"Please Support Those Who Support You"

Greetings Listeners, Supporters, Friends of Some of Us Are Brave. It's been awhile since we communicated with you. So many things have been going on; and just when we were about ready to send you a newsletter to tell you some of these things, our time got cut.

"Some of Us Are Brave: A Black Women's Radio Program" moved to Saturdays at 11 a.m. back in March. Last week, we were moved to 1 pm by Interim Program Director Alan Minsky and the show was cut to 30 minutes.

While we do not have a clear reason for this cut, we do know that the times for at least 3 white programmers at the station were increased. The rationale for this will undoubtedly be financial however the spirit of community radio and the non-profit Pacifica Foundation are not supposed to be financial. But alas, this is what they have become.

Interestingly enough, SOUAB has been pre-empted during station funddrives throughout its history, making it almost impossible to consistently cultivate a spirit of financial support amongst our audience (even though a lot of ya'll still plege and mention our name when you do - and we love you for that!).

We were not consulted on this latest decision by station management, nor were we given a chance to dialogue with station management.

To say that 30 minutes is simply not enough time to give to the voices, views and experiences of Black women is an understatement.

“Go Harrison,” which airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 3 pm, has been given a third 1-hour show on Wednesdays; Lila Garrett, who hosts “Connect The Dots” on Mondays, has been given an additional 30 minutes for a show called Celebrity Speakout; and Ian Masters, whose “Background Briefing” broadcasted for one hour on Sundays for several years, now has a “prime drive time” Monday through Thursday at 5 pm … in addition to keeping his 1-hour show on Sundays!

What is fair and equitable about increasing the time of those who already have while taking from those who have so little?

Even dead white men are more valued at KPFK.

Alan Watts, who has been dead for 37 years, regularly broadcasts on Sundays on KPFK for 30 minutes. This dead white man also occasionally makes appearances on "Something’s Happening with Roy of Hollywood" during late weeknights.

But we’re supposed to accept that there is no space for Black women or revolutionary activists?

KPFK added a prison show to its roster hosted by Geri Silva, the executive director of the Los Angeles-based Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes (FACTS), which airs immediately after SOUAB. A show dealing with prison issues is long overdue on KPFK’s airwaves but this show is also only 30 minutes long. Perhaps the decision to place a “prison show” directly after a Black womens’ show was an unconscious one; we don’t know if that’s the case or not but we do know that both these shows cannot be heard anywhere else in Los Angeles and both deserve a minimum of one hour to speak to the communities they represent.

Likewise, “Home, from Home,” which is geared toward immigrants and hosted by Christable Nsiah-Buadi, airs for only 30 minutes immediately before Freedom Now! (FN!); FN! was abruptly moved to Saturdays at 5:30 pm which removed Noticias Pacifica, a long-running Spanish language news show, to a week night. FN!’s former slot, Tuesdays at 8 pm, was given to American Indian Airwaves.

The decision to put FN! in possible conflict with immigrants, Native American and Spanish-language constituents is not lost on us.

The Pacifica Bylaws, the “contract” that binds the non-profit Pacifica radio stations, talk about how programming decisions must be made in a fair and equitable manner.

There is nothing remotely fair or equitable about the treatment meted out to SOUAB, FN! or the Spanish-language programmers while increasing the airtime of three middle-to-upper class white individuals.

And there is no one who can say that it is.

KPFK, licensed to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, is a PUBLIC radio station.

That means that it belongs to all the people of these areas; not just the white ones.

If you have been a listener of Some of Us Are Brave; if you have been a guest on Some of Us Are Brave; if you are a friend of a guest who was on Some of Us Are Brave, we ask that you contact the Local Station Board that is charged with governing KPFK. When management does not act in a fair and equitable manner, it is the job of the Local Station Board (LSB) to step in and insure fairness and equity:

leslie@radiojustice.net

Your e-mail will be received by a current member of the LSB and shared amongst all the current members.

We also ask that you contact the Executive Director of the Pacifica Foundation, a former producer and host of a women’s radio show in Florida:

Arlene Engelhardt, Executive Director

Pacifica Foundation

1925 Martin Luther King Jr Way

Berkeley, CA 94704

Arlene@pacifica.org

If you were supposed to be a guest on Some of Us Are Brave …

If you need to be a guest in the future – so that your voice, your view, your experience can be amplified …

Please raise your voice now for Some of Us Are Brave now and for the next 30 days.

We ask that you tell them to do the following:

- Immediately reinstate SOUAB to its one hour time slot;

- Increase the time for the Prison Justice Radio show to one hour, should the producers desire that;

- Immediately reinstate Freedom Now! to its one hour time slot;

- IMMEDIATELY rescind Ian Masters’ 1-hour time slot on Sundays; Harrison‘s additional 1-hour on Wednesdays and Lila Garrett’s new/extra 30 minutes

- We also ask that you tell the Local Station Board and Pacifica’s executive director that it cannot continue to “barrio-ize” Spanish-language programming in a city that is almost 50% Latino.

leslie@radiojustice.net

Your e-mail will be received by a current member of the LSB and shared amongst all the current members.

KPFK is by no means perfect, nor is it the worst place on earth. But it must do better.

It needs help in order to do this.

We need your help in order to do this.

We come to you for your support because we are sick and tired.

Thank you.

someofusarebrave@gmail.com