I’m a member of the Justice and Unity slate and also of the Take Back WBAI Coalition, formed after the 2009 Spring Coup. If elected to the LSB, I’ll work to restore the now-compromised right to free speech and community connection once practiced at WBAI (www.justiceunity.org).
henry@justiceunity.org * (212) 591-2111
I’m running as a stalwart member of the Justice and Unity slate in this year’s WBAI Local Station Board elections. With great pride, I’m also a member of the Take Back WBAI Coalition, created after the corporatizing coup of Spring 2009, which was hatched by the majorities on the Pacifica National Board and the WBAI LSB. Among the many outrages in this overthrow was the dismissal of Program Director Bernard White and other dedicated staff without due process. Additionally, management imposed a gag rule preventing staff from speaking against their repressive policies – and purged those who did.
I’m a lifetime New Yorker, and my activism began some 43 years ago, spurred by the worldwide struggle for justice for people of African descent and the anti-Vietnam War movement that took the nation by storm. Once awakened by the earthshaking words and deeds of Malcolm, Muhammad Ali, and Martin, for me there was no other choice. I hammered out an internationalist, anti-imperialist perspective on the anvil of the struggle for a more humane society for all people, and dedicated my life to this effort. WBAI before the coup gave voice to these values. They’ve been in danger since. Like the proverbial “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” the coupsters seek to muzzle that voice.
Besides my involvement with the Take Back WBAI Coalition (whose meetings I often chair), I’m also a dedicated member of the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition. Both efforts speak deeply to my sense of justice and fairness. Over the years, those values led me to defend political prisoners, coordinate humanitarian relief for Zimbabwean refugees, and sell books at Harlem’s famed Liberation Bookstore.
On a professional level, I’ve spent better than 20 years as a NYC high-school and junior-high-school history teacher. I bring “X-ray insights” into the deliberate miseducation of oppressed people of color by purposely dysfunctional public schools.
WBAI’s declining coverage of this issue is just one example of the recent deterioration of the station’s link to oppressed communities. Wakeup Call has been cut by a third, aborting its ability to adequately explore community issues. Meanwhile, fundraising seems more aimed at hawking products that violate Pacifica’s mission, such as dubious health products, than providing an educational platform for revolutionary voices in opposition to U.S. imperialism and worldwide oppression; The result of all of this is programming that appeals to a more complacent audience.
If elected to the LSB, I will work with Justice and Unity to restore the dangerously compromised right to free speech and community connection once practiced at WBAI. I will also work to return the banned and fired, whose devotion made WBAI the flagship station that it once was.
Please vote for the entire Justice and Unity slate in this order:
1. Bernard White
2. Suzanne Adely
3. John Brinkley
4. Father Lawrence Lucas
5. Ray Laforest
6. Wellington Echegaray
7. Sharonne Salaam
8. Linda Bergnes
9. Myriam Decime
10. Carlos Canales
11. Sarah Klepner
12. Henry Hagins
13. Eugene Hamond
henryh@justiceunity.org * (212) 591-2111
1. Why do you want to be on the Local Station Board (LSB)?
I want to help restore the community links for which WBAI was legendarily known prior to the Spring 2009 coup. I’m against the effort to further corporatize WBAI.
2. How do you envision the LSB working with the Pacifica Foundation, WBAI staff and listener members?
The LSB should really serve as a watchdog in protecting listener interests and in promoting a healthy work environment for all of the staff at WBAI.
3. How can WBAI better serve the community? Please define community.
The “community” to which WBAI broadcasts is not monolithic. It is a “salad bowl” of varying ethnicities and interests. Seasoned staff-persons with a meritorious history of activism can and do provide leadership keenly tuned into this community’s needs.
4. Describe some actions you would take to increase the influence of the station in underrepresented communities and to increase the diversity of the listening
audience.
I would set up a series of “speak-out forums” in the spirit of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, in which ordinary people would be given an opportunity to share their views on the problems associated with living in a society drunk with imperialism abroad and mass incarceration at home.
5. What sources of funding, other than listener donations, do you feel WBAI should solicit? Do you have any ideas with respect to improving the current funding mechanisms?
WBAI should always strive to secure the bulk of its funding from the listeners. This helps to guard against narrow-viewed interests dominating the station and blunting its message. The purchase of our own facility will go a very long way toward reducing overhead – and independence would be enhanced.
6. Please state briefly the skills, experience, educational background, work history, organizational affiliations, areas of community service, areas of interest and expertise that you would bring to the Pacifica network as a member of the Local Station Board.
I bring 43 years of social activism, educational training, in-the-trenches leadership, parenting, and NYC survival skills to the table. All of the above is backed up with a lifelong legacy of study, research, travel, and commitment.
7. On which Local Station Board committees are you interested in actively serving? If you are a current Local Station Board member, on which committees do you currently serve?
Given my background and orientation, I’d be interested in serving on a committee that does outreach, seeking closer ties to NYC’s multi-layered communities.
8. If you are currently on the Board and wish to be re-elected please describe your 3 year experience on the LSB. What did you accomplish? What were the obstacles you faced? Do you envision any change in the next three years if you are re-elected?
Not applicable.
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