KPFK: Minutemen in the House : LA IMC

A recent public email shows two KPFK staff members violating confidentiality as members of the Local Station Board in order to attack a candidate for the position of station general manager, a Black woman whose politics "reminds" them of the politics of former S. African KPFK GM Eva Georgia.

In his email, one of the staff members promotes allegations leveled against the candidate by infamous local Black Minuteman Ted Hayes. Both staff members of the KPFK LSB are also members of the so-called "Committee to Strengthen KPFK," a group that was widely accused of "buying" the recent KPFK station board elections. Publicizing the name of a candidate for a position at the station constitutes a serious breach of ethics. These serious breaches of confidence put the station at risk of a lawsuit for defamation of character and for revealing to the public the name and occupation of a job applicant. Both staff members now serve on the station board's general manager search committee.

The first violation came from staff member Ali Lexa, in an email dated February 8, 2008, with the subject line, "Thier [Sic] GM Candidate." Lexa was a member in good standing of the Board's GM Search Committee at the time of this breach, entrusted with reading and maintaining the confidentiality of candidate's resumes.

He's since been joined on that committee by KPFK Programmer Shawn Casey O'Brien, who, on the same day, two days before his selection to that committee, sent an email to KPFK staffers Sonali Kolhatkar AND HER ASSISTANT PRODUCER Gabriel San Roman, Maggie Lepique, Jonathan Alexander, Bob Conger, and KPFK board member Israel Feuer, "exposing" DiPrima as an opponent of the notorious Hayes. O'Brien cited an inflammatory and baseless charge by Minuteman supporters that Dominique DiPrima of radio station KLJH in LA had "direct involvement and leadership in acts of insurrection" for her participation in an important demonstration at South Central's famous Leimert Park in opposition to Hayes and his Minuteman cohorts.

O'Brien writes, with a straight face, that DiPrima "Sound [sic] a lot like Eva."

Former KPFK GM Eva Georgia was an anti-Apartheid media activist in S. Africa, and, at KPFK, was a staunch supporter of Spanish language programming. Just two months ago, forces inimical to Spanish language programming tried to remove the only Latina member from KPFK's Board, and another member of the "Committee to Strengthen KPFK" recently launched a public attack on Spanish language programming. Moves are currently underway, according to a confidential report from a "Committee to Strengthen KPFK" insider, to have O'Brien and Lexa placed in charge of the General Manager Search Committee as co-chairs of that body.

Anti-Black and anti-Brown activists at KPFK can't seem to get enough. In the 90s, with the help and cooperation of figures like Republican Senator Bob Dole, they purged every Black programmer from the station's airwaves, along with most Latino programming.

Eventually, over 300 programmers were purged throughout the Pacifica Radio Network. Radical voices, especially radical voices of color, were silenced: the network was hijacked by those whose purposes dramatically differed with those of the network's founders.

When control of the network was regained by those ostensibly in line with the founder's vision, years of struggle ensued over restoring representation for communities of color that had been disenfranchised during the purges. At KPFK those opposed to guarantees of representation for peoples of color on the air and on the station's board also led an attack of several years' duration to oust KPFK's new Black lesbian GM, Eva Georgia. Those forces eventually coalesced into the "Committee to Strengthen KPFK."

They are already following the strategy used with success against Georgia against another Black woman, DiPrima. Like DiPrima, Georgia came under attack before she ever set foot in the station. Vast amounts of energy were spent "digging up dirt" against her in a campaign so successful that, from the day she arrived, a staff member refused to give her a key to the building. It was down hill from there. Staff and those opposed to fair representation for peoples of color would have it no other way.

With nothing else to go on, It can only be DiPrima's staunch defense of the Black and Brown communities that "reminds" Shawn Casey O'Brien of Eva Georgia. O'Brien's email attacking DiPrima was quickly posted to the KPFK Staff email list by Jonathan Alexander, and no staff member seems to have objected to supporting the stance of Black Minuteman Ted Hayes. Nor, apparently, did any of them object to the violations of confidentiality that endanger not only DiPrima and the network for which they work. Nor, apparently, were they interested in the danger such dirty tricks might pose for the credibility of any budding new campaign to keep power away from people of color at KPFK they might develop and support. The matter has not yet been formally reported to the station board by any of the e-mail's intended recipients.

In the meantime, KPFK has received notice of a lawsuit demanding that the recent elections for the KPFK board be declared illegitimate, in part due to numerous campaign violations by members of "The Committee to Strengthen KPFK."

The emails from the "Committee" members attacking DiPrima are below.

From: Shawn Casey O'Brien [mailto:irishsob@verizon.net]
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 7:13 PM
Subject: Re: Thier GM Candidate

Here's what I dug up.... Sound a lot like Eva, who will be beholden to the status quo i.e. whoever hires her.?

On Feb 7, 2008, at 6:24 PM, Ali Lexa wrote:

I just found out who the candidate is they want to rush through.

Her name is Dominique D i prima, she's used to be at KJLH and also ran to be KPFA's GM but didn't get it. She is someone that Lydia came up with.

?

I found this on KJLH's website?http://www.kjlhradio.com/02prog/frontpage.htm ?(The good)

?Dominique DiPrima Bio

<dom_bio.jpg>

www.yeyeproductions.com

Dominique DiPrima is host of the early morning talk radio show The Front Page on Los Angeles radio station KJLH 102.3-FM. Ms. DiPrima is also producer of the program.

Ms. DiPrima spent three years as a co-host of The Steve Harvey Morning Show on KKBT-FM, and in limited syndication. She served as one of ?Harvey?s Angels? interviewing celebrities, and providing fuel for Harvey?s humor. In addition she was the News Director/Anchor for the show.

Dominique is a talk radio veteran, with a stint as Host and Producer of her own talk show Street Science with Dominique DiPrima for almost nine years on 100.3-FM The Beat. Street Science with Dominique DiPrima tackled topics of relevance to the Beat?s primarily African American and Latino 18-35 year-old audience. She also served as Community Action Director at the Beat, building the department into an unprecedented large activist arm of the radio station, and working closely with grassroots community organizations. Street Science? earned Dominique an L.A. Weekly ?Best of L.A.? award, and a Gracie Award from the American Women in Radio and Television among many others.

Before getting into radio Dominique DiPrima was a television host for San Francisco NBC affiliate KRON-TV. Working on camera as well as in the role of Segment Producer, Dominique garnered five Emmy Awards, six Parents Choice Awards, an Ollie and the SAG/AFTRA American Scene Award for positive portrayals of women, the disabled, senior citizens and people of color.

Dominique is also a dedicated community activist, hosting, marching and speaking at countless community events and demonstrations. She was the Director of the acclaimed Summer of Success violence prevention program in Baldwin Village in 2003 and 2004. And she is on the board of directors for The Community Coalition in South Los Angeles. She was chosen by a committee of Bay Area community based organizations to introduce Nelson Mandela during his first tour of the United States after his release from prison because of her dedication to progressive causes in general and the anti-apartheid movement in particular. Dominique managed to interview Geronimo Jijaga Pratt while he was still incarcerated and her radio program was the first media stop he made when he was freed. She has been recognized for her work in fighting racism by the Los Angeles Human Relation Commission, and for social justice advocacy by the San Francisco Media Alliance. She was recently appointed to the position of Commissioner, for the Commission on the Status of Women, by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Dominique is currently the COO of a film/video production company with her husband Guillermo Cespedes. The South L.A. based business is called YeYe Productions and specializes in work for independent artists and community organizations.

?

I found this on a KJLH blog: ?http://kjlh-910.blogspot.com/ (The Bad)

How can you call a station that is on Mt Wilson suburban? If that is the case, then KBIG, KIIS, KLVE, KCBS, etc., are suburban. Same for KJLH A draft copy of a petition calling for the firing of Front Page talk show host Dominique DiPrima circulated last Tuesday?s meeting of Community Call to Action and Accountability at Bethel AME church.

Kjlh Los Angeles Today, I ended my week of guest hosting on the Front Page talk show with Dominique Di Prima on KJLH-102.3 FM. It was a wonderful experience. According to Dominique, I was the first Latino guest host on the show.

Dominique de Prima does little, and in fact nothing to uplift humanity via KJLH. Her focus and support of the status quo, her preoccupation with uplifting racism through language ie calling countries in Africa and elsewhere as third

The great minds that call in to KJLH are very different from those that call The Beat. I am sure if not now, but in time, Dominique will learn this. Dominique will not be able to just rudely cut people off like

KJLH listeners to petition for ousting of DiPrima

KJLH listeners to petition for ousting of DiPrima

http://imby.wordpress.com/2007/08/02/kjlh-listeners-to-petition-for-diprima-ousting/
Posted on August 2, 2007 by A.M.

*Editor’s Note: Cassette copies of broadcasts were available for purchase upon request — without an estimated delivery date. Without transcripts or unedited recordings, the June 25 show description on the station Web site has been the only factual information available … until November. The following is an unedited 10:35 audio excerpt (of a two hour cassette tape) transferred to a digital file. Update: “Talk show audio discredits DiPrima”

A draft copy of a petition calling for the firing of Front Page talk-radio host Dominique DiPrima circulated last Tuesday’s meeting of Community Call to Action and Accountability at Bethel AME church in Los Angeles.

We call on Mr. Stevie Wonder and the management of radio station KJLH [102.3-FM] to fire or accept the resignation of Ms. Dominique DiPrima … particularly [for] her direct involvement and leadership in acts of insurrection….

Signatories challenge DiPrima’s commitment to promote understanding — citing the Leimert Park standoff on June 23. In a comment posted to this Web site, Terry Lane, a founding member of Choose Black America, said DiPrima perpetuated the rumor that the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) were marching down Crenshaw Boulevard.

Organizer Ted Hayes, national chair of Choose Black America, held a permit by the city to march to Leimert Park as part of a rally he called, “Choose Black America - Not Amnesty - Not Illegal Immigration.” 100 supporters said that continued illegal immigration would lead to a permanent black underclass.

Propaganda may be to blame for an “illegal assembly” of 500 counter-protesters who blocked the entrance to Leimert Park, Los Angeles Police Department officials said. Signs posted on telephone poles and mailers sent to the homes of Leimert Park residents called for action against “white supremacy.”

DiPrima addressed the protest standoff on-air the following Monday, June 25, according to the station Web site:

We talked about the anti-immigration march that was stopped in it’s tracks by counter-protesters who refused to welcome, Save Our State, Minute Men and reputed KKK and Nazis into Leimert Park on Saturday. The issue of immigration as it impacts African Americans, justice, the concept of borders, prejudice, white supremacy and the fight for reparations for DOBA were all discussed.

On July 11, DiPrima declined to comment and said via e-mail, “I think folks that care what I think about anything can get an earful on KJLH on any given morning. At this point I choose to make this my venue for political expression.”

DiPrima was recently appointed to the position of Commissioner for the Commission on the Status of Women by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

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KJLH listeners to petition for ousting of DiPrima