Help Keep WBAI An Activist and Anti-Racist Station

Since the victory over the 2000-02 nationally-instigated coup at WBAI, Pacifica has been in fierce struggles over maintaining inclusion of working-class and disenfranchised communities and an activist focus. A loose coalition of listeners and staff defeated racial/gender-based affirmative action for Pacifica’s boards. Now some in this group at WBAI, including board members, seek to reverse the incorporation of hard-hitting (allegedly “anti-white”) programs by and for communities of color – particularly the Black community. Several board members endorsed by ACE (Alliance for Community Elections, essentially the group formerly known as “List-Prog”) have campaigned to fire progressive Program Director Bernard White and purge anti-racist programmers. ACE-endorsed re-election candidates Paul DeRienzo and Carolyn Birden have called for conservative hosts on WBAI.

Some of these board members have also tried to slash the budget and thus the skeletal paid staff, attacked the staff’s union rights, and opposed holding board members accountable for racist and sexist conduct. Two re-election candidates endorsed by ACE have repeatedly made

particularly outrageous statements:

• Steve Brown (a multi-millionaire and former marketing executive) has waged a long-running vicious public email campaign attacking Black progressive WBAI staff and their supporters in racist, vitriolic terms. Brown has singled out Bernard White for extreme abuse, using false charges and calls for violence (such as “you should have been at her side whacking Bernard with a baseball bat”). The board voted to disassociate itself from these attacks. (For details, go to the following web page
• Paul DeRienzo (a strong supporter of the WBAI “Christmas Coup”) was suspended by the board after a series of what the board deemed “racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, and personal attacks” on colleagues at meetings. (For details on these attacks and background on DeRienzo’s history, Click HERE and for more background click HERE )

The Local Station Board must continue WBAI’s legacy as the place where the voices of ALL the voiceless can be heard and where racism is firmly opposed. Help us move these struggles forward by supporting the Justice & Unity slate!