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Berthold Reimers

February and March 2013 have been trying times for WBAI. We were forced to extend our fund drive to meet our immediate needs. But thanks to you, WBAI has been able to maintain its signal to date.

We are fully aware of the effect  prolonged fund drives have that deplete listening audiences. However, until we can find other means of raising large sums of money, we have no choice but to count on you, our loyal listeners.

It is clear that the U.S. economy is having a profound impact on the middle class and on not-for-profit organizations. Grants and loans are becoming scarcer and scarcer as the competition for  a smaller pool of funding has grown.

Although there was a significant positive impact on our financial situation these past 2 months, it is not enough to catch up on one year of fund drives not having met goals as in previous years.  Because of this we have incurred a deficit of over a quarter of a million dollars.

We are still in a precarious situation as we  strive to replenish our depleted cash reserve and as we are facing difficulties covering our payroll and transmitter obligations.

I thought long and hard about this dialogue and I decided to have this frank communication with you. WBAI staff and producers are very worried about this coming fund drive starting on May 8 and ending on June 6, because it is coming on the heels of what was an unusually long drive.  

We are counting on you to respond in kind and quickly. I am looking forward to your continuous help. One way to help is to begin to pledge online now to reduce fund drive days.   

Berthold Reimers

Flava Fla-L + Chuck D-R

"There goes the neighborhood!" Those are the words Carlton Ridenhour, better known as rapper Chuck D, admits were going through his mind as he stood on the stage on April 27th in Los Angeles at the induction ceremonies of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

As the frontman for the seminal Public Enemy, Chuck D, along with Terminator X, Professor Griff, and Flavor Flav, turned hip-hop on its head with the release of their second album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, more than 25 years ago this month. Their debut album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, was also critically acclaimed.

Still, it was arguably their second album that forced the mainstream masses to take notice of the four young men (one wearing a large plate-size clock around his neck no less) from Roosevelt, on New York's Long Island. Nation of Millions spoke bluntly about America's rampant racism in the '80s and with hit records like "Don't Believe the Hype'' and "Bring the Noise.'' The Village Voice voted it the top album of 1988, an honor that had never been awarded for a hip-hop act.

"It's good to look back from time to time to see where you impacted change or if you impacted change. I had parents who encouraged me to speak out and say what was on my mind and speak my truth," Chuck D said. "I think PE wanted to make change in some way through the music and we did in the way we said what we said and how we said it. Unfortunately, parents like mine aren't around that much today-parents that teach their kids to know something about something so they can talk about it." Chuck D can be heard on WBAI, Fridays from 8-10pm on his show, "ANDYOUDONTSTOP..."

WBAI Producer Fran Luck in The New Yorker  

Fran Luck

In an article by Susan Faludi  "American Chronicles Death of a Revolutionary, Shulamith Firestone.  Fran Luck is quoted: 

'internationalFLYGIRLSday' is a global celebration of girls via an online digital campaign of

Esther Armah w/ girls

conversations via blogs, panels, radio, and  social media. It was created by Esther Armah, Founder of Emotional Justice and the EJmovement. The intention is for girls to identify their own fly, become their own and each others' shero; salute their own swag; find their own fierce,  honor their brilliance and celebrate their girls  - all for 30 days. In a climate where mediocrity has become excellence, and meanness has developed swagger, this campaign aims to create a process that girls can engage in, own, control, develop and be winners.  

Kicking off in New York city, Emotional Justice (EJ) Producer Syreeta Gates moderated a conversation with teenage girls at Brooklyn's Mott Hall Bridges Academy on March 9th called 'The Swagger of Mean', a week later EJ Communications Producer Neekee West moderated a conversation with Karama Mentoring Group. From Cali, Lisa Renee, a teacher with the Cali Junior Girls Troupe joined us as did thousands across Facebook and Twitter. For the live event at Mott Hall, the girls began their 'Diary of Fly' entries in their #DoF journals.

 

Desi K. Robinson

Each day they had to write one thing they celebrated about themselves and one about a girl. Plus, EJ Blogger La-vainna Seaton wrotee the EJ weekly blog 'Scar Story' sharing trauma from her past & how she transitioned to triumph.  EJ Intl featured 'Diary of Fly' blogs from England blogger; Gracie Francesca's 'The Ugly Face of Beauty', Jamaica's 'NataliaOh.com', and Washington DC's Najia Diamond's 'From Combat Boots to Stilettos'. With a wealth of media coverage on TV, a range of magazines, newsletters, across social media, the debut internationalFLYGIRLSday campaign was a succees. It will be back next year!  

 

Esther Armah can be heard Monday-Thursday from 6-8am, Desi K. Robinson on Women in the Making- 2nd Wednesday of the month 2-3pm. 

Gary Null's Documentary AMERICAN VETERANS: DISCARDED  AND FORGOTTEN Wins Remi Award  Out of more than 4,100 international category entries in the 10 major Remi Award Competitions the film was awarded a Special Jury Award. More than 550 international filmmakers attended 

Gary Null

the 10-day Cinema and Video Celebration  that is WorldFest - featuring 51 great new Indie feature  films and 108 international Indie short films. It is very difficult to win a Remi in WorldFest...with so many entries, only about 15-20% are  good enough to win the Award for Creative  Excellence.

The Remi takes its name from  the famous artist Frederick Remington, who  captured the spirit of Texas and the West  with his brilliant paintings and sculptures. WorldFest gave first honors to Steven Spielberg,  George Lucas, David Lynch, Ang Lee, Ridley Scott,  The Coen Brothers, Brian De Palma, John Lee  Hancock, Randal Kleiser and many more, so  it is not only one of the longest-running  film festivals in the world, it is also one  of the most significant. The Gary Null show can be heard Monday through Friday from Noon to 1pm.

Robert Knight Moderates Mayoral Candidate Forum

Robert Knight

During the forum hosted by the New York City Community Garden Coalition at Cooper Union on April 27th, both Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Controller John Liu agreed on the presence of gardens in the city, but took differing stances on selling off public land. In laying out their ideas for the city's green spaces, the two Democratic contenders differed on whether the city should ever sell off public land to private developers.

Controller John Liu the practice should be barred; "It seems like this administration, in its last eight months and three days, is trying to sell off as much property as possible. That is absolutely wrong," he said. "Once you sell off a public asset, you never get it back."

 

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn the city should "minimize" such sales but not rule them out."When that does have to happen, and the developer makes real promises of other land or other compensation, we have to have real drawbacks built into those deals so if they don't follow through, there are real penalties and real repercussions," she said.  

 

You can hear Robert Knight on 5'O'clock Shadow , Monday through Thursday 5-6pm.