Letters to the Folio

VIII

(875 words)

 

Quit Whining Mr. Moran and Get to Court!

Dear Editor,

So, Tomas Moran got thrown off the governance committee, so the board isn't interested in his alternative metrics, so they outmaneuvered him twice on the "no sale" bylaws amendment? What did you expect, Mr. Moran? We could have told you that before you joined the board and saved you the time and trouble.

With all due respect, this fight isn't about the personal mistreatment of director Moran! It's about a lawless bunch of thieves who have seized Pacifica's assets and run away with them. It's about saving a national treasure for future generations. Quit whining and posturing, Mr. Moran, and get to court! You and the other of the "friendly" directors have frittered and dawdled away for a year.

WHAT Could You Be Thinking?

Editors,

I greatly appreciate your newsletter and look forward to its’ arriving. It’s full of opinions and the variety that the station has historically represented. Despite this, the article by John Martinez is not the kind of item that does anybody any good, other than to possibly inflate the author’s view of himself. It’s full of name calling and negative put-downs. Obviously, the author wants us to think of him as some kind of heroic type. (witness the photo of him "confronting" the KPFA program director.) I don’t know any of the people who he talks about in the article, but this guy is "a natering nabob of negativism." Are you really going to publish MORE articles by him? I don’t know WHAT you could be thinking of...

(This response from John Martinez. The Folio editorial staff independently found and used the photo referred to.)

David:

The photo image in the article came out overly militant compared to the reality of the low level of activism in Southern California. I didn't choose the photo or the verbal description beneath it. Actually KPFK PD Kathy Lo at that moment confronted me, having the need to say how she thought I was "incredibly weak", at that moment I walked away & Mexica activist Olin Tezcatlipoca (pictured in the background) took it from there. It was a case of a lack of communication between the Folio Editorial Board & myself.

The same Kathy Lo used to brag about my work until I started to criticize KPFK's decline in being community accessed & it's mainstreaming of program content. Re: the article "inflating" myself as "some heroic type"...after 7 years of Chican@ Radio programming experience I consider those years as foundational, that have given me the potential to create a media/radio project that has never been done at Pacifica--or if we loose it, elsewhere. Rather than a hero, IF I'm able to help retake KPFK/Pacifica, then it's another successful project in my life experience. The article was in a sense therapeutic.

After 2+ years of internal exile, subjected to management/staff insults/harassment as I worked in the building almost 7 days a week...the whole KPFK experience was an exercise in self-control. But my silence due to being out-numbered & my rationale that what went on the air overrode the internal reality did leave some personal baggage that I'm ridding myself of now. Re: the article being full of "name calling & negativity", the article offered honest examples of the polemic history of KPFK, and the times I criticize someone in the article (parts 1 & 2), I stand by it...those descriptions are understatements of how antithetical KPFK as a whole has become related to the Mission Statement. Your comment that you "...don't know any of the people who he [I] talks about..." as it was explained to me by the KPFA Editorial Staff, the article was to introduce (for better & worse) the reality at KPFK in the context of the current Pacifica Crisis. Remember the names of Marc Cooper Mark Schubb Kathy Lo Betto Arcos and others, they're the entrenched regime at KPFK insulated from new generations of progressive/alternative tendencies in Southern California. They're the self proclaimed radio-media gatekeepers of 'progressive politics' on KPFK's 112,000 watt signal, that are 'too hip' to take seriously the issues/politics of the day.

Lastly, I don't even know what your "...nattering nabob..." means, but it's indicative of Pacifica's traditional assumption that White/Anglo (in the context of your statement, linguistic) Centricity is the 'canon' we all must aspire to. Sorry, I rejected the lie re: the inevitable process of White American assimilation years ago.

Kahlil Sends His Thanks

Hello kate...

this is kahlil just asking you to send my thanks and appreciation to everyone at north bay for their support during my trail. I will not be able to make the event but would like it if you can thank everyone for me and keep up the great work.. the funny thing is that i was turned on to kpfa while i was living in rohnert park for a year when i was in jr. high ... well take care..

Regular LAB Coverage ?

Editors,

Congrats on a killer issue. I particularly found Gregory's piece on the LAB meetings to be quite informative. Will this become a regular feature?