Ray Laforest (convener, WBAI Committee of Inclusion; also elected member of Pacifica National Board; labor and Haitian community organizer) |
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WBAI Candidate Questionnaire 1. Why do you want to be on the Local Station Board? With the right-wing, reactionary Bush Administration bent on imposing its agenda of war around the world and attacks on hard-fought civil liberties at home, WBAI and Pacifica are more important than ever. I have been active on the WBAI Local Station Board (and the Local Advisory Board before that) and on the Pacifica National Board for more than six years now, and want to use my experience to continue to broaden their outreach to more of the communities struggling for survival and a voice in their own future. As a member of the WBAI Justice and Unity Campaign (www.justiceunity.org), I want to continue to fight for a station that is more democratic, accountable, and financially sound that provides mission-based programming that seeks input from the constituents it is addressing and is relevant to their needs. 2. How do you envision the Local Board working with Pacifica Foundation, WBAI, and the community? The Local Station Board is the crucial junction between those entities. It should vigorously articulate the needs of the various local communities in its signal area to the Pacifica Foundation, while striving for the most organic integration of those needs with the foundation's national agenda. The LSB should also strive for local autonomy and the preservation of the specific character that defines the reality of our listening area. In my time on the Pacifica National Board, I have consistently opposed centralization of power by that board or by the Pacifica National Office at the expense of the local stations. This is an ongoing struggle that requires constant vigilance. 3. How could the station better serve its listeners? Relations with the listening public should be based on respect and the true understanding that meeting that public’s needs is at the very core of what defines us as an alternative, progressive media outlet. Therefore, what is heard on our airwaves should be the reflection of well-thought-out and extensive dialogue with the public within a format that allows for community input from conception to implementation. 4. Describe some actions you would take to increase the influence of the station in underrepresented communities and to increase the diversity of the listening audience. The key elements here are to rehire an Outreach Coordinator and to greatly increase the activities of the LSB’s Membership, Outreach, and Fundraising Committee, to focus on a strong effort to increase membership in both the station and the Membership Committee itself. As more committee members become available, they can contribute to more effective outreach within their own communities and others, making contact with the organizations and groupings that are essential to project their own needs, which can then provide input on how the station can better address those needs as well as encourage more involvement in the work of the station. In coordination with these actions, the Committee of Inclusion will take on the important task of identifying the various communities within our listening area, and with the Membership Committee, locate the vital, active organizations, groupings, and leaders that will help clarify the various communities’ needs, and be active in advising on programming needs and other aspect of station life. The Committee of Inclusion will also encourage the proper representation of underserved communities in programming, on the station's staff, and in the list of candidates running for its LSB. 5. What sources of funding, other than listener donations, do you feel WBAI should solicit? Besides the hiring of a Development Coordinator, whose job would be to seek funds such as grants, the station should develop a comprehensive program involving our major donors and to ask some of our more well-known supporters to reach out to other high-profile individuals and invite them to participate in special fundraising events. Listeners should also be organized to set up ongoing activities in their communities and in other venues to raise needed funds. 6. Please state briefly the skills, experience, educational background, work history, organizational affiliations, areas of community service, areas of interest and expertise that you would bring to the Pacifica network as a member of the Local Station Board. In the last fourteen years, I have been involved in most aspects of labor organizing, including bringing new members into my union, political action, and servicing. Among other skills, these positions call for and develop the ability to relate eyeball-to-eyeball with workers, listen attentively to their points of view, and effectively present union membership as an empowering alternative to their usual isolation. I also negotiate and enforce contracts as a member of a negotiating committee, lead meetings, and help stimulate the development of leadership among the rank and file. For more than thirty years, I have participated in organizing, first in the Haitian community and later in the peace and solidarity movements. I was a founding member of the first national immigrants’ rights organization. At present, I am a member of the Haiti Support Network and a coordinating committee member of the Haitian/Dominican Action Group. 7. Do you anticipate missing any Local Station Board meetings due to family or job related problems or inadequate transportation? During my tenure on the Local Board, I have not missed any meetings and I am committed to continuing that record in the future. 8. On which Local Station Board committees are you interested in actively serving? If you are a current Local Station Board member, on which committees do you currently serve? Currently, I am the convener of the Committee of Inclusion. At present, this is the only locally-based committee on which I serve, since as a member of the Pacifica National Board, I sit on both the Affiliates Committee and the Coordinating Committee of that body.
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