[lbo-talk] No Rallies Please, We're KPFA

[Joseph Wanzala]

--- CStephenKinder at aol.com wrote: > > Radio Station KPFA> 1929 MLK Jr Way> Berkeley CA> (by email & copy by mail):> > Dear Staff at KPFA, > > My name is Chris Kinder, writing on behalf of the> Labor Action Committee To > Free Mumia Abu-Jamal (LAC).> > I have to protest in the strongest terms your> apparent refusal to run the PSA > which I recorded last Friday (the 25th of August> 2006), to promote the Rally > To Free Mumia, which is being organized by the Labor> Action Committee for > September 15th.  > > After recording the PSA with technician M. Mays> (sorry, unsure of spelling), > I was told that PSAs are only allowed for groups> holding benefits in which > money is collected for a 501.3c non-profit> organization.  When I explained that > this was for a political rally for the defense of> death-row political prisoner > Mumia Abu-Jamal, I was told that "We don't do> political rallies"!  To hear > that from a KPFA staff person almost rendered me> speechless.> > The LAC (rally organizer) is not a 501.3c> organization.  However, money being > collected at the rally will go to Mumia's legal> defense, at the National > Lawyers Guild Foundation, in care of the Committee> To Save Mumia in New York City. >  The NLG Foundation is a 501.3c.  I tried to explain> this both at the time, > and in numerous phone calls and emails to both M.> Mays, and to William Walker > at the traffic department at KPFA (which I was told> had to rule on anything > that went out on the air).  > > In the week since I made the recording, I have not> heard back from either > Mays or Walker as to whether the PSA is to go on air> or not.  If the PSA is > running and I just haven't heard it on the air yet,> please accept my apologies.  > However, the silence of your lack of response to my> phone calls and > emails--after what I heard from your technician last> Friday--is deafening.> > Mumia Abu-Jamal is not just another innocent> death-row prisoner, of which > even one is too many.  He is one of the foremost> messengers of honest, > uncompromising, and I might add, unselfish leftism> that we have in this imperialist > heartland called the USA.  He is at the apex of a> tradition of black liberation > fighters extending back through the Black Panthers,> Malcolm X, Robert F Williams > and more.  And his case--in which mountains of> evidence of his innocence has > gone unheard by a racist, corrupt court system--is> now on "fast track" to a > possible new death warrent.  Hence, the urgency of> the LAC-initiated rally.> > KPFA and other Pacifica stations have been defending> Mumia and running his > trenchant commentaries on the war, racism and other> issues for years.  And KPFA > is also supposed to be part of that honest,> uncompromising and unselfish > left--a voice for the voiceless, like Mumia.> > KPFA was the first public radio station, determined> to serve the public and > remain non-commercial.  KPFA opposed the McCarthyite> witchhunt in the fifties > (unlike KQED-public television).  And KPFA has> exposed numerous domestic and > international crimes of the US over the years.  KPFA> (and its numerous > supporters who marched in the streets of Berkeley,> myself among them) also fought back > a vicious take-over attempt a few years ago by a> corrupt ex-Pacifica Board, > which had shut down KPFA for a time in a mad drive> to privatization.  Is all > this now for nought?  Is KPFA bent on turning itself> into another version of > National Public Radio (NPR)?  > > In the late 1990s, Mumia Abu-Jamal's commentaries,> after careful preparation > for national air time, were cancelled at the last> minute by NPR.  This > censorship came after complaints in the Halls of> Congress from right-wing politicians > like Bob Dole.  NPR showed us at that time whose> tune they were dancing to.  > > Who's tune is KPFA now dancing to?> > We in the Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia> eagerly await your reply.> > Fraternally yours,  Chris Kinder for the LAC> > Date: Sat, 2 Sep 2006 05:03:57 -0700> From: lookoverhere1 at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Israeli ?bermenschen> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> > > > --- Angelus Novus <fuerdenkommunismus at yahoo.com>> wrote:> > > > > Chris Doss, for example, is something of a Putin> > fan,> > even though there are some parallels between> > Russian/Chechnya and Israel/Palestine.  But nobody,> > other than the American Right, would think of> > calling> > Putin a Nazi.> > > > Well, Kasparov does. But Kasparov is insane.> > There seems to be something predisposing chess players> to madness. Some kind of disorder in the brain.> Kasparov, Bobby Fischer...> > __________________________________________________> Do You Yahoo!?> Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > ___________________________________> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
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