To the Listeners:
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Berthold Reimers
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Dear WBAI Family,
In the age of Obama and in the midst of the Republican assault on women and our civil liberties, I am happy to be part of WBAI. We have been one of the leaders of the fight for free speech and individual freedom while respecting and understanding the need for government to provide basic rights such as housing, food, and education. We have launched Occupy Wall Street Radio, which seems to be one of the few voices of that movement at this time. We continue to criticize American policy in the Middle East and especially in Libya and Syria and its coverage in the mainstream media.
We continue to rely heavily on on-air funddrives to generate enough income to be functional while not being beholden to any corporation. I urge you to continue to listen to WBAI and to tell your neighbors and friends about WBAI and our many wonderful programs. I urge you to go to: www.give2wbai.org - and urge your friends to donate as much as they can from $1.00 to $1 million. We are also interested in your suggestions on how best to rely less on on-air fund drives and always look forward to your volunteering at the station.
I would like to direct your attention to the following new programs:
· Alternative Thursdays - 1-2 pm: The People with Wakin Brooks
· Wednesday 2-3 am: Libido Talk with Frenchie Davis
· Wednesday 9-10 am: The Mother of All Talk Show with George Galloway
· Monday to Friday 6:30 - 7:00 pm: Occupy Wall Street Radio
· Saturdays at Noon: Economic Update with Professor Richard D. Wolff
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Events  |
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Bessie Coleman - first African American female to become a licensed pilot.
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- March 8th and 9th, Thursday and Friday, WBAI will celebrate International Working Women's Day (IWWD) with a two-day broadcast of programs produced by women. The programs will feature women's lives, women's perspectives, and women's issues. The broadcast will include politics, health, spoken word, poetry, plays and song. Tune in on March 8th, Wednesday midnight, io Thursday morning for the kick off of the broadcast - An opening ceremony which will feature open mic and listener calls. Stay tuned for the alive, fresh and wonderful wisdom of women through the end of the broadcast on Friday, March 9th at midnight.
- March 10, Saturday March 10th, 9pm - 4pm: Rhythm Revue Dance Party -
 WBAI 99.5 FM Producer/DJ- Tony Ryan, 9 PM - 11 PM and WBGO 88.3 FM/98.7 KISS FM Producer/DJ- Felix Hernandez, 11pm-4am. Classic Soul - Motown - Funk - Latin - Disco - 60s - 70s - 80s. WBAI Staff/Producers/Volunteers - RSVP
If you would like to be on the Guestlist (one Ticket)email here.
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Michio Kaku
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March 12th, Monday, WBAI's Michio Kaku, host of Explorations, will commemorate the 1 year anniversary of the Fukushima disaster and give a lecture on his book "Physics of the Future", now available in paperback. You will have an opportunity to attend a reception with Michio Kaku prior to the lecture and have your book signed before the close of the evening. The event will take place at The New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West. Check our website for ticket information available shortly here.
- March 18, Sunday, 4-6pm WBAI broadcast of "Smiley & West" live from NYU.
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Smiley + West
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The all women panel, includes Nely Galan - President, Galan Entertainment Inc, Julianne Malveaux - President, Bennett College, Suze Orman - America's leading authority on personal finance, Susan Sarandon - Award-winning Actress & Human Rights Activist, Hilda Solis - 25th United States Secretary of Labor, Randi Weingarten - President, American Federation of Teachers, and Sheryl WuDunn - Pulitzer Prize winning writer, co-author of "Half the Sky" with NY Times columnist Nicolas Kristoff.
Listings of events for not- for- profit organizations must be submitted by the 15th of the month prior to publication of the e-Newsletter for the next month. Email information here. |
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From The Interim Development Director
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 | | Andrea Katz |
I would like to keep you all up-to-date on some of the many new initiatives in the Development Office. First of all and most importantly, after many years without one - we now have one!
As you may have noted, WBAI has a new 21st century look to go with its new initiatives. Recognizing that many think of WBAI as "that station from the '70's" we needed to let people know that we are actively a part of NYC's, the nation's, and the world's contemporary media outlets. Because of online streaming we recieve donations and letters from listeners from all over the planet. Our T-shirts are now being worn on multiple continents from Japan, to New Zealand, to Great Britain. Here is what I, and a team of tireless volunteers and interns have been up to:
- Foundation grants: over 170 grant applications have gone out since September 2011. In addition, there have been specific grant applications on the behalf of specific producers, genres of programming, and the capital campaign - and we await responses (and funding) on all.
- Partnerships have been created with the following organizations: Alwan for the Arts- an Arabic cultural center, Cave Canam- supports up and coming African America poets, Haitian Cultural Exchange - promotes Hatian artists, Poets House - home of 50,000 volumes of poetry, The Cell - an incubator for new Black playwrites, MusicTheatre Group - supports experimental music and theater projects, The Brecht Forum - offers progressive critical analysis panels and classes, and Freetown Radio - a radio partner in Sierra Leone. As a media sponsor WBAI fulfills its mission by providing on-air promotions, collaboration on projects, and provides sound capture and archival services. WBAI increases its exposure to new audiences, also fulfills our mission and many grant requirements for both WBAI and its partners.
- This e-Newsletter was launched, which now is received by 20,000 WBAI members and non-members, keeping listeners abreast of our accomplishments, programming news, and needs.
- During the February Fund Drive two new fund raising initiatives were piloted. The WBAI Online Donation Site and Text to Voice were implemented to reduce on-air fund drive times. The Online Donation Site has been very successful and will continue between drives at www.give2wbai.org.
- A silent Capital Campaign plan has been in place (please see Donations block below) which has included data mining to access and identify donor behavior over the past 10 years. Many local and state funding offices have been visited from whom we are seeking support. Berthold Reimers and I presented a preliminary timeline for the plan to the Pacifica National Board in Washington, D.C. last October - which was unanimously approved of by the board. An "Honorary Committee" has been formed of notable names who have made themselves available for "meet and greets" at our fund raising events.
- Revenue will soon be coming in from licensing agreements - where WBAI produced audio CD's are distributed by outside vendors.
- Live fund raising events have been planned for each month of the coming year, which will include in upcoming months the inauguration of the "WBAI Great Debate" series, and the "WBAI Annual Art Exhibit".
- A WBAI blog, our facebook page, and Twitter accounts (links above in the title block) have been establisdhed and/or revitalized - all of which have been bringing in many new members. A Twitter workshop was offered for producers to help them with building stronger online social networks amongst their listeners.
- Revitalized have been our "Bequest BAI" and the "Employee Matching Grant Program" ,"WBAI Buddy". Newly announced were the advantages of the "Stock Option" donation method. See all here.
- A Kickstarter campaign was launched to fund our "Save Our Sounds" campaign which has resulted in a donation of in-kind services to complete the archiving of legacy WBAI reels.
I could fill the entire e-Newsletter with more of what we are up to but will keep sending updates periodically instead. I welcome anyone with ideas, connections, considerations, and of course complaints, to please make an appointment to have a sit down with me or email me at andrea@wbai.org.
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Special Report: Occupy Wall St.
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From Program Director Tony Bates:
Our Occupy Wall Street Radio program is expanding and bringing new listeners and attention to WBAI. Eighteen stations are now carrying the program, including most recently a station in Chicago, bringing to WBAI a level of exposure unseen in some years. We have added 2 new members to the roster of hosts, long time local activist and occupier Camille Raneem and Kevin Sheneberger, a staple at the Occupy Wall Street 'Info Booth' in Liberty Square. Recently we have also seen the return of founding hosts Victoria Sobel, Max Hodes and Luke Richardson.
Host Ellis Roberts recently returned from spending time on Rikers Island as a political prisoner after being targeted by police during an 'Occupy Williamsburg' action. He reports that even on the inside of Rikers, 'the people' love the OWS Radio program. Ellis is facing trumped-up charges from the incident, 18 counts in all. The day before his successful bail hearing, additional charges were added to his indictment. He notes that the police are targeting OWS media for arrests, but from his perspective those OWS-ers connected to WBAI are being more specifically targeted. Ellis reminds us, "The rich have their own private islands, the poor have one too, it's called Rikers." We'll keep an eye on the developments in Ellis' case.
As Program Director, I'm very proud of my decision to add the OWS Radio program to our line up. It is the mission and legacy of WBAI to be on the frontlines of revolutionary movements and to give them voice. Recent guests have included; Ricki Ott, Marine toxixcologist and activist around the Gulf oil spill and March 2, 6:30 Noam Chomsky will be a guest.
We are excited about how the show has been developing. The program and its hosts are energizing WBAI's airwaves and our studios, as well as those of other stations.
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Donate, Donate, Donate!
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 WBAI IS MOVING!Because our broadcasting studios' lease ends in December of 2012, we are researching new locations and look forward to having a street level presence - one that is more easily accessible to our members and situates WBAI better in the public's eye. A large public performance / meeting space is planned that will enable WBAI to present and broadcast live audience-attended events. To enable the move, a capital campaign has begun on both large and small scales. Fundraising events will take place monthly to support the move.
Starting March 1, WBAI is launching a
Text to Give Capital Campaign
k Text message phone# 80888 and type in WBAIGIVE
You will receive a text back asking you to confirm with a "yes" and a
$10 dollar donation
will be charged to your cell phone bill - It's that easy!
....or visit our Facebook page and use the donation widget in the left menu.
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The online donation site has been a great success -Yes! now during a fund drive you don't have to keep calling back because of busy signals, or... have to pull over to the side of the road, or... miss the show you are listening to in order to make your pledge.
Now you can donate and choose your thank you gift online at your convenience - any time of the year. Visit www.give2wbai.org HERE. ___________________________________________________________________________
GoodSearch is a search engine which donates 50 percent of its sponsored search revenue to the not-for-profits designated by its users, including WBAI. You use GoodSearch exactly as you would any other search engine.
Go to GoodSearch here.
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Employee of the Month
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Jennifer Sindab: Receptionist
 | | Jennifer Sindab |
Jennifer first came to WBAI as a temp filling in for Fred Geobold - who sadly passed away. She began fulltime in 2005 and is the cheery voice and smiling face one encounters when calling in to, or arriving at WBAI.
Jen, as she likes to be called, answers phones as well as working closely with the Operations Department. She makes sure your mail gets to us, keeps all the material we receive on display in the lobby and is the go-to person for many at the station. Jen's experience as a mother of 6 girls has made her a patient and helpful presence at the station. Say hello the next time you call the station!
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Volunteers | Internships
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Imani Altemus-Williams
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Intern of the Month: Imani Altemus-Williams
Imani is currently in her final semester of study at The New School University, where she is majoring in Global Studies with a concentration in Rights, Justice and Governance. She was raised in the state of Hawaii, with limited access to Pacifica Foundation's radio programming. However, whenever visiting family on the continental states, she was frequently introduced to Pacifica radio. Her love for the coverage of current political issues from a progressive perspective drove her to apply for an internship with WBAI. She reports that her experience at the station thus far has been incredibly rewarding. "I have gained an understanding of the important role that donations and pledges play in maintaining the station, have had the opportunity to conduct interviews, write and record promotional ads, and am now assisting "Women In the Making" host, Desi K. Robinson coordinate this year's "Women in the Making Politics and Public Service Summit for Girls". The hands- on experience that I have been awarded throughout my internship at WBAI is truly invaluable."
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Applications are now being accepted for Winter + Spring (credit and non-credit) internships in audio engineering, marketing, accounting, graphic design, social media networking, event planning, general station support, and business organization . Please email resumes, days/hours of availability, and areas of interest to: internship@wbai.org
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Listener Commentary
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First off, your wonderful "Five O'Clock Shadow's" is great, we never miss it, as well as "Earthwatch" -- "Well put prose and things we must 'knows'." Second wow: Thanks for allowing our comment and question during Hon. Laureate Helen Caldicott's 21 Feb live interview from "down under" to "up above."
We were with Helen and other nascent no-nukers on-stage at the first Rocky Flats / plutonium bomb demonstration and political action circa Spring, 1979. So, it was truly wonderful to ask Helen, "How far have we come after 33 years of no-nukes work?" Her very insightful answer: "Yes that atomic bomb plant is now closed!" (Note that during our arrests a week after the 1979 initiating event at Rocky Flats, we were let go with our film, etc.)
Hearing Helen's additional cautionary comment of "Not so far" -- reminiscent of Robert Frost's "Miles to go before we rest, miles to go" -- we acknowledge the sorrow, knowing nuclear power threatens us all, as if it's "11:59 pm" on the Union of Concerned Scientists' countdown clock! We well recall Dr. Caldicott's emotional and rational words at Rocky Flats ,while the Department of Defense white-shirts had their cameras clicking on the government side of the fence, and being intimidated by their recording all: "We know who you are." Still, later, we tried to cross the boundary fence with the signage "Electrified" -- and failing to see insulators, took the full jolt. The on-site security merely cut power and told us to "climb out!" What a test, to re-touch the wire, even though the power was off!
That day, Rocky Flats made a few less nuclear bomb bits of plutonium - initiation energy for thermonuclear explosions. Later, as an environmental attorney (Colorado School of Mines/Geophysical Engineering), we had a hand in deactivating U.S. Government nuke sites - and are still a "no-nukes" activists today.
Dr. Brandon Brygider, Esq.
Garden City, N.Y.
I am a 95 year old retired Amarican Governtment teacher and supporter of Occupy Wall St. "Change comes from the grass roots up!" I agree.
Dorothy F. McNeil
Goleta, CA.
To The Interim Development Director:
You seem to be really on top of things... TOTALLY OUT OF STEP with my 34-year Pacifica experience.
Thomas J. Wisker IV
NYC, NY
I was on the air with Larry Josephson back when I was a kid in Manhattan and am now 51. Yes, I have been listening to WBAI for that long. However, I would contribute more funds more often, as well as many listeners in NYC, I'm sure, if I agreed more with the station's programming decisions. For example, one of your most informative, intelligent shows, staffed with seasoned field experts is the Personal Computer Show. Why pre-empt it at all? When you pre-empt it is laughable. This week you pre-empted it for Off The Hook--a group of well meaning, but law breaking, hackers offering a $75.00 dollar premium for a social media related gift. The social media, such as Facebook is a HUGE waste of time, regardless of how many idiots use Facebook or waste even more time with the additional use of Twitter.
Secondly, removing Mike Feder from your airwaves was a big mistake--the man is brilliant.
Thirdly, removing Gary Null was another colossal blunder, even though you have him back on the air.
Finally, it's hard to forget these programming fluffs. I don't and I'm sure many other mature listeners in NYC do not either.
Ted J. Bloom
NYC, NY
Please send your comments, complaints, or compliments related to any program subject matter aired this month to Listenercommentary@wbai.org with "Listener Comment" in the subject line. Submissions should be limited to 400 words and please include your full name and location. We reserve the right to edit where deemed necessary.
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Program Schedule
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Berthold Reimers - General Station Manager
WBAI Pacifica Radio
120 Wall Street, 10th Floor
(212) 209-2800
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Premium of the Month
Women's History Premium
of the Month
I Had an Abortion-DVD Pledge $50 here Underneath the din of politicians posturing about "life" and "choice" and beyond the shouted slogans about murder and rights, there are real stories of real women who have had abortions. Each year in the US, 1.3 million abortions occur, but the topic is still so stigmatized that it's never discussed in polite company. Powerful, poignant, and fiercely honest, I HAD AN ABORTION tackles this taboo, featuring 10 women - including famed feminist Gloria Steinem - who candidly describe experiences spanning seven decades, from the years before Roe v. Wade to the present day. Filmmakers Jennifer Baumgardner and Gillian Aldrich insightfully document how changing societal pressures have affected women's choices and experiences.
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