HOUSTON RESPONDS
TO THE CENSORSHIP OF DEMOCRACY NOW!

By Sheila Harris and Shannon Smith

(242 words)

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We had a successful protest here in Houston at KPFT! Over 60 people showed up and by Houston standards that is a significant number. Prof. Bob Buzzanco and Prof. George Reiter from the University of Houston, who make up the bulk of the last progressive programming on KPFT, also joined in the protest. The police were called, but there were no incidents of arrest. The Program Director, Edmundo Resendez, came out in front of the crowd and publicly chastised Prof. Reiter for his involvement in the protest without his knowledge. Edmundo flipped off the crowd when we started chanting "leave George alone". The Station Manager, Garland Ganter, only came out to chat with the police.

There were many new faces along with some more prominent activists in the community including Lee Loe, the editor of the Houston Peace News and the Iraq Notebook; David Cobb, the Texas State Secretary of the Green Party; and longtime activist Sissy Farenthold. Considering Democracy Now! hasn't been taken off of the air completely this is a significant response. It was also helpful that Amy Goodman didn't fundraise on the air with Garland Ganter the last two days of the fund drive. The question at hand now is whether or not Prof. George Reiter's program 'Thresholds' will be taken off of the air (it airs on Sunday evenings at 8 p.m.)....which he seemed to think may be the case after his involvement in today's protest.

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