board Treasurer

Barbara Epstein, Professor, UC Santa Cruz, scholar of social movements, editorial board member of Monthly Review

Freedom Song Network

Jon Fromer, Freedom Song Network

Mary Fromer, Organizing Director SEIU 707, Sonoma Mendocino

Lillian Galedo, Executive Director, Filipinos for Affirmative Action

Rainjita Geesler, Co-Director, KPFA First Voice Apprenticeship Program

Sherry Gendelman, Current listener member of the KPFA Local Station Board, former chair of the KPFA Local Advisory Board, plaintiff in the listener lawsuits against Pacifica in 1999

Aaron Glantz, Former Iraq correspondent & founding producer, Free Speech Radio News

David Glick, Healthcare for All California, Marin Peace & Justice Coalition

William B Harvey, Secretary-Treasurer CWA Local 9415

Lynne Hollander Savio, Chair Mario Savio Memorial Lecture

Garry Horrocks, Berkeley Honda striker

Christina Huggins, Executive Vice-President, Communication Workers of America (CWA), Local 9415

Pat Jamison, Vukani Mawethu

Elsa Johnson, Women's Therapy Center

Paul & Sandy Kaplan, Sonoma County Union Activists

Krissy Keefer, Green Party candidate for Congress

Shelley Kessler, Executive Secretary Treasurer, San Mateo Central Labor Council (AFL-CIO)

Nunu Kidane, Priority African Network

David Kramer, Executive Director Emeritus, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 535

Jack Kurzweil, Co-Chair of the Peace and Justice Committee of the California Faculty Association

Matthew Lasar, Historian, Author of Pacifica Radio: The Rise of an Alternative Network & Uneasy Listening: Pacifica Radio's Civil War

Andrea Lewis, Co-host, KPFA's Morning Show

Philip Maldari, Co-Host, The Morning Show

Mickey Mayzes, Co-Director, KPFA First Voice Apprenticeship Program

Antonio Medrano, Community activist

Mark Mericle, KPFA News Co-Director

Bob Meyer, Program Chair, Ruth Group

Giuliana Milanese, Center for Political Education

Doug Minkler, Radical artist and Green Party member

Darryl Moore, Berkeley City Council Member, 2ed District

Scoop Nisker, Radio commentator and author

Peter Olney, Organizing Director, International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)

Sally Phillips, KPFA Music DJ

Max Pringle, KPFA Labor Beat Reporter

Dan Rush, Political Director, UFCW Local 120, Oakland

Bonnie Simmons, KPFA Local Station Board, and host, the Bonnie Simmons Show.

Mike Smith, Sonoma Valley Peace and Justice, Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) Board, Sonoma Valley Hospital Board, and Co-Director of Sonoma Valley Healthcare for All.

Norman Solomon, Media critic & author of War Made Easy

C.S. Soong, Host, Against the Grain

Bill Sorro, Manilatown Heritage Foundation

Zhenya Spake, Marin Peace & Justice Coalition

Susan Stone, Victim/criminal offender mediator, juvenile court & former Director, KPFA Drama & Literature

Kay Trimberger, Professor Emerita, Women & Gender Studies, Sonoma State University

Ana Turetsky, President of AFT 771 (AFL-CIO)

Howard Wallace, Vice President, San Francisco Labor Council

Kris Welch, Host, Living Room; Saturday Morning Talkies

The Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club

Margy Wilkinson, CUE (Coalition of University Employees) Local 3 UC Berkeley

Sharon Wood, Film maker, co-producer: "KPFA-on-the-Air"

Victoria Z, Host, Music of the World