DISCLAIMER: This is not an official Pacifica Foundation, Inc.  website nor an official website of any of the five Pacifica Foundation, Inc. Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio). Opinions and facts alleged on this site belong to the author(s) of the website only and should NOT be assumed to be true or to reflect the editorial stance or policy of the Pacifica Foundation, Inc., or any of the five Radio Stations (KPFA Radio, KPFK Radio, KPFT Radio, WBAI Radio, WPFW Radio), or the opinions of its management, Pacifica National Board, station staff, or other listener members.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux, candidate for PNB Chair. Perri “Mama PK” McCary, candidate for PNB Vice-Chair. Kamau Harris, accountant, candidate for PNB Treasurer

Dr. Julianne Malveaux

is an Economist by training with a Ph.D. from MIT. She was born in San Francisco, has lived in Los Angeles and currently resides in DC. She has written five books.

President Emerita of historically Black women’s Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina.

President of Push Excel – the educational arm of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition founded by the Late Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Dean of the New College of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Los Angeles.

A founding member of African American Women For Reproductive Freedom.

Syndicated Newspaper Columnist and frequently appears as media commentator on CNN, PBS, and BET.

 Lead Lecturer in the Harvard W.E.B. DuBois Lecture Series.

Vice Chair of the board of the Economic Policy Institute.

Long time analyst and commentator on Pacifica Radio and currently hosts the Julianne Malveaux Show! on WPFW in Washington, DC.

She says: “Independent, listener-supported media is more essential now than ever. At a time when corporate consolidation, political intimidation, racial hierarchies, misinformation, and censorship threaten public discourse, Pacifica’s five stations must remain places where people can speak truth, challenge power, nurture culture, and build community.

“I bring to this role decades of experience as an economist, educator, author, journalist, commentator, and organizational leader. As a progressive Black feminist economist, I have spent my career examining inequality, racial justice, labor, poverty, public policy, and the ways economic power shapes people’s lives. As a former CNN commentator and syndicated columnist, I understand the importance of media access, message discipline, fairness, accuracy, and courageous speech. As a former president of Bennett College, I have managed complex institutions, worked with boards, raised money, navigated conflict, defended mission, and led through challenge. Those experiences taught me that leadership requires vision, discipline, accountability, transparency, and the willingness to listen deeply, especially when people disagree.

“Pacifica is not simply a radio network. It is a democratic experiment. Its stations—WPFW, KPFA, KPFK, KPFT, and WBAI—belong to the listeners, staff, programmers, volunteers, and communities who sustain them. Pacifica’s mission is rooted in peace, justice, anti-racism, cultural expression, labor rights, free speech, and community accountability. As Chair, I would work to honor that mission while helping the Board operate with greater clarity, civility, efficiency, and strategic focus.

“My vision is for a Pacifica that is financially stronger, more transparent, more inclusive, and more relevant to younger and more diverse audiences without abandoning its historic base. We must strengthen local oversight, respect staff and programmers, widen participation, improve governance, and support programming that informs, educates, challenges, heals, and organizes. We must also be more intentional about fundraising, technology, digital distribution, archives, audience development, and partnerships with social justice organizations, artists, scholars, students, and community leaders.

“I am part of the Pacifica Mission Coalition because I believe Pacifica must remain faithful to its founding values while becoming more effective in the present moment. The Pacifica Mission Coalition’s values are reflected here: democratic governance, fiscal responsibility, anti-racist and anti-war programming, protection of local station voices, and a renewed commitment to Pacifica’s founding purpose in a changing media landscape. More information about the coalition is available at https://www.pacificamissioncoalition.com/.

“I do not seek this position for title or status. I seek it because Pacifica matters. Independent media matters. Listener-sponsored radio matters. At its best, Pacifica gives voice to people and movements that commercial media too often ignore, distort, or exclude.

“As Chair, I would bring experience, discipline, progressive values, institutional knowledge, and a commitment to respectful, accountable governance. I would work to build bridges across differences, center the mission, and help Pacifica move from crisis management toward renewal. Our airwaves should not simply fill time. They should lift every voice, tell hard truths, cultivate imagination, and serve the people who make Pacifica possible.”

Perri “Mama PK” McCary

is a community builder, mediator, educator, storyteller, and longtime advocate for public participation in community media.

As a member of the KPFT Local Station Board, founder of The Peace Hour, and creator of The Sankofa Initiative, she has dedicated decades to fostering dialogue, preserving institutional memory, and building bridges across communities.

She served as chair of the KPFT Community Advisory Board and created a template that helped in the creation of and coordination with CABs at KPFK and other stations. She was a co-founder of Think Peace International.

She says, “My work is grounded in the principles of truth, shared responsibility, intergenerational learning, restorative justice, and community engagement. I believe Pacifica’s greatest strength lies in its ability to bring diverse voices together in service of its mission.

As Vice Chair, she would work to strengthen transparency, accountability, community participation, and collaborative leadership, while helping to preserve Pacifica’s historic role as an independent voice for education, culture, peace, and social justice.

Sankofa: “Honoring Our Past. Shaping Our Future.”

“I am Perri Kathryn “Mama PK” McCary, and I bring to Pacifica more than forty years of experience as a mediator, educator, journalist, storyteller, community engagement strategist, and peacebuilder. My work has always lived at the intersection of truth-telling, bridge-building, public accountability, and community transformation.

“I am running because Pacifica needs leadership that understands both mission and repair. We cannot simply talk about independent media, democracy, diversity, and justice; we must practice them in how we govern, how we listen, how we make decisions, and how we treat one another.

“From 2018 through 2024, I helped strengthen Community Advisory Board work within Pacifica, especially at KPFT, by creating spaces where listeners, programmers, volunteers, board members, and community organizations could speak honestly about what community radio must become. I facilitated town halls, listening sessions, participatory research, and intergenerational dialogue designed to move us from complaint to clarity, and from conflict to constructive action. The work produced reports, matrices, and recommendations focused on access, equity, diversity, outreach, programming, education, transparency, and public accountability.

“In 2019, I facilitated the KPFT Community Town Hall in Houston, which brought together a diverse, intergenerational group to examine the future of community radio. The guiding principle was “Building Bridges, Not Walls.” That phrase still reflects the vision I bring: Pacifica must become a place where differences are not weaponized, where community voice is not treated as a threat, and where our stations are rooted in the needs, stories, struggles, and brilliance of the people we serve.

“My experience also includes work with Pacifica Fightback, where I facilitated online workshops and conversations around governance, mission, collaboration, and organizational sustainability. These spaces helped people name concerns, identify shared values, and think strategically about how to protect and strengthen Pacifica’s role as independent, community-powered media.

“Beyond Pacifica, I am the founder of PK and Company and The Sankofa Initiative: Honoring Our Past, Shaping Our Future. I have mentored artists, students, activists, and emerging leaders for decades. I am also a founding member and former international trustee of the United Religions Initiative, where I worked in interfaith cooperation and global peacebuilding.

“The skills I bring are facilitation, mediation, strategic planning, community engagement, conflict transformation, historical memory, and a deep commitment to ethical leadership. My vision is for a Pacifica that listens deeply, tells the truth, repairs harm, honors its elders and its young voices, and rebuilds trust through transparency and shared responsibility.

“Pacifica’s future will not be secured by slogans. It will be secured by courage, discipline, accountability, and love for the mission. I am ready to help do that work.”

Kamau Harris

is chair of the WPFW Local Station Board and previously served on the National Finance Committee of Pacifica.

He is an accountant and financial data analyst, with long experience in both non-profit and for-profit enterprises.

He says, “At the foundation of any successful organization is trustworthy fiscal stewardship. I’ve learned this through a combination of formal education and real-world experience. After earning my Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Howard University in Washington, DC, I’ve worked for non-profit organizations, and in the Banking, Manufacturing, and Healthcare industries.

     “This varied work history has allowed me to understand what works best across industries and organizational structures. Quite simply, the through line is trust.”

     “Do the leadership, membership, and other stakeholders have trust regarding the preparation and reporting of the organization’s finances? If not, meetings can devolve into a Petri dish of accusations, animosity and acrimony.”

“I am Kamau Harris, Programmer at WPFW and Chair of the WPFW Local Station Board (LSB), and I am running to be your Treasurer on the Pacifica National Board (PNB).

“As your Treasurer, I will ensure Pacifica upholds the standards of accuracy, accountability and transparency.

◘ Accuracy through guaranteeing our financial records and reporting adhere to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)

◘ Accountability through written correspondence outlining why actions were taken, commitments were held and decisions were made

◘ Transparency by providing the details of financial processes and performance to build trust while maintaining a balance of privacy and confidentiality

“At the foundation of any successful organization is trustworthy fiscal stewardship. I’ve learned this through a combination of formal education and real-world experience. After earning my Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Howard University in Washington, DC, I’ve worked for non-profit organizations, and in the Banking, Manufacturing, and Healthcare industries. This varied work history has allowed me to understand what works best across industries and organizational structure.

“Quite simply, the through line is trust. Does the leadership, membership, and other stakeholders have trust regarding the preparation and reporting of the organization’s finances? If not, meetings can devolve into a Petri dish of accusations, animosity and acrimony. This scenario played out at WPFW while I was the Treasurer of the LSB. Management had a very difficult time ensuring accuracy, providing transparency and taking accountability. After turnover at General Manager and the sudden resignation of the local Administrative Assistant, there was a void in processing and reporting the station’s finances.

“Working closely with the new General Manager, we quickly put in place an accounting system to track all income and expenses; froze all discretionary spending; worked closely with vendors to bring our accounts current and met with the full LSB to bring them up to speed about what took place in the past and the plans to get back to a positive cash flow. All of these efforts were enhanced by the support from the Pacifica National Office. They recognized our prioritizing of the finances and allowed us to implement our plans.

“This is the kind of teamwork, strategizing, and discipline I plan to implement as your Treasurer of the Pacifica National Board. I’ve worked professionally in small and large organizations, in both support and leadership roles. I have a client base of small businesses that rely on my ability to communicate complex financial issues succinctly. These are essential skills foundational to driving increased financial support for non-profits.

“I humbly ask for your support. I ask that you support all other Pacificans on your ballot ready for change. Let us form a coalition of members on a mission to uphold the founding principles of Free Speech, Education and Inclusion. Together we will honor the founders of Pacifica by placing the responsibility for its future back in the hands of the people! The time is now…, Thank you!”

Donna Carter,

candidate for PNB secretary, is a nurse and has been a labor activist with the California Nurses Association.

She says:  “I am currently serving on the KPFA LSB and the PNB. I also am a member of the Audit Committee. I have listened to KPFA for many years. It has and continues to be an important source of information for my social activism.

“I marched against the war in Vietnam. I attended San Francisco State in 1968 and joined thousands of students who fought for open admissions. We won that strike and access for thousands of students to a college education. This win was followed by strikes at many universities where Black and Brown had previously been denied this opportunity.

“Later I became a nurse. With a group of nurses at local hospitals we struck for contacts in which we won safe staffing guidelines and improved wages and benefits in the Bay Area. These contracts wins set the stage for unorganized nurses to win union contracts and improved wages and benefits across the country.

“Currently, the unique existence of the Pacifica Foundation and its five stations are holding my attention. The media are under attack and Pacifica’s existence as a unique listener-supported and volunteer-produced platform is so important. I support its democracy, diversity, free speech, and community-oriented programming, governed by the listeners and programmers.”

Ninel Centeno,

candidate for Staff and Volunteer Team director on the PNB, is a Spanish-language programmer at KPFK. She is a labor organizer and community activist.

She says: “I hold a Master’s degree in Political Science and bring experience in human rights, international cooperation, public policy, community engagement, and grassroots leadership. In El Salvador, I worked on international cooperation and development initiatives in partnership with government institutions and international organizations, supporting efforts focused on human rights, gender equity, social inclusion, and regional development. In the United States, my work has focused on community organizing, worker empowerment, immigrant outreach, and strengthening civic participation.

     “Throughout my career, I have learned that meaningful change happens when people are given the opportunity to participate, lead, and shape the decisions that affect them. That belief has guided my work in public institutions, community organizations, labor organizing, and independent media.

      “As a Spanish-language broadcaster and Local Station Board member at KPFK, I have seen firsthand the unique role Pacifica plays in amplifying voices often overlooked by commercial media and creating space for dialogue, culture, education, and civic engagement. Pacifica remains one of the few media institutions where communities can tell their own stories in their own words.

     “For many listeners, language is more than a means of communication—it is identity, culture, memory, and belonging. Como radiodifusora en español, he visto cómo Pacifica permite que nuestras comunidades se escuchen a sí mismas, compartan sus historias y participen plenamente en la vida pública.”

Sally Gellert

candidate for Staff and Volunteer Team director on the PNB, is co-producer/co-host of Eco-Logic with Ken Gale and Donna Stein. She is on the WBAI LSB and a director on the PNB.

She says, “I am a member of Radical Elders, Democracy Watch News, and Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community, and a long-time environmentalist. I work with New York’s United 4 Clean Energy and the National Radioactive Waste Coalition.

    “Everyone is looking for more in-person contact, creating new possibilities of community engagement and fund-raising. It’s time to reinvigorate our audience—and potential audience; to join new technologies with the reach of broadcast radio: radio for all generations.

      “I see myself as a connector of groups working on diverse issues. Co-producing Eco-Logic on WBAI is the perfect home for my activism, and representing the staff of our 5 sibling stations is a natural continuation of my current role on the Pacifica National Board (PNB).

      “We need to act creatively to address our financial issues and to bring new listeners to all programs. Listener-sponsored broadcast radio needs to stay relevant and fresh to attract new audiences, at the same time acknowledging the amazing long-time programming that made this network a staple around its listening areas. Pacifica has a rich history of being in the forefront of many movements: civil rights; social and environmental justice; anti-war efforts; women’s, LGBTQI, and disability rights; and political resistance. We must continue to represent those denied a voice on mainstream commercial media. That is our strength; that is what is needed to meet this moment in our nation’s history.

      “Finding new ways of engaging listeners is imperative in this time that is saturated with podcasts, videos, and blogs. Government repression and censorship also means that we are needed more than ever. It’s time to reinvigorate our audience—and potential audience, joining new technologies with the reach of broadcast radio: bringing radio to all generations. After years of endless Zoom meetings, everyone is looking for more in-person contact, opening up new opportunities for community engagement and fund-raising.

      “During the attempted coup in October 2019, I was shocked to hear days of dead air and repeater programming on WBAI. I attended the court hearings that got our station back. I also did volunteer data work for WBAI Fightback. The attack on the station from within Pacifica itself was eye-opening, and I was inspired to get involved. I was first elected as a member of our Local Station Board and later to the PNB.

      “The PNB needs people who will fight for fairness and democracy, who will be active participants in guiding the foundation into the future. Where are our listeners of yesterday and where are our listeners of tomorrow? Let’s get to our roots and show old and new listeners what our stations have been and can be. We are an important force. Our audience needs us, but not the bureaucracy and infighting that is paralyzing our network. It is time to establish and stick to democratic procedures. With mutual respect and hard work we can help Pacifica stabilize and flourish. Please cast your vote for me.”

Listener Directors for Each Station

KPFA: Cheryl Davila

I’m Cheryl Davila, PNB KPFA Listener Representative candidate as part of the Pacifica Mission Coalition.

As a KPFA LSB member (Rescue Pacifica), Former Councilmember, City of Berkeley, Founder: Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force, Berkeley Equity Summit Alliance & Mobilize Berkeley; Board member: Interfaith Council of Alameda County, Network of Electeds & Staff, Consider The Homeless, Friends of Adeline & Bear Roots Resource Center, I stay in good trouble to FREE PALESTINE, Sudan, the Congo, Haiti, free us all from oppression and to keep Pacifica listeners.

The media follow the lead of the orange predator-in-chief’s propaganda, spewing misinformation and untruths. Journalists around the world are being murdered, especially in Palestine and Lebanon and our voting, choice and civil rights are being dismantled, while Islamophobia and racism continue to rise.

Pacifica Foundation must uphold its mission during these tumultuous times and the Pacifica National Board must reflect its listeners and staff who make it possible to exist.

Your NOMINATION and your vote provides a truth-teller’s representation of the listener’s much needed voices to the PNB that will now be respected and valued with your vote. I am concerned about loss of local oversight in governance, finance & auditing which has spilled over into loss of important voices representing alternative progressive political, social & people of color viewpoints and voices in programming throughout Pacifica stations.

Listeners have expressed to me disappointment in some pro-war positions expressed by some hosts on KPFA which has a long anti-war tradition. We must RESTORE Listeners & their voices.

As a KPFA LSB member, I know we must ensure transparency and accountability with no domination or control, no discriminatory or fascist ideology and no trauma-inducing & bullying behaviors within meetings. I am rising to the occasion to represent listeners.

As a lifelong listener, I see the changes and miss the programs that were eliminated and will strive to make Pacifica uphold its historic mission and honor listeners’ voices at the PNB.

Received a Business Economics degree from Mills College & an academic award an international honor society in economics. A 45 year Berkeley resident where we raised amazingly wonderful now adult children.

We need Pacifica in this historical time to be accountable, honest, transparent trustworthy to dedicated, loyal listeners.

KPFK: Michael Novick

“Pacifica’s commitment to peace, justice and social change is threatened by fascist trends in society, and by internal efforts to centralize governance, management and programming. At this critical moment, restoring listeners’ and programmers’ rights to participate in the governance of the station is vital to our survival and ability to meet the moment, and I’m running with the Pacifica Mission Coalition to achieve that.

“I’m a lifelong anti-fascist, internationalist, labor activist, and advocate of grassroots community media. I served unpaid as General Manager from September 2022-November 2024, and previously was elected four times to the LSB, where I served as chair, treasurer and PNB director. I had also been elected in the first balloting in Pacifica to the KPFK Program Council, which I chaired, and helped write program evaluation criteria that were adopted by the Program Director. Years ago I was an unpaid producer at KPFA; more recently I helped create “Capitalism, Race & Democracy”.

“During my tenure as iGM, we stopped the decline in membership, balanced the budget through reductions in expenses, and built new studios after the foundation sold the building that housed KPFK. I recruited unpaid talent — a program director, operations manager, custodian, news director, social media kit designer, and IT and engineering volunteers who made the move possible. Despite a Pacifica job freeze, we overcame the departure of the webmaster and traffic coordinator, the death of Roy of Hollywood, and retirement of Margaret Prescod. We paid a prior massive overdue electric bill and developed new non-profit funding sources.

“I created a technology task force with staff, volunteers and Pacifica personnel, that replaced a malfunctioning phone system, and carried out repairs to the transmitter and other operations.

“I added fresh voices about the environment, single-payer healthcare, Indigenous struggles, Chicano activism, hiphop, Black liberation, immigration, and police abolition; revived Think Outside the Cage, Access Unlimited on disability rights and resources, local news, literary programming, orchestral music, LGBTQ and labor shows; added youthful voices in English and Spanish, like Revolucion Arcoiris. Amid genocide in Gaza, we ran the Radio Free Palestine marathon.

“I recruited interns for the station from Columbia College and an audio engineering school, and worked to bring Dorsey High seniors to the station to share their podcasting skills and learn about radio. I co-produced 2024 election coverage with all 5 stations, incorporating reports from affiliates.

“Unfortunately, most of those innovations were wiped away, replaced by national syndication, repeats, and programs from KPFA, as the effort to centralize governance, management and programming took hold.

“I’m a member of the House of Reps of United Teachers Los Angeles, work on the Change-Links community calendar, served on the board of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, and was a co-founder of the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee, Anti-Racist Action, and White People for Black Lives. I’ve edited and published Turning The Tide: Journal of Inter-communal Solidarity since 1988. As a proven problem-solver and collaborative leader, I ask you to vote for me for director, and the PacificaMissionCoalition.com slate.”

KPFT: Vi PatelAdams

Pacifica needs transparency and accountability. I will advocate for stability, transparent governance, and a future where Pacifica’s national structure supports local creativity and community power.

My commitment to KPFT and Pacifica comes from decades of work in community rooted media, justice focused communications, and movement aligned storytelling.

I have spent much of my life in spaces where ordinary people use media to educate, organize, and build power. That experience has shaped how I understand media institutions: they thrive when they stay accountable to the communities they serve, when they protect diverse voices, and when they maintain clarity of purpose even in moments of internal change. These are the skills and values I commit to bring to the Pacifica National Board as KPFT’s listener representative.

My background in community radio and justice communications has taught me how to navigate complex group dynamics while keeping mission driven work at the center. I have worked in environments where collaboration is essential, where disagreements must be handled with transparency, and where the integrity of the project matters more than any individual ego.

I bring organizational clarity, a steady communication style, and a commitment to accountability that is grounded in real lived experience, not theory or smooth words. I understand how to strengthen institutions without losing their soul, and how to support volunteers, listeners, and staff in ways that build trust rather than fracture it.

I also bring experience in coalition spaces, where diverse groups come together around shared values. These environments require patience, listening, and the ability to translate between different communication styles and priorities.

They also require a deep respect for marginalized voices, not as symbolic inclusion, but as essential contributors to the mission. Pacifica’s history is rooted in this principle, and I believe KPFT and the Foundation’s future depends on continuing it with intention.

My vision for KPFT listener representation is grounded in stability, transparency, and educational purpose. I want to help restore trust in governance by supporting clear processes, consistent communication, and thoughtful decision making. I want to strengthen educational programming that reflects the needs of all our communities, including those historically pushed to the margins.

I want to ensure that Pacifica’s national structure supports local creativity, and that our Foundation becomes a place where listeners feel genuinely represented in national decisions.

I believe listener representation is not symbolic. It is a responsibility. It requires understanding the lived experiences of our listeners in Greater Houston, the challenges facing community media, and the importance of protecting spaces where independent voices can thrive.

My goal is to bring steadiness, clarity, and a community centered perspective to the PNB, helping both KPFT and Pacifica navigate its immediate needs and its long term mission.

Pacifica’s strength has always come from its listeners, its volunteers, and its commitment to justice. I hope to contribute to that legacy with the skills, experience, and vision I have developed over many years of community based media and justice oriented work.

WBAI: The national coalition notes two candidates from within the coalition:

Sharonne Salaam & James Sagurton.

James Sagurton

WBAI and Pacifica face two existential crises: financial survival and preserving democratic governance. It is important to elect a WBAI PNB Station Listener Representative with deep operational experience and appreciation of Pacifica’s principles, as established by a conscientious objector to WWII and expressed through our programming and democratic governance.

My close association with WBAI and Pacifica has given me that experience and appreciation needed now. A 55+ years Listener, I joined governance 12 years ago. I have served on most Committees but focus on Finance, including many continuing years on the National Finance Committee (several as Chair/Board Treasurer).

Also, for about a decade, I was an assistant to the immediate past WBAI General Manager.

Declines in audience across the radio industry have affected all Pacifica stations. Membership and fundraising are way down, largely due to the internet, to which Pacifica has not sufficiently adapted.

When Pacifica was created 77 years ago, it invented listener-sponsored, noncommercial broadcasting. To remain a beacon of diverse free speech, we need to reinvent our use of radio broadcasting while adapting to the way people use media today: Improve ‘on demand’ options, increase use of Podcasts, use YouTube and Patreon, provide downloadable thank-you gifts for donors, etc.

Today’s audiences are in the digital world; we must be there, too.

Many Pacificans realize we can not survive in our present format. Rather than change, some seem to want to fully control and/or liquidate major assets like WBAI to pay for it. I believe some on the Pacifica National Board (PNB), with a supermajority obtained through alleged Bylaws violations, may have that in mind.

Recently, some purported to change our Bylaws through a court settlement without members voting or even receiving timely notice. In my opinion this is a gross violation of member’s rights which is claimed to mostly eliminate their role in the management and governance of Pacifica through its Boards and committees.

This must not stand! There is no recent version of Pacifica Bylaws where members do not have the right to vote on Bylaws changes that affect their voting rights

I run with the Pacifica Mission Coalition (PMC) to return Pacifica to the principles of the Pacifica Mission, the legally solid ground of true Bylaws compliance and a better democratic governance. Please, vote for me as WBAI PNB Station Listener Representative and the PMC candidates for PNB Officers: Malveaux, Chair; McCary, Vice Chair; Harris, Treasurer; Carter, Secretary.

The last time a similar coalition held the majority on the PNB, I was the Finance Committee Chair/Board Treasurer. Through struggle, we got current with our audits.

Now, under the leadership of some from within who attack bylaws compliance, and therefore democracy itself, we are dangerously close to the limit on late audits.

Whatever assurances are given, and whatever success is hopefully had, this is unacceptably close to failure. Exceed the limit and we could lose our government approvals to raise money.

Sharonne Salaam

I am running for the Pacifica National Board again because my experience serving on the WBAI Local Station Board and the national board has made it clear that stations can best thrive if the network is working together toward the common goal of serving our communities, and the national board can best function when it focuses closely on fulfilling the mission.

I am proud to be a part of the Pacifica Mission Coalition which brings together talented, diverse people committed to building Pacifica’s future with respect, equity, and transparency lead by Dr. Julianne Malveaux as board chair.

My son Yusef was one of the five innocent boys wrongly arrested and convicted of raping a white woman in Central Park. After my son’s wrongful arrest, my career in the fashion industry and as a professor of design at Parsons School of design (I am a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology) was cut short owing to the outpouring of hatred directed at my employers, largely as a result of the bigoted and prejudicial coverage of my son’s case in the corporate media. During the long struggle to defend the falsely accused African American and Latino boys –and ultimately to clear them of all wrongdoing – WBAI was a powerful and indispensable ally. WBAI helped get the truth out when most other media were joining the voices of accusation and refusing to air the truth. This is how I first became involved with WBAI and why I am determined to keep WBAI strong, together with the other Pacifica stations and affiliates.

After my son’s conviction, I embarked on a career of community activism to help other people caught up in the carceral system. I founded People United for Children, which served children and families in and out of prison, with a special emphasis on children in New York’s foster-care system who were being fed into the carceral system. Over nearly two decades, our work led to thousands of children being reunited with their biological parents, as well as policy changes in the child-welfare system. I am also a founding member of Justice 4 the Wrongfully Incarcerated (J4wi) which organizes criminal law talks, conversations with local communities regarding issues with the law, and visits with incarcerated people.

My work in J4wi led me to the Mohammed Bah Legacy Project, and in 2022, I began working with that organization securing medicines, medical supplies and equipment, and school supplies for various West African countries.

This work has been important to the mission of Justice 4 the Wrongfully Incarcerated which believes in reciprocity.

During my tenure on the Local Station Board I helped design the plan to revive WBAI’s finances and served on the General Manager Evaluation Committee, the Town Hall working group, and the Committee of Inclusion. In this time, I’ve further developed the skills in negotiating, mediating, and helping others understand their rights that I acquired as a self-trained social worker – skills that may be invaluable for the Pacifica National Board.

WPFW: Michele Tingling-Clemmons

I first got involved with WPFW over 40 years ago when I had come to DC to work for an organization focused on occupational and environmental health. After learning about the dangers asbestos posed to workers and their families, I began hearing ads seeking workers to renovate public schools, including asbestos removal, I searched for ways to alert the community about the dangers, found WPFW; went on Dorothy Healey’s morning show, sharing the information. I became a listener, then member. A few years later, I partnered with public health activists Joni Eisenberg and Theresa Shivers, becoming the original host of To Heal DC, a show on ‘Health Care in the Nation’s Capitol’ that’s still airing weekly. After three years, I left the show (work conflicts), continuing to be a station supporter and now am on our Local Station Board.

In my life, I’ve always to be a passionate activist for social justice and a jazz supporter. I helped to organize to build our local, and helped craft the original union contract. I became the first shop steward for the FRAC (Food Research and Action Center) Employees Association, UAW Local 2320, learning first-hand about contract negotiations. To me it was exciting and an honor to finally be able to join a labor union (while working for a public interest organization!), understanding that we as workers make, craft, develop, produce, distribute and consume EVERYTHING! Yet the working class, our class, is always forced to beg and cajole the governing powers for a pittance of what should be our fair share!

I became a member of the DC Statehood Party, outraged when I learned that the revolution I’d believed was fought against ‘taxation without representation’ was a lie, a betrayal, when deciding to deny voting representation to citizens of this nation’s capitol, unlike citizens of all other democracies’ capital cities! I felt I’d relinquished my citizenship when I became a member of the Statehood Party, suddenly having all the responsibilities but none of the rights of citizenship. We remain colonists, denied even the one vote of our elected representative in the body that makes the laws we live under. I’ve worked hard to share that outrage with people all over the country, having been privileged to have had travelling jobs for almost 30 years, (47 states and Puerto Rico), where I found others to be as ignorant as I’d once been, and as outraged as I remain when they learned of this injustice. I met and married Rick, another fierce organizer, joining our names and lives, parenting 9 children, with 21 grandchildren. We worked hard to educate and encourage them to be part of the ‘fight for justice’, our family mantra, “working to make the world better than we found it”.

I proudly bring that same outrage at injustice, fierce determination to right wrongs, passion for fairness, and commitment to democracy to everything in my work and life, including Pacifica. I thank you for your consideration and support.

Many of these candidates have been removed from, or kept off, the ballot. In those cases, the links to their statements on the official elections site may not work, as their names and photos have been removed there.

Demand that the removals be reversed, that nominations be extended for all stations and positions where there are no candidates on the ballot, and that in any event that write-ins be permitted. Ballots will go out on August 15.

Urge your station to hold on-air candidate forums for all positions.

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