*** PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY ****
The WBAI Justice & Unity Campaign strongly recommends that you become a WBAI member yourself ASAP and then tweak the following message as needed and pass it on to your colleagues, friends, and family.
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Urgent call to become voting members of WBAI Radio by June 30
A Message from the WBAI Justice & Unity Campaign
WBAI’s future is imperiled by costs that are greater than income and by the failure of individuals and groups to put the station’s survival ahead of their own agendas. We are asking you to step up to have a say in these critical times.
While some listeners only come for a single show and leave, others make the station a constant companion, and still others see it as the place to turn to in times of real crisis to hear the truth as opposed to the spin.
Whether your concerns are around workers’ rights, human rights, tenants’ rights, LGBTQ rights, anti-racism, release of political prisoners, prison reform, ending mass incarceration, an economy that works for most of us, and/or any of the other crucial issues that WBAI covers, you have benefited from the existence of WBAI Radio, 99.5 FM and www.wbai.org.
And WBAI is not by a long shot just another nonprofit competing for your donations. WBAI amplifies our movements. It facilitates the distribution of information about our work and allows for engaging dialogue and debate about the issues of the day. We think it’s important to greatly strengthen this radio station, and ask that you adjust your finances in order to support WBAI.
Your membership will both provide much-needed financial support and – of key importance at this moment – make you eligible to vote in this summer’s election for WBAI’s Local Station Board. Only those who have contributed at least $25, volunteered 3 hours, or obtained a hardship waiver, during the year prior to June 30, 2016, will have voting rights. The local board SHAPES THE STATION’S DIRECTION, with a role in selecting and evaluating the station’s management and reviewing its budget and spending.
Much is at stake regarding the station’s path forward: its survival in the face
of severe, ongoing financial crisis and the determination of how and whether to strengthen its coverage of critical movements for progressive change. In order to advance efforts to keep WBAI strong on both counts, the WBAI Justice & Unity Campaign (www.justiceunity.org) is assembling a slate of diverse, anti-racist, community-involved candidates to run for seats on the board. By becoming a member, you will have a say in who gets elected.
You can become a member by contributing $25 no later than 11:59 pm on Thursday, June 30: you can use a debit or credit card or PayPal at http://wbai.org/donate.php . We know there are listeners who cannot afford the $25 donation or who for various reasons cannot volunteer, and in light of this we made provision to allow applications for hardship waivers for that small percentage of listeners – but the Indy Caucus/ACE group has tied that up in a complaint to the National Election Supervisor (NES). The NES has no bylaw-given role in waivers but took the decision to freeze on-air and website announcements.
It does not seem that the situation will be clarified in time to allow impoverished listeners to vote or run in the election. If you have not and cannot manage the threshold amount of a cumulative $25 between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016, you have nothing to lose by applying for a membership waiver BUT YOUR APPLICATION MUST BE RECEIVED BY THURSDAY, JUNE 30. See details below.
We will keep you informed about this process.
WBAI Justice and Unity Campaign
www.justiceunity.org
Twitter: @justiceandunity
JOIN OUR (low-traffic) email list: info@justiceunity.org
(212) 591-2111
Inclusion on all sides of the microphone…
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WBAI Hardship Waivers for Voting Membership in Current Elections
WBAI membership, including the right to run or vote in the upcoming Local Station Board election, is available to those who donate $25 or more or volunteer for 3 hours or more between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016.
If you have a hardship that prevents you from either donating or volunteering in these amounts, you can apply for a hardship waiver. To request that an application be emailed to you, write to wbaihardshipwaivers@gmail.com or call 212-726-2334.
If you want to participate in the just-begun board election, the deadline for becoming a member by any of these 3 methods is Thursday, June 30 at 11:59 PM. Note: donations or waiver applications must be RECEIVED, not postmarked, by that time.
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