Nia Bediako

WBAI is a dynamic, multifaceted, illuminating, sometimes maddening, and utterly indispensable community resource. It is imperative that WBAI gets back in the hands of people who are unquestionably for genuinely progressive standards. I’m running for re-election to the LSB to ensure WBAI’s mission is safely at the service of our communities of listeners, and to work collaboratively and respectfully with staff.

Democracy is sometimes messy and painful. That’s why it’s so important to have members who not only recite the Pacifica mission, but also embody it. A vote for my Justice & Unity comrades and me is a vote for local control, open processes and following the bylaws, and against arbitrary hirings and firings, board secrecy, and overriding local board elections by illegally appointing political allies to the National Board.

I believe WBAI can best be shaped through increasing responsiveness to listener needs by electing my comrades and me in this order:

1. Lynne Stewart

2. Nia Bediako

3. Russell Dale

4. Sister Betty Dopson

5. Wellington Echegaray

6. Nana Camille Yarbrough

7. Myriam Decime

8. John Brinkley

9. Berta Silva

10. Sharonne Salaam

11. Carlos Canales

12. Terrence Podolsky

Some of us work quietly toward the attainment of peace and justice; others have brought out the truth about Palestinian rights, the lobbying impact of pharmaceutical and insurance companies on politicians, and the continuing effects of Bush’s discretionary War of Errors to the radios and computer speakers of listeners not just in New York but around the world on the Internet.

Clearly WBAI is in a financial crisis. For months, Justice & Unity board members, including me, worked diligently to propose strategies to reduce costs and raise funds off the air – but these initiatives were ignored or postponed by the local board majority. This April, to move toward a sustainable WBAI, I publicly proposed the following plan to the board and the management that was later summarily fired before any of this could be implemented:

1. Advertise for a volunteer, nonpartisan development director, banking on the many retired and unemployed professionals interested in service, to lead off-air fundraising.

2. Pursue announced city government initiatives to help struggling nonprofits reduce fixed costs. (Similarly, in 2007, Pacifica’s then Chief Financial Officer, Lonnie Hicks, suggested exploring various city loan/grant programs for purchasing buildings.)

3. Contact local congresspersons to explore getting funds from the Obama administration’s stimulus package’s allocation for nonprofits.

4. Continue building on the station’s capital campaign fund, which currently has $150K; and,

5. Seek nonprofits to sublet portions of WBAI’s existing office space.

Again, I ask you to vote for me to represent you on the Local Station Board. With your help, and a majority Justice & Unity board, I will help retain local control and respect for processes at WBAI.