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April 2013 e-Newsletter
This Newsletter was made with 100% recycled electrons! No trees were destroyed and no animals were harmed.
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In This Issue
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Tweet #baibuddy and help us cut down on-air fund drive days.
 From The Station Manager  
Events

From the Station Manager - Berthold Reimersgenman 
Berthold Reimers

  

 

Dear WBAI Family,

This week, thanks to your help, we were able to pay a portion of our transmitter fees and forestall the loss of our ability to broadcast.  

 

Thank you for your thoughtful donations - they have come in $5 dollar amounts to $25,000 amounts - and each and every dollar is appreciated. 

 

As we know, most of you have been effected by the economic crisis and have very limited discretionary funds. But your continued donations make it possible to continue the programming important to you, despite the economic distress we currently find ourselves in. Private donations are crucial to not-for-profits like WBAI and go far in making up for cuts in foundation and state and local government funding that the competition is so steep for today.

 

Frankly, we could not do what we do without donors such as yourself. We, and those without the means to support the station, deeply appreciate your generosity.

 

Thank you -

Berthold Reimers

"I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks."
-William Shakespeare

Events events2
  Please click here: Calendar for an extensive list of upcoming events
  • March 29- April30 - 14th Annual Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival-'Jazz Healing Force of The Universe', Presented by the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium. This music series is New York City's longest continuously running grassroots festival dedicated to jazz.  More than 500 artists performing in nearly 50 events at venues throughout Brooklyn. This celebration is financially accessible and open to all.
     Click Here for schedule and venues.

 

 

 

 

  • April 6, Saturday - 11am -"The Battle of Pussy Willow Creek"-  
    Barika Taheer Edwards and WBAI's Artsy Fartsy Show present a special special screening of the mockumentary "The Battle of Pussy Willow Creek" by director Wendy Jo Cohen at the Quad Cinema (34 W 13th St). Proceeds of the screening to benefit WBAI. There will be a Q + A  following the film with Wendy Jo Cohen and  Barika Taheer Edwards. About "The Battle of Pussy Willow Creek": Ken Burns meets Spinal Tap in a subversive tour de force relaying the outrageous life stories of four forgotten Civil War heroes: an opium-addicted gay colonel, an aging Chinese launderer, a nerdy escaped slave, and a one- armed teenage prostitute.Watch the trailer here.  TICKETS 

  • April 11, Thursday, 6-9pm - "Mirrors of the Soul" Portraits by Harlem sculptor Leah Poller with a special tribute to Fred Ho. The Knox Gallery in Central Harlem offers a dynamic program of exhibitions and encounters this April with this one-person exhibition. Free. 129 W. 129th Street, NYC.
      Click here for info.  

   

  

  •  April 21, Sunday, 2-5pm - Haiti Film Fest 2013 Pre-season Screening of "KALEB" 
    Kaleb tells the story of a young man and his strict Haitian family. When Kaleb is a accused of raping a young girl, the police search for him and his friends while the incident sparks friction within the family. The tension forces Kaleb's father to respond to his wife's ultimatum: FIND KALEB OR LOSE THE REST OF HIS FAMILY. This is Kervans Barthelemy's first feature length film which premiered at the Hatian Cultural Exchange | Haiti Film Fest in 2011. Watch the trailer for Kaleb here.  
    The screening will be immediately followed by a discussion with filmmaker Kervans Barthelemy, moderated by Haiti Film Fest 2013 Co-chair Mich�le Stephenson. Seating is limited. Email  RSVP@haiticulturalx.org with "Kaleb" in the subject line and names of guests to reserve your space.  At Queens Central Library, 89-11 Merrick Boulevard.
      
  • April 28, Sunday, 6-9pm - 7TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY GALA - Guests will enjoy drinks, hors d'oeuvres and live entertainment reflecting the diversity of age, ethnicity and dance genres found in the tri-state area. Proceeds from International Dance Day will directly support production costs associated with Dance Parade's annual parade and its culminating festival at Tompkins Square Park. Performances by: Andanza Flamenco (FLAMENCO), Calvinology/Calvin Wiley (HIP-HOP), Dancing Rubies (BELLY DANCE), Fusha Dance Company (AFRICAN), Kizomba Dance2Heartbeat (KIZOMBA), Mazarte Dance Group (MEXICAN CARNIVAL), Neville Dance Theatre (CONTEMPORARY), NIWA (MODERN), RISE Hip Hop (HIP-HOP), The Loft Practice (HOUSE HIP HOP), The Shakedown (FUNK), and Times Squares Square Dance Club (MODERN WSTRN SQUARE). Dixon Place - TICKETS 
 Host Highlights HostHighlight
Welcome Back to James Irsay!

James Irsay
James Irsay returns to WBAI on Friday mornings from 10am - noon beginning on April 12.

Irsay is a lifelong musician, and a virtually lifelong radio host/producer. He attended the Juilliard School, and studied piano and composition with some of the world's greatest musicians. In radio, He has won numerous awards, including several CPB's, the Ohio State, and the Armstrong. He brings an insider's perspective to music, and gets "between the notes" to illustrate questions of interpretation, performance practice, history, etc. His emphasis is on little-heard recorded classical performances - often those recorded during the 78 rpm era. There is no other radio program on New York radio which presents historical recordings accompanied by in-depth, non-pedantic "user-friendly" commentary, as suitable for a neophyte as a professional musician.

 

The program's title, Morning Irsay, as opposed to, say "Morning Music", was chosen because ultimately, he has always felt free to make good radio from anything that interests him, in addition to presenting classical music. The unexpected is likely to make regular appearances on Morning Irsay. Humor is another defining element of the program, and this element draws listeners who may not have had a predisposition to classical music listening. His audience has always cut across demographic boundaries. The choice to title the program Morning Irsay is also due to name recognition, based on his continuous presence on New York radio from 1971 until 1999, over three stations: WBAI, WNYC and WQXR. The last ten years were spent at WQXR, where he built an audience of one million daily listeners, based on Arbitron ratings.    

 

In Irsay's words. "New listeners, of all demographics, are always being drawn to their radios and computers. Generations come and go. If great art is presented in youthful but literate language, without pomp or affectation, these listeners feel a greater connection with that art, and a real connection with WBAI. This is life-changing, and is a direct and focused goal of my programming. It is the "WBAI treatment" of music, or indeed any subject, that makes an impression on our listeners.    

 

All Mixed Up Returns to Monday Mornings

Peter Bochan
All Mixed Up returns to Monday mornings from 10:00 AM until 12:00 noon with host Peter Bochan and features a blend of music, information, guests and current events that has been the destination point for fans of radio art for years.

All Mixed Up is an eclectic mix of arts and information, featuring mood-driven music mixes and interviews with figures from the worlds of literature, film, television, theater, and the visual arts. The program has hosted live performances from a diverse cast of guests, including P. J. Harvey, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Daniel Johnston, and Olu Dara.

Named one of the "Top Ten Music Radio Programs" by The New York Times, Time Out New York, Village Voice, and The Daily News, and known for incorporating current events, politics, and culture into custom-blended montages, Bochan's show is a long-standing radio destination at WBAI.

Bochan is the creator of the Shortcuts radio series, a frequent winner of local and national radio awards, and voted "Best (and most eclectic) Radio DJ of 2000" by the Village Voice. He has produced work for film, radio, television, and the recording industry, including Rage Against the Machine, Richard Belzer, Pearl Jam, Yo Yo Ma, Bruce Springsteen, and many others.

Bochan has mixed his way through Watergate, the Vietnam War, Three Mile Island, Contragate, 9/11, Pacifica@50 and Barack Obama-The Remix.

Coming up he will feature the "Smith Tapes", a tribute to Bobby Smith of the Spinners, "Motown-The Musical" and much more.


News From Esther Armah and Wake Up Call
Esther Armah
Esther Armah continues to scoop awards. After being awarded Most Valuable in Local  Radio for the 2012 Progressive Honor Roll by John Nicholls of The Nation, just last month she scooped the 'My Sister's Keeper Award' from the annual Sista to Sisa Youth Summit. This is a one-day empowerment summit connecting 125 high school girls of Pan African descent from underserved areas across NYC with women making a difference in the areas of technology, media, law, health and wellness, medicine, entertainment, education, personal growth and development and other fields. The girls are engaged in workshops, live entertainment, and reflective activities. Utilizing a 3 step-process of self-awareness, self-appreciation, and self-actualization the workshops and activities equip participants with fundamental tools to make well-informed decisions today and in the future.

Esther Armah was given the prestigious award for her work on Emotional Justice - the mullti-media, multi-platform, multi-generational, -multi-racial arts and conversation series that features live panels, art, on air components. For Season 4, the series work featured key in-depth long form interviews aired on Wake Up Call with a mix of celebrities, activists and scholars.  Included were actor, author and philanthropist Isaiah Washington, scholar and public intellectual Brittney Cooper to name just two.

With more good news, Esther's play SAVIOUR? which debuted in Harlem in October 2011 to sold out audiences and provocative panel discussions that featured Dr Cornel West and Pulitzer prize winner Lynn Nottage, will now debut in Chicago from March 2014 to May 2014.

Esther Armah and her Emotional Justice work have taken her to the Ivy League with a panel appearance at Stanford Universityplus a special panel workshop at the prestigious annual Samuel De Witt Proctor Conference in Dallas, Texas. At both venues she continues to meet new listeners to WBAI and Wake Up Call and introduce audiences to the station via live-stream.

WBAI's producer Ibrahim Gonzalez and Public Affairs Director Kathy Davis interviewed by Christina Pagan
at BronxNet. BronxNet is a public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable tv network in The Bronx, airing on multiple Cablevision and Verizon FiOS channels. 

Interns + Volunteers interns
 
INTERN OF THE MONTH: Tom Newman
Tom Newman

My path to WBAI began somewhere along the Garden State Parkway last fall, during one of many semiweekly commutes made from my North Jersey home to Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus, where I will be finishing my undergraduate education in May. Hurricane Sandy had knocked my previous go-to station off the air, and I had since spent the commute, roughly an hour, amidst the din of a radio scanner that happened upon white noise more often than it did real stations. Occasionally, I would stumble upon something promising-a song I like here, an interesting tune there-only to be disappointed by the D.J.'s next pick.

One afternoon, my radio made a fortuitous discovery, and Talk Back! with Hugh Hamilton came through the airwaves. I fumbled around the radio console, turned off 'scan,' and never looked back; the rest of my commutes, mornings and afternoons, were spent forever tuned to 99.5. When I was looking for an internship for the spring semester, I made the easy decision to become a part of the radio station that I had so quickly begun to love for its courageous journalism, poignant cultural analyses, and progressive voice-WBAI.


SPRING/SUMMER INTERNSHIPS
 
Internships (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 a resume, days/hours  of availability, and areas of interest to:

VOLUNTEER

Volunteers are needed to help out with regular office duties and with shipping out thank you gifts to our members. Contact us with your hours of availability  here.  
Listener Commentarylisteners
Fear of Abundance by Alexander Dron
Click here for link to article


I give well into my means each year for as far back as I can remember . . .likely back beyond your record keeping. I began listening to BAI in the late sixties.  I must say that for some time I have felt that you have been in search of your own demise  
. . . not intentionally mind you, but in terms of your actions. 

WBAI is not alone in equating its intentions with the world in which it exists. Clearly you have come, over the years to rely heavily, as many of your produces put it in code, "on folks", or as others more forthrightly put it, on "people of color", which makes people like me colorless in that absurd way of addressing your audience.

I shall continue to give as much as is reasonable for me, and I might add that my wife-without-color also gives. It seems to me that if you were more upright in your appraisal, you would have  figured it out by now that you are largely responsible for your present predicament. All of this is unfortunate in the extreme, precisely because what you sometimes do is extremely important!
- John M. Giannone

I love WBAI radio and all the programming that it offers.  I am fearful that you may have to shut down due to financial hurdles.  I am praying and meditating that this does not happen.   We need you!!  Is there not some millionaire, some celebrity that you can call upon to assist in your quest to stay on the air?? 

There has to be someone with money that can at least financially get you up to speed.  Let's have a prayer or a meditation on the air everyday, even for a minute, to bring forth the energy and frequency needed to make this happen. I have written on my vision board:  WBAI will be saved by a loving, generous soul!!!  It seems that although your listeners donate , as do I, it is not enough!  People are stretched to the max, we need a loving revolution!!
-Enid Medina

Your urgent need to raise $500,000 in the shortest period of time requires a joint collaboration effort by EVERY GUEST that WBAI has hosted over the past years for the causes they represent because WBAI has given them a voice on the air to reach millions of listeners. Now is the time that WBAI urgently needs help from each and every one of those  guests to PERSONALLY appeal to their AFFILIATED GROUPS & MEMBERSHIP to save WBAI so their voices can continue to be heard in the future.  No other radio or TV station will allow free speech for their causes like WBAI.

I urge WBAI to assign someone or several people to contact by phone or email every guest who has appeared on WBAI, on all its programs.  Ask that guest to reach out to its entire membership in an emergency appeal to donate to WBAI so they will always have a voice that can be heard on WBAI.

People who belong to the science community, the law & justice community, the church community, the music industry, arts community, human rightgs advocates, the Spanish community, the Arabic organizations, computer technical
listeners, the entertainment community, etc. etc. If each representative who has appeared on WBAI contacts their membership lists in their organizations to donate, WBAI's outreach will be multiplied by thousands!!!!!!

It is the only way to reach more people in the shortest period of time and multiply individual donations by appealing directly to those organizations who have a personal interest in keeping WBAI on the air for their own missions to be heard. I sincerely pray this approach is used quickly to multiply the donations in time to save WBAI.
- Josephine Nicolazzo

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.
Programmingprogram


Berthold Reimers - General Station Manager 
WBAI Pacifica Radio
250 Vesey St, 26th Floor
New York, NY 10282 
(347) 903-2986