Publish to Newswire
Add an EventFrom the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Pacifica Houston KPFT White Management Coup
On the one year anniversary of the death of George Floyd the Pacifica Houston management organized a coup of Black, Brown and radical programming. They did this without notice to the programmers or the local station board.
Pacifica Houston KPFT White Management Coup
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5/31/2021
Contact: Nancy Saibara: Nancy.saibara [at] icloud.com
National Programming Committee Chair and KPFT Board Member
On May 25, 2021, the one year anniversary of George Floyd's death, KPFT’s new General Manager, David Bradley-Baes, led a white management coup at KPFT, kicking off of FM twenty-three shows featuring People of Color, radical, or local content: Nuestra Palabra, Latino Politics & News, People of Earth, Proyecto Latino Americano, Voz de la Tierra, Son Pacifica, Covid Race & Democracy, Houston Indymedia, Vegan World Radio, Living Art, Whole Mother, Think Wing Radio, K. Rino, Flash Gordon Parks, Afrotoniks, Speak Out, Welcome to the Taste, Free Thinker Radio, Mini Geology, Freedom To Air, Escapism, Sojourner Truth, and Green Bubble. The Pacifica National Board has been alerted and is reportedly reviewing this action.
Not only is this move an assault on communities of color, local programmers, and radicals in Houston, the removal of shows for diverse communities threatens grant funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. These programming changes were made without any consultation with the programmers,the community, or with the Local Station Board. These changes take place just before a crucial vote being pushed by New Day Pacifica, a disruptive Pacifica faction, to institute anti-democratic changes in Pacifica Network governance (below).
New Day Pacifica endorsers reaped benefits on the new schedule grid, and eighteen of them retained FM time-slots: Larry Winters’ Spare Change, Roark’s Roadmap, Wally James’ Progressive Forum, Egberto Willies’ Politics Done Right, Nancy McAfee and Mr. and Mrs. V’s Blues on the Move, James and Colleen Nagel’s Howlin' the Blues, David Collingsworth and Hank Lamb’s Prison Show, Genie Mims’ Down Home Blues, Bill Galbraith’s Irish Aires, Duane Bradley’s Open Journal, Freddie Rothstein, Rick Norris and Laryssa Lee’s All Day Music, Jack Vakinski, Queer Voices, and Nuri Nuri’s Blues Branch.
Without being authorized to do so, New Day Pacifica sent out emails widely prominently featuring a photo of Jane Fonda, and falsely claiming she was an endorser to their platform, only to be forced to take it down soon thereafter.
White former managers and directors Duane Bradley, Bill Crosier, Jack Valinski, and Larry Winters continue to influence policy, finances, programming, and politics at the station, and continue to have prime time slots on the KPFT FM programming grid. The first manager of color in the entire 40+ year history of KPFT, interim manager Dr. Obidike Kamau, was fired by the white management and removed from the station by Houston police.
In resistance to these proposed changes, Pacifica Fight Back (pacificafightback.org) has been joined by Mumia Abu Jamal, Danny Glover, Cindy Sheehan, Harry Belafonte, Abby Martin, Leonard Peltier and others to say, 'Vote No!"
https://pacificafightback.org
Listeners can also express concerns via email to the Interim Pro Bono Pacifica Executive Director, Lydia Brazon (ed [at] pacifica.org) and Pacifica National Board (pnb [at] pacifica.org).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5/31/2021
Contact: Nancy Saibara: Nancy.saibara [at] icloud.com
National Programming Committee Chair and KPFT Board Member
On May 25, 2021, the one year anniversary of George Floyd's death, KPFT’s new General Manager, David Bradley-Baes, led a white management coup at KPFT, kicking off of FM twenty-three shows featuring People of Color, radical, or local content: Nuestra Palabra, Latino Politics & News, People of Earth, Proyecto Latino Americano, Voz de la Tierra, Son Pacifica, Covid Race & Democracy, Houston Indymedia, Vegan World Radio, Living Art, Whole Mother, Think Wing Radio, K. Rino, Flash Gordon Parks, Afrotoniks, Speak Out, Welcome to the Taste, Free Thinker Radio, Mini Geology, Freedom To Air, Escapism, Sojourner Truth, and Green Bubble. The Pacifica National Board has been alerted and is reportedly reviewing this action.
Not only is this move an assault on communities of color, local programmers, and radicals in Houston, the removal of shows for diverse communities threatens grant funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. These programming changes were made without any consultation with the programmers,the community, or with the Local Station Board. These changes take place just before a crucial vote being pushed by New Day Pacifica, a disruptive Pacifica faction, to institute anti-democratic changes in Pacifica Network governance (below).
New Day Pacifica endorsers reaped benefits on the new schedule grid, and eighteen of them retained FM time-slots: Larry Winters’ Spare Change, Roark’s Roadmap, Wally James’ Progressive Forum, Egberto Willies’ Politics Done Right, Nancy McAfee and Mr. and Mrs. V’s Blues on the Move, James and Colleen Nagel’s Howlin' the Blues, David Collingsworth and Hank Lamb’s Prison Show, Genie Mims’ Down Home Blues, Bill Galbraith’s Irish Aires, Duane Bradley’s Open Journal, Freddie Rothstein, Rick Norris and Laryssa Lee’s All Day Music, Jack Vakinski, Queer Voices, and Nuri Nuri’s Blues Branch.
Without being authorized to do so, New Day Pacifica sent out emails widely prominently featuring a photo of Jane Fonda, and falsely claiming she was an endorser to their platform, only to be forced to take it down soon thereafter.
White former managers and directors Duane Bradley, Bill Crosier, Jack Valinski, and Larry Winters continue to influence policy, finances, programming, and politics at the station, and continue to have prime time slots on the KPFT FM programming grid. The first manager of color in the entire 40+ year history of KPFT, interim manager Dr. Obidike Kamau, was fired by the white management and removed from the station by Houston police.
In resistance to these proposed changes, Pacifica Fight Back (pacificafightback.org) has been joined by Mumia Abu Jamal, Danny Glover, Cindy Sheehan, Harry Belafonte, Abby Martin, Leonard Peltier and others to say, 'Vote No!"
https://pacificafightback.org
Listeners can also express concerns via email to the Interim Pro Bono Pacifica Executive Director, Lydia Brazon (ed [at] pacifica.org) and Pacifica National Board (pnb [at] pacifica.org).
For more information:
https://pacificafightback.org
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Donate
$75.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network
Ted cited his friend at Temple University who said there is no difference between interim-GM and GM.
The friend was talking about the power and duties of the GM.
There is a difference between hiring and firing of interim-GM and GM.
The hiring and firing of GM is prescribed in the Bylaws; the hiring and firing of interim-GM is at the discretion of the iED or ED.
Ted conflated the two which stoked the racial divide at KPFT.
Unfortunately, at Pacifica, the entire governance system has been hijacked by competing factions consisting of some self-interested individuals, who have gamed the system to ensure that they control portions of the local station boards.
To end the factionalism, a place to start is to shun those who stoke the divide: black and brown vs white, East Coast vs West Coast.
Our "faction" is those of us who won't allow this to happen. Our "faction" is here because Aki's faction is there and determined to fool people into giving them our station/network for pennies on the dollar, while running us into the ground with endless lawsuits and other financial burdens. This has been going on for decades. They obstructed the democratic governance and mishandled the finances, and now insist that democratic governance is to blame.
Don't be fooled! Vote NO!
{Sorry if this is a duplicate - first try didn't seem to go through.}
“I support efforts to rewrite the by-laws, hopefully crafting ones that genuinely protect the Foundation from its current, catastrophic management system.”
Carol Spooner
Instead they continue to carry on about factions and sides, as if holding more seats on the board for their faction is what's important, instead of what's actually on the radio and what Pacifica stands for in the world.
What's "divisive" is New Day's proclamation that no one from Pacifica's two East Coast and much Blacker stations, WPFW and WBAI, are restricted from any officer position on the board until 2024. Only Californians and Texans are allowed.
Apparently the East Coast stations are like "FrankensteiI can hear it, can you?
This is consistent with New Day proponents Ian Masters claim that "white elitism" is a trope that doesn't need to be taken seriously because Pacifica is exempt from the general issue of racism in media.
Guess what? It isn't.
And a vote for New Day is a vote that you agree that white supremacy is not a serious issue and what this original post is discussing is unimportant and "monstrous".
No, people of color who want their voices heard are not monsters.
And the right vote on the New Day bylaws is a hard no.
It's the people who silence black and brown voices, who perpetuate the inequalities at Pacifica, who are stoking the divide, not the people who are pointing out the problem.
Don't install hand-picked appointees who refuse to address the reasons for the divisions at our radio stations. Vote NO in the bylaws referendum, and make sure your voice isn't taken away next!
Everyone, please vote no on the bylaws referendum. We see what has just happened in Houston, and there will be more of that on other stations should New Day gain control.