Black-led Slate Running to Instill Democracy, Diversity, Transparency and Anti-Racism at Pacifica

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Black-led Slate Running to Instill Democracy, Diversity, Transparency and Anti-Racism at Pacifica

by Michael Novick, Anti-Racist Action Los Angeles/People Against Racist Terror

     Are you a listener-member of KPFK radio? I have heard from too, too many people who used to be members of KPFK that they have let their membership lapse, or stopped listening, or both. They felt the station was stale and mired in the past.

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Pacifica Foundation, Inc. communication nor an official website of any of the five Pacifica Foundation, Inc. Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio). Opinions and facts alleged on this site belong to the author(s) only and should NOT be assumed to be true or to reflect the editorial stance or policy of the Pacifica Foundation, Inc., or any of the five Pacifica Foundation, Inc. Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio), or the opinions of its management, Pacifica National Board, station staff or other listener members.

     As a result, I was running with the Black-led Pacifica Mission Coalition slate and campaign in the current flawed elections for seats on the Pacifica National Board and the Local Station Boards at KPFK and the other Pacifica stations, WBAI in NY, WPFW in DC, KPFT in Houston, and KPFA in Berkeley. Although many of our candidates have been kept off or taken off the ballot, we still had a chance to win until I was also removed from the ballot in September, after voting had already begun.

     The head of our ticket is Dr. Julianne Malveaux, a Ph.D. economist, president emerita of a historically Black women’s college, syndicated columnist, broadcaster on WPFW, running for chair of the Pacifica National Board (PNB).

Our candidate for vice-chair, Perri “Mama PK” McCary, is the creator of the Sankofa Initiative, cofounder of Think Peace International, and wasa member of the KPFT Lsb and chair of the station’s Community Advisory Board. Kamau Harris, our candidate for treasurer, who was unfairly removed from the ballot, is an accountant and financial data analyst, with long experience in both for-profit and non-profit enterprises. He is chair of the WPFW LSB and served on the National Finance Committee of Pacifica. Donna Carter of KPFA, our candidate for secretary of the PNB, was also unfairly removed from the ballot for participating in a non-Pacifica protest of fascist media consolidation and monopolization outside Oracle over the takeover of CBS and the proposed takeover of HBO/CNN. Ninel Centeno, a labor organizer, community activist, and Spanish-language programmer at KPFKin Los Angeles, and Sally Gellert, environmentalist and co-producer and co-host of WBAI’s Eco-Logic, our candidates for two national staff representative seats on the PNB are still on the ballot.

     I was running as a committed anti-racist, internationalist, and labor and solidarity activist for the position of listener representative on the PNB from KPFK. (Our other candidates for that position at the other stations, including Cheryl Davila at KPFA, Vinisha PatelAdams at  KPFT, Michele Tingling-Clemmons at WPFW, and Sharonne Salaam at WBAI, had all been kept off or removed from the ballot). My recent disqualification as a candidate means there is no contest for the position at ANY of the five Pacifica stations — and in fact NO CANDIDATE AT ALL at the two East Coast stations, WBAI and WPFW, with large Black memberships. Those voters are now disenfranchised from voting for a representative on the Pacifica National Board. Despite those injustices, and an election system designed for “winner-take-all” and to favor slates with deep pockets, if we had been to win the five seats we were contesting, we could have won control of the new national board. With my elimination, that is no longer possible. Our campaign at this point is focused on educating the members about the LACK of diversity, democracy, transparency or community-based local public affairs and news programming at KPFK in particular and Pacifica in general.

      I have devoted many years and countless hours to the effort to increase the audience and rebuild the impact of the station, and the Pacifica Foundation, as a platform for the voices for peace and solidarity, for social, racial and economic justice, and for ecological consciousness, that are more necessary than ever in the face of militarism, threats to freedom of speech and the press, and attacks on movements for a more just and equitable society.

      I served as the unpaid interim General Manager of KPFK from Sept. 2022 into November, 2024. Shortly after Trump’s election to a second term, I was let go. Since then we have seen the elimination or reduction of locally-produced programming from communities of color, labor coverage, local news, environmental-oriented shows — replaced with syndicated national programs, repeats, and news and other programs from KPFA in Berkeley.

     Last year, a new set of Bylaws was adopted without the necessary member input, stripping away local oversight of finances, management and programming at each station. Elections are being held for a new centralized national board and a disempowered local station board. The Pacifica Mission Coalition that I am running with ais committed to restore members’ democratic rights to participate in the governance of their station, to restore equity, diversity and inclusivity within Pacifica, and to help bring KPFK and Pacifica into the 21st Century as an effective medium of news, analysis, cultural expression and coverage that meets the specific needs of the communities we serve in the various listening areas.

     Do you miss hearing from Black Lives Matter, Extinction Rebellion, Stop LAPD Spying, Richard Wolff, Radio Free Palestine, or the disability rights and resources coverage on Access Unlimited? Would you like to hear news from a progressive perspective about local issues, elections, movements, and solutions? Do you support progressive Spanish-language programming for the largest and fastest growing radio audience in the country? Do you agree with experts who believe that the future of independent media depends on providing local news and information to meet community needs that corporate media ignore?

      If you share these concerns and views, and made a donation of $25 or more to KPFK or another Pacifica station between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026, please search through your email or text messages for one from Pacifica Foundation Inc via electionbuddy.com. It contains a unque individualized code to the electronic ballot good until September 30 at 11:59 PM Pacific time. If you can’t find it, or you want a paper ballot, email [email protected] and [email protected] (the National Election Supervisor). When you find or get your ballot, please vote for our candidates.

     The local station board (LSB) candidates I was running with also need your vote  — Jack Neff for LSB chair, Rick Cooper for vice-chair, Doug Barnett for secretary, Bella De Soto for outreach coordinator, and Cliff Olin for Membership/Fundraising coordinator. Even though the LSB has been disempowered under the new Bylaws, electing these candidates will at least assure the LSB is again open to member participation and open discourse.

     Because the new Bylaws consider each election a separate one for a single seat in each case, the elections have been designed so that the same majority can sweep all the positions, especially at the national level. The foundation has not aired the live on-air candidate forums with the opportunity for listeners to call in, so the Pacifica Mission Coalition has been hosting zoom candidate forums to which all candidates are invited with equal time to speak and answer questions from attendees. You can learn more at https://pacificamissioncoalition.com.

      Thanks for helping KPFK and Pacifica uphold their mission and fulfill their potential!

DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Pacifica Foundation, Inc. mailing nor an official mailing of any of the five Pacifica Foundation, Inc. Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio). Opinions and facts alleged on this site belong to the author(s) only and should NOT be assumed to be true or to reflect the editorial stance or policy of the Pacifica Foundation, Inc., or any of the five Pacifica Foundation, Inc. Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio), or the opinions of its management, Pacifica National Board, station staff or other listener members.