| Eugene Hamond Candidate Statement eugene@justiceunity.org I’m running for the Local Station Board on the Justice and Unity slate (www.justiceunity.org). I’ve been a WBAI listener for many years and have spent hundreds of hours volunteering at the station, taking phone calls during fund drives and mailing out your premiums. And for several years, I worked on the Community Bulletin Board (CBB). In 2010, along with Victor Takeall, Evelyn Andino-Rosa, and Vajra Kilgour, I resigned from the CBB rather than be censored by an imposed management and its accomplices determined to persecute perceived enemies. I’m currently active in the NYC Labor Chorus, and volunteer with IFCO/Pastors for Peace and the Beacon Sloop Club, part of Hudson River Clearwater. I also work with the Caribbean and Latin American Support Project in New Paltz. I’m running for the Station Board because I strongly believe that WBAI should continue to exist as a progressive voice addressing the needs and rights of all people in the New York City area. This is ever more important in the current period of recession, war, and increasing right-wing propaganda. In order to do this, serious internal changes are needed. First, WBAI has to move from 120 Wall Street to a cheaper place, perhaps in the Bronx, Queens, or Brooklyn. Its cost in rent and utilities is simply too expensive to be sustainable over $350,000 per year. We’re currently in a heavy recession, with many listeners unable to pledge as much, but the real-estate market is good for those looking for space, as there are many vacant buildings around the city. The Wall Street location is a trap. So that we can serve our neighbors who hustle from underpaid work to underwater homes to care for their children who attend under-performing schools, the station’s fixed costs must be responsibly reduced. Second, WBAI needs to become a more locally focused tri-state station, with more coverage of and participation by community groups and activists around the area. The station has to move away from generalized programs lacking an on-the-ground angle. It must reach out and have an increased presence at more events. Third, in addition to more local news coverage, I favor a project to train young people as reporters, writers, and producers. Prior to being fired and banned, the late Kamau Khalfani trained Schomburg Center students in the art of radio production. Before being forced out, Deepa Fernandes did the same with Radio Rootz. At 52, with its average member 10 years older, WBAI needs a more forward-thinking approach. Who will preserve the airways if we fail to train and incorporate the next generation of activists and broadcasters? Justice & Unity has been endorsed by Dr. Joy DeGruy (Leary), Esperanza Martell, and Bok-Keem Nyerere, among others. Please vote for me and all other Justice and Unity candidates in this order: 1. Father Luis Barrios ________________________________________________________________________________ Answers to Candidate Questionnaire 1. In what ways is your station moving in a positive direction, that you would want to continue or perhaps improve? WBAI has often had very sharp and revealing local, regional, and national news reporting, and needs to continue and strengthen this. The announcements in multiple languages are very good – New York is a multinational and multicultural area. The station should do more outreach to community and activist events to encourage listeners and participants from around the tri-state area, and I will help with that. WBAI needs to be a progressive voice for the needs, rights, and hopes of all people in and around the area. This is extremely important in the current period of recession, war, and rising right-wing propaganda. 2. In what ways is your station moving in a negative direction, that you would want to stop or change? What changes would you work for? The station is moving in a negative direction by staying on and continuing to feed the landlord at 120 Wall Street. This means too many fund drive days and a loss of listener interest. The station has also added some programs that are too generalized and lacking in on-the-ground reporting. I will work for a station that reflects and is a voice for communities and activists around the area. Specifically, I favor a project to train a diverse group of young people from all over the tri-state region in technical areas and as reporters, writers, and producers. 3. What key experience, connections, skills or traits would you bring to the Local Station Board to advance the station’s mission? I’ve been a volunteer with IFCO/Pastors for Peace, the Caribbean and Latin American Support Project, and the Beacon Sloop Club, an environmental organization linked to the Hudson River Clearwater. I’ve often been a volunteer at the station and was on the Community Bulletin Board for several years. I also sing with the New York City Labor Chorus. I expect that all of these experiences – working with progressive causes and groups in a harmonious way, and working inside the radio station, where I gained an appreciation of how broadcasting is done – will prove to be invaluable as preparation for making a positive contribution to the Board. 4. What ideas do you have for helping the station and the Pacifica Foundation meet the financial challenges currently being faced? WBAI has to cut costs by moving out of 120 Wall Street as soon as possible – it currently costs over $350,000 per year to remain there. There needs to be serious thinking about lessening the increasingly frequent on-air fundraising; fundraising can also be done in other ways, as David Rothenberg has shown with theater tickets for donations. We need to be more creative. For example, we can seek out progressive musicians for benefit concerts and hold awards dinners. If the station decides to buy a building, which we in Justice & Unity strongly advocate and will work towards, there will have to be many large and small events to raise the money – and I am more than willing to help organize them. |
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