Pacifica/KPFA Management Team Targets KPFA Show Africa Today

I support the demand to keep '' Africa Today'' on the air at it's present time . The reasons are compelling . But i only wish that the host Walter Turner had shown the soldarity towards others that he now asks for his show . I never heard of him saying a word or even signing a petition in support of '' Flashpoints '' despite all the (ongoing ) attacks on that show , which forced Nora Barrows-Freidman to quit .
While it's true that he has never endorsed the so called '' Concerned Listeners '' gang He has never openly opposed them either . They support the top down Mgmt. style that his show may fall victim to .
Most importantly the most important safeguard against capacious changes imposed on programmers is a democratic representive Program council . But when then Acting Program Director Sasha Lilly at first gutted and then destroyed the council Walter was silent .
That's the thing about Soldarity . If you don't show it when others are under active it might not be there when you personally need it the most .
But despite all of that we should all support Turner and '' Africa Today '' against this unreasonable demand by KPFA mgmt . But let's get the Program council reestablished to prevent this in the future .

I did make a partial mistake . Turner did show support for Nadra Foster at one point .
He signed , along with dozens of staff members, a '' Open Letter of No Confidence '' in Now ex Manager Lem Lem Riggiio .
My apologies .

The Nadra Foster incident was the watershed; the refusal of KPFA's management to apologize for the police attack on Ms. Foster and constant attacks on anything good on KPFA since then make it clear that KPFA needs to be closed and reopened under completely different management. There is no socialist, workingclass content to KPFA at all; it is just a bourgeois bull session. Most of us only listen to Flashpoints and the 6 p.m. Evening News that follows it because they are convenient souces of some information. Flashpoints needs to have a socialist presence, not a former CIA agent. The answer to the question that we hear asked on Flashpoints, what would you say to any American president is always resign now, the workingclass has taken state power. We are not interested in reforming Nazi USA nor can it be reformed. The 6 p.m. Evening News has so many fillers that it sounds like a school exercise in journalism, definitely not a radical news program at all. Instead of chewing the cud over every stupidity of the US Congress and fascist president (and they are all fascists), we need people to go into the workingclass communities and interview the residents as to the jobs, housing, schools, transportation, medical care and pensions available to the workingclass, and to ask them their needs and concerns. KPFA must have be based 100% in the workingclass communities if it is to exist.

This is the same mentality that refused to put Democracy Now! on at prime time, won't help Bonnie Faulkner with even minimal reimbursement of expenses for "Guns and Butter", a very popular program that brings in lots of donations, etc., etc. Good radio is not that hard to do and you must stay focused on your current and prospective audience within the context of the Mission. When you put patronage and cronyism first and "MY JOB, MY BOARD SEAT", MY AIR SHIFT", "MY POLITICAL POWER", before the Mission you are heading for a financial disaster which now appears to have arrived.

If the concerned listener were really concerned by the futur of kpfa they should leave .Go work some place like npr (radio tel aviv) . But sadely they will prefer to tank the station than to admit their mediocrity and lameness. Today they canceled one of the best show "voice of north africa and middle east) again. I am so sick of them i start listening to kpfk on line.

Naeem Deskins, who is the sender of the e-mail above, is running as an LSB candidate on the Independents for Community Radio (ICR) "slate" or group of candidates this year.

The letter regarding Nadra Foster that is cited above, was the result of an in-station organizing campaign put together and coordinated by Shahram Aghamir, a producer with Voices of the Middle East and North Africa, who is also an ICR candidate this year on the staff side, and one of the co-founders of ICR. I believe 70+ staff members finally signed on to the letter - an enormous effort.

Let's give credit where credit is due.

There is only one credible alternative to Concerned Listeners/Save KPFA and that is ICR. Please use your vote to diminish Concerned Listeners once and for all and move KPFA on to a better place. The Concerned Listeners have been a disaster in every way.

Voices for Justice is running 4 candidates. That is not enough to establish a board majority even with a 100% success rate. After running a group of candidates in 3 consecutive elections, they have only placed one candidate in the top 9 - once - Sureya Sayadi in 2007.

People's Radio is less than 1/2 the size they were in 2006, due to infighting. Again, they have not placed a candidate in the top nine since 2007.

That candidate, Richard Phelps, who apparently has also ended his People's Radio affiliation, resigned his LSB seat in 2007 in a snit after his demand to be sent to the Pacifica National Board was not supported by his peers. He then ran again in 2009 and did not win.

There is more to this than posting on Indybay.

Please support Independents for Community Radio candidates for the LSB: Naeem Deskins, Hyun-Mi Kim, Gina Szeto, Stephen Astourian, Monadel Herzallah, Janet Kobren, Cynthia Johnson, Georgia Frazier, Tracy Rosenberg and Shahram Aghamir and Gabrielle Wilson.

Thanks.

The goal for anyone who wants a democratic radical cutting edge Pacifica is to defeat the Concerned Listeners . However There are some problems with the ICR group that could hinder that effort . One example . Anyone who has followed what's happening with the Labor movement are well aware of the huge millions of dollars campaign by the SEIU National leadership to destroy the Newly founded National Union of Health Care Workers Union . Practically other union in the country has condemmed this union busting including many rank and file activists within the SEIU . (and albeit very cynically given their contempt for democray at Pacifica So have several major CL ers like Dan Siegel and Warren Marr )
But one ICR candidate has not only not condemmed this but he is actively working with this campaign .
Many other SEIU Int. staff members resigned in protest . But not him .
Along with everything else what a potential campaign issue that gives to the CL ? They could easily say '' These people care about democracy at Pacifica but apparently don't support it within the Labor
Movement ? "' . Many Labor activists will not be voting for that ICR candidate . I just hope his inclusion on the slate doesn't harm the chances of other supportable candidates .
Also there's a ICR candidate who's ''day job'' was/is (unclear ) a marketing director at a Commerical Radio station .She comments that she would like to advance the KPFA ''product '' and '' Brand ''. OK it is true that corporate termology is rife within our society even among some progressives (especially with the partial substitution of '' Non profits ''for radical actvist organzations )
But especially with what Pacifica experienced in the 90's with the pro-corporate ' Highjackers '' it does give people reason to hold off on her endorsement at least until when /If she explains more about what she 's really thinks and believes at Campaign events and Public appearances .
It's true that Peoples Radio aren't running a slate this year . Lack of funds to send out a expensive mailer to all KPFA members is a big factor in that decision . Last election the only candidates that won were on a mailer Maybe More later.
PS I am also a bit troubled by Deskins's line about '' Radio Tel Aviv'' . Why that could be (and hopefully was meant to be ) interpreted as just referring to those at KPFA who oppose Pro-Palestinian programming at KPFA it sure could be interpreted as Anti-Jewish . Please be careful in the future .

I apparently misread. It was'' Ragoman ''(? ) that referred to '' Radio Tel Aviv '' not Deskins . Sorry .

That candidate, Richard Phelps, who apparently has also ended his People's Radio affiliation, resigned his LSB seat in 2007 in a snit after his demand to be sent to the Pacifica National Board was not supported by his peers. He then ran again in 2009 and did not win.
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Another anonymous hit piece that is dishonest and factually incorrect.

Here is what really happened in 2007. I was elected highest of all the non-CL slate mailer candidates, Tracy came in behind me and Joe W. finished 10th. I have a fulltime job and was at that time on three other boards. I was encouraged to run for the PNB by Joe W., La Varn and several others to be a legal educator on the PNB to try and stop Dan Siegel’s legal games in favor of CL/JUC etc. while he was Foundation Counsel.

I hesitantly but positively accepted the assignment since I knew how bad things were getting and I knew I could counter Siegel's legal BS.The additional time commitment would not have made my family happy. I accepted that I would have to drop off some other boards and focus my time.

At a strategy group meeting shortly after the new board was seated I announced that I was running and Chandra went ballistic, she acted like the PNB seat she sat in the previous year was “owned” by her. Tracy sided with Chandra, since she put her fear of me exposing her individualism (her power before our Mission) above the need to expose Siegel on the PNB. Tracy knows that I see right through her and am not afraid to tell people what I see when she violates basic principles of democratic process and transparency in order to enhance her personal power. And they were joined by Sasha Futran that stellar ” team player” that always puts personal grudges before the Mission. She hates me since I didn’t endorse her candidacy, and now everyone knows why.

In the 2009 election Futran tried to get her slate mate Henry Norr kicked out of the election. Why? Because he put out his own election flyer and didn’t give her the prominence she demands.

When Sasha was first elected and came to her first strategy meeting she demanded that she be given seats on various committees, threatened to not vote for certain people if anyone voted for me for certain things and when we gave her more that she deserved but less than this newly elected demanded she walked out of the meeting and cursed us as she left. She didn’t come back until near time to elect positions again. In her first election of officers she voted for Bonnie Simmons, CL flunky extraordinaire, for Chair instead of me as she had promised.

After almost a year Futran comes back to our strategy meetings and sides with Chandra and Tracy and viciously and dishonestly attack me for running for “Chandra’s PNB seat”. It is my understanding that now Chandra is no longer a Tracy ally. Some people take longer to learn and accomadate when they see a benefit, like Tracy's unity against my running for "her PNB" seat.

The vote count for PNB a couple of days before I resigned as reported to me by others had me winning by one vote. However, I decided that given the CL majority which means nothing positive would get done, and the several people on our side putting their personal agendas above our unity and what was best for the PNB dealing with Siegel, etc. I was not interested in committing the additional 20-30 hours a week or more that being on the PNB would require given the lack of principled unity on our side. And given the above I realized that being on that LSB would be a frustrating waste of time, so I resigned which allowed Joe to come onto the LSB.

It was like leaving a sports team that required lots of hours of practice for the team to excel with several players that were primarily interested in their personal stats and didn’t care if the team won and often missed practice.

Check out Futran’s LSB attendance record! When I was on the LSB I missed only one meeting which was to attend my daughter’s college graduation. And I listened to most PNB phone meetings and attended PNB meetings in New York, LA and Washington DC.

Additionally, I was the one that gave the National Election Supervisor the legal reasoning as to why Henry Norr shouldn’t be kicked off the ballot in the dispute. Had Henry not been on the ballot I might have been elected since several folks that voted for Henry first voted for me second. Henry endorsed my candidacy. I knew this reality and as usual I put what was right before my personal interest.

In 2009 I came in 11th, first among those that were not on a slate mailer and beat several members of both the ICR and CL that were on slate mailers. And but for a nasty and dishonest whisper campaign against me by Tracy and Janet K. and their pals that put their power before having the strongest team to battle CL, I might have actually been elected without being on a slate mailer in 2009.

Many people have asked why wasn’t there a united slate in 2009??? In 2009 Peoplesradio and some real independents tried to forge a united slate to defeat CL and Tracy walked out of the meetings both times despite growing unity among those attending. In 2010 PeopleRadio tried again and after one meeting it was clear that Tracy would not cooperate and encourage ICR to join.

In 2009 she chose to run with Annie Hallett who when on the LSB voted with the CL folks 90% of the time and Sasha Futran instead of anyone from peoplesradio. Why? Because Tracy knew that if we were involved she would not be allowed to be the Queen. So she and Joe went out and found “new” people to run. And most of them didn’t show up at election events and didn’t even gather their own signatures for their nominating petitions. This has happened again this year. And some of the new LSB members have had bad attendance as has Futran again.

When you have a one vote majority it is mandatory that all your members attend if you want to get anything done. And not much has been done this year, due to low ICR attendance and the usual CL obstructionism. In the last year CL and ICR have each boycotted a meeting for political reasons which means two meetings didn’t happen and despite ICR’s campaigning against the CL voting in meeting every other month, the ICR majority has not mandated once a month meetings since they have gained the majority.

And then there was the ICR electing Futran as LSB Chair and she did just about as horrible a job as Rosalinda. There was a very split vote among the ICR folks as to if they should nominate Futran, some were afraid that if they didn’t she would defect to voting for a CL chair as she did in 2007. This fear was fueled by her earlier voting blackmail messages and her hanging out almost exclusively with CL folks as she joined with them in trying to get Henry Norr kicked off the ballot during the vote counting process.

I will not vote for Tracy Rosenberg and Janet Kobern, Janet’s support of Palestine does not make her qualified for the LSB, and another person with unprincipled political practices is the last thing the LSB needs. I encourage all the people that voted for me to do the same.

As always DO NOT vote for any CL candidates. Of the ICR candidates at this time I can only urge you to vote for Kate Tanaka. The others I will evaluate as the election goes along. From what I have heard Kate Tanaka say and have seen her do I think she will be a positive addition and will give real democratic leadership to ICR and the LSB. So there will be no loss and a positive gain in principled practices if Kate is elected and Tracy’s personal agendas aren’t back on the LSB hidden behind her double talk.

Tracy has recently stated that last year when her and Joe and Shahram agreed on things it was unnecessary to get anyone else’s input and one time she stated that there just wasn’t time to do it any other way. Ask Henry Norr and Aki if they were consulted last election about the ICR ranking its members for voters or any other major decisions???

I don’t believe that the ICR last year ever had a meeting with all or most of their candidates together in one room. It is easier for self appointed leaders to control the process if the group never meets together and only has conference call meetings. Andrea Pritchett was heard wondering out loud last election about when they were going to meet.

I would also not vote for Steve Zeltzer or anyone on his slate. When I was Chair of the LSB Zeltzer and his crew often disrupted the meetings, pushing their personal agendas, at the expense of getting things done and Steve has on several occasions sided with JUC and CL. More details on this later if needed.

“Our leadership elite may still want to believe in democratic principles-they certainly profess that they do-but in practice they have shown themselves all too willing to violate those principles in order to gain or retain power”, Cornel West from his book Democracy Matters, page 28.

This was written about our national leadership. Unfortunately it applies 100% to CL and sadly to some on the listener activist side, right Tracy?

As Gandhi said “be the changes you want to see happen.” That means that if you don’t want self appointed leaders on the PNB than you shouldn’t try to be self appointed leaders of your local groups and if you advocate transparency then you should practice it. If you are going to criticize CL for undemocratic practices on the LSB then you should practice democratic process in your group.

For the record, PeopleRadio never ranked its candidates and if we were going to do so it would have been done after discussion and a vote.

As always I will debate these issues with anyone who has the courage to speak publicly, CL, ICR or anyone.

There will be hope for KPFA/Pacifica when we see the rank and file of the ICR stand up and say no when unprincipled actions are suggested by their “leaders.” Otherwise they are being relegated to being these self appointed leaders “working class.” My hopes for this to happen with the CL are slim and none. There is more but I have to go to work.

Richard Phelps, whose first team loyalty goes to the principles of democratic process, truth seeking and speaking, and transparency to build a Pacifica network that can help educate and activate people to forge a more just and peaceful society at home and abroad.