Years ago, in the days before back in the day, Pacifica waited three years for its license renewal while the House Un-American Activities Committee and the FBI tried to pin Communist conspiracy charges on the network.  A decade later, in a free speech fight that stretched to the U.S. Supreme Court, Pacifica fought for the right to broadcast George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" monologue.

Years ago, the police busted into KPFK and hauled the manager off to jail as the programmers aired the Patty Hearst tapes, secretly hand-delivered to the station, as I hear the story.

In 2003, General Manager Eva Georgia brought all the resources of the station to sponsoring international anti-war protest, and the station brought 60,000 people into the streets, the largest anti-war march in Los Angeles since Vietnam. This is the woman leading members of the Committee to Strengthen KPFK sought for years to drive out of the station.

Today, as I write this, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who smashed the South Central Farm encampment and tore up the food, is in the studio as a guest, and the host, a member of the Committee to Strengthen KPFK, wraps up with "You're a good man, Lee Baca."

What will KPFK become?

KPFK must serve the future, not the past. It should serve those who seek to preserve life and foster liberation, not those, like Lee Baca, who destroy  the hope of us all for a new and better world. The issues for activists of today and our future are enormous.  Dismantling a world empire.  Liberating the people from the social control of brutality, terror, surveillance, incarceration, and genocide.  Dismantling the machine of perpetual war.  Rescuing the ecosystem.  Overcoming Euro-american cultural supremacism.  Surviving technological, economic, and societal disintegration.  These are the defining challenges confronting the 21st century.  They demand leadership from those who will live with the consequences of the decisions we make now.  Will KPFK take the lead?

The question of KPFK's future has become an ugly "debate" at Los Angeles Indymedia. What you read in L.A. Indymedia comments is an authentic reflection of the culture at KPFK now: name calling, snitchjacketing, mocking people with literacy problems or learning disabilities, intimidating other independent media.  "Politics" today inside KPFK is little more than scapegoating, hunting down people who speak truth to power.  The Committee to Strengthen KPFK struck the coup de grâce: a petition denouncing the general manager because she was being sued,  and spreading unproven accusations to the mainstream media.  Eva left, after suffering through five years of what you see on L.A. Indymedia and much worse.  And now they're coming in for the kill, an election that will determine the next general manager.

I got sucked into the mire.  L.A. Indymedia asked me to repost an article from my website here, and I did, knowing full well that the vitriol at KPFK was toxic.  Nobody has proven that anything I wrote was wrong, but such is the outrage of a bruised privileged class.  They can take their unproven crap about the general manager to the L.A. Times and the L.A. Weekly, but how dare I tell the truth on an open publishing site?  L.A. Indymedia has caved: they distanced themselves from the article with a disclaimer the likes of which I've never seen there.  They allow personal attacks to remain in plain view, a part of the "debate" they called for.  But, knowing the pressure, the threats, I can hardly blame them.

Except that L.A. Indymedia is open publishing, people.  You wanna pitch some other story, you wanna try to spin the facts, you wanna promote your own candidacy or candidate there, go for it.

But the Committee hasn't done that and and won't do it.  Their supporters' debate of choice is anonymous smears, snitchjacketing, mockery, fear-mongering, implicit threats.

KPFK, bastion of radical free speech, at the end of this election in a little more than three weeks, could be the voice of a faction of the Democratic Party and their allies, the voice of those who posted their vicious attacks on L.A. Indymedia, the voice of Sheriff Lee Baca.

TAKE OVER THIS RADIO STATION!  Do it for Will Lewis, the former KPFK manager who refused to give the Hearst tapes to the FBI, for Carlin, for communists, for anarchist Pacifica founder Lew Hill, for radical-ass, in your face radio--take over this station.

My words here are carefully chosen: vote the fuckers out.  And vote in fresh, authentically radical voices. Vote for Kahllid A. Al-Almin , currently in jail framed by the LAPD.  Vote for Joaquín Cienfuegos of Copwatch, vote for Rufina Juárez who led the South Central Farm resistance, vote for Lawrence Reyes of the Puerto Rican Alliance and a former affiliate of the Young Lords Party.  Vote for Schyna Pour , a budding high school radical and daughter of anti-Shah Iranian Reza Pour .  Vote for Jubilee Shine who organized the rally to stop the minutemen from taking Leimert Park.  Vote for former student radical against the Shah Moe Mansour , driven out of his country decades ago.  Vote for anti-racist, anti-war activist Chuck Anderson who screams at the system from inside the darkness of Orange County.

Don't vote for Grace Aaron, the head of the Committee to Strengthen KPFK, who led the public campaign of lies against Eva Georgia, or Aaron's supporters.  Don't vote for Donna J. Warren who brags about her twenty years with the Department of Defense as her qualification to run KPFK.  Don't vote for Ahjamu Makalani, vice chair of the California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus or Democratic caucus members Linda Sutton, Ricco Ross, and Dan Wang.

If you're not a voter, or if you are, spread the word on your facebook, your myspace, your email lists.  Use this article, use your own words, but tell people: the station is yours by all that's right in the world, and it's time to claim it.

The Committee and its supporters inside and outside the station won't let that happen, of course.  They've already concocted a joke of a lawsuit asserting that the station should have distributed their glossy, high-priced brochure in the envelope with the ballots or some such nonsense--after all, that's their privilege--so that, if they can't buy the election, they can void it.  If they win this fraud of an election in spite of your vote, or if they go to court to disqualify you, take over the station.

KPFK is your legacy, you've earned it through your struggle in the streets and in your communities.  Learn what KPFK was, dream of what it could be--the most powerful radio signal west of the Mississippi, capable of mobilizing sixty thousand people to take the streets from Santa Barbara to Riverside to San Diego.  The doors are open.  Take over KPFK.  Claim it, own it, make it yours.

5 years ago Leslie Radford was part of the "KPFK Coalition for Justice" that professed to be the "defenders of Affirmative Action and diversity in Pacifica." In fact the group was 78% male, 22% female, 83% Anglo, 6% African American Male and 11% Latino Male. link

Now Leslie supports a slate which is 70% male, 30% female, 60% white, 30% latino and 10% African American (the one African American, Kahllid A. Al-Almin, is currently in jail, according to Leslie, and hasn't been able to attend any candidate forums on or off the air. I have to say that is unique.) This time the agenda is less clear:    ". . . vote in fresh, authentically radical voices . . . " ,     " . . . mobilizing sixty thousand people to take the streets from Santa Barbara to Riverside to San Diego."     Revolution? OK, but what form of government will replace the one being overthrown ? Is this a democratic revolution where even the people who Leslie doesn't like also get a chance to vote? Leslie also seems to be defending the legacy of Eva George's management; curious when we see the decline of listeners and the increase in law suits. I could not find in Leslie's articles any platform or expression of specific policy or guidelines that would apply to the LSB duties described in the bylaws. Maybe scraping the bylaws is part of the "Revolution."

I know everyone says "Power to the People" and "Let's keep Pacifica Free." Do those phrases help voters decide who to vote for. My favorite campaign slogan is "Vote for me, I like kittens." At least the 9-11 candidates declare their intent: more 9-11 Truth programming. By the way, how come Leslie hasn't endorsed any of the 9-11 candidates (Bayard Condon, Tony Bird, Jack Linblad)? Wuzzup wit dat?

KPFK and Pacifica Need Good Governance Grace Aaron 2007-11-21 9:25 PM http://la.indymedia.org/news/2007/11/210430.php

Response to 'listener' Grace Aaron 2007-11-23 10:48 PM http://la.indymedia.org/news/2007/11/210430_comment.php#210535

But this would be a technical goof, or someone wanting to cut-off any response from Grace Aaron. Dont you think?

There's still a link to the Committee to Strengthen KPFK website in Leslie's article.

Maybe we can get a post from the Indymedia webmaster to clarify.

Leslie, and allot of her fans, seem to have a severe irony deficiency. I think I saw Leslie Wednesday night at the Comedy Store, trying to buy a Sense of Humor, but she couldn't come up with the price, two chuckles and a laugh.

I only have limited time to research this but here we go:

• Personal attacks from Leslie: Grace Aaron lied about Eva Georgia, Donna J. Warren brags about her twenty years with the Department of Defense, L.A. Indymedia has caved, "vote the fuckers out" (I guess that means the three or four LSB members running for re-election).
• Leslie's slate: Though some say there's only one slate, from the Strengthen KPFK group,
  • Slate - definition 4. a list of candidates, officers, etc., to be considered for nomination, appointment, election, or the like. link
  • On Indymedia on 17 Nov Leslie recommends 9: Chuck Anderson, Joaquín Cienfuegos, Jubilee Shine, Kahllid A. Al-Almin, Lawrence Reyes, Leslie Radford, Moe Mansour, Reza Pour, Rufina Juárez, Schyna Pour.
  • On her own webite: http://radiojustice.net/candidates/, apparently at an earlier date, she recommends 11: Alise Sochaczewski , Chuck Anderson , Jack Lindblad , Joaquin Cienfuegos , Jubilee Shine , Kahllid Al-Alim , Lawrence Reyes , Moe Mansour , Rufina Juarez , Schyna Pour , Summer Reese.
  • In the November issue of Changelinks a slate was published as an ad under the title "Grassroots Community Candidates for KPFK LSB". It's the same as the one Leslie has on Indymedia Media. Whoops, someone got capitalista and paid for an ad, tcccch tcccch tccccch, your hypocrisy's showing.
  • I also heard that Michael Novick, head of People Against Racist Terror, also had a slate of candidates he recommended (can anyone confirm, are you out there Michael?)

So it seems several people are politicking to get people elected to the LSB. That's a good thing, isn't it? America, Constitution, Bill of Rights, one person one vote, all of that. Good stuff. "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Evelyn Beatrice Hall 1906. Don't trash people for belonging to political parties or for being white, brown, pink or black. Just communicate what you and the candidates you support want to do for the station and the network. How can they help, what platform do they follow? How will they implement the Pacifica Mission statement?

Leslie, I really really really want to vote for you as my number 1 choice. Please tell me what political party you belong to, do you support. Please tell me what part of the Pacifica Mission Statement you think is workable. Please let me know how you think the LSB could help improve KPFK and the Pacifica Network. How could the LSB help KPFK increase audience, educate the community, contribute to a lasting understanding between nations and between the individuals of all nations, races, creeds and colors; gather and disseminate information on the causes of conflict between any and all of such groups. (Pacifica Mission Statement). Now, please, be polite as you can when you answer. You know I love you and I don't want you to get upset or angry. Just help me to understand your background and viewpoint and the healing comforting warmth of your concern for the station. Lead me to the light about the "KPFK Coalition for Justice" from 2002, and how that was designed to support KPFK and the Pacifica Mission. This election has given us a great opportunity to discover your heart, mind, and soul and the purity of your intentions to help all of God's little children. We await your anointment. Teach.

I promise you, I'm telling you as much as I know. I don't think I know more than I'm telling, but feel free to write and ask me questions.

You've got the story flipped.  The Committee is planning on suing the Pacifica Foundation because the foundation wouldn't send out the mailers for them.

From radiojustice (my site):

"Rumors have been whispered to incredulous ears that the Committee to Strengthen KPFK plans to sue the Pacifica network because Pacifica wouldn't allow the Committee to include their mailer with the ballots.

 "It turns out to be true, on grounds that only a lawyer could come up with: that because staff members were disallowed from endorsing candidates by email, they were forced to pay to use the U.S. mails . . . .

"Ironically, the Committee To Strengthen KPFK arose to oust General Manager Eva Georgia because a lawsuit was filed against her, claiming the suit, as yet unresolved, was a financial burden on the network.  In its platform, the Committee promises voters 'An effective internal grievance process must be implemented to ensure that disputes no longer become lawsuits.'"

I don't want to ask too much of Indymedia (who've already let a lot of this play out here), so please check out radiojustice for the down and dirty.

You CAN request a new ballot if you do so by Friday, November 30, if you want to change your vote.  And if you lost or never received your ballot, you can get one if you request it by that deadline.  Write to ballot@pacifica.org to request a new ballot.

Hail to the Truth

Lila Garrett, one of the founding members of the Committee to Strengthen KPFK and host of "Connect the Dots," recently wrote a paean to Judaism in response to an event that never occurred.

Garrett's essay, entitled "Hail to the Jews," appeared November 25 on L.A. Indymedia and was widely circulated by email and hinges on her claim that, "Lawrence Reyes  and  Chuck  Anderson . . . at a town hall meeting last week attacked programmers Jon Weiner and Suzi Weisman for being 'Zionists.'"  The forum that most immediately preceded her essay was the Leimert candidate forum, held on November 11, and an anonymous comment (above) at L.A. Indymedia made the same claim and identified the forum as the one adjacent to the park.

Neither Reyes nor Anderson made the comments Garrett attributes to them, according to several people in the audience.  When the LSB candidates were asked if they heard the offending comments, not a single candidate, including those on Garrett's slate, claimed to have heard the characterizations.  Several of those surveyed volunteered that they had no recollection that Jews or Judaism were mentioned at the forum.

Garrett, a well-known and long-time producer and host for KPFK, apparently took the word of a single anonymous source to launch her diatribe.  She launched into a defense of Judaism, identifying herself with those supposedly called Zionists: "Hey what about me?  'Wither they goest I shall go.  Their people are my people',  you idiots! How dare you leave me out!  If you’re going to foment anti Semitism, at least get your cast of Jews right," equating anti-Zionism with anti-semitism.

Garrett's apologia is subtitled, "If they inherit the earth, believe me, they’ll fix it." She follows a harangue against other candidates and a fellow programmer with a long series of quotes extolling Jews and Judaism, crediting Jews for "the perennial attempt to give human life the dignity of a purpose," and for instucting the world transformation, honor, and a higher purpose.

It has been insinuated that KPFK and the Committee to Strengthen KPFK are dominated by a Jewish agenda, and that perception has contributed to tensions at the station and among listeners.  In reading the comments that follow Garrett's essay, it is apparent she has reinforced that idea.  And if there weren't an impression of a Jewish agenda at KPFK, Garrett has created one.