Disconnect between the on-air program messages at KPFA-Practice What You Preach

Disconnect between the on-air program messages at KPFA: Practice What You Preach


http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-10-16/article/31352?headline=Letters-to-the-Editor
GET WITH THE PROGRAMS

Editors, Daily Planet:

There is a disconnect between the on-air program messages at KPFA and the actions of the management toward staff and volunteers. This inconsistency was revealed to the public when management and personnel at the radio station called the police on Nadra Foster during a dispute. This decision resulted in the police brutalizing Nadra, who is a long-time, black woman programmer.

KPFA radio, 94.1 FM, has many programs denouncing racism and the prison, military industrial complex. Among these programs are Hard Knock Radio, Flashpoints, JR and the Block Report, Without Walls, Critical Resistance, and Mumia Abu Jamal’s Commentaries from Death Row. Reporters address the abuses of the police and of the dominant culture. The economically powerful and privileged use the police as a tool to control political dissent and to oppress people of color.

Police are not a solution to resolving our conflicts or solving any problems at the radio station. We should utilize alternatives such as sensitivity training, NVC-Non Violent Communication, and Conflict Resolution. These approaches, which have also been presented on-the-air, could be facilitated at teach-ins and community meetings. Additionally, management and staff should be familiar with de-escalation techniques and should have trained community support available if disputes and difficulties arise.

Management, with paid and unpaid staff, need to support the intention of KPFA in the studio, as well as on the air, by utilizing alternative approaches to calling the police. We need to do as we say at KPFA. Management, there is a better way—get with the programs.

Beverly Dove