KPFA and Pacifica have recently been threatened with bankruptcy and the possible closure of the stations and network. The financial crisis at Pacifica has been ongoing for many years. This forum will look at the present crisis and the views of those who want bankruptcy or a loan. It will also discuss the failure of Pacifica and the stations to bring new listeners, become a multi-media platform, and meet the needs of millions of people who want a vibrant national and international alternative media – a media network that would provide a voice to counter the growing rise of racism, fascism, xenophobia, sexism and the threat of world war with the bashing of Russia, North Korea, Venezuela and China.
there’s been a lot of interest in Betty Reid Soskin’s soon-to-be-released autobiography, Sign My Name To Freedom, as well as to the Bay Area book launch event we’ve organized for her.
We fight against “pre-crime” and “thought-crime,” spy drones, facial recognition, police body cameras and requirements for “backdoors” to cellphones, to list just a few invasions of our privacy by all levels of Government.
What exactly can be done about the Levin-Richmond coal terminal on the Richmond waterfront? Join the ongoing community discussion about how to remove this blight from our midst. Why do we have huge, uncovered piles of dirty, dusty coal sitting right next to our Bay—and contaminating several of our neighborhoods? Why is the Richmond terminal one of the last three ports left in the state to export this dirty fossil fuel when California doesn’t even use coal power? Why does the Bay Area, a region renowned for its environmental leadership, still allow coal trains to travel through our communities? Thanks to the falling price of clean energy and the commitment of activists all across the country, the coal industry is in retreat. We’ve retired 259 coal plants in seven years—that’s one plant retired every eleven days! And more than three million people work in the clean energy economy, which now employs more people than the fossil fuel industry in almost every state in the country. So let’s finish the job here!
For more background, see “While Oakland is Worried About Getting Coal, Richmond Is Covered In It.” East Bay Express, February 7, 2018.