Unity of Purpose

Greetings Listener & Staff Family,

Little seems as it should be.

If you've suffered a personal loss, we mourn with you and encourage you to bear through until time inconceivably, yet inevitably, heals. Where there is joy, we celebrate your sources — a beloved one's voice or smile, or music that makes you dance or cry, or literature that offers the respite of different worlds.

We believe that with your help and focus, Pacifica too will make it through these hard times, and become for new listeners, a place to gain deeper understanding and help build a better world!

1. Not limited to Trump

On his way out, Trump is wrecking as much as possible. Some efforts appear to punish certain communities while other actions — like pardons, contracts, new international relationships are rewards for his cronies.

He and his acolytes are promising trouble in Congress on January 6 and elsewhere, right up past January 20. He has to know some of his declarations will be reversed within weeks, but he doesn't mind wasting our time or our tax dollars.

The "control or destroy" thinking is not limited to Trump.

It's got a foothold in Pacifica as well where multiple internal attacks are being mounted by people who keep shifting their names and groupings, appellations and configurations, but who together distract from needed organizational work and drain our resources, like a scorched-earth strategy.

Here's the group handling the Bylaw attacks —
"Pacifica Restructuring Project" (PRP) AKA "New Day Pacifica" (NDP):

By a 2-to-1 ratio in March 2020, members rejected the last Bylaw Replacement proposal. That resounding defeat meant little to PRP because it was member money being burnt, so months later, they're back with unacceptable swill in the name of NDP, creating a series of winner-take-all elections that eliminate minority voices; slashing staff representation by 60% and segregating staff which would lead to discrimination against unpaid staff; stacking the board with undefined, appointed "experts"; minimizing local listener input; forcing affiliate stations into a 3^rd party association while halving their representation; and giving themselves long-term top officer positions because the only "candidates" are those they named in the petition. If you signed a petition for a membership referendum, that's what you're endorsing. Please un-sign here. Without the requisite number of signatures, they cannot force a referendum.

1. Un-signing the Petition

If you already signed the NDP petition, here's how to UN-SIGN. Send an email stating that you want your name removed from the petition to: New Day: info@newdaypacifica.org, National Election Supervisor: nes@pacifica.org, and CC: pacificafightback@gmail.com

1. Examine their actions. Closely.

Our network needs to pay its accounting firm and to hire fundraising staff. The $3 Million loan is now due in 2022, but interest payments are due every quarter. Tens of thousands on a look-alike referendum is an abuse. Ironically, those pressing this bylaw replacement and threatening to sue to push it through, complain that the current governance system is too costly. See specific criticisms of their latest deformation, read our coalition's Open Letter.

The separation between the "Pacifica Restructuring" crew that invaded WBAI in October 2019 and the "New Day" group that calls the armed visitation "disastrous" is the months-long period they spent coming up with an appealing new name, trying to disavow the previous actions, and clogging up the organization's works.

Recently, the PRP / NDP group arbitrarily attacked the Workers World Party. We're not going to spend time unpacking that kind of conduct, but want you to know how these folks and their enablers think. Attacking the Left worked well for Trump in some circles, so the "New Day" people want to try it here.

Another formulation targeting the Foundation is The "Pacifica Safety Net":

Between late September and mid November, people from our KPFA-Berkeley area filed a complaint with the California Attorney General, set up a non-profit to, like Pacifica, "educate the public via radio", and made themselves the officers of that corporation. This all became public when they marched into court, on December 8, with a factually-deficient 800-page legal brief that demanded a Los Angeles judge immediately strip Pacifica's management and national board of all authority and put the Foundation into receivership.

They want to give our network over to a Court-appointed agent. For our own good.

The judge said no to their initial request but the case is not over.

Anyone can claim to be a savior. Examine their actions. Closely.

Please don't give these "organizations" your petition signature, your vote or your dollars.

Instead, establish or renew your 1-year station membership for at least $25.

Encourage your family and friends to do the same. The timeline of a possible membership referendum is not firm, but could kick in without much notice. Once a date is declared, only those who in the previous 12 months, donated $25 or volunteered 3 hours under station supervision, will be able to vote. Make sure you can vote "No", if the "Breakers'" time-wasting and costly balloting comes into being. And since local board elections begin in June, you'll need that membership to vote or to run for the Local Station Board, so act quickly.

1. Your Voice Matters!

Please save these dates & keep showing up!

• Pacifica FightBack Town Hall Mtg. #4:

  Sat., Jan., 9, 2021 — 3:30 PM PT / 5:30 PM CT / 6:30 PM ET

  Subj: Criticism of Israel is Not Anti-Semitic; Pacifica Can Thrive.

  Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtc-ihrjsrGdyVPXpExBHN1Ltp-TPzQAis

  Justice & Unity is part of "Pacifica FightBack" which was formed to rebuild and strengthen ALL of Pacifica: PacificaFightback.org

• Pacifica National Board Meetings (first Thursdays and more)

  Listen at kpftx.org, usually from 8:30pm ET

• Local Station Board Mtg. — Wed., Jan 13, 2021 (and every 2nd Wed.)

  Check the station's website or https://kpftx.org

  Most meetings are held on Zoom, open to the public, on the web or phone. Please attend, listen carefully, and speak up. There must be at least 30 minutes of "Public Comment". Please pay close attention to the actions of our boards. See what people are doing and NOT doing. Join a local committee. Stay near!

• Wards / Community Boards / Advisory Neighborhood Commissions

  Displacement and gentrification were epidemic before COVID-19. Add the coronavirus-induced hardship and opportunistic greed, and some neighborhoods are essentially facing extinction. To paraphrase Sister Jayne Cortez: "They want the land but they don't want the people!"

  Those appointed to neighborhood boards and committees make recommendations to the City Council that affect daily life and your future.
  Pay attention.

You matter: be careful, eat smart, keep moving, get sufficient sleep.

Think things through.

Persevere.

Organize.

And see you next year!

Ralph Poynter
Sharonne Salaam