What's missing on the airwaves of KPFK and Pacifica? In the name of belt-tightening and fiscal responsibility, the network and the station have once again begun purging the voices of grassroots activism, and particularly from poor and working-class communities of color, communities of resistance.

At KPFK, local news is gone, Jerry Quickley is gone, even the new general manager is already gone. Are you hearing from the young people struggling for a meaningful, quality, liberating education? Have you heard about grassroots resistance to gentrification in Boyle Heights or Venice? Do struggles against organized white supremacists, police abuse or Zionist aggression going on in Orange County make it onto the air? Has KPFK provided significant air-time for a new generation of activists to host their own shows and bring their own perspectives to bear, offering fresh solutions to long-standing complaints?

Is Pacifica creating a buzz and forcing the corporate media to cover stories through independent, aggressive investigative journalism? Does open, scintillating debate or honest self-critical examination of issues and weaknesses facing the left in the era of Obama happen on-air?

Has the listenership been informed about or allowed to comment on the future direction of the station and the network?

Can you hear beat reporters exposing spineless Democrats in Sacramento, educational privateers at LAUSD, or police abuse around Southern California? Is there significant coverage of and from the diverse Asian communities of the L.A. basin?

If your honest answer to these questions is a truthful "NO," then you must act now to change the status quo at KPFK and Pacifica before it's too late. Only concerted action and support for a slate of community-rooted dissidents can save KPFK and Pacifica.

Pa'lante En Lucha
Lawrence Reyes