please forward & please respond with input to: inmart5@aol.com



john martinez/Aztlan media kollective

kpfk pacifica radio, los angeles califas

what: this is a call to those politically active in the free-pacifica & other alternative media struggles, to create a formal proposal (purpose, internal organization, process, methods, goals, implementation, etc.) for a pacifica national truth & reconciliation commission, focusing on the recent pacifica internal crisis 1990's-present: it's root causes, how & by whom was the pacifica crisis orchestrated, facilitated, perpetuated, covered-up, how the crisis was dealt with, and how aspects of the crisis continue to linger/hamper pacifica radio today; we would offer the commission's findings to pacifica listeners/supporters, the local station boards, all local station entities, station managements, the pacifica national board & national office, calling for a formal recognition of the commission's findings by the pacifica foundation and the implementation of proposed solutions to address the continuing organizational problems with pacifica-this implementation would go towards future policies/practices-all in the hope that we can remember, recognize & minimize the internal contradictions within pacifica, so as to avoid a similar crisis in the future & to help re-create a better pacifica radio in this current transition phase.

who: unless funding could be obtained, the idea would be a commission of volunteers from each of the 5 signal areas, comprised of active free-pacifica/alternative media people who have a respected track record within the free-pacifica struggle AND those who've demonstrated their ability to work well at some level with most free-pacifica camps in their signal area; the commission would be open to those who actively/openly opposed the direction pacifica radio was taking during the 1990's until the settlement in 2001.

timeline: the commission's work (research/interviews/findingsetc.) would last no more than two (2) years, with the initial development & initiation of the commission's work beginning no later than june 2004.

pacifica recognition, or commission's independence: within the coming months, we would decide whether the pacifica foundation & all it's local/national entities would formally recognize and work with this commission's work/findings, i.e. prior to the commission beginning it's work, the pacifica foundation would formally recognize/cooperate with the commission re: access to documents/etc., AND that the foundation and all it's local to national entities would seriously work to implement the commission's findings into actual policies/pratices; if this formal recogniion/cooperation by pacifica radio would NOT be possible, the commission would then formally work independently of the pacifica foundation, as an independent grassroots effort/struggle towards it's stated goals.

input requested: we first need to get responses from you, on whether you think this idea of a pacifica national truth & reconciliation commission is a good idea, and whether you could contribute in some way to it; we also need examples/critical analyses of other truth commission models (el salvador/south africa/etc.) so as not to make the same mistakes; we need a clear mission, goals, internal organization/process, clear purposes, function, and clarity how the commission's findings will be applied/implemented into policies/structures/ processes/etc. within the pacifica foundation; once this commission begins, it will be a WORK oriented commission, so now is the time for thouhts/opinions/ideas/suggestions/ criticisms/etc..

documentation: besides the historical importance of this project, and addition to the written documents produced from this commission, audio/video recordings of people's testimonies could easily be produced into radio/video documentaries as well.

john martinez background: as a xikano native of los angeles, beginning my experience at kpfk in 1992 with the now defunct kpfk apprentice program, from 1992-99 i was a volunteer programmer & produced the weekly 'radio xikan@'; i worked at kpfk on the fund drive teams, as premiums coordinator, training director & production assistant in the pacifica radio archives; from 1999-2000 i was a staffer with the local free-pacifica l.a. coalition for free speech radio, and was a pacifica campaign-l.a. staffer as well; most recently i worked as legal research assistant for pacifica against the 'wrongful' termination lawsuit by former kpfk general manager mark schubb; since 1998 i've been active with the struggle for community media/micro radio, working internationally with the Aztlan media kollective.