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February 15, 2012
 

 
In This Issue
From the General Manager
Coming Events
Winter Fund Drive
KPFA People - Robynn Takayama
Establishing Foreclosure Prevention Zones - KPFA/Flashpoints Teach-In
Daniel del Solar Passes
Terry Doran Passes
KPFA Links
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
From the General Manager

 

We urgently need your support to make our $800k goal this Winter Fund Drive.  While KPFA essentially broke even for our 2011 fiscal year, we started that year deeply in debt due to several years of huge losses.  As a result, we have no reserves and the station is still in debt. 

 

KPFA's 2012 Fiscal Year Budget  (10/1/11-9/30/12) has no "wiggle room" in it.  We budgeted for a $43k "surplus" after capital expenses -- which is not enough to cover our carry-over debts from previous years -- and we were $42k under budget at the end of the first quarter on December 31st. (See Feb 1st Newsletter for our first quarter financial report.)

 

This fund drive has started off slowly -- but we can make it up if everyone steps up now during the last week.  If you have already pledged, thank you.   Please consider pledging again.  If you have not yet pledged, won't you do it today?  Please be as generous as you can be, and consider doubling your pledge to KPFA this year. 

 

By supporting KPFA you are helping to support all the causes that are important to you -- as we bring the voices of our community activists to the air, and we provide coverage & in-depth analysis of the issues that matter to the 99%.  We have done it for 63 years, but we need you now to help us continue.  The need is great. 

 

On a positive note -- we're putting on a "teach-in" on the foreclosure crisis and setting up "foreclosure free zones" on Monday evening, Feb 20th.  We'll be live video streaming it.  (See article below.)  In addition, we're setting up a YouTube account where we can aggregate our material.

 

And Mitch Jesserich continues his riveting journalism covering the Occupy Movement with a debate on the Feb 8th edition of Letters & Politics between journalist/left commentator Chris Hedges and Kristof Lopaur of Occupy Oakland concerning militancy tactics and Hedges' recent controversial article on the Black Block.  The program has gone viral on the internet, with many comments that it has helped people to clarify their thinking on the issue.  If you missed the program, you can listen to it in our archives here.

 

This newsletter notes the passing of two elder members of the KPFA community -- Daniel del Solar and Terry Doran -- and the previous two newsletters noted the deaths of Yvette Hochberg and Johnny Otis.  As our elders pass on and we remember and honor them, new life and a new generation is coming to KPFA.  We profile Apex Express's Robynn Takayama in this issue.

 

Please support us so that we can continue to expand our programming, to bring in new voices and new listeners, to explore the critical issues of these times -- times that demand informed and awakened public participation -- for a new generation of young people.  Help us to support their efforts towards a better future, as we did for previous generations of activists for peace and justice.

 

Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

 

Andrew Leslie Phillips

General Manager (Interim)

tel: 510-848-6767 ext. 203 

email: [email protected]

Andrew Phillips

 

 

 

Coming Events

 

Occupy the Truth
 
Occupy the Truth:  Whistleblowers Conference

Exploring truth and transparency in an age of terror -- Friday Feb 17th, 6 PM - Sunday Feb 19th, 4 PM.  Who is the Conference for? Anyone who really cares about truth and transparency. (Practitioners and academics in the information, communication, media, computer, and library domains, members of NGOs working on civil society and good governance issues, and all who are interested in ethical, legal and regulatory aspects of information and communication.) 

 

Read more

 

Michio Kaku poster

Michio Kaku -- Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives By the Year 2100 - Feb 23rd, 7:30 PM - Hosted by Philip Maldari

 

Read more 

 

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti

Dr. Barghouta Mustafi, Palestinian Leader & Physician - The Future of Palestine & the Impact of Arab Spring - March 3rd, 7:30 PM - Introduced by Stanford Professor Dr. Khalil Barhoum

 

Read more

 

Hari Kunzru

Hari Kunzru - Gods Without Men - March 13th, 7:30 PM - Hosted by Richard Wolinsky

 

Read more

 

Dave Zirin

Dave Zirin - Sports Under Occupation, A Benefit for Soccer Balls for Children in Palestine - March 14th, 7:00 PM

 

Read more 

 

Michael Klare
 
Michael Klare - The Race for What's Left:  The Global Scramble for the World's Last Resources - March 15th, 7:30 PM - Hosted by Philip Maldari

 

Read more

 
KPFA Winter Fund Drive
February 1- 23

 

Winter Blossoms 2 

Goal:  $800,000

 

Help us make our goal for this fund drive.  Please call-in now, or click on the banner at the top of this email to make a secure on-line donation.  Every dollar is critical to KPFA's health and well being for the rest of the year.  We rely on our winter fund drive to carry us through.  Please be as generous as you can be, and consider doubling your contribution to KPFA this year.  Thank You!
 
KPFA always needs volunteers to help answer the phones during fund drives.

 


Register to Volunteer here

 


KPFA People - Robynn Takayama 

 

Robynn Takayama photo by Jay Jao
Robynn Takayama ~ photo by Jay Jao
Q: What do you do at KPFA?

 

Robynn:  I'm part of a collective that produces APEX Express, a weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asian Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, DJs, and activists and airs each week on Thursdays from 7-8 p.m.

 

Q: How long have you been a programmer at KPFA?
 
Robynn:  Although I graduated from the KPFA First Voice Apprenticeship Program in 1998, I didn't get involved with programming at KPFA until after Gina Hotta, co-founder of APEX Express, passed away in 2009. Gina was our rock. She held down the show and mentored a group of folks who came, contributed, and then moved on. But Gina was always there. I knew it would take a lot of people pitching in to fill Gina's shoes.

 

Q: How did you hear about the station?

 

Robynn:  I had a summer fellowship at Visual Communications (VC), the nation's first Asian Pacific American media arts organization. After taking a video editing class, VC's Executive Director Linda Mabalot (who was also a Pacifica board member) saw that my true passion was for sound and radio. She recommended that I look into the KPFA First Voice Apprenticeship program. After I graduated from college, where my senior thesis was a radio documentary on Japanese American musicians, I was grateful to be accepted into the the program with Group 17 "Pepukayi."

 

Q. What made you become involved?

 

Robynn:  "Do what you can do." Yuri Kochiyama said this to musician and storyteller Charlie "Chin" when asked how he could be a part of the struggle for liberation of Asian Americans and all oppressed people. Charlie used his talents to inspire folks through his performances at rallies and convert new movement workers through his poignant storytelling. The apprenticeship program trained me with this gift that allows me access to the airwaves, so I will "do what I can do" to share our community's stories with a broader audience and weave our voices into the rich diversity of KPFA's program grid.

 

Q. Why do you continue your involvement?

 

Robynn:  Many of us helped form the new APEX Express collective after Gina passed away. Veterans of the apprenticeship program like Kayumangg� Kaloy who produces the API Specials and hosts Roots Kommunikcations and Karl Jagbandhansingh who worked at the National Radio Project joined. New recruits like RJ Loazada, Preeti Mangala Shekar, Ellen Choy, and Marie Choi joined. And recent graduates from the apprentice program like Jane Chang and Sam Mende-Wong joined. We're always looking for folks to get involved; shoot us an email at [email protected]

 

Q: Tell us a bit about your day job. How do you bridge the two?

 

Robynn:  I'm fortunate because my job really is a part of my life. I'm a program manager in the Community Arts and Education Program at the San Francisco Arts Commission. This program grew out of a movement in the 1960s demanding that if the city invests in the symphony, ballet, and opera, it also invests in art opportunities where people live and work. I've been able to fund a choir made up of day laborers, an art exhibition of work by visually impaired artists, and writing workshops for survivors of sexual assault. In the last couple of years, I started a podcast called Deep Roots, which features the community arts projects we produce like our StreetSmARTS mural program, our award-winning WritersCorps program, and our nationally recognized Art in Storefronts program. Our latest podcast series, The ARTery Project:  Sights and Sounds of Central Market was picked up by KALW, so while I don't pitch to public radio anymore, I do get some of my work on the NPR affiliates.

 

Q: Why is KPFA important to you?

 

Robynn:  Because of its eclectic programming, I never know what I'm going to get turned on to when I put it on 94.1 FM. I became an avid herb lady following recipes in The Herbal Kitchen after I heard The Herbal Highway during pledge drive and that book was the premium. I learned about the amazing Puerto Rican band, Mijo de la Palma, thanks to Ritmo de las Americas. And the coverage on the protests after the Mehserle verdict by Full Circle took me right there to Downtown Oakland. Sharing in this diversity benefits all our listeners and our communities.

 

Q: What else would you like to share?

 

Robynn:  Here is APEX Express's full mission statemen:.
 
"We hope you'll tune in on Thursday evenings or sign up for our podcast by clicking hereAPEX Express is a weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asian Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, DJs, and activists and airs each week on Thursdays from 7-8 p.m. APEX is committed to building a broader social movement for justice and collective liberation for all oppressed people, including poor and working-class people, people of color, women and queer people. We support grassroots organizing and cultural work that advance these goals, and see APEX as a space for building consciousness and promoting critical discussion about these efforts. As part of KPFA, we are committed to promoting independent community media that is free and accessible to everyone. We work collectively to share our skills and resources, and to build the capacity and confidence of community members to tell their own stories.  

 

Within our group, we prioritize maintaining a culture of mutual support, respect, and love."
Robynn Takayama photo by Bob Hsiang

Robynn & APEX Express's RJ Lozada at the home of Bill Sorro & Guiliana Milanese while working on "A Serving of Love: The Passion of Bill Sorro" for Maniliatown Heritage Foundation

- photo by Bob Hsiang


Read and listen to Robynn's blog nonogirlradio

CJ Holmes - The Foreclosure Crisis: Establishing Foreclosure Prevention Zones
 
A KPFA-Flashpoints Workshop & Teach-In Introduced by Dennis Bernstein

 

Monday, February  20th, 2012 - 7:00pm-9:00pm

Berkeley Fellowship of Universal Universalists  

1924 Cedar Street (at Bonita Ave), Berkeley CA 94709.

510-841-4824

Donation - $10.

 

The Teach-In will be live video streamed here.

 

CJ HolmesCJ Holmes, Real Estate expert has personally handled hundreds of transactions, viewed thousands of properties, and dealt with countless clients and agents.  CJ is dedicated to uniting property owners to stop foreclosures. Eight millions homes are already foreclosed. Another six million are in the pipeline.

 

A "Teach-In" to explore collaboration to establishing "Foreclosure Prevention Zones."  "We need to come together as communities to demand principal and interest rate reductions for every mortgage that is underwater."

 

One in five U.S. foreclosures is in California. From 2008 to 2012, nearly 2 million homeowners in California have lost their homes to foreclosure with a home value loss of over $630 billion. Nation-wide, local governments have lost more than $17 billion in tax revenues due to the housing crisis. An estimated 29% of all homes with mortgages are underwater. One in every four mortgages - a total of 14 million homes may be foreclosed from 2007 to the end of the crisis!

 

"We must move very quickly and make a huge ruckus," says speaker CJ Holmes. "If we allow Hedge Funds to get their hands on our homes at these current depressed prices, the billions the 1% already took from us 99% will be peanuts in comparison.

 

Related articles from CNBC:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45925851/

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45945390

 

 
Daniel del Solar Passes

 

Daniel del SolarDaniel del Solar, Latino media activist, documentarian, videographer, photographer, and poet died in Oakland, California on January 13, 2012, at the age of 71.

 

Daniel's history with KPFA began with the Comunicaci�n Aztl�n programming collective in the early 1970s, through his work as co-producer of a weekly KPFA radio magazine, Reflecci�nes de la Raza, and contributions to the current KPFA weekly program La Raza Chronicles, as well as many other radio and video productions throughout his career.   He served as the General Manager of KALW-FM from 1985-1992.  With leading Bay Area poets, he was a founding co-editor of Tin Tan (a now legendary San Francisco Chicano/Latino cultural magazine).
 
A memorial to Daniel's life will be held later this year. To be notified about Daniel's memorial, send your contact information to [email protected].

 

 
Terry Doran, KPFA Local Station Board Member & Longtime Berkeley Educator, Dies

 

Terry DoranTerry Doran, who served two terms as president of the Berkeley school board and inspired generations of students at Berkeley High, died on January 1 after a long battle with cancer.

  

As a runner-up in the Fall 2010 Local Station Board election, Terry joined the KPFA LSB in October 2011 to replace Susie Goldmacher when she resigned.  Sadly, he died shortly thereafter.

  

A memorial/celebration of Terry's life will be held on Saturday, February 25th, at 2pm, at the Longfellow Middle School auditorium, Ward and Sacramento, in Berkeley. This event is open to anyone who would like to come and remember Terry. His son Andy says, "Please join us with memories, photos or simply your wonderful selves. Feel free to invite anyone who you feel would beinterested."

  

If anyone should desire to make a charitable donation in honor of Terry and the causes he believed in, Terry and his wife Lenore's most recent interests lie with Interfaith Peace Builders, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Middle East Children's Alliance.

 

Read more

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